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Paul Kellett (118 KP) rated Shadows of Malice in Tabletop Games
May 8, 2019
Great framework for narrating an adventure (2 more)
Good solo game
Interesting mechanisms
A lot of fiddly tokens (1 more)
Slightly heavy rules
A different take on the adventure board game
Shadows of Malice is an interesting take on the adventure game. Aside from the introduction explaining that you are heroes on a quest to find and activate mystical light wells and defeat the demon and his shadows before they can break through from the shadow realm and capture the wells for evil, there is no fancy artwork, immersive flavour text or even the well known fantasy monsters.
Instead, you get plain cards with simple line art and either just an icon/dice modifier or a short line of text explaining the effect. These cards are items of armour, weapons or other loot, potions, skill masteries, fate effects or abilities. A selection of these make up your character. Again, there are no defined heroes, you can be whatever you fancy being.
When you encounter a monster you roll 3d6 against a chart which will define the creature's species and its strength. Creature types are things like "Avian" and "Reptilian" so you can imagine fighting a dinosaur, a giant eagle or whatever fantastic creature you desire.
This makes the game a great framework to roleplay in. You are never stuck encountering the same things again and again. On the minus side, if you don't have a good imagination, it boils down to just rolling dice and beating target numbers. If you want a game to give you a story to follow, SoM is not that game.
The rules are good, if a little heavy but after a game or two it should soon click and it's mostly straight forward. The designer has recently just uploaded a revised rulebook to BGG which streamlines a number of things.
SoM comes with 4 large landscape hex tiles plus a shadow realm tile and you can choose any number of tiles to arrange in any position around the shadow realm tile. Each tile is divided into a number of smaller hexes with varying terrain and locations printed on them. This is the world you will be exploring and, despite being tiny compared to other game boards, each tile adds about an hour to the play time.
Gameplay involves exploring the land fighting creatures, gaining loot, visiting cities to trade goods or mystic seers to buy potions while searching for the special light wells that you must take control of.
In between player turns, the shadows act. They begin confined to the shadow realm but as the rounds progress, barriers fall and the shadows are more likely to find a way out to manifest in the land. Once there they start searching for the light wells and it's game over if they get to them first .
This makes for a tense cat and mouse with your heroes racing to either get to a well or intercept the demons on route.
Instead, you get plain cards with simple line art and either just an icon/dice modifier or a short line of text explaining the effect. These cards are items of armour, weapons or other loot, potions, skill masteries, fate effects or abilities. A selection of these make up your character. Again, there are no defined heroes, you can be whatever you fancy being.
When you encounter a monster you roll 3d6 against a chart which will define the creature's species and its strength. Creature types are things like "Avian" and "Reptilian" so you can imagine fighting a dinosaur, a giant eagle or whatever fantastic creature you desire.
This makes the game a great framework to roleplay in. You are never stuck encountering the same things again and again. On the minus side, if you don't have a good imagination, it boils down to just rolling dice and beating target numbers. If you want a game to give you a story to follow, SoM is not that game.
The rules are good, if a little heavy but after a game or two it should soon click and it's mostly straight forward. The designer has recently just uploaded a revised rulebook to BGG which streamlines a number of things.
SoM comes with 4 large landscape hex tiles plus a shadow realm tile and you can choose any number of tiles to arrange in any position around the shadow realm tile. Each tile is divided into a number of smaller hexes with varying terrain and locations printed on them. This is the world you will be exploring and, despite being tiny compared to other game boards, each tile adds about an hour to the play time.
Gameplay involves exploring the land fighting creatures, gaining loot, visiting cities to trade goods or mystic seers to buy potions while searching for the special light wells that you must take control of.
In between player turns, the shadows act. They begin confined to the shadow realm but as the rounds progress, barriers fall and the shadows are more likely to find a way out to manifest in the land. Once there they start searching for the light wells and it's game over if they get to them first .
This makes for a tense cat and mouse with your heroes racing to either get to a well or intercept the demons on route.
