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Board Game Reviews

Star Trek Fleet Captains by Wizkids 2011

Designers: Mike Elliott, Bryan Kinsella, Ethan Pasternack

Final Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star3.9Stars (3.9 out 5 Stars)

Star Trek is undoubtedly one of the most easily recognized franchises in science-fiction and popular culture right along the likes of Star Wars. Unfortunately in the world of gaming, be it video games, board games or otherwise it just seems to be cursed. After nearly 50 years of Star Trek I don’t even need the use of my second hand to count the number of quality games made for the Star Trek franchise across all gaming platforms. In the world of board gaming I can’t even think of one. To put it plainly yet very accurately, Star Trek board games and card games suck.

Suffice to say when released in 2011 I barely even gave this game a glance, working on the standard and historically accurate presumption that if it has the Star Trek logo, it’s probably not going to be very good. Still, I am a fan of the franchise as a whole and find myself longing for a way to experience it as a game. Unlike most of my gaming purchases, against my own sound advice I impulsively picked up Star Trek: Fleet Captains recently. The only question that remains is, does the game stack up? or is it yet another disappointment to the seemingly hopeless string of games attempting to capture the Star Trek universe? Let’s find out.

Components

Verdict: christmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_star

Pros: Sturdy miniatures that are made to last and look stunning on the table,.

Cons: Card stock quality is average with some components clearly needing to be thicker (system tiles), in contrast to the miniatures the cards are not made to last. Not the best application of the Clix gimmick.

I usually don’t complain about the price of games because typically there isn’t that much to complain about. Most modern designer games fly in around 20-50 dollars usually peeking at around 60ish or so. It’s really rare that a game is released that weighs in around 100 dollars (about 1,000 Swedish crowns for my Scandinavian friends).

When a game is that expensive, my expectation is that the components of the game better blow me the fuck out of the water, after all I paid dearly for them.

pic1091129_md
Fleet Captains looks great on the table, but the component quality leaves a lot to be desired.

In the case of Star Trek Fleet Captains certainly the thing that immediately captures your attention are the plastic heroclix miniatures and they do not disappoint. These are some solid mini’s, especially for board game standards and while unpainted with occasional blemishes, in board game terms I can’t think of any game that has done a better job. Naturally they aren’t comparable to miniature games and that isn’t a standard for comparison here, but I have seen the Attack Wing miniatures and they aren’t that far off here, some of them appear to be the same molds.

The ships are easily identifiable, in particular the many unique Federation vessels. The Klingon ships are less so due largely to the fact that there are fewer different types but they are no less spectacular looking. I can say that the clix components aren’t always easy to turn, some are a bit stickier than others adding to the fiddly nature of the game and its worth mentioning that in play, the Clix gimmick really doesn’t translate well. The font is very small and the information difficult to read on them. I don’t dislike the Clix concept, but perhaps this wasn’t the best application of it.

As for the rest of the game I think the components barely get a passing grade in terms of quality, the stock is quite flimsy even though I personally like a rough finish. The system tiles in particular are a thin stock given that the thinness makes them a bit difficult to pick up and even after a couple of plays clear marks and bends can be seen.

There is quite a bit of components here, hundreds of cards and plenty of counters to track everything with ample excess to ensure you aren’t going to run out of anything during play.

To conclude, aside from the Miniatures which are really great and alone would earn a very high component grade, the component quality is quite average everywhere else, well below expectations for such an expensive game. I’m thankful that while the cards are thin they are at least a rough finish which will help to hide the eventual blemishes on the cards. It was difficult to score it, on miniatures I would have given it 4 stars for components, but for the rest of the game it would be a hard 2 stars. The deciding factor for me was the price, at such a high cost, I really expected, no, demand, fantastic components from start to finish. You don’t get to charge me 100 bucks and give me a game that is already showing wear and tear after a couple of plays.

Theme

Verdict: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

Pros: Every inch of the game is designed with the Star Trek theme in mind, delivering dynamic trekkie goodness from start to finish.

Cons: Photo art style is effective in inspiring nostalgia and portraying the games theme to Trekies but likely looks weird and low budget as the shows were to non-trekies. Photo Art is pretty much never a good idea for board games.

To me, first and foremost at the top of the list was that if this game was going to put the Star Trek logo on the cover and claim “Explore the galaxy with your own fleet!” it better feel like it. Thankfully the designers put their best foot forward and while not perhaps in a terribly artistic way as the games art style is largely screen shots from the TV shows and movies, for fans at the very least it might hit that nostalgic note. The presentation and thematic presence comes in small part due to the components, in particular the ship miniatures but overall where the game shines is within its connection between the mechanics and the Star Trek theme. I will discuss some of those mechanics in the gameplay section, but suffice to say there is no action in the game you can take, that doesn’t have an immediate and recognizable link to the show, all reflected in the art style and general presentation of the game. The Star Trek presence is unmistakable in this game, it’s exactly what you hope to find in a franchise board game.

Games with cropped photos rely heavily on the impact of those photo's on their audience.
Games with cropped photos rely heavily on the impact of those photo’s on their audience.

