Redshirts

We've played this game as our game of the week a couple of times, but since the blog is new, I'm adding the games before the blog started.

Disclaimer: My husband knows one of the creators of the game.

Redshirts is a game pop culture fans can appreciate. The title of the game stems from the idea that on Star Trek the anonymous crew member with the red shirt usually died. In this game, players try to kill off all their red shirts by sending them out on impossible missions where they cannot succeed. The missions are filled with funny allusions to a variety of pop culture elements. The first person to kill off all redshirts wins. Other players try to prevent this from happening by providing the redshirts with the necessary skills needed to complete the mission successfully (skills include diplomacy, tactical, medical, engineering, etc.).

Thinking-wise, red shirts requires a lot of planning and evaluation including when to aid another person (realizing reprisals may occur because of this), what kind of missions to send, and how to play the cards effectively. Understanding why certain skills are necessary for missions can spark good conversations as well. This game does not take long to play, and our whole family enjoyed it.

Knowing all the pop culture references is not necessary to enjoy the game.

If I still had a sci-fi class I would add this game to one of my weeks immediately. I think the students would love it, and I think it wouls show them that not all missions required shooting to be successful.