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Board Games and TCGs

Pathfinder: The Broken Palace – A Vampiric Adventure Review

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Disclaimer

Paizo sent me a free copy of the Shades of Blood: The Broken Palace adventure book to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. You can pick up The Broken Palace directly from Paizo, or you can use my Amazon affiliate link if you want to help me out.

What is The Broken Palace?

The Broken Palace is book two of the Shades of Path adventure designed to take players from level 4 to 6.

The players venture deeper into the broken palace on their search for Lady Nalushae, but find themselves trapped in an ancient cellblock. Now, they must venture into its dark, dank, vampire infested prison for a way out. With their supplies dwindling and threats around every corner, players must learn to be resourceful. Can they make their supplies last long enough to save the world? Can they navigate the complex tensions between the three vampire factions that rule the Underheaven? What secrets will they uncover? What treasures will they find?

Impressions

The cover art is an immediately draws the eyes. I love the use of red. I love Naulusha’s design and how her pose strikes commands attention. I love the image of what I can assume are player characters struggling against a vampire. This series is supposed to be a darker, more horror oriented type of adventure, and the cover does a good job at setting the appropriate mood. The art throughout the book is equal as striking, and I enjoy flipping through it, just to look at the art. If you like vampires, undead, and horror, the book has some very good looking flavor and some fantastic flavor to go with it.

Now the overarching meta story is solid. I enjoyed reading the different bits of lore, and the warring factions are interesting. Most importantly, the book gives players many ways to solve the story. It doesn’t have to all be fighting, but it can be if that’s the kind of table you have. The dungeon design is fine. It has some neat encounters I will definitely borrow, and it builds a good amount of tension and urgency.

One thing to note about this adventure is that there is a survival mechanic that you will need to manage. Players will need to keep track of their food and water supplies to survive. The game does streamline the mechanic so it doesn’t feel like work without taking away any of the tension, but GMs are free to get as hardcore with their mechanics as they want. You can play without this mechanic, but I felt like it took away a lot of the urgency and tension. I like how there is this pressure to save the world from eternal darkness, the desire to explore this tomb of an advanced civilization, and the ever present threat of dying from starvation along with all the other threats that lurk in the shadows.

Overall, the adventure is fine. I enjoyed the flavor and lore, and there are some very cool encounters and monsters to play with. It was a fun path to explore, but I think my table is a bit too casual to take advantage of the survival mechanics. The survival mechanics are easy to manage, but we would often forget to keep track and that definitely took away from the tension. We still had fun, which I’d argue makes the adventure worth trying, but there are definitely some decisions my players wouldn’t have made if we were keeping better track. There is also the danger of being too hardcore about the survival mechanics. If the survival mechanics is that if it takes away from the story or fun, you’re doing too much.

Honestly, if you like vampires and don’t mind the survival mechanics, this is a solid horror campaign. It has a cool creepy setting filled with neat monsters and encounters and I am very interested to see what comes next.

I do want to take the moment to commend Paizo for the quality of their books. Everything I’ve gotten so far has been printed to a very high standard. Everything is clear, vibrant, and the books feel durable. I spilled all of my coffee on this book, and while I don’t recommend anyone try it themselves, I was surprised by how good it cleaned up. There is some warping and some staining, but the book looks good, and is still very usable.

If you want to pick up your own copy of The Broken Palace, check out the official Paizo website, or you can pick it up on Amazon through my affiliate link.

Board Games and TCGs

Review of Thirst for Blood: A Pathfinder Adventure

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Disclaimer

Paizo sent me the first book of the Shades of Blood adventure path, Thirst for Blood to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, this will be my honest opinion of the resource book. I will also be using Amazon affiliate links where possible, but you can always buy Thirst for Blood directly from the Paizo store.

Shades of Blood: The Hook

Where the once great Alzanti empire stood, now sits fragmented remains scattered across islands and at the bottom of the ocean. The Alzanti once held dominion with its advanced technology, now its scraps are sold as oddities. Its been years since its collapse, and more of the lost empires secrets have began to surface. Unfortunately, not all of them are good.