Now typically I don’t like “photo” art in games because while I might love the show or movie they are based on, when I play a game I love to experience new visuals rather than cropped photos from scenes I have already seen. Fleet Captains however does a great job of selection here, choosing some of the most iconic, funniest and cleverly nostalgic photos from the show, clearly a tribute to fans. I found myself smiling at the draw of every card, a clear sign that the designers got the desired effect out of this minimalist approach to art design, at least from a Trekkie.

I’m afraid however that if you don’t watch and know Star Trek, this art style is going to look quite weird to you. The costume and art design of the Star Trek shows was nothing if not rather low budget so there are some pretty outrageously cheesy men in rubber suites that might put a smile on your face for the wrong reasons.

That said, it’s crystal clear to me that the Star Trek theme is here in spades, it IS Star Trek in a box and it’s exactly what as a Trekkie I hoped I would find when I opened it. Fleet Captain delivers the connection between theme and gameplay in a nostalgically fantastic way.

Gameplay

Verdict: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

Pros: Dynamic game-play offers tremendous variety in strategies in this very balanced, yet diverse game. Its connection between theme and mechanic is near perfect. It’s the first and only good Star Trek game on the market.

Cons: Card play timing and effects can sometime be confusing without much official clarification. As a 2 player game it’s great, but to get a proper multiplayer experience (3 or 4 players) you have to buy one or both expansions which are nearly as expensive as the core game and at this point difficult to find.

As usual in my reviews I typically don’t explain how to play the game, I find that most people when they read reviews, myself included, just want to get to the nuts and bolts in regards to what works and how well it works. We will do just that.

Fleet Captains is a multifaceted, dynamic and asymmetrical game, which are all buzz words but they actually do mean stuff In this case, I promise.

When I say multifaceted I’m talking about Fleet Captains merging of genres and game play elements. It’s a game that combines adventure gaming (player vs. environment) via encounter decks and system tiles creating that very familiar exploration element in Star Trek shows. It’s also a strategic game of area control, players influence system tiles, construct colonies and gain benefits from controlling these areas. This give you a sense of the Star Trek universe on a more global scale, where familiar science-fiction sounding stuff like Starbases, Nebulas and unique locations you most certainly remember from the shows take on strategic meaning and purpose in the game.

The game is also a strategic game of fleet combat, the primary way players interact with each other as they attempt to slow or halt each other’s progress in their pursuit for victory points through direct aggression. This of course is the most Star Trekkie thing of all as the Federation and Klingons clash in combat raising shields, overloading sensors, firing photon torpedoes, all driven by a variety of customizable mechanics and card play. Playing with the model ships is fun enough, but seeing that the mechanics that govern them are so in sync with the theme here makes this a wonderful experience for fans of Star Trek.

Ship to ship combat is an important part of the Star Trek universe, its no surprise that so many fans take the time to paint their ships in preparation for battle.
Ship to ship combat is an important part of the Star Trek universe, its no surprise that so many fans take the time to paint their ships in preparation for battle.

Finally it’s a strategic card game as players try to out play each other in back and forth of modification cards, combat cards, crew cards other advantageous card play. This is in a sense the finishing touch on the game, its where that personalized ownership of your game world comes into play. You have Captain Kirk and Bones on the Enterprise, exploring the galaxy, but you can also have sort of customized, alternative world where Picard actually captains the Runabout. It’s the essence of Trekkiness.

In on themselves individually the mechanics aren’t terribly original but what drives them is. Again, its that connection of mechanics and them, for example the encounter cards are effectively the central plot of an entire Star Trek episode from one of the tv shows or movies and the mechanics that define that encounter are represented in a manner that has an expected effect on the game. There are long lasting effects, some that redefine the terrain, others that create a unique risk for that game in a particular area. This is true of the command cards, the mission cards, the system tiles themselves and how all the ships function. Everything is in tune.

There is also a variety of ways these cards interact and create combinations of mechanics that create the diversity in the game as a whole. For example you might have a science vessel that doesn’t have much in the way of offensive military power but with the right command cards, that high sensor score can be turned into a lethal weapon. This sort of inventive element replicates the feel of the show as your clever Federation officers or Klingon Warriors find ways to turn disadvantages into advantages. There are many gotcha moments, last minute miracle moves and an ample surprises are fizzing with that Star Trek essence.

The “dynamics” (Buzzword) of how the game is setup, and ultimately reveals itself is also a major strength of the game. You start the game with a small fleet of the many possible ships each with unique abilities, strengths and weaknesses drawn randomly at the start of the game. The galaxy itself is built from a small portion of a fairly sizeable deck of system tiles constructed in any way you see fit which defines the length of the game and in a sense the type of game you will have. You get a small handful of mission cards for each game from a stack of many. You select 4 command decks of 10 cards each from 10 different command decks, cards that will define your strengths and weakness. Not to mention the encounter cards of which you may draw dozen in the course of the game, from a deck sizable deck.

While there is a standard configuration for the system tiles, creating uniquely shaped universes is one of many ways this game can be easily customized.
While there is a standard configuration for the system tiles, creating uniquely shaped universes is one of many ways this game can be easily customized.

Let’s just say that the amount of dynamic content is so large that even without the expansions the possibilities will take many games to explore fully. After six plays of the game I can say without reservation that not only was each game unique, but no clear strategies that carry over from game to game revealed themselves. It’s a game of reacting to what is available and in front of you, rather than theoryocrafting or analyzing the mechanics to “figure out” how to win the game. It’s my personal favorite style of design and you will find none of my top 10 games are games you can unravel the “how to win” puzzle which might explain why so few Euro games make the cut.

