Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8571655/backstories-the-emerald-wedding-anniversary

Designers: Jules Messaud, Anthony Perone
Publisher: La Boîte de Jeu
Artist: Gong Studios

You can check out our review, but the first installment (Backstories: Alone Under the Ice) of this game was quite fun, yet this one far surpasses it. It is SO much better! I played through the first one twice and felt I’d really seen most of the story and cards, but I experienced three full playthroughs of this one, got three different endings, made varying choices throughout, and still feel there is more to explore. I had a good time with all three plays even though I knew some of the story and endings; experimenting with different paths during the game can be just as interesting as a fresh playthrough, and this version is perfect for that.

Besides a better overall experience, the story telling and character development in this one significantly improved. They also added in a few new design choices (both mechanically and artistically) that I really appreciate which positively impact the game and the narrative (I’m trying to keep it vague to avoid spoilers). Because of this, and the redesign in general, this one feels more unique and also allows for early game decisions to be impactful later in the game which wasn’t as relevant in the first one. It’s really clever, and it almost makes replays more fun since you know what early choices can affect later in the game. The other major difference would be that there seem to be fewer puzzles in this one, and the ones that exist seem pretty easy. I honestly don’t mind that, just know they made this one more about decision making and story telling than actually solving puzzles.

Overall, if you liked the first one, you MUST try this one. It is better in almost every way – a great, exciting story that develops and branches more, wonderful art, a few fun puzzles, a neat interconnectedness between the start and end of the narrative, and some original design elements as a cherry on top. I look forward to more iterations if they’re anything like this one!