Crankin' it up to "11" - "Rock Hard 1977"

Viticulture, Lords of Waterdeep, Century: A New World, Euphoria, Francis Drake, Champions of Midgard, PARKS, Istanbul, Caverna, and Tzolkin are just some of the worker placement games that grace my collection. Upon reading that, I guarantee someone out there is thinking 'Why so many? You just need to pick the best / your favorite game with that mechanic and turf all the rest!" 

In the immortal words of Thor, Odinson: I say thee nay. 

Because immersion is so important to me, I love all of my worker placement games for a variety of reasons. Whether it's hiking though a mountain trail, knocking out a cave wall to put in a micro brewery, slaying trolls in Dark Ages Norway or stomping grapes underfoot, I love the unique thematic experience provided by these different titles.

Along with movies and tabletop gaming, music is another one of my life's passions. And, as someone who ekes out a (very) humble living in the board game industry, I've always thought this category has been woefully under-explored in the past. Board Game Geek would seem to back me up on that since there are 996 music-related games out there versus almost ten times that amount for movies and television. 

Among those nearly one-thousand options, only a small handful use rock music as its theme. I've always wanted to design a board game that evokes shades of the video game Rock Band's career mode, but I know my design would suffer just because I've never worked in that industry. 

Mercifully, Jackie Fox, former kick-ass bassist for the seminal all-girl outfit The Runaways (not to mention resident brainiac) has answered my psychic plea and graced us with Rock Hard 1977. 

Rock Hard 1977: finally addressing the crippling deficit of gratuitous butt shots on board game box art.

Side note: if you aren't familiar with Jackie and her group, please review the following video essay before proceeding on with the rest of this syllabus:

So, clearly Jackie has the musical chops, but does she have the design acumen to realize such a promising theme? Well, here's her pitch for the game's style n' sound, right from publisher Devir's webzone:

The year is 1977. You are a promising musician and you dream of success with your band. Over the next few months you will rehearse, perform, write songs and promote your band. With careful planning and a little luck, you will become more famous than everyone else and become the breakout artist of the year.

Designed by the legendary rock star and board game lover Jackie Fox (who was part of the 70s rock band The Runaways) and illustrated by Jennifer Giner, Rock Hard: 1977 allows games for groups of between 2 and 5 players, from 14 years old, in sessions of between 45 and 90 minutes. Through worker placement mechanics, players will take on the role of a rising rock star and compete to earn the most Fame points over several rounds of play.

Rock Hard: 1977 is played over a maximum of nine rounds, each representing a typical day in a month in 1977, April through December. You win the game by accumulating the most Fame… And how is Fame scored? Increasing your reputation, skills and song quality, earning production, performance and publicity bonuses, landing record deals and royalties, playing gigs and hanging out at the hottest nightspots.

Each player will have a unique manager, who will help them boost their musical career with a particular skill. Of course, you will have to pay for their work if you do not want to lose Fame points. And sometimes a rocker needs a little help to get through a difficult day... That's why players can also consume candy to take an extra turn and perform more actions... But overusing sweets can cause a sugar rush.

The game has an outstanding production. Just to give some examples: each player's personal board is designed as an amplifier, with its potentiometers as markers that we will modify throughout the game. The turn order tokens are guitar picks and the bills look like real dollars.

After a very original theme, Rock Hard: 1977 also shines for its mechanical gear. Players will have a feeling of constant progression, from the beginning of the game, where they must combine a job that feeds them and the humble beginnings of the band, to the big concerts on the most legendary stages. All this with a lot of different event cards and unique abilities of rockers and managers, which change with each game. Are you ready to become a rock star?    

Wanna read every clause in your record deal contract before you sell your soul to Beelzebub? Then click on the following link to peruse all the legalese and sign on the dotted line!   

***

Rock Hard 1977 Playthrough

The Lineup:

Shere Darling (Yellow) - The Musicologist  - Female Drummer 

Manager: Ross "Junior" Evans 

Current Job: Law Clerk

Leo Love (Orange) - The Showman - Male Bassist 

Manager: Vanessa Castillo 

Current Job: Massage Therapist ('natch)

Kimmy Kim (Red) - The High Roller - Female Vocalist 

Manager: Lisa Boyd 

Current Job: Wait Person 

***

April - Day

Leo rolls for his variable Job hours and gets a “3”, so he needs to Work in the Evening. 

