Rising Sun v1

In a mad world, only the mad are sane.

A new day has dawned, and with it the Rising Sun rules summary and reference.

Kickstarter kings CMON continue to churn them out, and Rising Sun is possibly the most spectacular realisation so far of the potential of their newly full-time employees Eric Lang and Adrian Smith. It’s a success on all kinds of levels – game design, artwork, component design – and definitely worth adding to your collection.

Of course this being launched via Kickstarter campaign, there may be some things – like the gorgeously tactile ally counters – that retail buyers don’t get to enjoy, which is a shame. But for those that did take the plunge, the quality, and the value, kicks other publishers out of the park. If I was hard pressed to find a criticism, I can only come up with the fact that the board is overly busy and an illustrative element plonked on it is out of place.

Game-wise, there is are fascinating number of decisions to be explored with each of your turns, not to mention a whole layer of classic Diplomacy-like backstabbing and deal-making to exploit (or you can choose to ignore that stuff and still enjoy a great game) and an innovative luck-free combat system. And the copius number of miniatures are some of the best CMON have produced.

Basically, it’s a triumph, and here’s hoping CMON continue to maintain this level of exceptional quality.

PS: Apologies for the recent lack of updates over the last week – I was laid low by a vicious bout of flu and have been busy catching up.