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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Darkest Night (First edition) in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
One of the best parts of the board gaming experience is finding a fun group of people with whom to play! Sometimes, though, coordinating a game night is easier said than done. We all must occasionally forego the group experience and face the world as the Lonely Only. But fear not! The world of solo-play is a vast and exciting realm! What follows is a chronicle of my journey into the solo-playing world – notes on gameplay, mechanics, rules, difficulty, and overall experience with solo variations of commonly multiplayer games! I hope this will provide some insight as you continue to grow your collection, or explore your already owned games!
Once prosperous, your kingdom has fallen victim to a powerful Necromancer who has shrouded the realm in darkness. His minions traverse the land doing his bidding, and his army, as well as his powers, continue to grow. All hope is lost….or is it? Four heroes band together in a final attempt to defeat this evil being. Each brings unique powers and strategies to the table, and success will come in one of two ways – by defeating the Necromancer in direct combat, or by gathering Holy Relics and performing a ritual to undo his powers. But be warned: the Necromancer grows stronger with every passing moment, so be sure your chosen strategy is the right one. Otherwise you too will fall victim to the Necromancer’s might.
Darkest Night is a cooperative game where players take on the role of the heroes attempting to defeat the Necromancer. Each turn has 4 steps – Perform any start-of-turn actions, draw/resolve an Event card, perform one action, and defend against Blights (monsters). Each equipped with a unique set of powers, the heroes must work together to search the land for Holy Relics and destroy Blights before the kingdom is overrun. Once all of the heroes have had their turn, the Necromancer gets his turn, which entails advancing the Darkness track, moving towards the closest detected hero, and creating more Blights. Victory comes in two forms – ritual or combat. If the heroes collectively uncover three Holy Relics, they can use them in a ritual to break the Necromancer’s powers. Or if a hero gets strong enough, they could directly fight the Necromancer. If, at any point, the Monastery is overrun by Blights, the game ends in failure and the kingdom has fallen into darkness.
DISCLAIMER – This review is for the Darkest Night (First Edition) base game. There is a second edition, and several expansions, but I have not had experience with any of those, so my thoughts are solely based on the First Edition base game. -L
I’m just going to be up-front and let you know that I am not a huge fan of this game solo. The main reason is that this game is for four heroes, regardless of actual player count. So playing solo means that I have to control all four heroes. Controlling one hero, I can do. Controlling two heroes takes more focus, but is usually manageable. But controlling four heroes at once? Madness! At least for me it is. There is so much more for a single person to keep track of, and it can be pretty overwhelming. There are so many variables to keep track of, I often end up making mistakes – forgetting to draw Event cards, accidentally using one hero’s ability when it is a different hero’s turn, forgetting to give one hero a turn in a round because I thought they already had one, etc. If I am lucky, I will catch a mistake in-progress, or one turn later, and can rectify it. But to be honest, of all the mistakes I make while playing Darkest Night, I probably won’t catch 25% of them. Which can either make a game super easy, or super brutal. You might tell me, “Focus!” or “Pay better attention!” but believe me, I’m trying! I just feel like four heroes for one person is too much.
Patience is a virtue, but apparently I have none when it comes to this game. And by that, I mean that I feel like it takes an eternity to accomplish anything in this game. On your turn, you only get one single action. And movement is an action. Picture this – I am trying to move my hero to the opposite end of the kingdom (at least 2 spaces away). I am going to have to spend 2 complete rounds (active hero turn, other hero turns, Necromancer turn, x2) just to get there. And then once I finally get there, I have to wait for the 3rd round to even do anything in that location! I just get frustrated at the fact that something as simple as moving a few spaces takes multiple rounds to accomplish. Since everything takes so long to do, you have to be thinking so far into the future with every turn. That makes it difficult for me to strategize, and the game just feels so inefficient, especially in solo play, when you have to control all of the heroes. It can be tricky enough planning a few turns in advance for a single hero, but being in charge of all heroes just makes the job more complicated. And maybe I’m just not patient enough for this game, but I think that if every hero got two actions per turn, the game would be a lot more manageable.
