Red Rook Games is no longer a figment of my imagination. My hope is to create a vessel to transport you to this wonderful world where we can enjoy a game together.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Review - Dungeon Heroes
I recently met Patrick Nickell (founder of Crash Games) at RinCon 2012
to pick up my prototype copy of Dungeon Heroes. He gave an overview of
the rules and my wife and I jumped right into our first game.
Obviously, the components are not final, but even the prototype is very
nice. The artwork looks great and even before playing I could tell that
the game had much potential.
In our first game, I played the Heroes and she was the Dungeon Lord. The game is abstract, but the theme really does show through. The Heroes must find 3 of the 4 treasures before all Heroes die. The Dungeon Lord places 4 tiles each round for the first part of the game and then begins moving revealed monsters once all the tiles are placed and the dungeon goes “Aggressive.” Once the Aggressive Phase begins, the monster tiles are replaced with tokens and can move around the dungeon.
The Heroes are represented by different dice and the number showing is their health:
Warrior: d10
Cleric: d8
Rogue: d6
Wizard: d4
The Heroes also have unique abilities:
Warrior: kills monsters
Cleric: heals
Rogue: disarms traps
Wizard: reveals tiles
The heroes all move orthogonally, but the Rogue and Wizard may also move diagonally.
At first, I thought the Wizard’s ability may give the Hero player an advantage because he can just hang back and flip 2 tiles per turn. However, with 4 tiles placed per turn, it is difficult to keep up. Plus, the Heroes still need to get to the treasure once it is found which is more difficult than it seems. We ended the first game early because we were scheduled for another event, but had a good handle of the game at that point. I felt I was doing pretty well at first, but if we continued I don’t believe I would have won.
The next day we played 2 more games and my wife beat me both times. I was the Heroes again in the first one and she managed to hunt me down once the dungeon became aggressive. At that point, I was thinking the Heroes may have a disadvantage, but in the next game we swapped roles and she beat me again. That game was close, but she managed to get around my traps and get to the gold on the far end of the dungeon. In that game my mistake was being too aggressive and trying to pin the Heroes in their starting spots. It worked fairly well and I managed to kill off 2 of them, but after that they could through and I didn’t have a good tile setup for the end game.
With the few plays we’ve had so far, I’d rate the game an 8.5. I enjoy abstract games and this one does a great job at intertwining the theme. The game is fairly short and to describe it in one word: addictive. It has as much if not more replay ability as most other abstract games and the potential for expansions increases that. The asymmetrical roles are common for dungeon crawlers and thematic games, but rare for abstract and simpler games so this is an interesting mix.
The only negative I can think of would be that the tiles are sometimes difficult to flip when they are close to each other. However, this is understandable in the prototype form. I’m sure the final product will have thicker tiles and I suggested to Patrick that rounded/cut corners might help. I also suggested making the tiles smaller than the squares so that there is space between the tiles. However that turns out, I’m sure it will be better than the prototype which is already functional.
We really enjoyed the game so far and I look forward to playing more and getting better at it. Once the Kickstarter campaign starts I will certainly back it. Patrick gave me a sneak preview of some possible stretch goals and I promised not to reveal them, but I’m very excited to see how everything turns out. Because I’ll eventually have a KS copy and won’t need the prototype and because I’d like to see others have a chance to try this out, I’d be happy to pass this along to anyone who might be interested. I’m impressed with this game and want the KS campaign to be a huge success. If you want my copy and are willing to write up a short review, send me a geek mail on BGG and I’ll pick the next recipient.
In our first game, I played the Heroes and she was the Dungeon Lord. The game is abstract, but the theme really does show through. The Heroes must find 3 of the 4 treasures before all Heroes die. The Dungeon Lord places 4 tiles each round for the first part of the game and then begins moving revealed monsters once all the tiles are placed and the dungeon goes “Aggressive.” Once the Aggressive Phase begins, the monster tiles are replaced with tokens and can move around the dungeon.
The Heroes are represented by different dice and the number showing is their health:
Warrior: d10
Cleric: d8
Rogue: d6
Wizard: d4
The Heroes also have unique abilities:
Warrior: kills monsters
Cleric: heals
Rogue: disarms traps
Wizard: reveals tiles
The heroes all move orthogonally, but the Rogue and Wizard may also move diagonally.
At first, I thought the Wizard’s ability may give the Hero player an advantage because he can just hang back and flip 2 tiles per turn. However, with 4 tiles placed per turn, it is difficult to keep up. Plus, the Heroes still need to get to the treasure once it is found which is more difficult than it seems. We ended the first game early because we were scheduled for another event, but had a good handle of the game at that point. I felt I was doing pretty well at first, but if we continued I don’t believe I would have won.
The next day we played 2 more games and my wife beat me both times. I was the Heroes again in the first one and she managed to hunt me down once the dungeon became aggressive. At that point, I was thinking the Heroes may have a disadvantage, but in the next game we swapped roles and she beat me again. That game was close, but she managed to get around my traps and get to the gold on the far end of the dungeon. In that game my mistake was being too aggressive and trying to pin the Heroes in their starting spots. It worked fairly well and I managed to kill off 2 of them, but after that they could through and I didn’t have a good tile setup for the end game.
With the few plays we’ve had so far, I’d rate the game an 8.5. I enjoy abstract games and this one does a great job at intertwining the theme. The game is fairly short and to describe it in one word: addictive. It has as much if not more replay ability as most other abstract games and the potential for expansions increases that. The asymmetrical roles are common for dungeon crawlers and thematic games, but rare for abstract and simpler games so this is an interesting mix.
