Noobs in Space

£15

Are you ready to take on a mission in space? You don’t know the first thing about being an astronaut? Don’t worry Noobs in Space is perfect for you, as you are taking on the role of a newbie astronaut and must work as a team to complete a range of missions. Noobs in Space is a little different from other board games as it does not have a rule book per se – instead, you work through each level of the mission with a certain amount of the mission left largely on a need-to-know basis.

Playing Noobs in Space was a super fun experience! I opened the box and straight away my group of friends were thrown into the mission. You first are given a short narrative that welcomes you into the world of Noobs in Space and then must work your way through a tutorial level to get the hang of how the game works. This is where the teamwork aspect of the game takes shape – each player is given cards which collectively can be used to work out the current task. However, the catch of Noobs in Space is that you can’t show each other your cards, you have to solve each puzzle simply through communication. This can be through describing what your card shows, or outlining what the cards task requires you to do.

Each level is timed, and you need to work together to solve each task as fast as possible. Once you think you have solved each task, you stop the timer and return to the ‘rulebook’ for that level to see how successful you were. As we worked through each level, we started to get the hang of the best way to communicate to make sure that we had the best chance of solving each puzzle as fast as we could. Whilst this led to some very silly debates as we tried to figure out how cards fitted together, we were cheering when we flipped through the rulebook and saw that we were correct. However, there were a few where we were incorrect, as not every card is needed for every level, which added three minutes to our completion time. We made it to the end successfully, after only a few time penalties and had collected plenty of stars. When you have played the puzzles a few times you may remember which cards need to go together, but, as each player needs to communicate which cards they hold effectively (and this isn’t always an easy feat), this brings a different level of fun when replaying with different friends!  

Overall, if you are looking for a fun game to play with some friends that requires crucial teamwork but with puzzles that (thankfully) aren’t impossibly hard to complete, this game is perfect for you. Noobs is recommended for 2-5 players and for ages 10 and up so it is accessible, and makes a fun game for all the family. This would make a great gift for a lover of puzzle games, looking for a fun game to play with a group of friends whilst simultaneously laughing and bickering!

Pros:

- Great story-narrative style game

- Puzzle games focused on good communication

- Well designed

Cons:

- Need to use your own timer, as one is not included