A Week in the Wasteland (part 5)

I had many more adventures during the game, and I must say, I really love the quest system. If you choose to quest or have an encounter, you pull a card, read the text, and choose one of the options offered. Sometimes the options have a test of your luck with the dice, others have immediate awards, and still others chain to other quests--noted by numbered cards you need to pull from the gigantic deck of almost 200 cards--and then “stage” that card, which is an extension of your quest that you can activate the next time you choose to. One thing I realized a bit late in the game was that, after I'd gone through the deck of agenda cards (which activate certain foes each round), the deck is reshuffled and then begins again, BUT...the two factions automatically advance one step closer, gaining more influence and essentially “leveling up” in difficulty every two steps. I needed 11 influence to win the game, and realized at the end of the agenda deck that the very next turn, one of the factions would win automatically! I frantically looked at all my options with the remaining 2 actions I had left, and amazingly, I had a perk that let me shop—there were items in my inventory I could sell that would raise the amount I needed to purchase another item that I could turn in for one more agenda card. When I got that agenda card and read that I gained 1 influence for each step my faction was ahead of the other, I rejoiced because it was exactly 3 steps ahead! I gained 3 influence, putting me at the 11 necessary for me to win the game, JUST before I would have had to reshuffle the agenda card deck and give the winning move to my faction instead of me! This is such a fun game!