Peter Shephard (2822 KP) rated Merchants Cove in Tabletop Games
Jun 4, 2021
Great range of character options (4 more)
Single player option
Great looking board and pieces
Expansions are great
Every character is like playing a different subgame
Great and Varied game
I backed this on Kickstarter, with the Oracle, Dragon Rancher and Inn Keeper expansions. Over the course of our first evening playing, my wife and I had 1 game of learning the rules, then another three games fairly quickly.
The pieces (ships, meeples, and individual gaming boards) are fantastic (although a couple are a little fiddly/weak) and every single character has their own flavour and type of sub-game;
The Alchemist makes potions by drawing marbles, firstly from a bag, then from a "decanter" (echoes of Quacks of Quiddlingberg)
The Blacksmith makes weapons and armour from dice rolls and combos in furnaces (not quite Yahtzee)
The Captain sails her fleet of ships to go fishing and treasure hunting using a spinning compass mechanism (can't put my finger what this reminds me of)
The Chronomancer (a great Back to the Future nod) travels through time portals to get pieces of technology, using a slide-and-shift board (like a mini Labrynth)
The Dragon rancher (believe it or not) hatches, raises and sells dragons; a couple of mechanics which work well together (even if one is shovelling poop) but not really like a game I've played
The Innkeeper is a great sub-sub-game; he can only sell drinks at one point, but he can put people up in his Inn which gives a bonus. A little bit of prediction work, but not like a other game I can think of.
The Oracle uses a scatter/dish for her fetishes and dice, and this limits what she can do - but I'd say she has the most varied scope of games (dots, predictions, and a few others)
The aim of the game is to be the Merchant who makes the most money, without attracting too much Corruption. Each game is played over three days, and each day has a limited amount of time. Each task the characters do has a different amount of time-cost - it might take 1h to brew potions, but it takes 2h to get ingredients from the decanter and prepare the potions. At several points each day, random Adventurers are drawn from the bag, and put into the travelling ships, as chosen by the drawer. However, there are also rogues who take up space and don't buy anything!
My only real complaint with the game is the comparatively long set up (5-10 minutes seems to be our average) for a 30-45m play time for 2 players - but it is really worth it. If/when this goes to retail, I'd say every gaming group who enjoys a combination of resource management, meeple and worker placement, and beautiful set-piece games, should give this a try.
The pieces (ships, meeples, and individual gaming boards) are fantastic (although a couple are a little fiddly/weak) and every single character has their own flavour and type of sub-game;
The Alchemist makes potions by drawing marbles, firstly from a bag, then from a "decanter" (echoes of Quacks of Quiddlingberg)
The Blacksmith makes weapons and armour from dice rolls and combos in furnaces (not quite Yahtzee)
The Captain sails her fleet of ships to go fishing and treasure hunting using a spinning compass mechanism (can't put my finger what this reminds me of)
The Chronomancer (a great Back to the Future nod) travels through time portals to get pieces of technology, using a slide-and-shift board (like a mini Labrynth)
The Dragon rancher (believe it or not) hatches, raises and sells dragons; a couple of mechanics which work well together (even if one is shovelling poop) but not really like a game I've played
The Innkeeper is a great sub-sub-game; he can only sell drinks at one point, but he can put people up in his Inn which gives a bonus. A little bit of prediction work, but not like a other game I can think of.
The Oracle uses a scatter/dish for her fetishes and dice, and this limits what she can do - but I'd say she has the most varied scope of games (dots, predictions, and a few others)
The aim of the game is to be the Merchant who makes the most money, without attracting too much Corruption. Each game is played over three days, and each day has a limited amount of time. Each task the characters do has a different amount of time-cost - it might take 1h to brew potions, but it takes 2h to get ingredients from the decanter and prepare the potions. At several points each day, random Adventurers are drawn from the bag, and put into the travelling ships, as chosen by the drawer. However, there are also rogues who take up space and don't buy anything!
My only real complaint with the game is the comparatively long set up (5-10 minutes seems to be our average) for a 30-45m play time for 2 players - but it is really worth it. If/when this goes to retail, I'd say every gaming group who enjoys a combination of resource management, meeple and worker placement, and beautiful set-piece games, should give this a try.