At the bottom of the ocean, hidden behind a labyrinth of traps and stone, sits a prison for the empires most dangerous foes. Among these is an ancient vampire by the name of Nizca Irocol. Nizca was so powerful that the only way to stop her was to keep her in a state of perpetual stasis. Unfortunately, the Earthfall has shaken the force that kept Nizca locked away.

Newly freed, Nizca seeks to reunite with her long lost lover. To do this, she plans to use ancient Alzanti technology to put the world into perpetual darkness, and releasing a prison full of blood thirsty creatures into the world to sow chaos.

As fate would have it, a group of eager adventures have been hired in a nearby town to investigate the sudden anomaly. What will they uncover? What treasures will they find? Do they have what it takes to save the world, or will it fall to vampires?

What is Shades of Blood?

Thirst for Blood is the first leg of the Shades of Blood saga. It takes players from levels 1-3, and acts as an introduction to the world, game, and characters. The players will arrive to the town of Talmandor’s Bounty, where they have been hired to aid a local astronomer. Everything erupts into chaos as the sky turns to black and an army of blood thirsty creatures starts attacking the city. The adventures now find themselves investigating this sudden chaotic outburst. Players will need to travel to a nearby island, and begin their delve through this fascinating mystery.

Impressions

If you are planning on running this adventure, you are going to need the GM Core. The adventure path doesn’t include any of the rules, or all of the stat blocks. There is also a free player’s guide to help players prep for the campaign. I’ll drop the file below for your convenience, but you can pick it up on the official Paizo site.

ShadesOfBlood_PlayersGuideDownload

Thirst for Blood is a solid start to the adventure. It has a few alternate modes of play (not everything is solved by combat), and it does a good job at getting players involved with the world. The early missions of the game has players interacting with NPCs as they complete chores around the starting city, and slowly introduces the games many mechanics. This is a very beginner friendly resource, and a good way to get into Pathfinder.

My only concern with the first chapter is that players need to be willing to roleplay to make some of the chores fun. I do appreciate that the game sets up ample opportunities for players to grow comfortable with their characters through the many social interactions. While chapter one does a great job at helping break the ice, some of the quests can be boring depending on the roleplay.

The rest of the adventure is a solid dungeon delve with fantastic flavor baked throughout. The book introduces fun enemies for players to fight, and provides a neat mystery for them to solve. I’m sure your players will find clever ways to skip around, but there are some cool ideas that I will be using in other campaigns. Overall, if you’re into a strait forward delve, this is a great place to start.

The book itself is very cool. I love the art, and the book is printed with the high quality standard I’ve come to expect from Paizo. I am a little bummed that it doesn’t include all of the stat blocks, but I guess it is fair that they assume players will at least a GM Core handy.

Aside from my issues with the first chapter, this is a solid resource. If you like vampires and dungeon crawlers, this a cool book to own. I personally enjoy reading about all the adventure’s lore, but there are also a few stat blocks I will be borrowing for future campaigns.

You can pick up the Thirst for Blood adventure path for $29.99 from Paizo and Amazon.

Board Games and TCGs, Uncategorized

Why Alchemy RPG is the Best Virtual Tabletop for Storytelling

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Introduction

I have been running my recent campaign with Alchemy RPG, and I have a few opinions that might prove helpful if you are in the market for a new TTRPG. I have run a DND module and am currently running Mutant RPG. I also bought both modules I’ve used to run my games, but the books were given to me by the publisher to review for my blog. That said, this will be my honest review of the virtual table top.

What is Alchemy RPG

Alchemy RPG is a VTT that aims to enhance games played through theater of the mind. It provides players with not just the rules they need to run their games, but modules with striking visuals and powerful soundscapes to set the mood. The platform has an expanding library of sounds, visuals, and systems to explore, but players have the freedom to run their games with their own media. If you only run your games online, Alchemy does have voice, text, and video chat function. This is great for those who don’t want to have another program open. There are also some nifty features for content creators who like to stream their games online.

