Friday is a masterpiece of theme, deckbuilding and push-your-luck

Originally published on Board Game Geek. Robinson Crusoe’s ship has floundered off the coast of a desolate island, he is the only survivor and he has nothing but his innate skills and behaviors at his disposal. The good news is he is a genius (+2) and can be focused (+1) from time to time. The bad news is he’s weak (0) and easily distracted (-1). In the game, these attributes manifest via a starting deck of 18 cards. You are not playing as Robinson Crusoe, though. You are Friday. But not the Friday that Daniel Defoe wrote about. Not exactly. There’s a moment in the novel that stands out to the reader: It happened one day about noon, going towards my boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print of a man’s naked foot on the shore, which was very plain to be seen in the sand: I stood like one thunder-struck, or as if I had seen an apparition. Years later Robinson rescues Friday from cannibals, so that’s probably not his footprint. But what if it was? Friday, the game, supposes that…