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It seems like It’s a Wonderful World presents you with lots of options, and while that is certainly true, it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds.It’s nice to find a game that feels meaty but is quick to set up and quick to play; our first game took about 45 minutes, but since then they have lasted no more than 30 minutes with 2 players. Then the roles reverse… and any cards not yet taken remain on the selection areas until a player chooses that area. The drafting creates tense decision making, especially because you cannot construct all 7 cards drafted each round. Broadly speaking, every card can be used for one of two things: slate it for production or recycle it for its recycling bonus.

I guess they are both balanced by what you do with tiles in between passing them around, but I started seeking out more drafting games because maybe I don’t dislike it as much as I thought. It’s quite a simple game and the joy comes from spotting the combos that will slot neatly into your empire. Still, it bears repeating that yes, this is a card game and yes, that does mean that sometimes the right card you need doesn’t come out in time or at all.They have different backs and each hand has some of each so you will always have some to choose from. Discarding cards is a very minor way to gain resources, but the main way is to gain an income from the cards you have already built. The fact that buildings can be built over successive turns means that every card feels like it is a wonder.

This expansion is a campaign allowing players to live an adventure scripted in 5 scenarios which brings, collectively during the game, players to make choices that will tip the story towards Peace or World War. It's a Wonderful World is played in 4 rounds with three phases each: first Drafting, then Planning, and finally Production. I’m not sure the goodie box of Kickstarter extras is worth the hard-earned money I spent on it… but since this is a game we play a good bit, I love how the little plastic bit bowls and chunky wooden round marker make the game a little bit nicer. A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. But in any case, they’re quite interesting and enjoyable to use, helping to mitigate the one downside of It’s a Wonderful World, which is when you just get dealt horribly awkward portions of the deck and can’t do anything about it.The time has come for our free and joyful people to follow the wise recommandations of our great savior: the Supreme Citizen!

And a slightly bloated campaign game of It’s a Wonderful World is still more fun than many other games. You can always recycle buildings that are slated for construction for their recycle bonus, although you won’t get to reallocate any resources already on the card. Add to the mix the engine building aspect of determining which cards to Construct and balancing scoring opportunities versus improved production, and you have what is, by far, my favorite drafting game. One is a new way to score points by advancing a track, and the other is a way to finish your cards faster. The bonus is either placed on a card under construction if a matching space is available or, if not, is placed on the player’s empire card.The design of this game is great-the art and the graphic design really pop and stand out on the table. I get myself cards that will generate tons of resources during the production step (allowing me to make more cards) and I forget an important fact: the game is not as long as you think it is. My only concern is minor, and it’s that I have a sense that the game may start to feel repetitive without expansions to add new cards.