Graft Review

Graft is a set collection game where players are racing to collect groups of cards that represent valuable goods so that they can ship them off for big profit.  But if you mispack your cargo, you won’t be scoring a single thing, so clever card drafting is required.  Let’s get our shipping manifest in order as we take a deeper dive into Graft!

Overview

Designed by Max Anderson, Zac Dixon, and Austin Harrison, Graft is a card game that uses a ‘closed draft’ mechanism to distribute cards around the table.  The strategy lies in which cards you draft, as there are card compatibility and scoring conditions to consider, as well as the timing of when you choose to ship your goods to score the most points you can.

There is also the possibility of busting, where players are unable to draft a card into their cargo because of certain restrictions that develop over the course of the round.  This adds another strategic consideration to the gameplay, introducing a push-your-luck element to the mix.

Perks, Quirks, & Pitfalls

Perks are things we like about a game, whereas Pitfalls are potentially problematic aspects.  Quirks sit somewhere in the middle, just things worth noting

Perks

• While the threat of busting will definitely impact your strategic decisions of what cards to draft and when, the consequences for busting aren’t too punishing, and some cards can even take advantage of the cards you lost in previous busts
• Circle drafting can make for incredibly quick gameplay, since everyone is taking their turns simultaneously.  So while everyone is being strategic, it doesn’t mean that turns necessarily take a long time, keeping Graft snappy and quick

Quirks

• On the other hand, because everyone needs to wait for everyone else to be done before the next turn, it is entirely possible for one particularly analysis paralysis-prone player to jam up the works for everyone.  But that’s really no different than if they were just taking longer turns in any other format of game, but you do kinda feel it more in this style of game
• The player tokens are cool and really nicely made, but serve no purpose beyond marking which player was the first to claim one of the bonus point badges
• Icon-driven games always have a little learning curve, and there were plenty of times in our first playthrough where we needed to confirm what the cards really meant
• The process of shipping cargo is also a disruption to the drafting cycle, and everyone at the table needs to hit the brakes when one or more people ship on a turn.  This isn’t a big deal, but players need to make it clear that there’s a pause happening, especially since some bonus points are impacted by who achieves their conditions first
• Player interaction is extremely limited

Pitfalls

• It’s not a huge deal, but needing to keep your shipped cargo sets together after you’ve shipped them for scoring does mean that they will continue to take up table space, which can get a little annoying, depending on the size of your play space
• The player count, 3-5, works perfectly regardless of how many players you actually have, but the minimum is a bummer since it can’t play 2

Gameplay

Each round, players will draw an equal number of cards from the cargo deck to form their hands.  Then, each turn, players will choose one card from their hand, then the chosen cards are simultaneously revealed, resolved, and then the hand is passed to the player beside you to repeat the process until no cards remain.

Cargo cards fall into several suits, and each card you add to your manifest can trigger special effects, impose restrictions on future card additions, and/or provide scoring options.  All restrictions are cumulative, so with each card added, you need to consider everything that came before.  The special effects on some cards are triggered as soon as they are added to your manifest, and can manipulate the gameplay in several ways.

Whenever you add a card to your cargo, it gets added from left to right, which can interact with various scoring and restriction rules.  If you’re ever in a position where you can’t add any of the cards in your current hand to your manifest, you bust, and discard all collected cards to your compost pile (which will at least still score some points at the end of the game).

Once you decide to ship your goods, you’ll select the ‘Ship Cargo’ card for the turn.  Upon revealing that card, you will replace it with one last cargo card from your hand, and then set your current manifest aside, check to see if you’ve met any of the conditions for bonus points, and start a new manifest on the next turn.

Andrew

One of the most clever little design decisions in Graft is that you still add a card to your manifest on the turn you decide to ship cargo. That means that the threat of busting by not being able to add a card isn’t rendered toothless – you can’t look at your cards and say ‘oh well, I can’t add any of these, I may as well ship instead’. You need to make your risk assessment *each turn*, without the crutch of shipping to get you out of it!

The game ends when the draw deck is empty.  At that point, you’ll score all the cards you shipped, bonus badges based on various collection rules, and a point for every card in your compost pile.

Presentation & Production

The art in Graft is vibrant and colorful, which I really appreciate.  Kelly Nakamura brings the stylized aesthetic to life, and once you’re in the groove of the game, the iconography becomes clear enough, once you learn them.  The player tokens are screen-printed and unique in shape, size, and artwork, but feel excessive compared to the need they fulfill.  But while I normally like my game boxes to be as small as is practical, the addition of these bits certainly doesn’t artificially inflate the box size excessively – Graft is delivered in a perfectly modest box size, in line with the other smaller games from IV Studio.

Final Thoughts

Graft is a very playable drafting and set collection game that has just enough strategic decision-making to keep it interesting without being cumbersome.  I like the way restrictions compound with every card you add, meaning that each draft has to be intentional and you also need to be conscious of when to push your luck or when it’s better to bail out on your current manifest by shipping.  It works well at every player count, staying quick and engaging no matter how many players you’ve got, and aside from needing to slow down on turns when someone ships (or when someone just can’t seem to make up their mind), Graft keeps up its pace perfectly well, gliding in well under the estimated 40 minute gametime the box promises.

As long as you’ve got the right group (I always find it limiting when a game simply cannot play 2 players) and as long as that group is happy to play games that feature incredibly limited player interaction, then Graft is the sort of quick-playing card puzzle that will probably be a hit as a warm-up or cool-down for your next game night!

Other Recommendations

• Let’s Go to Japan: this beautiful, clever game is all about planning your vacation to Japan.  It’s great both mechanically and aesthetically, and it also features elements of set collection and card drafting similarly implemented to Graft
• Sea Salt & Paper: Great things sometimes come in small boxes, and this game is absolutely one of those.  With a beautiful aesthetic and simple, engaging gameplay, Sea Salt & Paper will fit into any collection – literally
• Nidavellir: This auction-based set collection game is a personal favorite, which is surprising since I don’t care much for auction games.  However, Nidavellir’s set collection is powered by one of the most clever twists on auctioning I’ve played, where you can either spend resources to recruit dwarves to your cause or invest in your bidding tokens to increase their value