By Jim Johnson, Star Trek Adventures Project Manager
Art by Chris Webb and CBS Studios, Inc.
Now that the preorder for the Star Trek: Lower Decks “Buffer Time” card game is active, let’s talk about how to play the game, shall we? I promise, there are no Wadi here to distract you.
“Buffer Time” is a push-your-luck card game for 2–6 players working together to score enough Leisure Points to win before the senior officers get wise and shut you down. The game is played over the course of five rounds. In each round, the players receive an Assignment that has a certain Target value and sometimes a Leisure Point value. The players must work collaboratively to gather enough Effort into the Shift stack to meet or beat the total Target value.
How do the players do that? Well, on each of their turns, a player may take one of four actions: play a Side Project card, add Effort to the Assignment at hand, play a Special Ability card, or score out the current Assignment, assuming the Effort total equals or beats the Target total.
Playing a Side Project card adds to the Target total for that round, and also usually adds 1 or more Leisure Points to the Target total that could be scored in that round. The game cannot be won by scoring out the five Assignments alone; the players have to attempt Side Projects to win the game. The players must decide how much to push their luck every round—do you add more Side Projects (and Target values) to the round to earn a greater reward, or do you play it safe and score out earlier in each round? The choice is yours!
Adding Effort is as easy as flipping the top card of the Shift deck and adding it to the Shift stack. Most Shift cards have an Effort value that is added to the other Effort values in the Shift stack. Once your Effort total meets or beats the Target value for that round, the Assignment can be scored out.
But watch out! The Shift stack contains several Officer cards as well. If you end up with a total of four Officer icons in the Shift stack, the senior officers catch you slacking off and you fail to complete that round’s Assignment. What’s worse, the officers also remove the highest-scoring completed Assignment or Side Project from the scoring row, potentially making it more challenging for you to win the game. Darn those senior officers, anyway!
Playing a Special Ability card enables a player to perform some key action, depending on the card played. Special Abilities are usually beneficial, and can help the players gather critical information about the cards in the Shift deck, remove Officers from the Shift stack, and otherwise manipulate the game to their favor. Special Ability cards are a very limited resource, so play them carefully and wisely!
If the players score enough Leisure Points, they win the game. If, after all Assignment cards have been either scored or lost, the players don’t have enough Leisure Points to win, they lose the game and have to work out the rest of their duty shift bereft of any joy.
That comprises the essentials of playing “Buffer Time.” Excited? Of course you are! Now go preorder a copy and then move along home! Oh wait, wrong game.
Play on, lower deckers! Lower Decks! Lower Decks!!
Preorder your copy of the Star Trek: Lower Decks “Buffer Time” card game now, and prepare for shenanigans, Lower Decks style!
Thanks for reading this article, and thank you for your interest and support of the “Buffer Time” card game and Star Trek Adventures! Keep frequencies open for news about other upcoming Star Trek Adventures product releases. Live long and prosper!
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