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Review. Back to the Future: Back in Time / Dice Through Time
for the stupid Biff which moves him closer to Marty’s parents and per- haps lowers the Love-O-Meter.
Even if we managed to get the parents to fall in love early in the game, cart the DeLorean to the starting point, and prepare every- thing for the trip back to 1985, we still have to hold out and try to stay in the game because light- ning only strikes the clock tower at the end of the game at 10:04pm sharp. Without lightning, no ener- gy. And without energy, no return to our time.
In addition to our action dice, we are helped by small missions: so-called Op- portunity Cards which appear at various locations and which we should definite- ly pick up along the way. These give us items such as a skateboard, the Walkman (called a cassette player in the game), a remote control, an electric guitar, and much more.
These items are powerful so we shouldn’t leave them behind because they help us just like additional dice (through action tiles). Other than that, the game doesn’t offer us any more sup- port; success must be achieved with co- operative smarts and the luck of the dice.
And there it is, the dreaded term: luck of the dice. Back to the Future was de- signed by the American designer collec- tive Prospero Hall. And in their cooper-
ative games, the dice are one of the main mech-
anisms. You have to like that. If the dice are against you, you won’t get anywhere in these games. It can be really frustrat- ing if you actually do all the right things, move and play cleverly, and then the dice rolls regularly ruin it for you.
What saves Back to Future in this respect is the story. Those who know and love the movie will reminisce at every turn. It is these movie fans that I would recommend Back to the Future to. Without knowing about Marty McFly, Doc Brown, and the whole shebang, you inevitably ask yourself: what’s this all about?
But even if you have inhaled the mov- ie and love it, this game does not spark complete enthusiasm. You wonder why it had to be so dice heavy. One thinks of cooperative highlights from previous years such as Spirit Island or Paleo in
which there was also a luck ele- ment but it was incorporated into the game much more elegantly rather than so
dominantly.
Despite all the attention
to detail and all the great nostalgia for the movie, Back to the Future re-
mains a typical representa-
tive of the Ameri-Trash family. Games with a great theme, but where the dice rule. This doesn’t bother the American public, where the game has been exciting fans since 2020 and Prospero Hall’s other games are almost always a sure-fire hit
there too.
I will probably play Back to
the Future from time to time and enjoy the many quotes with the others at the table. But since the experience is more frustrat- ing than rewarding, I would
rather leave the topic behind and concentrate on other cooperative games again. If the Prospero Hall team hadn’t worked the story so lovingly into the game, it would be completely mediocre. And who has time for mediocre with all the games that are released year after
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Manuel Fritsch 5 Solid “fires-everywhere-which-one- do-we-extinguish-first” cooperation dilemma with a strong license. The
movie inspiration is lovingly captured thematically, but nothing new in
terms of gameplay.
Stephan Kessler 5 As often as you have seen the movie,
you will probably also enjoy the game. For me the replay appeal is missing.
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year? Exactly!
(dm)
Title:
Designer: Illustration:
Publisher: Players: Age: Duration: Price:
Reviewer
Back to the Future: Back in Time
Prospero Hall
George Bletsis,
Les McClaine, Steve Scott Funko Games, Goliath 2–4
about 10+ years
about 50 minutes about 32 euros
Playing appeal
Christoph Schlewinski
Andreas Becker
In the end, it only works if you don’t 12:55h:a51ve too many bad rolls, otherwise you don’t stand a chance. A bonus point for the wonderful realization of one of my all-time favorite films, which I get stuck on while channel surfing at any time of day or night.
5
5