Layers family board game review
When you think of “layers” what do you think of?
If you’re a Shrek fan like us, you’ll immediately think of onions and ogres.
Of course, you might also think of cake, lasagna, Reese’s peanut butter cups, Adobe Photoshop, and the Earth.
Well, it’s also now a game!
Of course, the board game Layers isn’t really like any of those other things.
Layers is a pattern-matching race game that has players turning, flipping, and overlapping layers of colorful sheets as fast as they can.
The faster you complete a pattern shown on the mission card, the higher your score will be and the closer you’ll be to victory!
How to play Layers
Layers is a very simple game to understand and play. I don’t say “easy” because visual puzzles and spacial positioning may not be so easy for some.
To begin, each player is given a Player board and a set of 5 Layers (colored sheets). Each Layer is double-sided with slight color variations on each side.
The Mission cards are shuffled according to their level (Levels 3, 4, and 5) and 2 cards are drawn (unseen) from each Level deck. The 6 cards are stacked face down in the center of the table so the order from top to bottom will be 3, 4, 5, 3, 4, 5.
The game is played over 6 rounds.
At the start of each round score tokens are set out depending on the number of players. For example, in a 4 player game a token of each value 1, 2, 3, and 4 points are set out.
Then the top Mission card is turned over and players immediately start trying to match the displayed pattern using their Layers.
The number listed on the Mission card indicates how many Layers are needed to complete the pattern.
When a player believes they’ve completed the mission, the quickly grab the highest point token available from the center of the table. Once a player takes a token, they can’t alter their Layers.
When there’s only one point token left, finished players countdown from 10. If the remaining player doesn’t finish by then, they won’t get to claim a point token.
Then all players carefully verify their patterns against the revealed Mission card starting with the player who took the highest value point token. If the pattern matches exactly, the player keeps their point token. If anything is amiss, the player passes their point token to the player who took the next highest value token and so on.
Then a new round begins.
After 6 rounds, the player with the most points wins!
Can the whole family enjoy Layers?
Layers is a solid game for the whole family to enjoy playing.
It’s completely a visual game, so there isn’t any reading needed. Players simply look at the pattern on the Mission card and try to match it by manipulating their set of Layers.
Although since it’s a race game, younger players may be at a disadvantage if they aren’t as quick as the adults. Of course, if you regularly play young kids vs. adults, you could make some adjustment in the scoring. For example, set out a set of point token for the young players and a different set for the older players. Or give the younger players a head start before letting the older players see the Mission card pattern.
There are also Solo player rules included in the rulebook. So if someone wants to challenge themselves to improve their abilities, they can dive right in.
Layers isn’t a strategy game by any means. The only strategy you have is to go as fast as you can. And we’ve found that everyone seems to approach the game differently in how they improve their speed.
Players who want to play at a high challenge level are also free to play with all Level 5 Mission cards if they wish.
Layers is also a fun game to play because there isn’t any downtime in the game. Players are simultaneously working on their configurations, so every round (and thus the game) goes by very quickly.
Since each of the Layer sheets have portions cut out and they’re a light, flexible material, it’s easy to get and edge of one Layer caught in the cut out of another Layer. But overall, that’s not a major hindrance.
Instead, we’ve been impressed with the quality of the Layers because how they’ll hold up to repeated play. If you want to be destructive, I’m sure you could damage them. But we don’t see them tearing from regular game play.
The only wish we have is that it include more sets of Layers. The game works great for a family of 4. But if you’ve got 5 or 6, someone’s going to be left out. Unless, you buy a second copy…
How does Layers score on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter?
Layers scores well on our “let’s play again” game meter not because it’s a game with a lot of variety, but rather because it’s so approachable to players of all ages.
It’s easy to explain to new players, straightforward to play, and goes by very quickly. So it’s super easy to dive into playing another game right after.
Inevitably, 6 rounds isn’t enough for us to get our fill of pattern matching. We’d love to set out more Mission cards to make a game last more rounds, but there aren’t enough point tokens to do so. Which means instead we’ll finish one game and just play again.
If you’re looking for a quick, visual pattern racing game for your family, Layers is a nice one to have.