Running a game on Alchemy RPG is free. A GM can host up to three games for free, and players can create/import up to three characters. There is a paid subscription service. $8 a month or $88 a year gets you unlimited characters, campaigns and universes. Games can be run from the many available modules that can be purchased in the shop, but there is nothing stopping a game master from programing everything by hand. While GMs can make due without modules, they grant access to resource books, pre-programmed functions and items, and tailored visuals and sounds. It also saves a lot of time.

Review

Alchemy RPG has interesting functions and unique offerings that should be considered when choosing a VTT, especially when running games through theater of the mind. While the game does offer options for battle maps and quick combat, other VTT’s handle combat and battle maps better.

It took me a couple of sessions to start enjoying Alchemy, but it was mostly because I was set in my ways. I have used a few different VTTs trying to find the right home for our games. I look for something that is easy to use, even easier to teach, and has cool features for combat. At least it was at first. As we’ve grown together, combat on a map became less and less important. I enjoy the story telling part of the hobby, and my campaigns saw the shift to theater of the mind.

I made my shift to Alchemy because I wanted a VTT that let me focus on the story telling, gave me access to the rules, but was easy for my players to learn. Alchemy does all of that, and I have the option of running combat on a map if I really want to.

Setting up a campaign in Alchemy is incredibly easy. If you use the modules, you just need the funds to do so. If you have the time, inputting all the rules, creatures, items, and visuals is easy but time consuming.

Onboarding players is incredibly easy. Not everyone at my table is tech savvy, so I always try to find solutions that is the least work. The last thing I want to do is frustrate my players before the game even starts. Character creation is both systems was very easy, especially for my less savvy players. I do like that I can edit character sheets from my end if they ever gets stuck tho.

Running the actual game is great. The moving visuals create a striking backdrop, and the UI is clean and easy to navigate. Clicking through the different menues, switching between characters, and most importantly, rolling is all easy to do. The audio is a little hard to hear, but you can always add your own and at least it isn’t distracting. Most importantly, I love how easy things are to set up, like on the fly encounters, or creating new units or items.

My only complaint is that you still need a rulebook even if you buy the module. I found some of the bock of texts hard to read and navigate, especially when running a prewritten adventure. This might be the font and my dyslexia, but it is a problem I have. It is not undoable, but searching a PDF or flipping through a book is a better experience.

Overall, I love Alchemy because it doesn’t distract from the narrative. Being easy to learns means we can start quickly. Everything being preprogrammed and working properly not only cuts my prep time, it means we spend more time playing the game. If you play tabletop RPGs to create a collective story with your friends, I don’t think there is anything better than Alchemy RPG.

Board Games and TCGs

Review of Urban Shadows: The Urban Fantasy RPG

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Disclaimer

I was sent a free copy of the Urban Shadows 2E core book to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. I will also be using my amazon affiliate links when possible. Always support your LGS, but using my link helps me out!

What is Urban Shadows?

Urban Shadows is an award winning TTRPG that just received its second edition.

In large metropolitan cities, a supernatural society operates in the shadows. Unbeknownst to the average citizen, there is an ever presence conflict between four warring factions as they try to gain dominion over the city. The balance of power is in a state of constant flux, and the political landscape of the city is forever shifting. Fate, chance, or whatever you want to call it has brought you into the this world, and it is up to you to find your place within it. Make deals, earn and pay off your social debts, and climb your way up the ladder. Who will you become? How will you shape the cities narrative? How will you let the city shape you?

The Gist of It

This is a massive book, but the gist is this:

In Urban Shandows, players navigate the complex social network of the supernatural society of a major city. They must broker deals, climb the social ladder, and most importantly, operate in the shadows.

Whatever the city, there are four factions that fight over its dominion: Mortalis, Night, Power, and Wild.

Mortalis are the humans that find themselves in the world, either by chance or by choice. Some hunt the monsters that roam the night. Others smuggle supernatural items to sell for a profit. Others play with the idea of giving up their humanity to join this world permanently.

Power is full of the people who can wield the magic of this world. It is full of the wizards, oracles, and immortals who seek to gain more power from this world.