Event: “A Major Rock Band Breaks Up”, which lowers the cost for Crew! 

Random Gig: "Frat Party" 

After popping some “Soft Candy”, Shere's Craving goes up by one and she gets an extra Action...but she doesn't need to roll for Low Blood Sugar (since a failure is mathematically impossible). She goes to Work as a Law Clerk and scores $2. She then heads off to Rehearsal Studio “A”, spends her Ability Token and bumps her Chops up to four thanks to her special ability.

Leo also gobbles down some “Soft Candy”. His Craving goes up by one and he gets an extra Action. Since it's his first dip, no Low Blood Sugar roll is required. After hiring a Crew for free, Leo jets off to Hire a Publicist...also for free thanks to his manager Vanessa! This bumps up his Rep and Fame by one!

Not to be outdone, Kimmy downs some “Soft Candy”. She increases her Craving by one and scores a bonus Action...all the while avoiding a Low Blood Sugar roll. For her first action she Hires Crew for free (since the first space was vacated by Leo) and then Donates Blood for $1. This checks off her first Personal Goal achievement!

April - Evening

Shere plays the Frat Party, gaining $1 and two (!) Candy but lowering her Chops by one. This ticks off the first step of her Personal Goal.

Leo goes to Work, netting $2.

Kimmy heads off to Studio “B”, paying $2 to Rehearse and gaining two Chops in the process!

April - After Hours

Shere wolfs down some “Soft Candy”. Her Craving goes up by one and she gets an extra Action. Her Blood Sugar Roll is "2"...so she’s safe! After cutting a Record Demo for $3 she jets off Backstage to a local gig where a “famous actor” talks to her for half an hour! Whoa! She chooses to up her Reputation by one, which is increased to two thanks to her Manager, Ross!

With the recording studio now freed up, Leo bombs in and spends $3 to Record a Demo.

Kimmy Donates Blood again, gaining another $1 and furthering her Personal Goal! Since she didn’t work this round, she's forced to take a “Missed Work” Token!

Clean Up Phase: New turn order is Kimmy (3) then Leo (6) then Shere (8).

May - Day

Leo rolls for his variable Job hours and gets a “1”, so he needs to Work in the Day. 

New Event: "Candy Sellers Offer Free Sample"! Everyone gets a l'il bump!!! 

Random Gig: Pool Party!

Kimmy knocks back some “Soft Candy”. Her Craving goes up to “2” and she gets an extra Action. Blood Sugar Roll: “2”...she’s (barely) okay! She Donates Blood one more time, gaining a $1 and completing her Personal Objective and gaining five Fame! She then heads off to Hire a Publicist, gaining one Fame and one Reputation, which starts to move the needle on her second Personal Goal.

Leo crunches into some “Soft Candy”. His Craving goes up by one and he gets an extra Action. His sugar crash roll is a “6” so he’s okay. He needs cash, so he begrudgingly goes to his Job, netting a measly $1. He then flashes his demo tape and pays $1 (-1 buck thanks to Vanessa!) to Hire some Indie Promo. His Reputation goes up to four and his Fame by one!

Shere wolfs down some “Soft Candy”. Her Craving goes up by one and she gets an extra Action. Low Blood Sugar Roll: "1"...ruh, roh! Her Low Blood Sugar indicator flips! She spends her first action working to get $2 and then decides to take it easy, doing Voluntary Recovery to complete one of her Personal Goals and netting her five Fame. Her Craving goes down by one and her Low Blood Sugar indicator switches to “OFF.”

May - Night

Kimmy plays the Pool Party, gaining one Candy and $1.

Since Leo now has four Reputation, he can play the Fox Den, gaining one Chops and a Fame!

Shere knocks back some "Hard Candy." Her Craving goes up by one and she gets two (!) extra Actions. She rolls a “6”, so no sugar crash! For her First Action she scrambles off to Studio “B”, pays $2 and gains a whopping three Chops! She then Writes a Song, bumping her repertoire up to three and then plays the Pool Party, gaining $1 and one Candy! This moves her Personal Objective along one more space!

