The Manhattan Project: Chain Reaction (Minion Games)

The world is on the brink of war, and many nations are jockeying for power. As the Minister of War of your nation, you have been assigned to build atomic bombs to combat rival nations. You have the technology, but we won't talk of how you acquired it. Now, you just need the right people and materials to complete this task. This is The Manhattan Project: Chain Reaction (TMP: Chain Reaction).  TMP Chain Reaction is game for 1-5 players, ages 12+. It takes approximately 30 minutes to play and retails for $15.

Setup
1. Separate the Resource cards into into piles of Yellowcake value (one, three, five).
2. Place the Landmark cards face-up in a row next to the Resource cards.
3. Place the Bomb Loaded cards in a stack next to the Landmark cards.
4. Shuffle the Bomb Plan cards and deal a number face-up equal to the number of players.
5. Shuffle the Industry cards and make a face-down deck. Then, deal each player five cards face-down.

Game Play - Every player will get the same number of turns. On your turn, you will play your cards in a linked series, with previous cards activating the next cards. Your goal is to create Bomb Plan or Bomb Loaded cards. At the end of your turn, you may keep all Yellowcake, Uranium, Bomb Plan, and Bomb Loaded cards for future turns and scoring. Draw back up to five cards, and play passes to the next player. The first player to 10 megaton of bomb points triggers the end of the game. Complete the round and the War Minister with the most power wins.

Review
The core feature of this game is the multi-use card. Are you going to use the card for labor or for its ability to produce yellowcake, specialized people, or another ability? The chaining mechanism of these cards is a fun little puzzle that you have to try and piece together before your opponent. Will you make the optimum use of your cards quicker than your opponent? Or will you be left in a mushroom cloud of dust? The Manhattan Project: Chain Reaction is a small scale version of The Manhattan Project. It has a tiny footprint on the table, has some take that to it (but not too much), and scratches the same itch as its big brother with a cheaper cost and quicker play time, making it a nice little filler game for family and friends. It is also a good way to introduce people to The Manhattan Project family of games.

This game was provided to me for free by Minion Games in exchange for an honest review.