Rock Hard 1977 Board Game Review

Devir is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishers, and for good reasons. No, they haven’t figured out how to fix their box problems – I’ve ranted about this before, just read any of our component reviews of their products – but what they have done is release hit after hit into the marketplace, working with some amazing people in the industry as they go. Devir might be near the top of board game publishers in my opinion, and as of right now, there games get an automatic green light when I’m asked whether or not I want to review. Rock Hard 1977 is the best of the best from Devir for a variety of reasons, but one stands out – the theme.

I’m going to be the first to say that I have little to no experience of the rock and roll world, but I understand the importance it had on my generation and the generation before me (1970s). I know about the highs, the lows, the variety of vices, and the struggle of making it. Side jobs, late nights, plenty of “candy” – gotta keep this review in the good graces of Google!

Theme. With Rock Hard 1977 it began with a theme and evolved into something that was so fun to play, we had to get it tabled again, and again, and again. So many games in the marketplace today have a loose theme meant to entice consumers. But in so many of those situations, the theme could be changed at the drop of a hat, and the gameplay experience would remain the same. It might be a great game, but it’s void of a concrete and necessary theme. Rock Hard 1977 dies without the theme, and it’s not because the game isn’t great. It just wouldn’t work.

Every player begins with their own character, a day job they can quit later if they want, and a manager who needs to be paid, but provides you with various benefits. In turn order, players will take turns doing various things in three phases – Day, Night and After hours. This is where recording demos come into play, practice, doing small gigs, hosting big shows, etc. There are plenty of options available, although some are locked behind some progression (needing a record deal, or a certain number of roadies)!

Everything you do in the game is done with the goal of earning and scoring points for various things, with the penultimate point getter being you hosting your own big show (10 points if you can pull it off). Getting to that moment when you can finally score yourself 10 points is such a great rush, and the feeling of accomplishment is unlike anything I’ve felt recently while playing games. The reason? You feel like you are actually working towards something. The nature of this game takes you through the life of a rock and roll (aspiring) icon. That means working a job you hate for cash, doing late night gigs instead of sleeping, etc. The buildup makes the pay off feel so good.

There is also a set collection element which is pretty good – get those by hanging out after hours – and a few other things, but it’s the cycle of morning, evening, and after hours that injects themes into your veins simply because of the available actions in each time period. Have I been a rock and roll aspiring icon? No. Does this game show what it would be like? Absolutely, especially since it was designed by Jackie Fox of The Runaways fame! She lived it, so I assume she knows it! And it shows here.

There are elements here that more straight nosed board game fans might not enjoy. Candy obviously isn’t referencing candy, and looks at the darker elements of the rock and roll world. Yes, when you take “candy” you get a high that allows you to stave off sleep to get more stuff done. And thematically that works here since candy can provide you extra actions, assuming you roll high enough to surpass your current craving level. And if this hasn’t made sense to you yet, I would argue that rolling to surpass your craving level may reference the possibility of an overdose, which would NOT allow you to work more, and therefore would not provide additional actions.

I’m OK with it, but others won’t be. But again, there is no denying that this isn’t thematic as hell. And that’s what makes us come back to Rock Hard 1977 again and again – there is so much theme here, and even though I’m not a huge rock and roll guy, I loved the experience this game provided. And so did my gaming group. If you are looking for one of the most thematic experiences of 2024, Rock Hard 1977 is probably the game you want to play!