May - After Hours

Kimmy consumes “Soft Candy”. Her Craving goes up to three and she gets an extra Action. She avoids a crash with a Blood Sugar Roll of “6." She pays $3 to Record her Demo, then Writes a Song. Again, she didn’t show up for Work, so she gets another “Missed Work” Token!

Leo Writes a Song!

Shere heads Backstage (gaining +2 Fame), and encounters a “super hot” fan who drives up her Reputation by two, improved to three thanks to Ross. Unfortunately she wakes up next morning to discover that her only dollar is missing! Thievery!

Clean Up Phase: New turn order is Leo (4 - last to arrive) then Kimmy (4 - first to arrive) then Shere (11).

June - Day

Leo rolls for his variable Job hours and gets a “1”, so he needs to Work in the Day. 

New Event: "Annual Venue Closing for a Private Event." June: Random Gig is closed! 

Random Gig: the Goldberg Bar Mitzvah!

Since Leo has a Demo Tape, three Chops, three Reputation and three Songs, he nets a Record Deal! He had to skip Work in order to do this, so he gets a “Missed Work” Token!

Flat broke, Kimmy falls back on her crutch of Donating Blood for $1.

Shere indulges in some “Soft Candy”. Her Craving goes up by one and she gets an extra Action. Blood Sugar Roll: “1” she crashes! For her first Action she Works for $2 and then Hires a Crew for $1!

June - Night   

Leo revisits the Fox Den, increasing both Fame and Chops by one!

Kimmy bounces back, playing Panda Palace (since she has four Chops, three Songs and a Crew.) From this electric performance she earns $1, one Reputation and three Fame!

Shere also plays Panda Palace, gaining one Chops and three Fame! 

June - After Hours

Leo Writes a Song!

Kimmy does the same! This means she misses work again and gets Fired. On the plus side this unlocks the Performance Bonus for her, netting her five Fame!

Shere does the same!

Clean Up Phase: New turn order is Shere (4 - last to arrive) then Kimmy (4 - second to arrive) then Leo (4 - first to arrive). Everyone pays their Managers!

July - Day 

Leo rolls for his variable Job hours and gets a “5”, so he needs to Work After Hours. 

New Event: "The FCC Is Holding Hearings on Payola", I.E. no one can hire Indie Promo this round! 

Random Gig: "Campus Lunch Concert"!

Shere has to take Recovery! She misses out on getting her Record Contract and skips Work, forcing her to take a “Missed Work” Token. At least she reduces her Craving by one and flips her Low Blood Sugar token to "OFF."

This allows Kimmy to sneak in and score her own Record Contract!

Vanessa saves Leo $1 when he heads in to Studio “A” to Rehearse, gaining him two Chops!

July - Evening

Shere plays the "Campus Lunch Concert", gaining one to Chops, Songs and Candy! This completes her Personal Goal and she gain six Fame!

Kimmy plays Panda Palace, netting $1, one Chops and three Fame!

Leo uses his special ability to play the exact same gig, scoring $1, a Reputation and three Fame!

July - After Hours

Shere ventures Backstage again, getting two insta-Fame. She encounters “Twins” and gains one Reputation and one Fame, with a +1 bump to each thanks to her manager, Ross!

Kimmy goes to Hoover’s. NOTE: the  "Derogatory Term" card she draws should read: 

Yes: +1 Reputation, +1 Fame, discard this card 

No: + 1 Reputation. 

She decides not to fight and keeps the card for set collection.

Leo Works, scoring a respectable $3!

Clean Up Phase: New turn order is Leo (5) then Kimmy (8) then Shere (11).

August - Day

Leo rolls for his variable Job hours and gets a “6”, so he needs to Work After Hours. 

New Event: "Beautiful Weather"...all spaces (except Hire Crew) are open! 

Random Gig: "Ren Faire"!

Leo buys three Candy!

Kimmy buys two!

Shere finally gets her Record Deal, but is also forced to miss her Work!