This will come as no surprise to you, but I enjoy this game more in a group rather than solo. This game is cooperative, and I like being able to talk strategy with my fellow gamers, rather than trying to figure everything out for each of the four heroes by myself. Group play also allows me to focus my attention on one single hero instead of multiple, which makes the game feel less overwhelming to me. And perhaps the second edition or expansions address some of the issues I have with the game, but for the time being, Darkest Night is low on my list of solo games.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/01/04/solo-chronicles-darkest-night/
Once prosperous, your kingdom has fallen victim to a powerful Necromancer who has shrouded the realm in darkness. His minions traverse the land doing his bidding, and his army, as well as his powers, continue to grow. All hope is lost….or is it? Four heroes band together in a final attempt to defeat this evil being. Each brings unique powers and strategies to the table, and success will come in one of two ways – by defeating the Necromancer in direct combat, or by gathering Holy Relics and performing a ritual to undo his powers. But be warned: the Necromancer grows stronger with every passing moment, so be sure your chosen strategy is the right one. Otherwise you too will fall victim to the Necromancer’s might.
Darkest Night is a cooperative game where players take on the role of the heroes attempting to defeat the Necromancer. Each turn has 4 steps – Perform any start-of-turn actions, draw/resolve an Event card, perform one action, and defend against Blights (monsters). Each equipped with a unique set of powers, the heroes must work together to search the land for Holy Relics and destroy Blights before the kingdom is overrun. Once all of the heroes have had their turn, the Necromancer gets his turn, which entails advancing the Darkness track, moving towards the closest detected hero, and creating more Blights. Victory comes in two forms – ritual or combat. If the heroes collectively uncover three Holy Relics, they can use them in a ritual to break the Necromancer’s powers. Or if a hero gets strong enough, they could directly fight the Necromancer. If, at any point, the Monastery is overrun by Blights, the game ends in failure and the kingdom has fallen into darkness.
DISCLAIMER – This review is for the Darkest Night (First Edition) base game. There is a second edition, and several expansions, but I have not had experience with any of those, so my thoughts are solely based on the First Edition base game. -L
I’m just going to be up-front and let you know that I am not a huge fan of this game solo. The main reason is that this game is for four heroes, regardless of actual player count. So playing solo means that I have to control all four heroes. Controlling one hero, I can do. Controlling two heroes takes more focus, but is usually manageable. But controlling four heroes at once? Madness! At least for me it is. There is so much more for a single person to keep track of, and it can be pretty overwhelming. There are so many variables to keep track of, I often end up making mistakes – forgetting to draw Event cards, accidentally using one hero’s ability when it is a different hero’s turn, forgetting to give one hero a turn in a round because I thought they already had one, etc. If I am lucky, I will catch a mistake in-progress, or one turn later, and can rectify it. But to be honest, of all the mistakes I make while playing Darkest Night, I probably won’t catch 25% of them. Which can either make a game super easy, or super brutal. You might tell me, “Focus!” or “Pay better attention!” but believe me, I’m trying! I just feel like four heroes for one person is too much.
Patience is a virtue, but apparently I have none when it comes to this game. And by that, I mean that I feel like it takes an eternity to accomplish anything in this game. On your turn, you only get one single action. And movement is an action. Picture this – I am trying to move my hero to the opposite end of the kingdom (at least 2 spaces away). I am going to have to spend 2 complete rounds (active hero turn, other hero turns, Necromancer turn, x2) just to get there. And then once I finally get there, I have to wait for the 3rd round to even do anything in that location! I just get frustrated at the fact that something as simple as moving a few spaces takes multiple rounds to accomplish. Since everything takes so long to do, you have to be thinking so far into the future with every turn. That makes it difficult for me to strategize, and the game just feels so inefficient, especially in solo play, when you have to control all of the heroes. It can be tricky enough planning a few turns in advance for a single hero, but being in charge of all heroes just makes the job more complicated. And maybe I’m just not patient enough for this game, but I think that if every hero got two actions per turn, the game would be a lot more manageable.