Champions and Challengers
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Bastion in Tabletop Games
Jul 30, 2020 (Updated Jul 30, 2020)
The Strategy (3 more)
Think Ten Steps Ahead
Replay Value
Different Scenarios
Excellent Tower Defense Game With A Twist
Bastion is a cooperative strategy game for one to four players. Taking inspiration from extremely popular tower defense video games, Bastion subjects players to an unrelenting stream of attacks by an army of vicious monsters. By channeling the sources within the city’s districts, defense towers, and citadel, players work together to defend its borders, all the while gaining useful spells from the enemies they defeat. Only by properly managing their mana, spells, and rituals will they have any hope of withstanding the onslaught.
In Bastion, you and your friends are the city’s last hope. Only you can stem the tide of the invading hordes. The tension constantly mounts during each game as a new card is drawn from the enemy deck and advances along the city walls after every player’s turn. You must clear them all from the walls by spending mana tokens if you hope to stem the tide. Players win or lose together, so make sure to coordinate your actions before the city is overrun. It will take a careful balance between channeling mana, moving throughout the city, and defeating enemies to claim victory.
Staring down a horde of vicious monsters is intimidating for even the most experienced of heroes. Luckily for you, defeating enemies converts their life-force into powerful spells that can provide an advantage at critical moments. Reduce an enemy to dust with a powerful fireball spell or use the plenty spell to give yourself a quick influx of extra mana tokens. Determining the best time to use these spells is up to the you, of course, but waiting for perfect moment can turn the tide of battle in your favor.
Once you’ve mastered the introductory game, there are even more ways to play Bastion. More powerful enemies await those seeking even more of a challenge, including the fearsome Black Knight or the revolting Knellerwyrm. In turn, the heroes respond to this increased threat by harnessing the power of ancient rituals that make it easier to obtain mana of the color they need. On top of the extra monsters, Bastion also includes four unique scenarios that add special rules and more variety. Can you handle an enemy army made up of flying creatures? What would happen if you arrived at the city after the enemy forces? Each scenario demands new strategies and offers a unique spin on the Bastion experience. The enemy is at the gates. Take up arms and fight for victory!
Its a excellent strategy game and has a excellent replay value with the different scenarios, you can go solo or play with others. Its a excellent twist on the tower defense genre. If you want to learn more go to BoardGameGeek, Dice Tower Reviews or Rahdo Walkthroughs. I learn about it through Dice Tower Reviews and bought it right away. Its a excellent game.
In Bastion, you and your friends are the city’s last hope. Only you can stem the tide of the invading hordes. The tension constantly mounts during each game as a new card is drawn from the enemy deck and advances along the city walls after every player’s turn. You must clear them all from the walls by spending mana tokens if you hope to stem the tide. Players win or lose together, so make sure to coordinate your actions before the city is overrun. It will take a careful balance between channeling mana, moving throughout the city, and defeating enemies to claim victory.
Staring down a horde of vicious monsters is intimidating for even the most experienced of heroes. Luckily for you, defeating enemies converts their life-force into powerful spells that can provide an advantage at critical moments. Reduce an enemy to dust with a powerful fireball spell or use the plenty spell to give yourself a quick influx of extra mana tokens. Determining the best time to use these spells is up to the you, of course, but waiting for perfect moment can turn the tide of battle in your favor.
Once you’ve mastered the introductory game, there are even more ways to play Bastion. More powerful enemies await those seeking even more of a challenge, including the fearsome Black Knight or the revolting Knellerwyrm. In turn, the heroes respond to this increased threat by harnessing the power of ancient rituals that make it easier to obtain mana of the color they need. On top of the extra monsters, Bastion also includes four unique scenarios that add special rules and more variety. Can you handle an enemy army made up of flying creatures? What would happen if you arrived at the city after the enemy forces? Each scenario demands new strategies and offers a unique spin on the Bastion experience. The enemy is at the gates. Take up arms and fight for victory!
Its a excellent strategy game and has a excellent replay value with the different scenarios, you can go solo or play with others. Its a excellent twist on the tower defense genre. If you want to learn more go to BoardGameGeek, Dice Tower Reviews or Rahdo Walkthroughs. I learn about it through Dice Tower Reviews and bought it right away. Its a excellent game.
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