Finally the game is Asymmetrical but this isn’t just a subtle facade, there is an extremely distinct difference between playing as the Klingons or the Federation and again, like everything else in the game it’s thematically accurate down to a science in the broad Star Trek theme. Both the ships and command cards each have distinctly unique capabilities, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. Each race excels in certain areas, while flounders in others, yet there is a certain sense of equality even in this Asymmetrical balance. For example when a military Klingon ship faces of against a Federation science vessel you might expect that the military might of the Klingons means a sure, easy fight. Thanks to some interesting card play and mechanics, a science-vessel might overload and disable the Klingons shields and even with its limited fire-power could win the day. Every mechanic in the game combines to create unique opportunities for each player, using them wisely is the route to victory. The strategies deployed aren’t always driven by the strength of the Asymmetrical style for your race, often its opportunities and surprise card effects that make all the difference. Needless to say, this element can be found in Star Trek shows and movies, which brings that Star Trek feel to the game.

The races are unique and distinct in both appearance and abilities. It begs for more expansions.
The races are unique and distinct in both appearance and abilities. It begs for more expansions.

There are many nuances of gameplay in Star Trek Fleet Captains but what I think makes Fleet Captains special is how well thought out each nuance and mechanic is, how well balanced it is and how diverse it is. I can’t really point to a specific mechanic and say “hey that’s really unique”, most of these things we have seen in other Wizkids games or otherwise, but it’s the combination of mechanics with its unmistakable link to the theme that really separates Fleet Captains from other games and makes it shine.

Now I do have a couple of beefs with Fleet Captains as far as gameplay is concerned but these are mostly minor things that hardly detract from the experience as a whole. For one the effects of the combat cards can sometimes be a bit contradictory and sometimes timing of play can create some disputable effects most of which are neither defined in the rules or the FAQ’s. There are similar issues with some encounter cards. I also wish they added some way to track ongoing effects for encounter cards that stay in play, the official rule is to leave the card on the system tile but this covers it up and if you get a few of these cards on the table things can get very messy in particular if you are playing a larger game. Some simple numbered tokens that could be matched on the side of the table to the cards would have effectively resolved the issue (and doing that with dice is how we solved it).

I can say that the fiddly Clix components on the ship does detract a bit from the game, if for no other reason than that they are hard to see as the font on them is really small and blocky. This is more of a component issue, but it has impact on play as 8’s, 6’s and 9’s for example look almost indistinguishable from each other unless you put it under a microscope and that can lead to poorly thought out decisions or clerical errors. Playing the game in good lighting is a must.

The reference cards for the ship thankfully helps to alleviate some of the issues by the poorly chosen font on the clix themselves. Even under close inspection they are hard to see.
The reference cards for the ship thankfully helps to alleviate some of the issues by the poorly chosen font on the clix themselves. Even under close inspection they are hard to see.

Then there is the two player issue, now it does have an option for 4 players in teams of 2 which I found to be ok, but clearly, it’s a two player game. I accept that, but I certainly see this working as a 3 or 4 player game where everyone plays for their own faction if you get the expansions. Sadly those expansions are almost as expensive as the base game so it’s a pretty big investment to get this up and running at full capacity. I took the plunge with the dominion expansion and as expected the 3 player experience with 3 separate races was fantastic, but it cost me nearly 1800 Swedish crowns to put together (that’s about 200 dollars).

My conclusion despite these minor flaws is that Star Trek Fleet Captains game-play is outright amazing. It’s just a fantastic game that works on every level, it’s well balanced, easy to learn difficult to master, it’s dynamic, offers a wide range of strategies and possibilities. Above all else though is that wonderful connection between the mechanics and the theme, for a Trekkie fan, you just can’t ask for more out of a Star Trek game.

Longevity and Replay ability

Verdict: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_starchristmas_star

Pros: The games dynamic nature, great variety of strategic options and engaging gameplay make this game a long term keeper in your collection. Two great expansions, if you can get a hold of them, give this game incredible expandability.

Cons: The Star Trek theme is often a love it or hate it type of thing with groups, if your group doesn’t like the theme it may be a hard to get it to the table. The game appears to be going out of print with expansions becoming increasingly difficult to find meaning long term support is unlikely.

This is always a simple part of the review, a game either has it or it doesn’t. Naturally I will elaborate a bit but the bottom line of Fleet Captains is that it has replay ability in spades, certain to ensure its longevity in my collection. In fact I was only compelled to pick up the expansions for the variety and expansion into the 3 and 4 player realm, but in terms of longevity and replay ability, the core game has such an incredible dynamic and diverse system that you can play it endlessly with each game guaranteed to be unique. It’s near perfect in this regard.

The question of longevity isn’t always about dynamic options however, in fact, the question of longevity is largely about whether or not repeated plays are fun and whether it will actually make your gaming groups table. The fact that it’s different every time you play is a good start but does the game have that umpf at the end where after playing it 20 times it remains fresh and fun. Talking about it is tough for reviewers because we typically don’t want to play a game for 2 years to see how it fairs over that much time before we write a review. We can only guestimate as to how the game will fair in our collections and in our gaming groups. That said, when you play a lot of games like I do yet maintain a very small collection you become very accustomed to recognizing the difference between that fresh new game novelty and wow factor and its ability to hold your interest over time.