August - Night

Leo eats some “Hard Candy”! His Craving goes up by one and he gets two (!) extra Actions. He rolls a “4”, so no sugar crash! He does a flurry of Actions: first Writing a Song, then spending $2 for Studio B space (giving him two Chops) and then plays the Ren Faire, getting one each in Chops, Songs and Reputation...the latter at the expense of $2.

Kimmy pops some “Soft Candy”. Her Craving goes up by one and she gets an extra Action. Her Low Blood Sugar Roll is “4”...she's still safe! She Writes a Song and then plays Panda Palace, scoring $1, a Reputation and three Fame.

Shere indulges in some some “Soft Candy”. Her Craving goes up by one and she gets an extra Action. Her Blood Sugar Roll is a “2”, resulting in her third crash! Good gawd, this girl is a train wreck! Undaunted, she Writes a Song then plays the same Panda Palace space Kimmy played, scoring $1, a Chops and three Fame.

August - After Hours

Leo snacks on some “Soft Candy”. His Craving goes up by one and he gets an extra Action. With a Low Blood Sugar Roll of “4” he dodges a bullet! He then Works, scoring a whopping three bucks and then Writes a Song!

Kimmy gets burned with some “Sugar-Free Candy.” * whomp-whomp * So she just heads out to Slinky’s, completing a set of four different Hangout Cards for 5 Fame!

Like a trooper, Shere heads Backstage again and draws “You Get One Phone Number from a Hot Fan. Try for Two?” Opts for “Yes”, gets one Fame and draws a second card: "Photographed with a Famous Musician"! She doesn’t have $3 to spend, so she just gets one Reputation and completes a set of four Backstage Hangout Cards for five Fame!

Clean Up Phase: New turn order is Leo (4) then Kimmy (7) then Shere (9). Shere moves into Recovery...yet again! She's got more lives than Keith Richards!

September - Day

Leo rolls for his variable Job hours and gets a “6”, so he needs to Work After Hours. 

New Event: "The Rock Reporter for the Local Paper is Out Sick"...-1 Reputation when you Play a Gig this Round! 

"Beautiful Weather"...all spaces (except Hire Crew) are open! 

Random Gig: "Hire a Choreographer"!

Leo Hires Crew for only $2 (-1 thanks to Vanessa!)

Kimmy Hires Indie Promo for $2, gaining two Reputation and one Fame. This advances her Personal Goal one more space!

Since Shere has to take Recovery, she misses out on Work and gets Fired...but, on the positive side, she reduces her Craving by one and flips her Low Sugar token to "OFF."

September - Night

Leo pops some “Soft Candy”. His Craving goes up by one and he gets an extra Action. His subsequent Low Blood Sugar Roll is “2”...he crashes, but continues the round! First up he Writes a Song (his eighth!) and unlocks the Performance Bonus for five Fame Points! He then performs at Panda Palace, scoring $1, one Chops and three Fame!

Kimmy follows up at Panda Palace, scoring a single Chops and three Fame.

Shere Donates Blood for $1. Kinda sad that she's still doing this so far into the game!

September - After Hours

After quitting his Job, Leo heads to Jax, where a parking attendant asks for his autograph. He opts for one Fame!

Kimmy voluntarily "Goes To Bed Early"...who is this girl???

Ever the "romantic", Shere goes Backstage, getting a one Fame insta-boost. In the eternal struggle of "shoes versus song" (long story), she opts for the latter and goes up +1 Song, boosted by +1 thanks to her Manager!

Clean Up Phase: Everyone collects Royalties and pays $3 for their Managers. New turn order is Kimmy (1) then Leo (9) then Shere (10). Leo moves to Recovery!

October - Day

New Event: "Pre Award Show Parties" locks off Panda Palace! 

Random Gig: "Grammy Awards After Party"!

Kimmy re-negotiates her Record Deal!

Leo has to take Recovery! He reduces her Craving by one and flips his Low Blood Sugar token to "OFF."

Shere hires her second Crew Member. Since she’s the only one to hit up the space, she only pays $3 to do this.

October - Evening

Kimmy goes to the Grammy Party, scoring three Candy (um, yeah...that checks out) and three Fame!

Leo plays TJ’s, gaining one Reputation and one Fame.

