Figment

• Designer: Wolfgang Warsch
• Publisher: CMYK
• Players: 1-6
• Age: 8+
• Time: 15-30 minutes
• Amazon Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4ik8xte
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Figment is a mind-bending visual experience from Wolfgang Warsch. Figment is a game of visual perception, where everyone cooperates to line up a row of cards with unique art, so each has more of one color than the card before it. (Figment was previously known as Illusion)

Figment is part of the new Magenta line of games from CMYK – per their press release… CMYK is thrilled to announce the launch of Magenta: a striking new collection of card games. In a world of increasing digital distractions, Magenta is set to revive a classic way we gather and play – making face-to-face connections through card game nights with family, friends, and new faces around the table. “The idea behind Magenta is simple: to bring people together through the world’s best card games,” says Alex Hague, founder of CMYK. “To do that, we’ve created a line of games that are both fun to play and beautifully designed.”

Figment is a card game in which players attempt to order cards by the percentage of a color — magenta, blue, green, silver — shown on them.  The twist is that the cards form a sort of optical illusion, and the task is trickier than you’d expect.   This game was previously known as Illusion, and it was released many years ago in Germany by publisher Nurnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag (NSV), and the English-language release by Pandasaurus Games.   That version of the game was competitive with players vying against each other.  CMYK brings a new version of this game idea with the game now being cooperative in nature (and, it can also be played solo…)

Figment comes with two kinds of cards.  First, there’s a large stack of the cards containing the illusions.  These have an eccentric series of designs on the front, and on the back, they show the percentage of the design for each color (magenta, blue, green, silver ).   The other stack of cards shows an arrow with one of the colors.  You can set aside five of these cards at the start of the game, one for each round.

At the start of each round, one of the arrow cards is shown, and play begins clockwise.  The top card is flipped up and placed on the table.  Then, the next card is flipped up and the team discusses where to place it on the growing line of cards.  The goal here is to arrange them in ascending order by the designated color.  For example, if there are already cards that have 20% magenta and 25% magenta on the table, and you think the next card has 22% magenta, you’d put it between those. (The gameplay here sort of resembles the Timeline or Cardline series.)

The deck is passed around the table as each card is placed, and if the team cannot decide, the player who revealed the card for the turn gets to make the final decision on placement.  A round continues until 5 cards are flipped over and placed in the row. 

Now the round is resolved.  The team first uses one of their betting chips – numbered from 1 to 5 – based on how confident they feel on the cards being in the correct order.  You can only use each betting chip once during the game.  Then the team decides which end of the row they want to start from, and then the cards are revealed one at a time.  If you ever turn a card over that isn’t in the right order of percent covered, the round immediately ends.  Each card that was revealed and was in the correct order is added to the team’s scoring pile.  If you got all 5 cards correct, also add the betting chip to the scoring pile.  Repeat this five times.  It’s that easy!

At the end of the game, you compare your score to a chart to see how you did.  Once you finish at the gold level, the game invites you to take on a larger challenge where you place 6 cards each round instead of 5.

My thoughts on the game:

I had played the original release of the game, I loved this idea, but I really felt it ventured more into the activity arena for me than the game arena.  The reason for this is that more often than not, one player in the group just had a better innate sense for figuring out the percentage covered on a card (or one person was just really bad at it… like me).  Game rounds often ended after the turn of the exceptionally good or bad player.   

This new version converts the game to a cooperative one, which it turns out, I love playing.  Now, players act as a team and can work together to talk out their reasoning about where they want a card to go.  It is a much more satisfying experience to feel a part of the experience rather than being singled out.  For me, this is the ideal way to play the game, and it is one that I have enjoyed quite a lot this winter with my advance copy.

The art direction for the entire line is colorful and distinctive.  I’ve found that people either love it or not.  The bright magenta boxes are most definitely eye-catching.  It’s hard not to notice them on your table or gameshelf.  I do like the way that the game comes with a bright slip cover and then has a nicely patterned inner box that opens like a book..  The entire set of Magenta games looks great together with the interior box patterns peeking out of the cutouts in the outer sleeves.   The colors on the cards are similarly bright, and the designs on the cards are just so gorgeous.  There are also nice little touches in the box, including a little folder pocket on the inside cover to hold the rules.

Replayability is nearly infinite.  The cards will shuffle in a different order each time, and you get a randomly decided color to evaluate in each round as well.  The artwork on the cards is really great for the game being played here, and there are some cards which feel easy and others that are truly diabolical.  Some cards are also easier for particular colors, so their difficulty could be dependent on the color card flipped over for the round.  

The game is dead simple. The rules can be explained in about 2 minutes using a few example cards set on the table.  And since it’s cooperative, if one person has played before, they can pretty much get the group going as they play the first round.  The use of the betting chips adds a bit of strategy to the game and can be the main way to distinguish your score from one round to the next.  As I had mentioned, some cards/rounds are easier than others, and taking advantage of your correct answers in an “easy” round  is paramount for a high score.

As I mentioned earlier, I was lukewarm on the original game because it didn’t feel like it wanted to be a competitive game – and now that I’ve played the idea cooperatively, this is so much better (for me).  The team can discuss what they want to do, everyone gets a chance to participate, and it is just such a fun experience.  The games are short enough that it is not uncommon for my groups to want to play multiple games in a row, trying to beat their previous score.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Dan B.: I’ve played the original version many times but haven’t seen this one yet. I agree the competitive aspect of the original was a little weak, but I am a bit skeptical of the new version based on the description: just 5 cards per round (or 6 in hard mode) doesn’t seem like a lot of fun. I also don’t quite see the point of the single-use betting chips – what if you’re really certain you got it right in several rounds?

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!  
• I like it. Dale, John P, Jim, Dan B. (original)
• Neutral. 
• Not for me….

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