Eila and Something Shiny is a game I have wanted to play since it first came out. I am quite sure as I wouldn’t say narrative-driven games are must plays for me. Maybe it was seeing the artwork as people shared their plays. Maybe it was because it seemed so hard to get hold of. Whatever the reason after a couple of years of trying to find a copy it had become something of a grail game to me. It therefore, filled me with both glee and amazement when it suddenly turned up in my FLGS.
Though easy enough to set up, Eila is not a lunchtime game, it’s a big box and the game board isn’t small. It’s a game divided into chapters with each chapter being played out using sets of cards. Looking at the cards, there is no denying that Eila and Something Shiny is a beautifully illustrated game, with the lead character, Eila, being a cute rabbit. As you work through the chapter Eila encounters different challenges requiring it to take actions from shedding resources through to battling creatures. Much has been written elsewhere about the deeper meaning of the story which I will avoid repeating here.
The main gameplay mechanic is turning over card reading the text and then choosing an action which often determines the next card very much in the style of choose you own adventure. The aim being to complete the chapter aim within a set number of days (a day end when the deck of cards reaches it end). In addition to this main mechanic, variety is introduced in chapters with unique mechanics such as traversing a maze or taking on extra challenges. Throughout the game there are also resources that need to gained and managed, with each day end usually needing a resource being played so as not to lose a life. If you meet the chapter goal in the allotted time you ‘win’ the chapter and get to read the chapter outcome in a small comic. Each chapter has a variety of possible endings dependent on the decisions you made within the chapter.
There is much in this game that makes it a unique and engaging experience. So why did it disappoint me so much? Was it a case of it not meeting my grail built up hype?
Having got to the end, I had no desire to go back and find out what the other endings of chapters were , basically I didn’t want to go back and do it all again. Reflecting on why I think it boils down to simply too much rinse and repeat. Granted many games rely on this but I think the problem, for me, with Eila it feels a bit like rote learning. When you take a wrong path in a chapter it’s easy to note what went wrong and correct yourself next time: “Ah if I do this then I’ll get x which I need for y” after a couple of chapters the novelty wore off and it all started to feel a bit predictable.
So in the end while I can see why many fall for the charming aesthetic and heartfelt narrative, I didn’t find then journey quite as enchanting.
Lunch time solo 