Sadly the Romulan expansion at this point is nearly impossible to find, even if cost is no object. Here's hoping they reprint it.
Sadly the Romulan expansion at this point is nearly impossible to find, even if cost is no object. Here’s hoping they reprint it.

In that regard despite all of the potential of this game I don’t really see myself playing it often, not because of a lack of desire mind you. The reason is that the drawback of the game is the same as the benefit.

Simply put, it’s a theme heavy game in the Star Trek universe and it’s a 2 player game. That means it’s more likely to filter out of group gaming nights, and while the expansions fix this to some extent I still think I will largely play this as a two player game. I love 2 player games and I love Star Trek, these are positive things, but it’s precisely for those two reasons I suspect getting it to table with any regularity will be difficult. This is a pretty common problem among niche products like this one.

There is one minor hiccup in terms of longevity and that is the support for the game itself. I managed to pick up the Dominion expansion, but the Romulan expansion is not only out of print but nearly impossible to get a hold of at this point. From my understanding as well is that the game is going out of print, so a reprint of the Romulan expansion looks unlikely. Especially now that a new Star Trek game has been announced based on the Mage Knight system, the future of this product support wise from Wizkids look bleak. Now once you have the game, supported or not, this doesn’t really effect you but call it cult of the new if you like, but I love knowing that games I like and play are actively being supported.

Conclusion

This review has been overwhelmingly positive and looking back on it I think it suffices to say that Star Trek Fleet Captains is an excellent game, for science-fiction fans and especially Star Trek fans. Fleet Captains has great dynamic mechanics, with plenty of strategic diversity, Asymmetrical gameplay with immense re-playability and for the Star Trek fans it’s a game that tells a story through it’s richly, mechanically linked, theme. It’s everything you can hope for a game to be, niche as it may be. It certainly deserves its very high rating and I’m happy to see that the new rating system represents my sentiment about the games quality. The low score for components has minimal impact and rightfully so, it’s really not much of a detractor for me.

If there is any drawback to the game it must certainly be its price, for many a far larger problem than the games quality. It’s an expensive game in particular if you intend to include the two expansions into your collection. An investment that warrants caution, yet expediency as the game is clearly losing support in favor of Wizkids newly announced Star Trek Frontiers based on the Mage Knight system. If your considering Fleet Captains, I would suggest you think quickly before it disappears into obscurity.

This game certainly gets a stamp of excellence from me, it has all the makings for a permanent addition to my collection.

Board Game Reviews

The Witcher by Fantasy Flight Games 2014

Designer: Ignacy Trzewiczek
From the mind of a Pol that gave us the rather complex 51st State and the humorous civilization builder Imperial Settlers, after playing the Witcher its clear to me that Ignacy Trzewiczek is a designer with a bright future. Whether you love or hate his games, there is no denying that he aspires to be inventive, creating the line rather than towing it. I might not be a huge fan of his games as they don’t really rub the genre of board games I prefer, but there is no question regarding his fresh approach to game design.

The Witcher board game is an attempt at a quasi-semi cooperative, semi competitive adventure game based on the PC game that bares its name. Now right of the bat, if you have ever played any of the Witcher PC games you will note that there was a very dedicated and concentrated effort to bring the Witcher universe to life in this board game through the art style and flavor text. It burst with Witcher themes, backstory and art. It’s clear, whoever made this game is obviously well researched or big fan of the Witcher games. The attention to detail here is uncanny. I say this here at the start before I get into the review because whatever can be said about the game play, there is no denying that this IS a Witcher game and for that alone the publisher (Fantasy Flight Games) deserves a node from Witcher fans for making sure that when you make a themed game that the theme comes through and in Witcher the board game the theme is most certainly center stage.

In the Witcher each player takes on the role of one of the main characters from the Witcher PC games story, for Witcher fans you can probably guess who those characters are. These characters each have their own special abilities, combined with a special die(dice) that reflect those abilities which they add to a pool of common dice when facing various challenges. In addition there is a development deck which represents the various items and abilities of that character, each being unique and asymmetrical. The designer did a great job of making sure that not only do the characters in the game play and feel like their PC equivalents, but that each is well balanced and offers a unique way in which the game is approached from that characters perspective. The goal of the game is to complete three main quests, this is done by going around the map collecting clue tokens to qualify for completion of these quests. Relatively simple premise but in the world of the Witcher, this seemingly simple task is a daunting one because around every corner there are very unforgiving encounters that will do everything in their power to stop you. The game ends when any one player completes his third main quest, but the winner of the game is the player with the most

Its all about the characters and while there are only four you can bet with Fantasy Flight behind the game there will be expansions that will add more.
Its all about the characters and while there are only four you can bet with Fantasy Flight behind the game there will be expansions that will add more.

victory points at the end, so while it’s a kind of a race to complete quests you have to make sure that you are actually winning the game by having the most points.

