I've been eyeing this game due to the fact that the groups I game with, and me, really enjoy games that have a strong story element.  The complicated games don't bother us either, so after reading this, I think I'll definitely be picking this up or asking for it.  Is the game mechanism very similar to anything else, because it at least doesn't sound like a common one.  One of the groups I play with kinda get sick of playing games with similar mechanisms. The other main group doesn't care about similarities as long as the game is good.  I just want to know if I should avoid playing this game with the one that doesn't like these similarities.

I bought it but have had some problems with the game.  These are some of them:

You should be aware that the gameplay does not follow the theme of the game.  It is supposed to be a murder mystery but in fact, it is more accurate to say that each of you are competing to direct a murder mystery.  At the beginning of the game, each player is given a character that he must try to keep innocent and a character in which he must pin the murder on.

A big flaw of this game is there is no way of determining who is in the lead at the moment.  This is a problem because you have to play detrimental cards on one another.  Normally, you would play cards on the person hindering you specifically or the one who is in the lead.  In this game, you can't tell whether the character you are protecting is safe and whether the one you want found guilty is getting close to that.  If you can't justify why you are targeting a player, it can cause hurt feelings and leave a bad impression of the game.

The card aspect.  In order to play the beneficial cards, you must play cards that hurt a specific player.  In theory it sounds neat but in practice see above.

Very long setup time.  My first playtthrough, it took me about 2 hours just to set it up.  There is just a horrendous amount of fiddly bits (and I love fiddly bits).  In this case, I just felt overwhelmed.

Fiddly rules.  There is just too many special cases and we had to constantly refer to the rulebook for these special cases.

What I liked:

This is truly a story driven game.  As you play the game, your character goes through life changes.  I found that pretty neat.

I loved how you moved around the board (the board is big and beautiful!).

It really does give you that futuristic noir vibe.  Too bad the theme does not quite match the gameplay...

What I'm on the fence about:

The puzzle element.  I could not grasp it and therefore we left it out on our first playthrough.

Hi thordred,

These are fair comments. Do you think you'll be playing Android a few more times? After you've played about 4-5 games come back and tell us what you think at that point. I'd be very curious to see if any of your thoughts change with more time.
I enjoy the conspiracy puzzle because it's another avenue for the players to pursue and like placing good and bad baggage as well as evidence it can help shape or change the focus of the game. It's part of what keeps the game fresh.

thordred said:

 I am also contemplating buying this one. I love how much emphasis is on story and choices. Can't wait to try it. 

A friend of mine has this and I skimmed the rules briefly. It looks like awesome fun.

Someone also told me it's the most complex FFG game there is---more so than Twilight Imperium. This piques my interest all the more.

Is it true that the game is complicated?

I'd say it's roughly on par with Arkham Horror (possibly a little more complex, and definitely harder to teach new people since it isn't cooperative, but overall basically in that ballpark) but would love to hear other people weigh in on this (partly because I've always assumed TI would be too heavy for my group).

thordred said:

Two comments on this: first, Jimmy the Snitch is absolutely vital for this very reason.  However, even then, there is inevitably going to be an element of uncertainty; the blind bidding mechanic is a fundamental part of the game, and much of one's strategy will consist of striking a balance between, for example, the relatively fixed VP rewards of the conspiracy, and the gamble of the murder investigation.  Naturally, the amount of guesswork involved isn't going to be to everyone's taste, but I'd hardly call it a flaw.