The Networks: Primetime (3rd ed)

I was introduced to The Networks by its designer, Gil Hova (I still have the badge to prove it – it says "Almost a Winner"), and it was an immediate hit with me. Players run their own TV network, competing to buy shows (and hire stars) to fill their schedule and attract the all-important viewers. To finance all this, they need to find advertisers, of course.

The game is played over five seasons and shows and stars become less popular over time. This gives players a real challenge as they have to plan across all five seasons, refreshing and replacing shows (and stars) as appropriate. And there are a lot of decisions to be made along the way. The aim is to attract the biggest audiences.

What makes the game even better, as far as I'm concerned, is the humour in the cards. Clearly, no real names have been used. Instead we have people like "That fading actor your mother likes" and shows like "You Too Can Play The Recorder" (hey, it's educational!). Great fun.

This is the 2025 third edition of the game, published by Allplay who have "cleaned up and given an Allplay facelift to the game." Note that the expansions to the original game are not compatible with this edition.

For 1-5 players, aged 13+, playing time 60-90 minutes

The Networks was designed by Gil Hova and this edition is published by Allplay

Find out more:
    The Networks at BoardGameGeek
    Pevans's first impressions of The Networks at the 2016 UK Games Expo