It’s really a game of playing to your strengths, without question it’s all about the characters. For example if you are playing as Geralt, you are the definitive warrior able to take on the game’s most fierce monsters very early, even before you start gaining development cards. He is a bad ass and appropriately you feel like a bad ass throughout the game. While in the same token Dandelion is not particularly well equipped to fight, instead his approach is more subtle, able to gain great success through subtle plays and stealing the thunder from the success of other hero’s. The point here is that whichever hero you play, you will approach the game in a very different way and in its own way this creates significant replay ability, but above all else it empowers the thematic presence of the characters in this adventure game.

In the course of play each player will take two actions from a pool of five actions, four of which are the same for everyone and one which is unique to the character. Players can travel, which allows them to move on the board to new locations on the map. Something you have to do to track down clue tokens necessary to complete your quests and deal with different threats at those locations like misfortune cards or monsters. You can also investigate, which is essentially the act of drawing from one of three investigation decks. These can be positive or negative, but in general you can make gains through these cards and many of the cards you keep which can later be used in combination with other investigation cards. It’s kind of a gamble, but one you can prepare for by developing your character. It’s a dangerous endeavor but it is one of the many ways you can get one up on the competition as investigation can yield extra clue tokens, gold, victory points and sometimes even the much sought after and very powerful fortune cards.

Standard for Fantasy Flight Games the miniatures are amazing.
Standard for Fantasy Flight Games the miniatures are amazing.

You can also develop, now this is perhaps the only risk free thing in the game you can do. You get to draw two development cards from the unique development deck for your specific character and keep one card. These very potent cards make your character more powerful in some way by imbuing you with powers or representing special equipment. Absolutely necessary to gain developments throughout the game, the more you have the better chance you stand against the many threats you will face in the game.

Finally there is resting, simply put, during the game you are going to sustain injuries and the trouble with taking damage is that you place the damage tokens over one of the actions for your character. When you have an injury on an action you can’t take that action, so over time gaining too many injuries results in you having fewer options. If you take enough damage the only action you might be able to take is rest. Resting simply allows you to remove one of your critical wounds or two of your regular wounds.

The final type of action you can take depends on your character but effectively this action will allow you to gain some special character advantage. Geralt can recharge his potions, Triss can recharge her spells, Dandelion gains much needed gold and Yarpen can make use of his companion cards. In a sense characters power up their ability, sort of recharging them and getting them ready for whatever dangers lay ahead.

The sequence of play is that each character takes his two actions and deals with any encounters as a result which is typically through the drawing of misfortune cards, investigation cards or monsters. You continue around the table taking actions until a winner is determined.

Each character has a unique die (dice) that reflect special abilities and actions they can take. A simple but clever touch to give each character a unique feel.
Each character has a unique die (dice) that reflect special abilities and actions they can take. A simple but clever touch to give each character a unique feel.

All and all the Witcher is a very easy game to learn to play and while there are a few special rules and effects, largely anything you need to do is written on the various cards you draw, most of which are very thematically laid out so that the card and the activity are decisively linked. There really is a lot of common sense in the game and the instructions are clear ensuring your focusing on the game rather than trying to figure out the game.

The question is does all this amount to a good game and my first instinct is to say yes, for an adventure game it really does exactly what you hope it would do and it does it in a streamlined and organized fashion. It’s entertaining to suffer at the hands of the Witchers very tough world almost as much fun as it is to watch your friends suffer. Unfortunately the Witcher suffers from three problems that make this largely a pass for me and I think unless you are a hardcore adventure board gamer and huge fan of the Witcher you will feel the same.

The first issue is the length of the game. Now when you first start to play the game, after a couple of hour’s players will be finishing their first main quests and really if at that point the game ended the length would be near perfect. At this point however you are only 1/3rd through the game. By the time someone finishes their 3rd quest not only will you be well into your 4th or 5th hour of the game (depending how fast players take their actions) but you will have known who is going to win the game a couple of hours back.

In every game that I played the winner was pretty much determined about midway through the game and while the game is well balanced (each time it was a different character), it was quite decisive. It was one of those situations where you are playing a board game for 2 more hours after you already know you lost and that really takes the steam out of the game.

Simply put, the game just overstays its welcome, it’s too long and the gaps between the clear winner and the losers comes way too soon in that process resulting in you playing a game you have already lost for far too long.

The second problem with the game is that there really is very little strategy in how the winner is determined. All the players are going to be doing pretty much the same thing and while I will grant you the how of it differs, ultiamtly its all about collecting clues, finishing quests and scoring points. There are different approaches to this, but while the methods differ, the strategies are identical.

The winner will be the player who has the fewest set backs and about 90% of the time when you draw a card with a negative effect it’s an effect you have no control over. You draw the card and it says “this bad thing happens to you”. There is no opportunity or chance to do anything about it in most cases, you simply suffer the effects for drawing the card, an element of the game made worse as you typically have no say or control or opportunity to avoid drawing the card in the first place.

In a sense, it’s a game of drawing cards and seeing what happens to you and while there are some decisions that will effect when you draw cards, to win you must push forward so drawing them is inevitable and since you can’t influence most effects it’s really just a question of how many bad affects you suffer compared to the other players, or more specifically which bad effects. Drawing a misfortune card that causes you to lose a couple of clues, or hits you with a bunch of misfortune tokens can delay your progress by 2 to 3 rounds. If that happens a couple of times, your chances of winning will slip away very quickly and catching up is very difficult. I played a game in which I gave no thought to strategy at all, I just moved around collecting clues as fast as I could and I won simply because I didn’t get hit as hard or as often as the other players with negative effects.

