The Prodigals Club
- Players
- 2-5
- Best withThe player count this game plays best at.
- 4 players
- Play timeHow long a full game runs once everyone knows the rules.
- 100 min
- AgeThe minimum age printed by the publisher.
- 14+
- ComplexityHow demanding the rules are, from 1 (very light) to 5 (very heavy).
- 3.3 / 5
- Year
- 2015
About the game
The Prodigals Club casts players as Victorian gentlemen competing to ruin their reputations as thoroughly and stylishly as possible. Across three interlocking mini-games, you can attempt to lose an election, squander your fortune, or offend high society, mixing and matching whichever combination of competitions you like. Each track influences the others, so success requires balancing your efforts across all three. Designed by Vladimír Suchý, it shares its Victorian setting with his game Last Will, though no prior knowledge is needed to play. It's a clever, satirical euro game about competitive failure.
Hobbli's Notes
Hobbli appreciates this game's tongue-in-cheek premise of racing to lose rather than win, which sets it apart from typical euro scoring games. The modular structure of three competitions gives groups flexibility to scale complexity to their taste. It does ask for a fairly high playtime commitment and can suffer from downtime in larger groups. Suchý fans will recognize his knack for tight resource interactions here.
What we like
- Unique satirical theme about competitive failure.
- Modular design lets players choose which competitions to combine.
- Deep, interacting strategic tracks reward planning.
- Ties thematically into Last Will for fans of Suchý's work.
Keep in mind
- Long playtime and notable downtime between turns.
- Rules overhead can be daunting for newer euro players.
- Theme may feel dry compared to more visually engaging games.
Who it's for
Suited to experienced euro gamers (14+) who enjoy multi-track strategy games with dry humor; best with 3-5 players for full interaction.
