The Initiative (2021)

About this game

The Initiative — a unique co-operative board game of story, strategy, and code-breaking — lets players take on the role of teenagers in 1994 who have found a mysterious board game called "The Key". Not only will they play The Key, but players will help the teens through a pivotal chapter of their lives by following a series of missions linked together via an interactive comic book. The game's campaign is broken into a number of chapters, each taking 30-60 minutes to complete and each starting with you reading a page of the comic book. The story advances even if players fail a mission, but winning may provide a reward in the future. Each chapter builds on the knowledge and story from previous chapters, weaving narrative, code-breaking, and mystery into one thrilling game experience.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 1 to 4. It has a designed solo mode.
• Rules load. At 2.0/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 8 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.