The moment you realize that the few decisions you actually make have very little impact on what does and doesn’t happen to you, the game really derails. It maintains some level of excitement because drawing a card to see what happens has its own fun element to it, but doing it for 5 hours is far too long.

The third and final problem is that although it’s an adventure game it’s neither cooperative nor competitive, even though it really does try its best to be. There really is very little you can do to help your friends, for example you always fight monsters alone, no one can help you and since it’s a competitive game of victory points, I’m not sure there would be any reason to do so. Cooperation comes in only one form which is trading gold or clues, something I found is seldom done, again because your so called allies are your main competition in the game so helping them is not something you want to do. In fact in 3 games only once did anyone actually ever trade anything. On the flip side while the game is a competitive race to victory points there is almost nothing you can do to other players in the scope of that competition to hinder them. There are no actions you can do to stop or slow them down in any way, really much like the rest of the game aside from drawing a random card that has an effect that impacts one or more players by chance there is nothing you can actively do to anyone.

In a sense everyone plays their own game and while it’s entertaining to watch people try and fail miserably at the hands of the many set back type cards, It’s really just a waiting game for your turn. The wait for your turn however can be excruciatingly long, in particular by the time you reach the mid-point of the game because by than players have many cards and effects they can use which triggers more card drawing and subsequent resolution. At first players might take the time to embellish their plays by reading flavor text, but that gets really old really quick. The downtime is extremely long in this game which again, combined with the length of the game as a whole makes this a very painful and often frustrating wait.

Conclusion
The Witcher is a very well designed and illustrated game, it’s streamlined and modern and there is no denying that Ignacy is a great designer that got great support from Fantasy Flight Games to make the Witcher. I think for hardcore fans of adventure games in particular if you love the Witcher universe you might be willing to overlook the drawbacks of the Witcher. For the average gamer however, the Witcher is far too long, with too much randomness and far too little interaction between players.

I think the Witcher might be a far better game if completing the main quests happened faster, for example if this was a game that took 2 hours to finish, I think I might be more willing to play it. At a 4-5 hour experience however this game is just way too bloody long and it’s not something I want to do again.

Final Verdict: Give this one a pass.

Board Game Reviews

Twilight Imperium Third Edition By Fantasy Flight Games 2005

Designer: Christian T. Petersen

Doing a board game review on a game that is 10 years old may seem pointless but given that this game is on my top 10 best games and I speak of in the blog a great deal it seems fitting I do a proper review on the game. I think it’s important as well to look at board games as largely timeless and given that Twilight Imperium 3rd edition is still in print and continues to get re-prints it’s even more relevant to look at it today as its completely feasible people are still looking into this one wondering if reviewers from 10 years ago would still score the game the same given alternatives available today.

First let’s get the important stuff out of the way. Twilight Imperium is an epic, time consuming and complex hobby in its own right. It’s far more than simply a “board game”. You can’t pull this out unplanned, introduce it to new players and expect to have a good experience. Twilight Imperium is an event in a box, you have to plan it, people need to read rules in advance and you have to be prepared in particular for your first time to have a 6+ hour gaming session. If that all sounds too complicated and too much work for you, than odds of you ever getting any enjoyment out of playing the game is pretty slim. It’s a game that demands commitment and makes no apologies for who it caters to, hard core, veteran gamers looking for a serious challenge. This is Twilight Imperium, there are no shortcuts.

It appears complex because it is complex, sorry, this is not the casual game you're looking for.
It appears complex because it is complex, sorry, this is not the casual game you’re looking for.

That said, I have found over the years despite its rather high learning curve and complexity, Twilight Imperium is a game that once you have one game under your belt becomes rather clear and by your 2nd and 3rd game its second nature. While there are many rules, the game has a sense of organization and logic to it, a structured sequence that registers with experienced gamers and while it certainly is busy with a lot of moving parts it’s not really as complicated as it appears. It’s nuances and strategy, its dynamic nature and it’s tactical play however have nearly infinite possibilities, so to master it is not an easy task. I have played Twilight Imperium hundreds of times that amount to hundreds of hours of playing the game and I can say without reservation that despite it all, each game is still very different and there are no reliable or repetitive tactics or strategies in this game. It’s a unique experience, every time.

One of the many races in the game, each is unique and plays very differently.
One of the many races in the game, each is unique and plays very differently.

Twilight Imperium is far too complex to get into any detail regarding defining the rules in a review without it becoming overwhelming. In simple terms, each player takes on the role of a unique alien race with special abilities and advantageous and guides them through exploration, conquest, technological advancement, military buildup and subsequent wars, diplomacy and trade all in a science-fiction space opera of epic proportions. You will build an alien space-faring civilization and compete with other space-faring civilizations for the ultimate prize, the seat for the galactic emperor.

Every faucet of the game is detailed out using cards, tokens and miniatures. You make both high level decisions like which technologies to peruse and low level decisions like what sort of ships to build to form your military fleets. Each choice you make has lasting impact and must be part of a long term strategy of dominance and you must leverage your racial advantages, creating a strategy that uses that racial advantage to the best of your ability.

