Copycat

A deck-building, worker-placement politician race that borrows shamelessly from Eurogame favorites.

Designer: Friedemann Friese
Published by: 2F-Spiele
Editions by: Rio Grande Games, Korea Boardgames, 999 Games, Arclight Games, (Web published)

Copycat (2012, known in German as Fremde Federn) is a game that openly borrows from the Eurogame canon: deck-building, worker placement and drafting, all stitched together under one political roof. You are a politician chasing money and influence on the road to the presidency. Each round you draw five cards from your deck, burn one to claim turn order, and send your workers to the offices of a government building. There you buy new cards, collect influence or trigger other actions. You start with seven fatherly friends who pay one coin each and three who are worth influence. Think of a patchwork of games you already know, glued together with a wink. Roughly an hour and a half for two to four players.

Deck-building meets worker placementTurn order set by the card you burnRun for president with money and influence

Who it's for

You enjoy deck-builders and worker placement and like seeing both squeezed into one mid-weight game, ideally with four at the table.

Not for you if…

You want something original rather than a remix of known mechanics, or you prefer short games. This runs over an hour and wears its borrowed ideas openly.

Vibe's take

Familiar gears turning in an unfamiliar machine. Your deck grows, your worker spots shrink, and turn order is its own little fight every round. Mid-weight and tactical, with a wink in the theme.