Eila and Something Shiny is a simply delightful board game to look at, as well as a joy to play. With artwork somewhere in the neighborhood of Saturday Morning Cartoon or Stuffed Toys Come to Life, the game itself can get a little dark and heartbreaking.
More of that later.
To start with, this is a light RPG wrapped up with board game mechanics. You’re on a quest. You gain equipment, weapons, and allies along your journey. But the journey itself is on guide rails, not quite as much as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, but this is far from a sandbox RPG.
Each play session gets broken up into 5 acts, with a save option available for breaks in between acts. Each act includes its own unique gameplay mechanics on top of the consistent card-driven action phases. Tile-laying? Yup! Worker placement? Check! Dungeon delving? That too!
You navigate a story with accompanying comic book artwork as the between-act cut scenes. Different choices you make along the way can lead to different outcomes and the story branching on you.
Do you try to save everyone or remain focused on your mission?
Do you become a god of battle or win your enemies over with kindness?
Who do you put your trust in? Who do you choose to believe when one of two people has to be lying?
Eila and Something Shiny doesn’t make these choices easy for you. And choosing to do things the “hard way” really does add significantly to the game challenge. Cutting corners makes you more likely to reach then end, but then… what kind of ending will you get?
Oh, there are definitely multiple endings, though I wouldn’t call them all happy.
So, look beyond the cutesy aesthetic to find a rich, challenging, replayable game with multiple paths to explore and a perfect ending to discover.
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