This will come as no surprise to you, but I enjoy this game more in a group rather than solo. This game is cooperative, and I like being able to talk strategy with my fellow gamers, rather than trying to figure everything out for each of the four heroes by myself. Group play also allows me to focus my attention on one single hero instead of multiple, which makes the game feel less overwhelming to me. And perhaps the second edition or expansions address some of the issues I have with the game, but for the time being, Darkest Night is low on my list of solo games.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/01/04/solo-chronicles-darkest-night/
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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Hero in Books
Jan 15, 2018
This book was actually lent to me by a former student who loved it so much he asked me to read it. Of course what teacher could turn down a request like that!?
The book was good. I can see why it appealed to a 5th grade boy without a doubt. It tells the story of Zach Harriman who turns out to be a sort of super hero. Of course he doesn't know that he is until after his dad is killed in a plane crash. After that, he finds out that his dad had the same abilities & that his plane "crash" was most likely caused by "The Bads."
The story is a bit predictable. There is a good core cast of characters, but they felt a bit lacking...they could have been more fleshed out. Of course in saying all of this, I do realize that I am not the target audience for this book. I'm sure if the 5th grader who gave it to me were to rate it, he'd give it a 5!
The book was good. I can see why it appealed to a 5th grade boy without a doubt. It tells the story of Zach Harriman who turns out to be a sort of super hero. Of course he doesn't know that he is until after his dad is killed in a plane crash. After that, he finds out that his dad had the same abilities & that his plane "crash" was most likely caused by "The Bads."
The story is a bit predictable. There is a good core cast of characters, but they felt a bit lacking...they could have been more fleshed out. Of course in saying all of this, I do realize that I am not the target audience for this book. I'm sure if the 5th grader who gave it to me were to rate it, he'd give it a 5!
Dreddknight (28 KP) rated Wonder Woman (2017) in Movies
Jul 27, 2017
Wasn't Man of Steel (3 more)
Wasn't Batman v Superman
Didn't get heavy handed with iffy subject matter
Diana beating wholesale @$$
Villain obvious from the start (1 more)
Above villain fight could've been better
Hey look! It's the ONLY reason that the DCCU still has a pulse!
She didn't murder thousands of people. She didn't do billions of dollars in property damage. She didn't try and murder another hero so because.
It's Wonder Woman! As in, it's a wonder that WB took THIS long to make a movie about one of DC's Trinity. And she was portrayed flawlessly. The only reason this didn't get 10/10 was the way the main villain paid off, which isn't great. Gal Gadot needs an Oscar. Also, there was no super feminism or lack of feminism; it was addressed and then back to the story. LIKE IT SHOULD BE WITH ALL COMIC MOVIES. We aren't paying $10+ a ticket to see a movie about political views! We came to see heroes be heroes! Good on you, WB. Now let's not have Aquaman suck...
It's Wonder Woman! As in, it's a wonder that WB took THIS long to make a movie about one of DC's Trinity. And she was portrayed flawlessly. The only reason this didn't get 10/10 was the way the main villain paid off, which isn't great. Gal Gadot needs an Oscar. Also, there was no super feminism or lack of feminism; it was addressed and then back to the story. LIKE IT SHOULD BE WITH ALL COMIC MOVIES. We aren't paying $10+ a ticket to see a movie about political views! We came to see heroes be heroes! Good on you, WB. Now let's not have Aquaman suck...
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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Trust Me, I'm a Superhero in Tabletop Games
Oct 8, 2020
You know when you’re fortunate enough to be given superpowers but they are super lame? Yeah me neither, but I still think it would be awesome to have even the lamest superpower. Well, if you’re like me, you will relish the opportunity to play Trust Me, I’m a Superhero where you can try out different superhero combinations and aid the citizens of our fair city!
