A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune) was a short silent film made in 1902 by French cinematic pioneer Georges Méliès. Inspired by the novels of Jules Vernes, its special effects may look primitive to modern eyes but they were a revelation to audiences in the early days of cinema at the turn of the 20th Century. Méliès short would go on to influence generations of film-makers, to the extent that A Trip to the Moon has been ranked in the top 100 movies of the 20th Century. Even those who have never seen the 1902 film will recognise its iconic image of a rocket hitting the man in the moon in the eye.
It's Georges Méliès A Trip to the Moon then that serves as the theme for Looping Games' 1902 Méliès, with art by Pedro Soto. Indeed, the game feels like a loving tribute to this classic of silent cinema. It's a worker placement game where the 2-4 players are all assistants to Méliès working on pre-production (drafting scripts and special effects cards or preparing the sets); production ('filming' by costuming actors and moving them into the positions indicated on the script cards); and post-production (splicing together into sequences scenes completed in production and colourising them).
There's a lot of game here. Tho' it comes in a small box, 1902 Méliès is a medium-weight eurogame that plays in about an hour. Putting a worker out to a location doesn't block that location for other players; you'll be helping a rival tho' by visiting the same location as you'll bump their pawn, freeing it up for use on their next turn; but interaction can prove to be 'take that' as, for example, players use others' completed scenes in their edited sequences.
With four players there can be a lot of change before your next turn comes around, so the game can feel chaotic. For that reason, we've preferred it as a two-player game, which better facilitates planning your turns. Regardless of player count tho', you'll be impressed at the thematic strength of the design from Eloi Pujadas and Ferran Renalias. Tho' it's a eurogame where you'll need to have an eye to racking up points, the various stages of film production come through strongly throughout as players are rewarded for their progress in Production Journals. The only thematic disconnect is in the company share cards gained, seemingly arbitrarily, for moving your pawn clockwise in pre-production, or for having another player colourise a scene you've filmed, to potentially earn set collection bonuses; in our plays at Board's Eye View these felt bolted on and out of place. And if a player is lucky enough to pick up three identical cards, they can net that player a disproportionately high number of points. This tho' is a small gripe in an otherwise very strong game.
If you're a cinephile, 1902 Méliès is a Must Buy. But even if you're wholly unfamiliar with the silent screen, this is a compact eurogame that's definitely worth checking out.
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