Pocket Landship Review

Pocket Landship is a tiny game of big war, in the futures. You, and your friend in the co-op mode, are piloting a landship – read as: cool tank – and blowing holes in the giant mechs of the enemy. 

It’s got a space invaders set up. Lay out your cards for your landship, this comes in the form of the hull, sponsons and cannon. Your enemy is laid out in rows, moving forward when their comrades fall in front of them.

You roll dice, allocate them to the actions you want to take (firing, repairing the hull, modifying another roll) and whittle down the opponent’s front line – all tracked on delicious little dice. 

The game actually feels quite exciting as the early waves are wiped away and you begin to face tougher opponents. Soon you’re scrambling to repair your landship, and playing out your hard-won advantage cards.  It’s most enjoyable as a co-op game, where each player takes one side of the tank and field of enemies. As a solo game it’s solid too, with a good progress curve.

The only major drawback is that the art on the cards is really evocative, if you can see it. The card art is very small, relegated to less than a third of each card. For such lovely depictions is a bit of a waste.

At low points the game can feel like it’s just a load of dice rolls against an enemy which doesn’t feel very smart. At high points it feels like you’re turning the tide on the invasion. A solid entry for your solo pile. 

CHRISTOPHER JOHN EGGETT

PLAY IT? Probably

Designer: Scott Allen Cysz

Artist: Robert Butler, Dominik Kasprzycki

Time: 15-45 minutes

Players: 2

Ages: 10+

Price: £15