The only negative I can think of would be that the tiles are sometimes difficult to flip when they are close to each other. However, this is understandable in the prototype form. I’m sure the final product will have thicker tiles and I suggested to Patrick that rounded/cut corners might help. I also suggested making the tiles smaller than the squares so that there is space between the tiles. However that turns out, I’m sure it will be better than the prototype which is already functional.
We really enjoyed the game so far and I look forward to playing more and getting better at it. Once the Kickstarter campaign starts I will certainly back it. Patrick gave me a sneak preview of some possible stretch goals and I promised not to reveal them, but I’m very excited to see how everything turns out. Because I’ll eventually have a KS copy and won’t need the prototype and because I’d like to see others have a chance to try this out, I’d be happy to pass this along to anyone who might be interested. I’m impressed with this game and want the KS campaign to be a huge success. If you want my copy and are willing to write up a short review, send me a geek mail on BGG and I’ll pick the next recipient.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
For The WIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!
Whoa! Was about to go to bed and stumbled across For The Win available for sale on my favorite online game store: CoolStuffInc.com
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/Board%20Games/For+The+Win/Acc-TTTForTheWin/?gclid=CKzWm9Tp5rICFSiCQgod3C0AUQ
Turns out it's also available at a few other online stores!
http://www.boardsandbits.com/product_info.php?products_id=24623
http://www.ccgarmory.com/ttt7003.html?utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&id=19852567842&utm_content=pla
http://www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=86622&ref=goog#.UG05iFEVI0U
http://www.miniaturemarket.com/tmg02-2012.html?___store=mmonline&gclid=CMef6pPq5rICFcV7QgodPxIAaQ
http://www.funagain.com/control/product?product_id=026211
Not yet on Amazon, but SOON!
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/Board%20Games/For+The+Win/Acc-TTTForTheWin/?gclid=CKzWm9Tp5rICFSiCQgod3C0AUQ
Turns out it's also available at a few other online stores!
http://www.boardsandbits.com/product_info.php?products_id=24623
http://www.ccgarmory.com/ttt7003.html?utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&id=19852567842&utm_content=pla
http://www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=86622&ref=goog#.UG05iFEVI0U
http://www.miniaturemarket.com/tmg02-2012.html?___store=mmonline&gclid=CMef6pPq5rICFcV7QgodPxIAaQ
http://www.funagain.com/control/product?product_id=026211
Not yet on Amazon, but SOON!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
RinCon 2012
This blog was started just before the second RinCon, 3 years ago, and the latest RinCon was the best one yet. I was able to meet up with friends I met at previous conventions, but didn't have a chance to play many games with them, unfortunately. I did, however, meet a few new friends and had a great time gaming with them. Hopefully next year I can time my games better and play with those I missed this year.
The first game I played (Level 7: Escape) was with Paeter (pronounced like "later") Fransen. He produces Christian Sci-fi and Fantasy audio at www.spiritblade.net. I've checked out a few samples and it sounds pretty interesting.
Next, I met Patrick Nickell at Crash Games to pick up my prototype copy of Dungeon Heroes: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/127981/dungeon-heroes
My wife and I played it a few times and have really enjoyed it so far. She keeps beating me and I want to try it out a few more times before writing a review. Crash Games is a small board game company in the Phoenix area: http://www.crashgamesaz.com/
Testing out this 2 player "lunch hour dungeon crawler."
Later, I played Flashpoint: Fire Rescue with Steven and Susan Sandoval, which was fun even though the building collapsed and we lost. My wife and I ended up playing several other games with them including Dungeon Fighter, which was hilarious, good fun.
It looks like wedding photo where they are cutting the cake together. In this "fight" Steven must use the hand of the player to his left to toss the die at the target. Totally random, but the "off the nose" shot was even more ridiculous. Steven's website is found here: www.stevendsandoval.com/
I also met Ian Stedman who ended up trading some games he designed for some games I was selling in the Flea Market (which was a bit hit). Ian (and some other guys) also helped me playtest Uncle Otto's Vault and gave some very good suggestions. I hope to test them out soon and I think the game should be pretty much done at that point. Ian's website is http://games.gamersuniversity.com.
The "Players Wanted" signs I made worked out really well and it was cool to see them used throughout the convention.
Finally, and possibly most exciting, I was surprised to see my first published game for sale at the Game Daze booth: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/114871/for-the-win
I've been waiting for this moment for nearly 4 years and it's pretty stinkin' cool to see something the came from my own head among board and card games I really admire. I've learned a lot since starting that project and am very much looking forward to getting some more designs out there.
Cheers!
The first game I played (Level 7: Escape) was with Paeter (pronounced like "later") Fransen. He produces Christian Sci-fi and Fantasy audio at www.spiritblade.net. I've checked out a few samples and it sounds pretty interesting.
Next, I met Patrick Nickell at Crash Games to pick up my prototype copy of Dungeon Heroes: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/127981/dungeon-heroes
My wife and I played it a few times and have really enjoyed it so far. She keeps beating me and I want to try it out a few more times before writing a review. Crash Games is a small board game company in the Phoenix area: http://www.crashgamesaz.com/
Later, I played Flashpoint: Fire Rescue with Steven and Susan Sandoval, which was fun even though the building collapsed and we lost. My wife and I ended up playing several other games with them including Dungeon Fighter, which was hilarious, good fun.
I also met Ian Stedman who ended up trading some games he designed for some games I was selling in the Flea Market (which was a bit hit). Ian (and some other guys) also helped me playtest Uncle Otto's Vault and gave some very good suggestions. I hope to test them out soon and I think the game should be pretty much done at that point. Ian's website is http://games.gamersuniversity.com.
Finally, and possibly most exciting, I was surprised to see my first published game for sale at the Game Daze booth: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/114871/for-the-win
Cheers!
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