Trust Me, I’m a Superhero is a negotiation-style party card game in the vein of Apples to Apples. In it players are bogus superheros answering the Call for Help and attempting to convince the Director to send them out as the city’s hero.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I know for sure that the final components will be different from these shown. I usually include a messy photo as my last of the review, but in this case I captured the art style that will be used in the final version. You are invited to back the game through the Kickstarter campaign launching October 27, 2020, or purchase through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, shuffle the Super deck and Power deck separately. Deal each player five cards from each deck and the game may begin!
Playing Trust Me, I’m a Superhero is incredibly simple. From the hand of 10 cards dealt players will choose one Super card and one Power card to mash together creating a lame superhero. Players will display their superhero face-up in front of them. The player who is the current Director will flip over the top Call for Help card, read it aloud, and then players will initiate discussion with the Director to convince them that their hero should be sent to answer the call. The Director then chooses the best superhero by awarding the Call for Help card to the winning player. The next player in clock-wise order is the next Director. Play continues in this fashion until a player has won three Call for Help cards or some other determined time limit.
Components. Well, I cannot really comment on the components too much as again, I am using a prototype copy with prototype non-final artwork. From the photo below of the art style the final game will be using I can see that the art is whimsical and cartoony, which is perfect for this game. I am also sure that components will probably be upgraded as a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign with crushed stretch goals.
I have also played and reviewed Trust Me, I’m a Doctor and I said that I liked it, and I do. But if I like Trust Me, I’m a Doctor then I love Trust Me, I’m a Superhero. Just the added little twist of choosing your Super and Power cards BEFORE you see what the Call for Help will be is excellent. This game would be so different if you saw the Help card prior to assembling your Super Power. It would be too easy and not at all hilarious. I am so glad this twist exists and helps to elevate this from a good game to a great little A2A spin-off that CAN get NSFW with the right (or wrong?) people, and will feature some fun art. If you are interested in this little title, please consider backing it on Kickstarter on October 27, 2020! Tell them Purple Phoenix Games sent ya or I’ll send over Solar-Powered Punch or Seductive Corpse to rough you up a bit.
Trust Me, I’m a Superhero is a negotiation-style party card game in the vein of Apples to Apples. In it players are bogus superheros answering the Call for Help and attempting to convince the Director to send them out as the city’s hero.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I know for sure that the final components will be different from these shown. I usually include a messy photo as my last of the review, but in this case I captured the art style that will be used in the final version. You are invited to back the game through the Kickstarter campaign launching October 27, 2020, or purchase through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, shuffle the Super deck and Power deck separately. Deal each player five cards from each deck and the game may begin!
Playing Trust Me, I’m a Superhero is incredibly simple. From the hand of 10 cards dealt players will choose one Super card and one Power card to mash together creating a lame superhero. Players will display their superhero face-up in front of them. The player who is the current Director will flip over the top Call for Help card, read it aloud, and then players will initiate discussion with the Director to convince them that their hero should be sent to answer the call. The Director then chooses the best superhero by awarding the Call for Help card to the winning player. The next player in clock-wise order is the next Director. Play continues in this fashion until a player has won three Call for Help cards or some other determined time limit.
Components. Well, I cannot really comment on the components too much as again, I am using a prototype copy with prototype non-final artwork. From the photo below of the art style the final game will be using I can see that the art is whimsical and cartoony, which is perfect for this game. I am also sure that components will probably be upgraded as a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign with crushed stretch goals.
I have also played and reviewed Trust Me, I’m a Doctor and I said that I liked it, and I do. But if I like Trust Me, I’m a Doctor then I love Trust Me, I’m a Superhero. Just the added little twist of choosing your Super and Power cards BEFORE you see what the Call for Help will be is excellent. This game would be so different if you saw the Help card prior to assembling your Super Power. It would be too easy and not at all hilarious. I am so glad this twist exists and helps to elevate this from a good game to a great little A2A spin-off that CAN get NSFW with the right (or wrong?) people, and will feature some fun art. If you are interested in this little title, please consider backing it on Kickstarter on October 27, 2020! Tell them Purple Phoenix Games sent ya or I’ll send over Solar-Powered Punch or Seductive Corpse to rough you up a bit.
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