If you have played Puerto Rico than you have a rough idea of the role selection mechanic in TI3, though its worth mentioning that the strategy cards go far deeper than Puerto Rico.
If you have played Puerto Rico than you have a rough idea of the role selection mechanic in TI3, though its worth mentioning that the strategy cards go far deeper than Puerto Rico.

The goal of the game is to score victory points but how you score victory points is dynamic as a special objective deck of cards randomized for each game is revealed to you as you play defining the goals. You don’t know what the victory objectives will be until they are revealed and as such you must prepare for every contingency. Each player also has a secret objective which can drive part of your strategy and of course you must always include your competition (the other players) in every element of your decisions. It’s impossible to cover all of your bases and no matter what you do, you will always have weak spots. As such, diplomacy, negotiation and the appearance of preparation is often as vital as an actual plan. You must prepare where you can, and feint preparation where you can’t.

Twilight Imperium may look like a war game, but all the machines of war are a facade and really at the heart of the game is a deep strategic and tactical game of intimidation, diplomacy and feinting threats. War is inevitable, but war is costly and not a particularly good route to victory, in fact, one could say if you are playing Twilight Imperium and are at war, you are losing.

At a glance TI3 appears to be a war game, but it very much is not. A common saying around our table is, "If your at war, you are losing".
At a glance TI3 appears to be a war game, but it very much is not. A common saying around our table is, “If your at war, you are losing”.

Much of the games strategy revolves around the role selection mechanic (Strategy Cards) and the use of the very limited resource known as command tokens. These two mechanics work side by side to create the high level tactical and strategic play. It’s a game of decisions, pushes and pulls on resource levers trying to out-do your opponents.

There are two expansions for Twilight Imperium and to exclude them from the review at this point would be criminal, in particular given that in particular the first expansion “Shattered Empire” is absolutely vital. The original “Vanilla” version of the game was very close to the perfection TI3 has grown into, but it’s growth was in my personal opinion stunted without the much needed first expansion. It addressed a couple very glaring oversights in the gameplay and I have personally never played the original version again since getting the expansion. The second expansion is less necessary, but for a true fan of the game it brings the already epic play up even another notch in particular in the department of thematic additions. Suffice to say, both expansions are awesome and deserve praise for adding much sought after variants aimed largely at veteran players (as expansions always should).

The Shattered Empire expansion is vital to TI3, it fixes a lot of problems with the game, its a slam dunk in terms of TI3 purchases go, you must have it.
The Shattered Empire expansion is vital to TI3, it fixes a lot of problems with the game, its a slam dunk in terms of TI3 purchases go, you must have it.

You should by now be pretty excited about the prospect of Twilight Imperium as a gaming experience and in my personal experience, bar none, it’s one of the most complex and exciting board games you can ever play. It keeps you involved at all times, always at the edge of your seat, each decision you or your opponents make involves everyone and in that lays the magic of this treasure.

It does have a couple of drawbacks however and they must be mentioned. First, it’s a very long game. You can expect a typical game of TI3 to take about 6 hours, sometimes a little less, more often than not a little more. Its complexity and excitement also really depend highly on the players involved, if they aren’t excited, if this game doesn’t get peek their interest, those players can make it quite a miserable experience for everyone else. It’s a game everyone at the table has to love to play, for all of its fine nuances to shine through. It’s a tall order even for veteran gamers, it really does take a special kind of group to get the most out of TI3 and I often find myself going against my core instinct to recommend it for these two reasons alone.

In the end though a game can’t be judged on merits it does not intend to have, you can’t fault TI3 for being complex and long any more than you can fault Dominion for being simple and short. TI3 sets out to create a very specific type of gaming experience and it accomplishes that with flying colors, what it fails to accomplish it never had any intention to. It is in my humble experience, one of the finest examples of a designer board game in existence and deserves every inch of the praise I give it. Games simply don’t get better than this.

Board Game Reviews

War Of The Rings By Ares Games 2004

Designers:  Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi, Francesco Nepitello

War of the Ring is a two player game (though there are some gibberish rules for 3 or 4 players) that depicts the epics story that is The Lord of the Rings.  One player takes the side of the free people’s of middle-earth on a quest to defend the realm while the fellowship of the ring attempts to carry the one ring of power to Mount Doom while the other player takes on the evil forces of Sauron trying to crush the people of middle-earth and re-claim the ring of power.  In a nutshell you are effectively re-writing the history of the Lord of the Rings story in the form of an epic board game with every finite detail from the books and movies imaginable built into the mechanics.

To say that War of the Ring is anything but one of the most thematic games ever made would be a major understatement.  It IS the story of the Lord of the Rings and every mechanic, every card, every action and every nuance of the game reeks of the middle-earth theme.  I have played many Lord of the Rings board games, card games and miniatures games but none come even close to capturing the story with as much gusto and detail as War of the Rings.  War of the Rings however isn’t just an amazing re-telling of the story in board game form, it’s actually mechanically one of the most intuitive two player board games I have ever played.  The game is epic in scale, which means that you can expect a game to last at least 4 hours. There is no question that to tell a story like that of Middle-Earths great conflict depicted in the Lord of the Rings books and movies, nothing short of epic board game would do it justice and as such it’s one of the very few long games I think is worth every moment of time spent playing it.

