Arcane Wonders - "Picture Perfect"

Photo above is property of Arcane Wonders

Company: Arcane Wonders

Game: Picture Perfect

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Game (Board Game) 📬

Genre: Memory Puzzle, Party

Date Played: September 11, 2024

Difficulty (based on 4 players): 4/10

Size of Team: 2 to 4 ppl

Time: Unlimited (Approximately 50-90 Mins.)

Price: $31.49 USD

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"Picture Perfect" is a competitive party board game where players take on the role of photographers trying to arrange the perfect group photo at a glamorous society event. Each player must place up to 14 characters in the best possible positions, but there’s a twist, every character has specific preferences about where they want to stand, who they want to be next to, and who they want to avoid. These preferences are hidden in secret envelopes that players can only peek into with limitations.

As players work to arrange their group based on these secret desires, they must also bluff, trade information, and anticipate their opponents' moves, all while ensuring that their own photo setup is flawless. The game ends with players snapping a photo of their arranged scene, and the final score is determined by how well the characters' wishes have been fulfilled.

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The standees in the core game, illustrated by Ronny Libor, Sören Meding, Gyula Pozsgay, and Maja Wrzosek, have a distinct Gatsby aesthetic – when lavish dinner parties were all the rage. Their detailed designs evoke the fashion and style of the period, adding a certain charm to the game’s visual appeal.

The game also includes four player shields, each with its own unique artwork. These shields serve multiple purposes: they keep your character placements hidden from opponents, function as a personal scoreboard at the end of the game, and provide a stunning backdrop for your final photo. Additionally, a double-sided floor mat lets players choose between a brick or wood floor for their party setting, and four tables that come in two distinct designs.

While the publisher could have simplified production by using identical artwork for the player screens, tables, and floor mats, the decision to include such a variety of components adds an extra layer of charm. This thoughtful attention to detail not only enhances the visual appeal but also boosts the game's replay-ability, making each session feel fresh and distinctive.

Other included components of note:

14 Guest Envelopes – Each depicting one of the guests. This is where their preferences are stored each game.
42 Preference Cards – Each guest will be randomly assigned three cards at the beginning of the game detailing their photo preferences.
4 VIP Cards – These cards designate the most important guests.
12 Exchange Cards – These cards determine how the envelopes are exchanged each round. There are six for a 2 player game and another six for a 3-4 player game.
40 Table Decorations – In the base game these are only decorations, however when advancing your play and using the Auction variant, the decorations are used as currency.

Overall, the component quality is solid, though I’ve opted to remove the game’s insert to extend the lifespan of the tables and standees. This allows me to keep the tables assembled between sessions, avoiding the wear and tear that repeated assembly would cause. The thematic artwork is a standout feature, encouraging players to admire their final arrangement and even inspiring them to snap a photo, perfectly capturing the essence of the game.

For those looking to enhance their experience further, acrylic standees are available for purchase separately, offering a sleek upgrade to the game’s standard components.

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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At its core, "Picture Perfect" is a light, easy-to-learn game centered on memory and solving a logic puzzle with limited information.

The game unfolds over six rounds, with each round giving you access to envelopes that hold a guest’s individual preferences. The Exchange Cards determine how these envelopes move between players. Typically, you'll get to peek at two or three sets of preferences, but only once and one at a time. Sometimes, there are envelopes you may never get to see. With this limited insight, you must piece together the best possible arrangement, fulfilling as many of the guests' wishes as you can.

The Preference Cards are straightforward, often featuring diagrams to help. For example, a guest might want to stand to the right, left, or behind a table, next to a specific character, or might not want to be seen by another character at all. These demands are quite relatable to the challenges real photographers face, and occasionally, the randomness of the setup leads to contradictions, like a guest wanting to stand on both the left and right in the same envelope. These quirks not only add humor but also make your decisions more strategic and challenging.

Throughout the six rounds, you can freely rearrange the characters on your board to help remember their preferences. Final placements are only locked in after the last round, when scoring takes place. This is also when you’ll want to snap a picture, both to aid with scoring and to capture the memory of your game.

To add a small element of gambling, players each receive one VIP Card which can be placed into any of the envelopes you encounter; there can even be multiple VIP Cards in the same envelope. Characters with VIP Cards will score one additional time for each card within for all players, no matter who put the card there. This makes fulfilling those particular guests' preferences even more critical, as it could give you the edge needed to secure a win.

The game also offers a variant that incorporates an auction into the inter-round exchanging of cards. This is a fun dynamic that adds a thin layer of strategy and small amount of unpredictability to the proceedings.

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At the end of the sixth-round players lay down their shields to make use of the scoring pad and scoring summary, whilst also letting your opponents see your scene for the first time. Scoring is simply done; reveal the three Preference Cards of each character one at a time, allowing each player to simultaneously score points based on how many of the criteria they met – 0, 1, 2, or all 3.

The player with the most points after scoring all 14 characters is the winner.

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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"Picture Perfect" offers a refreshing take on board gaming, encouraging creativity in a unique and engaging way. Its simplicity and straightforward scoring system make it highly accessible to casual players and even children. You don’t need to remember every guest’s preferences to do well; as long as you get at least one right, you’ll score points. This mechanic allows players to still get a sense of achievement during the scoring phase.

While the game primarily feels like a solo puzzle, the scoring phase brings players together, fostering conversation as everyone admires and compares their final arrangements. It’s rare for a game to spark such post-play discussion, but Picture Perfect accomplishes that brilliantly.

That said, I was pleased to find several expansions available, as the base game, though enjoyable, could become a bit repetitive after many plays. Adding variants like the auction mechanic or incorporating more Exchange Cards are simple ways to increase variety and keep the game fresh. Expansions help to enhance replay-ability and offer new ways to enjoy the game’s charming premise.

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Disclosure: We thank Arcane Wonders for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.

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