I feel that the 1st player almost always wins. Also the purple cards seem to be somewhat OP and the game ramps up way too fast to my liking tbh. There's also a variant in which players will bid for the 1st player "token", ie. I want to be 1st player, I'll give you +2 Mastery. The other player can say "No, I want to be 1st player, you'll have 3 Mastery" and so on which could negate a bit about the 1st player problem.
Thanx Ryan... I've played this a few times now and been similarly impressed. Gutted when I discivered the Mercenary mechanic because I had something similar in my own deckbuilder game (called "Aliens Ate My Planet" btw). I also agree that asymmetric bosses/players would make it a lot more interesting.... Good game and design though, so looking forward to seeing how this develops!
3:48 Mercenaries are not a new concept to deckbuilders. 2016's Clank! has Devices that work exactly the same way; Into the Echoside (also 2016) has Fiends which can be used that way, or saved in your play area for a future turn; even Dominion has had Events since the Adventures expansion in 2015.
Deck builders are the future!... maybe not that far but they have come along where are you I feel. They’re popping up more and more being utilized in unique ways. Now I’m just waiting on some hybrid like a roll and write deck builder, if that hasn’t been done yet haha?
This game has sooo many gaping balance issues. It is almost as if it wasn't playtested at all. Over half the deck is simply not worth buying to place in your deck. The mercenary aspect exacerbates this issue by making you just pay for 1 time use to not clutter your deck. Getting a bad marketplace simply makes the game unfun to play as I don't want crap in my deck. I have learned how to simply decimate newer players by avoiding the "trap cards", that are simply underpowered. The game tries to address problems by adding 2 things the mastery system and the mercenary mechanic, and it falls drastically short. The damage mitigation in your hand takes a fast paced game and makes it fiddly by relying on you when it is NOT your turn to actually pay attention to these shields which are easily forgettable. I sadly want to trade this game away and pick up a copy of Hero Realms which while still far from perfect, has some real decisions and is a lot closer to balanced.
Oh, doesn't "hit you over the head with complicated mechanics", Ha, the wording is HORRENDOUS!!! "if played or revealed this turn.... " Are you kidding? Couldn't word that ANY better at all? Again playtested (if there were any) say anything at all? Faction ally abilities are all over the place, nothing makes this game stand out!
![1 Orc vs 7 Computers [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7BWNchvzG1Y/mqdefault.jpg)
Ryan, excellent review. I picked this up at Origins and if it was anything more than the 20 bucks I likely wouldn't have.
I feel that the 1st player almost always wins. Also the purple cards seem to be somewhat OP and the game ramps up way too fast to my liking tbh. There's also a variant in which players will bid for the 1st player "token", ie. I want to be 1st player, I'll give you +2 Mastery. The other player can say "No, I want to be 1st player, you'll have 3 Mastery" and so on which could negate a bit about the 1st player problem.
We're introducing some new options in the expansion that will offer gamers even more options to consider when deciding who goes first.
Thanx Ryan... I've played this a few times now and been similarly impressed. Gutted when I discivered the Mercenary mechanic because I had something similar in my own deckbuilder game (called "Aliens Ate My Planet" btw). I also agree that asymmetric bosses/players would make it a lot more interesting.... Good game and design though, so looking forward to seeing how this develops!
3:48 Mercenaries are not a new concept to deckbuilders. 2016's Clank! has Devices that work exactly the same way; Into the Echoside (also 2016) has Fiends which can be used that way, or saved in your play area for a future turn; even Dominion has had Events since the Adventures expansion in 2015.
Deck builders are the future!... maybe not that far but they have come along where are you I feel. They’re popping up more and more being utilized in unique ways. Now I’m just waiting on some hybrid like a roll and write deck builder, if that hasn’t been done yet haha?
Enjoyed the video!
Great review, I can't wait to play this when it comes out.
It's out now! :)
Cool
This game has sooo many gaping balance issues. It is almost as if it wasn't playtested at all. Over half the deck is simply not worth buying to place in your deck. The mercenary aspect exacerbates this issue by making you just pay for 1 time use to not clutter your deck. Getting a bad marketplace simply makes the game unfun to play as I don't want crap in my deck. I have learned how to simply decimate newer players by avoiding the "trap cards", that are simply underpowered. The game tries to address problems by adding 2 things the mastery system and the mercenary mechanic, and it falls drastically short. The damage mitigation in your hand takes a fast paced game and makes it fiddly by relying on you when it is NOT your turn to actually pay attention to these shields which are easily forgettable.
I sadly want to trade this game away and pick up a copy of Hero Realms which while still far from perfect, has some real decisions and is a lot closer to balanced.
When are they going to stop with the tired MTG rips? The theme, the cards, the artwork...so overdone. Literally defines GEEK in all the worst ways.
This comment aged terribly xD
Oh, doesn't "hit you over the head with complicated mechanics", Ha, the wording is HORRENDOUS!!! "if played or revealed this turn.... " Are you kidding? Couldn't word that ANY better at all? Again playtested (if there were any) say anything at all? Faction ally abilities are all over the place, nothing makes this game stand out!
I don't understand your issue with that phrase. Could you clarify? (Not meant as an ironic joke, legitimate question).