A collectors edition exists for true fans, though the hefty price tag will likely have you running for the hills.
A collectors edition exists for true fans, though the hefty price tag will likely have you running for the hills.

There are many clever way’s the story is depicted mechanically in the game, most notably the all-important story of the fellowship of the ring.  From movement of the fellowship itself, with the evil forces always at their heels, the corruption of the ring and how each character and villain is represented with his own card and figure, all making plays as the fellowship moves towards Mount Doom.  You have a clear sense of the journey, an important part of the story.  These characters are used to support the fellowship itself in various ways but can leave the fellowship for various tasks like rallying the people of middle-earth or even directly leading critical battles on the game board.  Suffice to say that these mechanics, the characters, they all do what you hope they could in this game, giving the characters of the Lord of the Rings story as much relevance in the great war as they do in the books.

Then there are the amazing event cards, each depicting scenes and story elements of the books and movies, tied to the mechanical advantages they yield to each player, ones that feel thematically correct, each more epic than the last.  These cards not only help to tell the tale but there use is critical to each side winning the game as they depict important events in the story, they also bestow powerful advantages.  Often despite the great war happening on the army filled map of middle-earth that is the game board these cards turn battles with a single play and sway the flow of power.

Finally there is the amazing use of specialty dice, the precious resource that determines what sorts of actions will be available to you from round to round.  While sometimes unwieldy, the dice themselves shift the focus of the game and allow for maneuvers, tactical and strategic decisions that give each game despite being setup identically each time a completely unique feel.  Each play of the game ends up being definitively a different version of the story as a result.  It’s often like watching the movies but with alternative story arches that pull you towards unique side story’s you would not expect, but still fit like a puzzle piece into the story and the game as a whole.  It’s amazing how in each game I have played different area’s become the focal parts of the story.

You also have events being tracked via the very important political tracker, which is a critical element to the game making things much more difficult for the free peoples player.  In essence most of the nations in the game are reluctant to join the war and this political track represents this element of the story in the game.  This basically means that despite the evil player being able to quickly push his forces to war and start raising armies, as the free people’s player you must first rally all the nations to the cause before you can take advantage of the weight of their armies.  This is difficult and forces the free peoples player to make hard choices between using his companion characters to protect the ring, or to send them out to rally the nations to war (yes just like in the books!).  Yet another wonderful mechanic that puts the players to making endless streams of important decisions while always thematically bringing out the Lord of the Rings story.

The question of balance (equal chance of winning) is often discussed in this game and I will grant the nay sayer’s that the Free People of Middle Earth side is a bit tougher to win with, at least in the sense that the war itself is obviously rigged. The free people have a limited amount of time to succeed in getting the ring to Mount Doom before they are crushed by the forces of evil militarily.  The evil forces outnumber you greatly and have an unlimited re-supply of combat units that floods the board turn after turn.   It so happens now and again that the evil player blunders by mismanaging his resources opening the window to make a rare military victory but in most games the free people must get the ring to Mount Doom and they must do so under the overwhelming forces of evil.  It’s tough, perhaps tougher to win for the free people but the more you learn about the nuances of the game the less impact this slight imbalance has on game play.  Two veteran players of the game stand a pretty equal chance of winning in my opinion, the divergence comes largely from inexperienced players as the actions of the player controlling the evil forces of Sauron has more room to make errors than the free peoples player.

I think the main difference between playing the two sides is that one player, the free peoples player dictates the direction of the game for both players.  Another words  if the free peoples player focuses on moving the fellowship, his opponent must respond, if the free peoples player gets aggressive with cards, the opponent must respond, if the free peoples player gets aggressive in the war, again, his opponent must respond.  In a way whenever the forces of Sauron lead the action by pushing a strategy not opposing the one the free people’s player is deploying, they are at a disadvantage as any action that isn’t a direct response to the tactics of the Free People player will typically result in him having a very easy time of executing it successfully.  As such one side is more responsive while the other directs the action.

A good example is moving the ring.  The Sauron forces player must dedicate his action dice to the hunt, if he does not, the result can be that the Fellowship moves very quickly to Mount Doom unharmed.  If he does however commit action dice to the hunt, he gets fewer actions which in turn buys the people of middle-earth time to rally their forces as the free peoples player can simply choose not to move the fellowship if it’s too dangerous without affecting his action dice resources.  As such, the evil forces must be wary of what the good people of middle-earth are trying to accomplish and making smart decisions when to try to block a strategy and when to recognize it as a rouse to buy time.

The strategic elements and choices players in the course of the game make create an amazing array of cause and effect, it’s almost a game that combines bluffing and miss direction at times, where you make sacrifices to get your opponents attention in one place as you sneak it an action that will help you win in the long term.  The subtlety and nuances of this game take time to pick, it’s very likely that if you play against someone who has played before you may play several games before you can beat him.  It’s worth the trip however, as the game rewards you over and over with amazing story’s of that time when you played War of the Rings.

If it’s not only clear that this game gets my highest recommendation, than let me re-affirm it, if you love the Lord of the Rings as much as I do, this game belongs in your collection.  There are no better games on the market that depict the Lord of the Rings story, in fact, this one is so far ahead of the pact you will find that once you play this, all other Lord of the Rings games seem very flat by comparison.

One game to rule them all, War of The Rings.