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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Valeria: Card Kingdoms in Tabletop Games

Jun 12, 2019

Valeria: Card Kingdoms

2016 | Card Game, Dice Game, Fantasy

9.0

(3 Ratings)

Tabletop Game Rating

Imagine yourself a Duke/Duchess. You have land that needs to be developed. You have paltry starting resources and access to a Farmer to produce goods and a Knight to protect them. You need to build the greatest Dukedom/Duchy to prosper for generations and fend off the impending monster attack. In typical RPG fashion I ask you, “What. Do. You. Do?”

DISCLAIMER!! This review is for vanilla Valeria: Card Kingdoms. We have plans to add in the expansions in the near future. Once we do, we will add that information to this review or to a new review and link to it from here. -T

Okay, I have to admit, I Kickstarted Villages of Valeria (VoV) and Quests of Valeria (QoV) before picking up Valeria: Card Kingdoms (VCK). Why? Well, because I was wary of shared universe games at the time, so I tried one: Villages of Valeria. Dude, it’s a great game (review to come). When I Kickstart something I usually tend to go all-in. So I have the good stuff. Same with Quest for Valeria (review to come). I simply missed the boat on the first installment because I was late to the game.

Fast forward to me actually buying the game and trying it out. The mechanics felt very familiar (thanks Machi Koro), and the iconography was very familiar too (thanks VoV and QoV). But VCK excelled and rocked my world so much that I just cannot get enough of it.

Without paraphrasing the rulebook and teaching the entire game here, I’ll give a quick rules synopsis. You roll 2d6 on your turn and activate cards based on what you roll. Rolled a 3 and a 5? Ok, activate the 3 card. Also the 5 card. So far it sounds just like Machi Koro right? Here’s where it improves on MK. You also activate the 8 card (because 3+5=8). BUT ALSO EVERYONE ELSE ACTIVATES THEIR 3, 5, and 8 CARDS. Then you take two actions, which could be recruiting more citizen cards to activate when rolled, getting resources, defeating monsters, adding buildings to your Dukedom/Duchy. Most VP at the end of the game wins.

Roll dice, activate cards, take actions, win the game. It’s so simple, but yet so so so much fun. The game looks incredible when setup, there are a ton of card areas, monsters, the dice are big and chunky, game play is super fast, and you are always involved – even on your opponents’ turns. What more could you ask for? I’ll tell you: a super positive Purple Phoenix Games score of 22 / 24. It’s my favorite game of all time, after all.

https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/01/09/valeria-card-kingdoms-review/

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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Sequence in Tabletop Games

May 31, 2018

Sequence

1982 | Abstract Strategy, Card Game

7.1

(14 Ratings)

Tabletop Game Rating

Addictive

If you hate card games and strategy games then I’m afraid Sequence really isn’t for you. However if like me you love both types, then Sequence is a highly entertaining and addictive game.

It works a little like Connect 4 with cards, but with a lot more detail and thinking involved. And like games like Monopoly, the cards you get are based solely on luck (of the draw/dice) and your strategy is what helps you win. But unlike most strategy games, Sequence is a fairly short one. It doesn’t drag on for hours (unless you spend a long time picking where to place pieces), and it doesn’t get boring. It can get a little frustrating at times, especially when you know you can have nothing to prevent your opponent from winning, but that’s all part of the game.

The only criticism is that despite stating it is for 2-12 players, it’s actually only for 3 players or 3 teams, as there’s only 3 different colours of chips. Whilst I understand that you can’t have a huge amount of players, surely 4 would’ve been a better and more appropriate number of players/teams/colours?

Despite this, it’s still a hugely addictive and fun game to play, I can’t see it getting old any time soon!