With a total of nine Chops, ten Reputation, eight Songs and two Crew, Shere plays Yenser Arena! She gets $2, two Chops (maxing her out at eleven!) and five Fame! #dontcallitacomeback

October - After Hours

Keen to get a quick start on the next day, Kimmy "turned-over-a-new-leaf" Kim Goes to Bed Early.

Leo visits Slinky’s, scoring a single insta-Fame. The card's resulting wild symbol completes a set for five Fame!

Shere bombs into Jax, where a famous musician hits on her. She accepts the attention, scoring one Chops and one Fame. She’s maxed out on Chops, so she gets $2 instead. (NOTE: Ross’s Manager ability says "whenever you gain a base stat increase while Hanging Out, he increases it by one, so I assume it works in this case as well.) This also gives her a new set of cards, which she trades in for five Fame!

Clean Up Phase: Everyone collects Royalties, $1 each for Shere and Leo, $3 for Kimmy, who also gets a Fame! New turn order is Kimmy (1) then Shere (9) then Leo (10).

November - Day

New Event: "Suspect Candy"...you can’t consume or Buy Candy this round! 

Random Gig: "Late Night TV Appearance"!

Kimmy was really relying on a Candy binge this turn! Begrudgingly logy, she heads off to Hire an Indie Promo for $3, gets two Fame and two Reputation and then completes her Personal Goal for six more Fame! 

Shere re-negotiates her Record Deal!

Leo pays $1 to Hire an Indie Promo, gaining two Reputation and one Fame!

November - Evening

Kimmy would love to play Yenser Arena, but she needs one more Crew, dammit! Instead she opts for a Late Night TV Appearance, gaining $3, three Reputation (maxing out at eleven and gaining two more dollars!) as well as a Chops and three Fame!

Shere has no problems meeting all of Yenser's requirements, so she gains $2, one  Reputation (once again maxing out at eleven and gaining one more dollar) and five more Fame!

Leo uses his special ability to play the exact same location, gaining $2, two Chops and five Fame!

November - After Hours

Once again Kimmy Goes to Bed Early!

Shere bombs into Bud’s, gaining two insta-Fame and a card that lets her play at an occupied Panda Palace or Yenser Arena space! Handy!

Leo walks into Jax and is recognized by a well-known DJ, gaining a Fame right away.

Clean Up Phase: Everyone collects Royalties: $1 for Leo, $3 for Kimmy and Shere, both of whom also gets a Fame! New turn order is Kimmy (1) then Leo (7) then Shere (11).

December - Day

New Event: "Fumigation" shuts down Studio A. 

Random Gig: "Loudest Venue in the City"!

Kimmy hires her second Crew for $3.

Leo re-negotiates his Record Deal, moving up to the second Royalty level! This completes one of his Personal Objectives, gaining him five Fame!

Shere hires her third (!!!) Crew, paying $6 in the second slot!

December - Night

Kimmy finally plays Yenser, gaining $2, two Chops and five Fame!

Leo uses his special ability to play the exact same location, gaining $2, two Chops and five Fame!

Shere plays Carter Stadium, getting $6 (both her Chops and Reputation are maxed out) and a whopping eight Fame!

December - After Hours

Kimmy Visits Slinky’s.

Leo goes to Jax, getting an insta-Fame and one more from “Drinks are on the House.”

Shere goes to Bud’s, gaining two insta-Fame and then "Charms a Concert Reviewer" for +2 Reputation, with a +1 bonus from Ross. Since she’s maxed out, she takes $3.

Clean Up Phase: Everyone collects $3 Royalties and a Fame and then pays their Managers!

End Game Scoring:

Kimmy scores +5 Fame for having more Wild Hangout Cards.

Leo nets +5 Fame for having more Glamour than Fame symbols on his Hangout cards!

 Shere gets +4 points for having Chops and Reputation maxed, Leo and Kimmy both gets +2 for their Rep.

Shere 10 money +3 = 66 points

Leo 7 money +2 = 50 points

Kimmy 7 money +2 = 60 points

Shere wins!!!

