Chara Games ~ A Review

Our family loves games. Recently our family had the opportunity to learn to play Commissioned from Chara Games. Commissioned is a historically themed, strategy game for 2-6 players. Travel back in time to the first 150 years of the Christian church where players will adopt the roles of early Apostles. Players work together as they strengthen their faith, grow the church, overcome trials and religious persecution, and face natural disasters. The game is intended for ages 14 and up.

I will start by saying that figuring out how to play this game was not easy. After reading the directions I was just not getting it. Thankfully Chara Games has tutorial video that explains how to play. The game is a bit complicated and takes a good deal of time to figure out all of the components of the game. It took me over an hour to really get a good picture of how to play. The first time trying to play was quite rough. It took close to two hours. Some of my kids were turned off due to how complicated it was.

Commissioned is a collaborative game meaning that all players are actually working together to accomplish goals. It is a bit difficult to explain the game but in a nutshell the game is played in rounds: Arm, Live, and Mature. Players adopt the role of an apostle: Paul, Peter, Barnabas, Andrew, Thomas, or John. First, you will choose a scenario card and that card will determine which side of the board you will play on. Next, you choose the apostle you want to be. Each apostle has their own playing board, faith cards, and pawn. Whenever it is your turn you will possess the "elders staff" and it will be passed along as each player takes their turn. There are three basic parts to the game: ARM, LIVE, and MATURE.

ARM ~ you draw 6 faith cards to play with

LIVE ~ this part has 5 actions or parts:

1. Trials
2. Pray
3. Share
4. Move 
5. Grow

MATURE ~ after completing the 5 actions you use faith cards to acquire more "faith cards"

It is so very hard to explain the game. The videos that Chara Games provides on their site do a much better job at explaining.

The game itself is made of very high quality materials. The cardstock is thick and the illustrations and colors are vibrant. Overall, I think that Commissioned is a great game. The biggest drawback is figuring out how to play the game. This game is definitely a game of strategy for the serious game player. The first couple of games I didn't particularly enjoy playing because it was a HUGE learning curve.

Ciara Games also has a new card game called 3 Seeds that may be a bit less intense and time consuming.

To read more reviews click here.

Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharaGames/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CharaGames/ @Charagames

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