Base price: $45.
2 – 4 players.
Play time: 50 – 90 minutes.
BGG Link
Buy on Amazon (via What’s Eric Playing?)
Logged plays: 2
Full disclosure: A review copy of Picture Perfect was provided by Arcane Wonders.
Strangely, I’m actually getting better at writing and watching TV. I overexterted and ended up with too much going on for one day. But I’m back behind the wheel, in the saddle, and whatever other metaphor puts me in the driver’s seat. I say that and then immediately lost an hour of writing because the show I was watching had a compelling bit, but I’m nothing if not inconsistent. Anyways, we ball. Let’s try to get another game review in before I go to Gen Con: Picture Perfect, anyone?
In Picture Perfect, players have an issue. There’s a group dinner, and everyone wants their photo taken! Annoyingly, they all have preferences on what needs to happen for the perfect picture to take place. Even worse, nobody’s telling you everything! You’re going to have to make some informed guesses. If you’re lucky, you can start with a few people and figure out what they want based on context. Trouble is, that’s a whole lot to hold in your memory at once. Also, how does the plant even have preferences? It’s a plant! You’ll have to figure it all out, though: the more you get right, the more you score, and you want to earn your place among the photographers. Will you manage to make a name for yourself?
Contents
Player Count Differences
At the core of it, the only major difference in player count is how many envelopes you get at a time. That said, in the advanced game with its auctions, having other players around can, of course, shake things up. Other people are unpredictable! It may be a bit easier to have fewer envelopes at once, though; in the two-player game, having five to try and memorize quickly was hard. More players does increase the odds that you’ll know less by the game’s end, though, so be careful what you wish for. I actually like Picture Perfect a lot with two players! There’s a good back-and-forth and you can strategically usually hide one or two characters rather than having to risk everyone keeping something from you. There’s just a lot of information to learn up-front. No real preference otherwise, though!
Strategy
- I think it’s wise to have some way to communicate information to your future self. For instance, I place people facing me when I have looked at their envelope, facing away from me when I haven’t (if another envelope refers to them). I’m currently trying to figure out a way to note that the people are 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 cards fulfilled so I know how to better prioritize as the game goes on.
- Try to keep some information hidden as best as you can. Having one person that nobody knows about is great, especially if you place your VIP card in that envelope. Doing that might mean you can get 12 points to everyone else’s -6. That likely won’t happen, but that is the ideal outcome.
- Don’t place everyone at once. It’s much better to place people once you have some information about them rather than just splatting them all on the board and figuring it out from there.
- Prioritize! Getting a 0 with one person is fine if you’re getting 6s with multiple others. It’s a lot better than getting 1s for three people, for instance. In one case you get 9 points, in the other you’re getting 3. The math makes the argument for me, frankly.
- If you’re positive you have 0 requirements met for a person, you’re better off removing them! 0 is better than -3. Be mindful when someone’s not getting their needs met and just get them out of the picture. Personally, I still think this is a good argument for trying to pivot the characters or something to indicate how far along they are in their preferences; if you see anyone with 0 fulfilled by the game’s end, you know you should remove them.
- Identify critical people who you need to know about so you can focus on getting their information. There are going to be people who are sought after in essentially a chain (A wants to be by B wants to be by C wants to be by D); noticing that chain and setting it up well is also key to success.
- Sometimes there’s no perfect placement. If you get a character with inherently conflicting goals, just do the best you can. That can be a pretty good character to share with other players, though, since you know you’re not giving away a 6-point spread.
Pros, Mehs, and Cons
Pros
- I do have a soft spot for photography-themed games. I’m not entirely sure why.
- The balance of memory is pretty fun. It’s also hard. I have tried to rack my brain and remember all the details but there are just so many that it doesn’t work out at all. I do kind of love that in a sick way.
- There’s a nice variety of people at this dinner party! A fairly diverse range of guests in both gender, ethnicity, and species. You don’t see as much of the latter.
- I don’t fully understand how the plant has photo preferences, but I do respect them when possible. It’s nice that they’re making friends when they already have fronds. I’ll show myself out.
- I think it’s nice to let every player choose the first person they get to learn about. It gives them a bit more “control” over the process than randomness. It’s like letting players draw their face-down role card in a social deduction game; it subtly and quickly improves player buy-in for the overall experience of the game.
- I think the tactile elements of the game work in its favor on multiple levels. The 3D of it all lends verticality, which players almost universally love. The table presence of the game is good, too! This is definitely a game that will inspire other people to come and ask what you’re doing, which may be good or bad.
Mehs
- I wasn’t as keen on the auction gameplay at lower player counts; I find the basic game is perfectly reasonable. I just don’t love two-player auctions, to be fair; I want more engagement.
- The random elements may work against you at times which is a bit of a bummer. Sometimes you shuffle the envelopes and your opponent gets a ton of new information and you get nothing. That can be frustrating, but hopefully it averages out.
Cons
- I think “I want to make sure no one sees the face of” could be “I want to block the face of” and it would be a bit easier to understand that that specific character needs to block that specific other character. This gets lost on players sometimes. We have had this problem come up in multiple games and I always need to check the Photography Guide. There are a few different rules about who goes where and in front of whom; sometimes it’s hard to keep everything straight. Giving a character a specific charge to block someone else is sometimes workable, though.
Overall: 8.5 / 10
Overall, I think Picture Perfect is great! I really like games with photography elements, and even though it manifests in a slightly-clunky way (you have to take a picture of the final result and use that to score, which is … clunky, ill-defined, the whole shebang), the game comes through very fun! It’s whimsical yet strategic and challenging. You’re trying to solve an optimization puzzle (how can I maximally-satisfy all the guests in this photo) with two major issues: one, it’s impossible to perform perfectly (usually), and two, you can’t possibly remember all the preferences. So you’re not just competing with your opponents, you’re also fighting in vain against your own crummy memory. I love the challenge and frustration of that, even if it occasionally lets me down. There’s some nice touches, like a more-complex auction mode for more experienced players or extra decor for the shutterbugs, but there are also a wide variety of characters and preferences to explore, even when they humorously don’t overlap well. I think Picture Perfect is a great way to challenge the conception of what modern board games are in a way that folks will find unexpected, and that’s great. That sort of thing elevates the hobby and makes things more interesting for everyone. You love to see it. Now if I could just remember everything I ever read when I played, I’d be set. If you’re an aspiring photographer, you enjoy optimizing puzzles, or you’ve just had to suffer through the agony of a lengthily-set-up group photo, you’ll probably enjoy Picture Perfect! I think it’s a blast.
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