Danger Planet open gaming. 2-player Buffy the Vampire Slayer CCG, 6-player Star Wars Epic Duels.
Players were Cindy (playing Willow) and myself (playing The Master.) This is the first time either of us played a full game.
The game in a nutshell:
This is a collectible card game.
The object of the game is to be the first to score ten destiny points.
The game is played on a playmat representing Sunnydale. Location cards
are placed on the playmat from the players decks. Each location affects
gameplay for the characters there. As the game is played,
challenges are placed on the locations. Players then place characters
(heros and companions or villains and minions) at locations, boosting their
skill and equipping them with items as needed. Each player has a main character
who can level up and get more special abilities. Main characters are
represented by a spiffy essence card that also track destiny points on
the play mat. There are action cards
that bestow a benefit for oneself, or a detriment for the opponent.
The idea is to take on a challenge using the talents of one or more
characters. A challenge bestows destiny points, as given on the
challenge card, if won. There are four talents: butt-kicking,
smarts, weirdness, charm. Characters must exceed the value of the
subset of talents given of the challenge card to beat it. The player
can augment their talent's value by one by playing skill and item cards
by ignoring their card text. Also, Action cards have specific talent
values for just that purpose when used to augment talents (and ignoring
their card texts) during a challenge. The opponent can make the challenge
more difficult, by augmenting the talent value required to defeat it
using the same mechanism. Also, Destiny points can be won or lost by
challenging opponent characters, using the same mechanism, but using only the
butt-kicking skill. There is a day-night cycle which restricts
vampire movement.
Cindy brought two balanced decks and a choice of main characters for each. Knowing the turn sequence and the winning condition, we set off playing the game, clarifying rules as we went.
The first challenge I successfully won, may have played differently if I played it right, though, because I could only take the challenge at night, but took it during the day. I started off strongly in this game, if only because I was able to foil Cindy's challenges towards the beginning. I was able to level up The Master which gave him the ability to move and refresh a minion and attack one of Cindy's characters, where she thought she'd be safe. Later, she was starting to catch up, knocking me down a few notches. I was able to defeat Willow, but that was toward the end of the game which was getting close. I was able to pile on most of my characters onto a challenge and successfully take it, which pushed me to my victory.
Starting out, the nice looking card game.
After about three hours of game time, I won the game.
Even though the game took such a long time, I found the game engaging. Now that we understand the rules, I think the game will go much faster, though it'll still be on par to a strategy board game.
Players were Ralph (playing Mace Windu), Eric (playing Darth Vader), Cindy (playing Han Solo (again, something about that bowcaster Chewie uses)), Rich (playing Darth Maul), Chris (playing Luke Skywalker), and myself (playing Count Dooku.) We played the Carbon Freeze Chamber.
Count Dooku looks for trouble.
The Good side ganged up against Count Dooku. I ended up with special movement cards which didn't do much good. Dooku was first to be eliminated. It was then I ended up with battle cards for Dooku. (What bad timing!) I remember is the bowcaster was very effective against Darth Vader. Darth Vader was second to be eliminated. The Dark side ganged up on Mace Windu; he was 3rd to be eliminated. But the Dark side's forces were thinned too much by that time, and Darth Maul bit it to give Good the victory in under an hour.
Click here to buy your own copy at FunAgain.com.
Click here and scroll down to "22nd" for Ralph's take on our games.
