Climate change is not the most exciting or “fun” theme for a board game. Let’s just get that out of the way right now. We know that it’s a serious problem that needs to be dealt with, and future generations are absolutely in jeopardy if we keep the world turning the way that we are currently. But, playing board games with friends can be an escape from the daily grind, a chance to do something whimsical, competitively or cooperatively, and hopefully have some laughs while doing it. Daybreak is not that kind of game.
Daybreak is presented as a cooperative board game about stopping climate change. It’s designed by Matt Leacock, the creator of Pandemic, another game that presents a scary but plausible scenario based in the real world, with players working together to protect the environment. Daybreak is grounded a bit deeper in reality, though; and while it claims to present a “hopeful vision of the near future, where you get to build the mind-blowing technologies and resilient societies we need to save the planet”, we spent most of our time right up against it, struggling to survive.
Daybreak is built around the idea of implementing Projects that can help to stop climate change. This is done via an engine building mechanic, where you’ll constantly be drawing cards, and making the most of your five Local Projects in play, to do things like create positive energy sources, plant trees, remove components that create bad energy (like cars and buildings), and so on. Each card has symbols in the top right corner, and as you stack the Local Projects on top of one another, you’ll gain access to stronger actions; for example, some cards require multiple matching symbols to be activated, allowing you to draw more cards. It’s all in order to reach “draw down”, with global emissions to net zero, before time runs out.
Knowing which cards to have in play and which ones to stack behind them is the crux of Daybreak, and while it is played cooperatively with everybody at the table working towards the same shared goal, a lot of this takes place in your individual player space. You can help each other, sure, but I found myself getting into a rhythm of building up my own bigger moves, without worrying too much about everybody else.
“…like the best engine builders, there is a flow state that you can find yourself in and many different cards to work with.”
Where Daybreak does inspire a bit more cooperation is in its Crisis Cards. At the end of each Local Project stage, once you’ve calculated how many emissions you’re causing, Crisis Cards come into play, initially being hidden, but then revealing negative consequences for the group. For example, they can force you to remove trees from the game board, meaning global missions fill up more quickly, or they can make specific players receive other challenging effects, like communities in crisis (reducing their draw power) or removal of other useful tokens you might have been saving for later. During the earlier phases, once these Crisis Cards are revealed, you can work together to remove them, but it will cost you cards from your hand to do so. Global Projects, on the flip side, allow you to all contribute to an ongoing benefit that can be useful in later rounds.
It makes for a relatively engaging balancing act throughout Daybreak; will you focus on boosting your own abilities, or help the group by focusing on removing a Crisis or activating a Global Project? Of course, the luck of the draw factors in here as well, and you won’t always pick up the cards you need, making the decisions even more difficult. We did find it satisfying working together to remove these cards; like the best engine builders, there is a flow state that you can find yourself in and many different cards to work with. If you pick up something entirely unuseful to your Local Projects, you can just use it towards a group goal instead.
That said, we did find that Crisis Cards are very difficult to stay on top of. As the temperature rises and emissions continue to pile on in the early rounds when you’re still trying to build up your Local Projects to be more powerful, the negative effects weigh heavily, and it makes things even more difficult. For example, the more communities you have in a crisis, the fewer cards you can draw, meaning fewer options. You also have to roll a Planetary die, meaning more bad things happen to the group. Daybreak can feel punishing, and not in a satisfying way; we inevitably lost our attempts at Daybreak, and didn’t feel like we had the luck of the draw on our side to make a proper impact. You’re starting on the back foot, and constantly feeling like you can’t make big enough moves to get ahead.
It’s a commendable theme, though, and I respect the creators of Daybreak for going so hard on it. From the outset, I really like that the game itself is super sustainable; it doesn’t use any plastics at all. Even the storage trays are made from pulp and other biodegradable materials. There are also no textiles, and the game is 100% FSC Certified, with their wood and paper components harvested in such a way as to guarantee they will grow back.
Every single card has its own story, too, with a scannable QR code bringing up a page that goes into more detail about how the card works on a gameplay level, while also explaining its importance on a real-world level. Not everybody is going to want to read about why Forest Restoration is important, or what Clean Energy Standards entail, but the extra information and unique artwork (notably 200+ illustrations all created by human artists) take this concept an extra step further.
It’s a lot of reading you’re unlikely to do while you’re sitting at the table and playing, however, unless everybody spends 10 minutes scanning QR codes and taking some education time between turns. Some of the content also comes off as overly preachy, and that circles back to what I was saying earlier about board games needing to be enjoyable. I know climate change is a problem, and I get that the world needs to change if we are going to help save it, but I don’t necessarily want that intense education when I’m sitting down with my mates to play a board game on a Friday night after a tough week. Daybreak feels made for a certain crowd, thematically speaking, and that could be a barrier to entry that’s too great for some in the first place.
If you approach Daybreak purely for its engine-building gameplay with a touch of cooperative decision-making, it can be quite enjoyable and engaging. However, I’m concerned that the theme might deter some players from giving it a fair chance. Hell, even as somebody who agrees with the message, I found it to be a bit overwhelming, but your mileage may vary.
As a direct comparison, the recently released CATAN: New Energies also tackles sustainability, but does so by incorporating some game mechanics that don’t punish you constantly for the choices you make. Perhaps that’s a more optimistic view of climate change, but by not going as hard with the messaging, it’s easier to pull out on a game night without bringing the mood down. Daybreak might have some decent ideas, but its punishing style makes it difficult to recommend unless the theme really resonates.
Daybreak is available now in all good board game stores. Thanks to VR Distribution for providing a copy for this review.
About the Author
Luke Mitchell
he/him
Luke spends his time making radio, playing video games, binge-watching TV, getting unreasonably invested in wrestling, hosting bear events and hanging out with his beautiful pets.
