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Step into the shoes of a band manager in Draft & Write Records, where your goal is to create the most famous band and climb to the top of the charts. To win, you need to earn the most Star Power (SP) by the end of the game. You’ll be hiring band members, scheduling gigs, managing assets, and much more to outshine your competition. The game wraps up when someone completes six goals, hires all 12 band members, or racks up five fails. The player with the highest SP takes the crown.
👥 1-6 players, ages 10+
⌛ Playing time: 30-60 minutes
📝 Designer: Bruno Maciel
🎨 Artwork: Pedro A. Alberto
🏢 Publisher: Inside Up Games (review copy provided)
Phases of the Game
The game is divided into two main phases: the Week Phase and the Weekend Phase. Throughout the game, players use pencils to mark their actions, bonuses, and progress on their Band Sheets, keeping track of their strategies and achievements.
During the Week Phase, players draft cards to perform various actions on their Band Sheet. Each round kicks off with five cards for each player. These cards represent actions like hiring a band member, scheduling gigs, or managing assets. Players pick one card to play and pass the remaining cards to the next player. This continues until each player has played four cards and discarded the last one.
The Weekend Phase is when players claim goals based on their actions during the Week Phase. Goals provide SP and bonuses. Each player can claim up to six goals throughout the game. Once a player claims their sixth goal, the game ends after that Weekend Phase.
Managing Your Band
Managing your crew is key to success. Players hire band members to fill 12 spots, each contributing SP and skills. Harmony is created when adjacent members have matching skills, leading to additional bonuses and SP. Crew cards let players hire new members with specific skills and SP values, and multipliers can boost their SP even more. Managing assets and completing agendas provide additional bonuses and SP, helping players improve their band’s performance.
Touring is another aspect of the game. When players earn tour bonuses, they can mark spaces in the Tour section, gaining more SP and bonuses along the way. Releases involve earning Album or Single bonuses, which let players cross off spaces in the Releases section. The total SP from Releases is calculated by multiplying the number of crossed-off Albums by the number of crossed-off Singles.
Players need to manage their actions carefully to avoid fails. Fails occur if they draft a Scandal card, can’t take an action, or have empty crew posts at the end. Too many fails can significantly reduce a player’s SP, so avoiding Scandal cards is crucial.
Ending the Game
The game can end in three ways: a player claims their sixth goal, fills all 12 crew posts, or checks off five fails. Players then tally their SP from different sections of the Band Sheet: Crew, Goals, Harmony, Agenda, Tour, Releases, and Fails. The player with the highest SP wins the game and their band tops the charts!
Draft & Write Records, designed by Bruno Maciel and published by Inside Up Games, hit the market after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2022. This game is perfect for 1-6 players, aged 10 and up. The box says it takes between 30 to 60 minutes to play, but expect it to take a bit longer with more players, especially if they’re new to the game. Pedro A. Alberto’s artwork is colorful and detailed, adding a lot to the overall gaming experience.
Components and Setup
The components of Draft & Write Records are top-notch. The game includes 6 regular pencils, 8 colored pencils, and even a sharpener. The Band Sheets pad is double-sided, so you don’t run out of sheets too quickly. One of our favorite touches is the cards’ linen finish with a vinyl record pattern – these small details really elevate the game. There are plenty of play cards and goal cards to keep each session fresh and exciting. Plus, the game comes with a neat insert to keep everything organized.
The rulebook is clear and straightforward, making it easy to learn and teach the game. However, the structure could use some improvement. The different actions are explained at the end of the rulebook, which can be a bit confusing at first. Despite this, each section of the player sheet is explained in detail, helping new players understand how everything fits together. The board’s colorful and busy design can be a bit overwhelming initially, but you get used to it quickly.
Theme and Mechanics
We really enjoy the music theme. It’s well-integrated into the game mechanics, making actions like going on tour or releasing records feel meaningful and immersive. If you like the idea of building and managing a band, you’ll find this theme engaging and fun.
Gameplay and Strategy
There’s a good mix of strategy and luck in Draft & Write Records. Strategic planning is key to maximizing combos and achieving goals, but you also need to adapt to the cards you draft. The simultaneous drafting keeps downtime minimal, which is great. The interaction is mostly indirect, as players focus on optimizing their own Badn Sheets rather than directly influencing their opponents. This leads to a more solitary experience, but it’s still very engaging.
The different combinations of cards and goals ensure that no two games feel exactly the same. We really enjoy the thrill of creating combos and looking for cascading actions. It has a similar feel to the roll-and-write game That’s Pretty Clever!, but with an extended play and a nice theme.
Final Thoughts
Overall, we really enjoy playing Draft & Write Records. The combos and cascading actions are particularly satisfying. For those who enjoy the thrill of building combos and the thematic journey of managing a band, this game is definitely worth a try. Plus, if you want to test it out, there’s an online version available on BoardGameArena.
📝 Disclaimer: We received a copy of the game from the publisher, Inside Up Games.