***

REVIEW

THE GOOD

• This recent acquisition is, without a doubt, one of the most thematic, immersive and narrative titles in my entire game library. Day jobs, songwriting, managers, practice spaces, promotion, demo tapes, gigs, record deals, late night hangouts, debauchery...its all elegantly and humorously replicated here.
• This game is so well produced the sticker price will "BLOW YOUR MIND, MAN!" Between Jennifer Giner's incredible art, the amp-shaped player boards, guitar pic turn order markers, acrylic player movers and the most impressive currency to ever appear in a board game, the look and feel of Rock Hard 1977 is second to none.
• Unlike other games of this type, you only have one worker for the entire game, which makes the concept of "candy" so phreakin' clever. It also makes the game move at a very brisk pace.
• As evident in this playthrough, you can candy crash multiple times and be dirt poor late in the game but still come back for a dramatic win. 
• I've been bellyachin' a lot about rulebooks lately, but I think they actually made an effort with this one. The instructions are far from perfect (see below for some clarifications and reminders), but they're pretty comprehensive, making turns breezy and intuitive. Needless to say, when I saw this disclaimer in the Rock Hard 1977 manual, my cold, dead heart warmed up a little bit:

THE M'EH

• The mad rush to score the coveted Demo Tape / Record Deal combo creates a bit of a game play bottleneck at the start of the game, and I suspect whoever scores it first will enjoy a pretty decent advantage over their rivals as they move into the mid-game. Having said that, unexpected Events and Random Gigs can upset this apple cart pretty quickly. Of course, the biggest source of disruption are your opponents, who can easily bork up your plans by doing something unexpectedly responsible (like going to bed early!) and then deny you a key spot the next day. Of all the games I've played lately, this is the one I want an expansion for the most to just to shake up that early game narrative. 
• Rock Hard 1977 makes the worker placement game cardinal sin of rendering the Demo Tape space completely useless after everyone gets their tape. It should either have an alternate use right from the jump or be replaced by a sensible mid-game overlay to keep the space relevant throughout the entire game.         

THE BAD

• Nothing particularly heinous here, folks! 

***

FINAL THOUGHTS

I love this recent trend of industry professionals having a hand in designing board games. Along with equally stellar titles like Sky Team, Rock Hard 1977 is a rich and memorable gaming experience because you get the sense that designer Jackie Fox actually lived through the experiences depicted here. Combined with her acute instincts for design and mechanics, you're left with something truly special here. 

Even after my first three epic play-throughs of this game, I cant wait to navigate yet another starry-eyed hopeful through the trials and tribulations of the music biz. 

As such, Rock Hard 1977 scores five pips out of six with a giant tilt up to your band's name glowing in neon lights on that monster-arena marquee!  

***

BONUS: Important Rules to Remember

• Be sure to record what phase you’re supposed to work in and take a Missed Work token if you fail to do the Work action in that phase.
• Any number of players can play at the Random Gigs.
• You can decide what order you take extra actions in. Moving your standee to perform these actions frees up the space for opponents to go there on their turn.
• Candy use must be declared before you place your standee.
• There’s a limit of one standee per Hire Crew space. 
• Don’t forget the bonus Fame for visiting certain Hot Hang Out spots!
• Place discards face up on the bottom of the appropriate deck and shuffle them all when the face up card reaches the top.
• Even tho you must complete cards sets immediately, you can still use unused effects on cards in those sets. Just keep these cards face up and flip them when completed.
• If your Low Sugar indicator is on at the end of the game, you lose five Fame.
• Using Candy doesn't prevent you from going to certain spaces...it just means that you can't double up on these spaces. To summarize: you may only use one Rehearsal Studio space per phase, you may only hire one Crew per round, you may only play one gig per round, you may not Go to Bed Early and take other actions that phase (or take Candy, do Actions and then Go To Bed Early) and you can only Work once per round. 
• In a clarification right from Jackie herself (see comment below), "You can't consume Candy on the same turn as you recover and Candy has no effect while your low blood sugar switch is on." I.E. In her May- Day crash Shere couldn't have flipped on her switch and then used an Action gained from Candy to recover. In the designer's own words: "Basically, you run out of gas as the round progresses and nothing is going to get you back on track except for recovering the next day. There is no sneaking out of losing an entire day to recovery!" Thanks for the clarification, Jackie...and keep on rockin'!!!