Thunderbirds Co-operative Board Game

I have to admit to having such mixed feelings about Matt Leacock's games. On the one hand anyone who's played a few of his games knows that he very much has a formula of mechanisms that he builds to one degree or another into everything he releases, and in that sense his games all have basically similar, unique core mechanics. I've even found myself playing games wrongly, because I was carrying detail over from one to another. And that really wouldn't make for a good review here - were it not for three things.Firstly - his formula really works, and he consistently produces great games.Secondly - he manages to do it in a way that keeps the different games individual (you may recognise the core mechanics of Pandemic In Thunderbirds, but that doesn't mean it's going to help you beat the game, for example, because it has its own, unique challenges you'll need to overcome).Thirdly - Thunderbirds is no exception.This is a tricky game. It's also a great game. It's probably the hardest to consistently beat of his games that I've played so far. And, just possibly, it's the best. Even if you disagree - if you like co-op games, and especially if you already like Matt's games - this is definitely one you ought to try.So - what minuses to it? The main one I'd say is that, even more than most co-op games, this feels like ("feels like" because so far I've only played it solo) a game that could invite "quarterbacking". If one of your regular players gets frustrated by players who don't want to make the "obvious, best move", this probably isn't the game for that group. Another perhaps, is the end; it's not always as knife-edge as, say, Pandemic. I've had a couple of games where it was very clear well before the end that the game was won, and the last few moves were very much about just going through the motions of actually getting there. But with those observations - it's still a good game. I don't see myself parting with it soon.

The "Tracy Island" add-on adds a few new characters (Parker [black], Tin-Tin [red] and Brains [brown]), two new vehicles (FAB2 and Ladybird Jet), four new pod vehicles for Thunderbird 2 and FAB2 to carry, and an actual miniature for Tracy Island itself. The latter in particular is very helpful to gameplay as, prior to applying this expansion, you could not leave a character at Tracy Island unless there was a vehicle there, which was pretty ridiculous if you think about it and made no sense.The game comes with a completely new set of Disaster cards, and you use these INSTEAD of the ones from the base game, as these newer ones have catered for the new characters and vehicles.There are some cards that are mixed in with the ones from the base game (such as three new Character cards for the newly-added characters and a small number of new F.A.B. cards and Event cards). Are you afraid that you will not necessarily remember which cards belonged to this expansion? No problem, as those have “TI” in the top-right corner (TI = Tracy Island), so you can much more easily separate them out later.You may remember that the pod vehicles that Thunderbird 2 could carry were originally little cardboard blocks that depicted each pod vehicle. Here, there are four new such cards for the four new pod vehicles, but you also have the option of instead using an actual miniature of each one if you so wish.While this add-on and its ability to allow you to leave characters at Tracy Island has helped gameplay, don’t think that the game is that much easier because of it because it is still pretty challenging, especially with the slightly different way of preparing the Disaster cards mentioned in the instructions — for each game nine of those cards are cast aside!This seems to have been the most revered add-on out of the three available for "Thunderbirds — Co-Operative Board Game", and it is easy to see why.

not been used yet. Purchased as an early Christmas present.

I was already a fan of Matt Leacock's other co-operative games such as Pandemic and Forbidden Island so have had my eye on this one since it was on Kickstarter. I was not disappointed on receiving my copy. The components are good. Each vehicle model fits the style of the original series, and each character piece is individually sculpted - they are not just generic "Tracey Brother" sculpts. The board is clearly set out and the cards easy to understand. I have seen that an expansion exists containing models for the pod vehicles - I hope to get hold of this in the near future!The gameplay is enjoyable, although a little same-ey. In a turn you take your actions to overcome disasters and block the Hood's schemes, then reveal the next disaster, whilst hoping the Hood does not advance in his plans. If any disaster reaches the end of the disaster track, or the Hood completes his final scheme, you lose, whilst if you defeat all three of the Hood's schemes you win.Playing with my children, we found the most enjoyement comes out of a little role-playing and playing the game immersively : reading out the theme text on the disaster cards, discusisons 'in character' when planning or calling for a particular vehicle to be brought to a certain place, and describing how a particular disaster was resolved. They were able to cope with the mechanics of the game and picked it up very quickly, in the end they were telling me where to go and what to do!

I bought this for my husband and could not be more disappointed. The box is nice quality but that is the only part which is. Tiny plastic or cheap cardboard models / cards. Rubbish and a total waste of money

Fantastic game but it is a shame that parts of the game came broken. The box was slightly damaged too