Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/6971334/draft-and-write-records

Designer: Bruno Maciel
Publisher: Inside Up Games
Artist: Pedro A. Alberto

Draft and Write Records is exactly what you think it would be: a roll and write style game where cards get drafted to dictate player actions related to music. The goal is to manage the best band possible by creating a top-notch crew, planning tours, and selling albums. Overall, this game is a fun, unique, thematic roll and write style game that has nice art, a good player range, and plays in a solid time frame.

Before I get into a quick overview and the actual review, I have to share a hilarious story about this game. The game has decks of cards that identify the minimum player count required for them to be used. As I was only playing solo, I went through and separated out the cards with the “1+” label and started my first game. At the end, I calculated my score and compared it to the chart in the rule book, and I failed. Miserably. My super low score made me very confused and irritated because I had no idea how there was enough time in a game to get even the middle range scores! So, I put it away and tried again the next day. Turns out I left some 1+ cards in the box initially, so I truly did not have enough time or cards to get a good score! All my plays after that went better and were more enjoyable, as you can imagine.

In the solo game, the player draws two cards from the deck and either chooses one to use and the other to discard or can draw a third card and use any of those unless two of them are the same type (ex. crew, agenda, etc.) in which case the player has to use the odd one out. The player sheets consist of multiple areas, each of which have different ways of advancing and forming various combination chains. My personal favorite is the crew section as you get to use colored pencils! Each character/crew has certain colors on their card which can influence harmonies. Harmonies occur when two crew members that are adjacent to one another share a color between them (see the pictures for this to make more sense). I think harmonizing is the coolest and most puzzly part of this game, and likely the most original as well.

Honestly, I enjoyed this game more than expected, especially considering my hilariously horrific start. Not only is it pleasant overall, but there is a really nice interconnectedness across the areas of the player sheet, there are many opportunities for combotastic turns, and the theming is well done. The replayability also seems pretty solid even though you always play with the same cards. Each combination of cards offers different decisions, so each game feels unique.

My main complaint is that I wish there were solo achievements or something to keep me wanting to play. After a few games, while each game was still fun and somewhat fresh, I wasn’t particularly motivated to keep exploring the game or to try alternate strategies. That said, overall, it’s a good addition to the ever expanding blank and write genre, especially if you like music and want something creative!