Descent 2nd Edition Review

Descent 2nd Edition - Journeys in the Dark

2-5 players

Play time 2.5 hrs avg

Setup time 20 mins

Teaching time 20 mins

"Descent: journeys in the dark second edition is a narrative board game in which one player takes on the role of the treacherous overlord, and up to four other players take on the roles of courageous heroes. Featuring double-sided modular board pieces, countless hero and skill combinations, and an immersive story-driven campaign, descent: journeys in the dark second edition transports heroes to a vibrant fantasy realm where they must stand together against an ancient evil.this updated version of the classic board game of dungeon-delving adventure features a host of enhancements, including new heroes and monsters, streamlined rules, a class-based hero system, campaign play, and much more"

I had the privilege to play this with an introductory board game group (A group that introduces new board games). Two sets of Descent were opened and two overlords ran two games simultaneously. We played Fat Goblin Encounters 1 and 2. It was an awesome experience altogether. I played a hero necromancer who reanimated a skeleton over and over again. It might be just me but I felt like the overlord was being lenient on us. The first game went by without the overlord using any of his overlord cards. He lost and we, the heroes, won. The second game, the overlord wanted to win so he used advanced monsters to up the challenge but we tied that game. The dice wasn't on his side that day but I did feel that the overlord could have won that game if he made the right choices. 
Okay okay too much blab, on to the review...

Gameplay 9/10

I did research this game a bit before I played it which made me want to buy it. Now that I have played the game, I really want to buy it!

Mechanics are very simple to teach and the details can be taught as the game plays out. It takes some time to setup the maps and choose the heroes and monsters. It is pretty straight forward - Refer to the quest guide (mostly one page per quest), fix up the puzzle maps together as shown on the quest, read out the objective and special rules, heroes are chosen by the players playing heroes, overlord choosing his/her open monsters. As soon as the objectives of the quest is understood and the players know how to read their hero cards, the game can begin.

Everything here makes sense - the movement of heroes, the straightforward objectives (the overlord has objectives as well), the attacking using dice, etc. It is a dungeon crawl encounter that makes sense, definitely up my alley. Every turn, a hero gets to perform two actions, whether to move and attack, attack and attack, move and move, stand up (after getting knocked out), or rest (to heal fatigue). You can also move, attack and then continue with your leftover movement for two actions.

For monsters, they also have movement and attack dice, almost exactly like the heroes. The lieutenants that the overlord controls (boss monsters) are exactly like the heroes with stats and everything. However in Descent, you will not see any adding up of points and stats like you see in DnD games. They streamlined this to make it accessible to everyone. Which doesn't take away much from the game at all.

There is a really creative, strategic mechanic that is added called "Fatigue". You use fatigue to do extra moves, but your fatigue is limited so you'll have to strategize when best to use it. It adds to your decisions which gives seasoned gamers good strategies to incorporate.

The dice really add to the game. They have creatively created different colored dice to represent the intensity of one's attack or defense. On some of the faces, each die has a lightning bolt symbol as well which represents surges. These you use to activate different skills and spells your hero/monster may have. Range is also embedded in the dice for range attacks. All these add both luck and strategy to the game.

There are 20 quests in the scenario book. You can either play them as individual encounters or link 16 of them in campaign mode. Campaign mode offers so much more as you get XP to increase the skills of your heroes or overlord cards for the overlord and the heroes also get gold to spend in between Quests to get better equipment. I love games that allow leveling up. It just allows one to be the character instead of just playing it.

Some players would like this - no one dies in this game. They just get knocked out and lose a turn to come back around the next time, or another player can use one of his/her actions to revive a hero adjacent to him/her.

The Experience 8/10

The experience is good. There are some balancing issues where the first few quests are easier for the heroes. I guess that just makes the challenge more worth the win for the overlord. I have not played the later quests yet, so I cannot say much here.

Replayability 9/10

I see this getting many plays especially in campaign mode. Whether we will get tired of this, I'm doubting. With 16 Encounters to complete, this is definitely replayable. The number of cards you can get also attracts you to play more. The monsters, however, remain the same few so you'll be seeing a lot of them being reused in various quests as you play.

The fact that this is only semi-coop would mean that it is definitely replayable to see who can be the best overlord. The number of heroes that a player can pick can also be factored in.

There are so many big and small expansions available for Descent 2.0 that it looks like the game is endless. As an adult who has a day job to keep, my time in board gaming may be only twice a month. So this game would probably last me way more than a year if I consistently play this.

