When it comes to licensed board games, they usually come in two flavors. The good kind try to tie back to the source material, all while creating a memorable experience for the fans (Firefly: The Board Game, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle). The rest will just be skin deep tie-ins that seek only to leech off the popularity of the source material. These are forgettable experiences best regulated to the bargain bins (World War Z: The Board Game). Thankfully, our newest Game of the Week falls into the first category.

Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

I have long been a fan of the Dresden Files books. With over a dozen and counting, I’m always at the front of the line to buy the newest book of wizard Harry Dresden’s adventures. And when I run out of books to read, I’m always chomping at the bit for a new Dresden Files comic book. I just can’t get enough of the Dresden universe. So imagine my excitment when I found out that they were making a tabletop game based on author Jim Butcher’s novels.

Thanks to the success its Kickstarter campaign, publisher Evil Hat Games as brings us a cooperative card game set in the world of Harry Dresden. If you aren’t familiar with the Dresden Files (and you should be), it’s set in modern day Chicago, and revolves around the adventures of private investigator/wizard Harry Dresden. Expect a lot of magic, demons, fey, investigations, and quite a bit of humor and excitement.

So what is the game? In the Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game each player takes on the role of an iconic character from the series. Someone will always play Harry, but there are a variety of other characters present included Karen, Michael, Dr. Butters and even Mouse.

The goal of the game is for the players to solve cases and defeat enemies. While the game play is easy to learn, winning is anything but easy. The game definitely doesn’t pull and punches and cooperation is a must if players hope to in.

What I like so much about the Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game, aside from its difficulty, is just how unique it feels. Each character has a special stunt and talent card, along with their own personal deck, that will really direct how they approach the game. Players start the game with a hand of cards, and that’s it. It’s rare to draw more cards during the game, and sometimes it feels like a puzzle waiting to be solved.

With tons of diverse characters and cases to deal with, the Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game has buckets of replay value and is a ton of fun as well. This one is a great choice for fans of the Dresden Files, and can be fun even if you’ve never read a page of his story.