Components 9/10

Oh gosh how do I begin. The map tiles are beautifully printed and sturdy. They will last a lot of games. They fix together to form a stable map (not easily broken if the table is knocked). 
The cards are durable and beautifully designed. Hero cards are big but skills and equipment are small - probably to reduce the play area. 

The miniatures, and oh so many of them, are sweet... Monsters in red and white, heroes in grey. the heroes are pretty small. Would prefer bigger ones but it does not hinder the gameplay. The lieutenants (evil bosses), however, are in token form (like what?). Yea, they didn't have enough cash to make these into miniatures so now they sell the miniatures separately and each one cost a bomb, well to me at least. It would be nice to have them with the base set, but oh well.

There are many tokens for conditions, health markers, fatigue, etc. The tokens are thick and coin sized, which I appreciate over pea size ones. I hate losing my pea size tokens.

Overall, really good components. Opening this will be just like opening a toy box.

Overall 9/10

I might give this a 10 once I own it and have played a few more quests. Every moment I'll be thinking about the game. But currently, it is sold out at my favorite board game store. 
A dungeon crawl that is a must have for any board gamer into dungeon crawling/delving and leveling up. One of the best productions of Fantasy Flight Games. Go get it!

Pros:
Gorgeous components
High replayability
Engaging gameplay
Rules make sense
Character enhancement

Cons:
Needs the right group to play with (Some over-competitive people take an hour to make one decision)
Balancing issues between the Overlord and the Heroes


How did you find this game? Let me know if there are some things i might have missed out that you wish to hear...



























Awesome components
Awesome gameplay
Awesome experiences

Lieutenant tokens? Are you kidding me?
May be a bit complicated for the light gamer

Malaysian Politiko 2E review

Politiko

3-6 players

Play time 1 hour

Setup time 3 mins

Teaching time 5 mins

It's election time (Finally!)

Politiko is a card game about wacky scheming, cynical realpolitik - in other words, it is about a game about winning the Malaysian general election!

The player to get 8 voters in his/her voter pile, wins. Easier said than done. 

As we all know, through the news, TV, internet, reader's digest or any media of that sort, that the Malaysian general election was filled with all the hanky panky stuff you can think of, from frauds to phantom voters and everything in between. This card game tries to emulate all these, but they were wise enough to mask the party's names with other names. But of course, everyone knows which parties they actually represent. We just hush hush about it. Sshhhh!

Mechanics 7/10

Typically, you start by choosing a party to run. The party card gives you Voter Restrictions (which type of voters may/may not vote for your party), which prevent you from adding certain voters to your voter pile. On each party card, there are also Alliance Restrictions, which lets you know which parties you cannot form an alliance with.

After that, each player is dealt a hand of 7 cards. Throughout the game, your hand can only have a maximum of 7 cards at the end of your turn. During a turn, the active player will start by drawing 2 cards into his/her hand. Then they either add voters (election time - no quantity restriction) into their voter pile following their Voter Restrictions OR play 2 schemes.

Schemes can be "Scheme" cards they can play during their turn. These "Scheme" cards can vary from stealing voters from other players to enhancing your party further. Schemes may also come in the form of joining/creating/breaking out of an alliance with one other alliance or party. Schemes may also be in the form of closed door meetings, i.e. exchange as many cards as you want with as many cards the other player wishes to exchange (the number of cards need not be equal for the exchange - I guess parties never get their fair share during closed-door meetings).

After their actions, the turn ends and the next player begins.

The mechanics are typical of a cards game but what rocks in this game is the double mechanics. You can choose either to continue adding voters from your hand into the voter pile or play schemes but not do both. This provides the players with thought based strategy, to think up a plan before their turn comes around.

Gameplay 8/10

I thought that a game with a bunch of cards would be like playing UNO, but in Politiko, you get so much more than just wanting to play all your cards. The choices for strategy provided in this game is wide. Do you form an alliance or win alone? Do you play schemes or add voters into your voter pile so that other players cannot steal the voters they would need from your pile? What do you do with the voters in your hand that you cannot play? 

There is so much variety to this game that you are always on your toes thinking of your next move.The fact that the other players can sabotage you is also a plus. If they see you are winning, everyone will come around and start attacking you. But if you have a solid plan, you will not crumble so easily. 

The thing that attracts in this game, and this is the same thing that attracts one to buy the game, is the theme itself. So far in all the games that I have played, I have learnt so much about the politics in Malaysia. Very often it is the dirty parts that make a party win the election (at least in Malaysia). And this game emulates it so well. Give away free wifi and you get voters. Give away money and neutral voters will vote for you. So much of Malaysian politics is displayed here. We laugh about all the cards being played (even the voter cards). You will need someone to roleplay and read all the titles being played because if players are too focused on what the card does instead of what the card represents, you will miss out on a lot of fun.

Downtime in this game is minimal. You still have to wait till it's your turn to play cards. However, interaction is definitely guaranteed because even the quiet ones become loud when they get their voters stolen. 

Replayability 8/10

Even if I already know what every card does, every different group you play with has a different play style. And play style changes when they learn new strategies after a few plays.

There are also 9 different parties for players to represent. Each party provides players with different opportunities to try out different things.

So replayability for this game is high on my list especially since it is light and can be played during travels.

Edit: Just to mention also that there is already an expansion out for this game. They title it "Sabah & Sarawak". More cards! These cards represent the schemes being used in East Malaysia thus adding more fun and laughter to our beloved game.

Overall 7.5/10

Since I bought this last week, it has never failed to hit the table. We are all excited to be a party and gain our voters. Randomizing the parties also add to the fun and laughter. I have played 5 games already (including lunchtime at work :p)

Politiko can be bought at any Borders bookstore in Malaysia. Or go online at LoyarBarang.com and see if you can get a copy for yourself!

If you have played the game and wish to share your experiences with me, do drop me a comment below here. I'd love to hear from you.

Dungeon Roll review

Dungeon Roll

by Tasty Minstrel Games

1-4 players

Setup: 5 mins

Playtime: 20 mins per player

The Dungeon lies before you; you’ve assembled your party of hearty adventurers and have a few tricks up your sleeve. How far will you go to seek glory and fame? Will you risk losing everything?

This is a dice game. At the start of a turn, players roll to see which heroes will follow them into the dungeon. Then the heroes delve into the dungeon level by level. The deeper the delve, the more monsters one has to fight. These monsters are represented by another set of diced rolled. Players look at the heroes they have and decide which heroes they wish to sacrifice to kill the monsters.

There are various combinations that the active player can play. If there are a few monsters of a certain type being rolled, one specific hero can defeat them all. If a dragon is rolled, then they go into a pile. Collect 3 dragons in one turn and you risk losing more heroes  to them.

You can also roll scrolls which you can turn to potions which will help you revive heroes. Open treasure chests and you are entitled to rummage through an actual treasure box made of cardboard and claim treasure for yourself.

The active player can choose when he wants to leave the dungeon and keep the victory points he has earned (equal to the level of dungeon he/she managed to delve into). After 3 rounds, the points are summed up and the victory goes to obviously the player with the most points. More than this, you can look at the chart in the rulebook and see what you achieved. Get more points and you might be more than a village hero.

Gameplay 6/10
A playable and fun game. What takes the fun away is the downtime. One player would have his/her turn for 5 mins. They inserted that another player should throw the dice for the monsters but one player could do both for just the same feel. I'd say playing with two players is the sweet spot.

Dice not Yahtzee style. You usually don't get a choice unless you have other dice or powers to help you re-roll.

Luck in this game is there (as with every dice game) but not overwhelming until you feel the game is playing itself. There are still decisions to be made and each decision may reward you better.

Components 6/10

Love the dice. Colorful and beautifully engraved.

What brings the component score down is the box which stores all your game components. It is shaped to be a treasure chests with which you can open to draw treasure during the game. It is beautifully designed with art and all but this box is made of cardboard that does not feel solid enough to go through many rounds of play. Because it is not solid enough, you'd better not stack any other board games on top of this or it might collapse. Also because of the many times the box is being opened and closed throughout the game, the latch may spoil easily.

Tokens in this game are flat and small, which does not take much away from the game because the artwork is still good.

Replayability 7/10

For those times when you need a travel game and a quick game, this can be brought out. It is not rule heavy so new players will get the gist of it within the first play. There is good replayability here because the ranks that are available allow you to strive for a better score. So you can play this solo and go for the highest score.

Overall 6.5/10

This will be one of those games you keep near just in case there isn't an hour for a full on board game. The art and dice will draw any player to play it. The theme can be felt throughout the game, much more for dungeon crawling lovers.

It's just the box. Small is good for travel but the flimsiness fell short for me. Cheap though so you can't complain much.

Pros:
Dungeon delving theme
Colorful dice
Plays quickly
Strive for a better score
Beautiful artwork

Cons:
High downtime
Flimsy box


If you've played this game before, leave a comment and let me know how you felt about it.