Night is the faction of people who have been transformed into a supernatural creature of the night, and must wrestle with this new found identity. These are the vampires, werewolves, and ghosts of the city and the smaller sects that form within them.

Wild is the faction that lives on the fringes of society that wield powerful ancient magics that rival the other factions. These are the faeries, demons, and constructs that roam the city’s shadows.

The important thing is that these factions have an established hierarchy, and the players must find their place within it. The faction a player starts with, doesn’t have to be the one they end in. They don’t even have to be the same character, there is a mechanic that allows players to retire. Climbing is not easy, and it isn’t black and white. While players can fight their way through the city for territory, there are more diplomatic approaches that might prove more efficient. Trying to change an outcome with emotion or persuasion instead of fists is just as viable, if not more. The city is always moving and changing, and players need to adapt to keep up. Whether they can shake up the foundation of the city is up to a few actions and a couple dice roles. Within those four factions are 12 unique classes for players to choose from. Each class feels unique and gives players abilities to help them navigate their social mobility. There is a lot of flavor in this game, and while you can adjust your narrative to fit your vision, the book has a lot of valuable helpful examples to get a newer Master of Ceremony (game master) started.

What sets the game apart is the focus on urban fiction, which takes players to the streets of their favorite cities at any time in history. Want to start in the present and time skip to a time of calamity? Go for it! The landscape may be in constant flux, but the narrative belongs to the city.

The Book

Review

Urban Shadows is a very good resource for any new game master, even if you don’t plan on running the game itself. The amount of resource, examples, and detail that make this book the hefty beast that it is can easily be translated into other systems. The book spells out every mechanic and feature in a way that is easy to read and understand, and is filled some very cool art to break up the information.

The game is powered by the apocalypse system, and the system is easy to learn and teach. This is important, especially for newer players who just want to hop into the game and not worry about intricate nuances. The game has its complexity, but I feel like there was less time spent arguing about rules, and more time enjoying the world and story for what it is.

Character creation is easy with the class system, and every class feels balanced and unique. More testing is required of course, but it all felt fine for the bit that was done. I like that the game doesn’t have to revolve around combat (it can), and how creative solutions to problems can be. The death and retirement system is interesting. The on death abilities each class has makes death sting a little less, and I like that players can retire a character if they just want to try something new.

What is important to note about the system is that it is going to be a bit more roleplay heavy. Yes dice rolls will sway the narrative, but you are going to have to ask for favors, or gather clues, or broker deals in a way that is limited by your social standing. For people who are more interested in the political side of roleplay, this is a great choice with lots of room for good story telling.

If you enjoy physical media, the book is a fantastic addition to any collection. Its a good quality book with some great illustrations. As far as resource books go, you’ll have everything you need to run a good campaign. There are helpful examples, tables, and a couple cities. There is an appendix with a bunch of charts and tables for the GM that needs to create an meaningful encounter on the fly.

I’ve read a few different resource books and nothing comes close to how detailed this book is. For veteran game masters, it is a little over kill. But for those just starting out in the space, it doesn’t get any better. When I started my journey, I did hours of research. A lot of what I’ve learned is packaged neatly in this book, and while there is lot a GM will learn through practice, its a great place to start.

Urban Shadows is a little too RP heavy for my table, but we had fun running it. We enjoyed how easy everything was to pick up, and the flavor is sound. I ran my games in San Francisco because that is the city I know best, but the borrowed a couple of the examples in the books to fill its underworld. I really enjoyed the shift to Urban Fantasy. We play a lot of high fantasy with the occasional scifi story, and it was nice to explore a modern city with modern problems and a supernatural element. I’d absolutely come back to the system if prompted because there is a lot of room for good story telling, and some very epic moments.

Urban Shadows is a solid TTRPG. If you like werewolves and vampires and mitigating the intricacies of social advancement, I don’t think you can find anything better than Urban Shadows.

You can pick up Urban Shadows and related products on the official Magpie store, and on DriveThru RPG if you don’t care about physical media.

Board Games and TCGs

I ran Session Zero of my Mutant: Year Zero Campaign

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Disclaimer

I was sent a free copy of Mutant: Year Zero core rulebook to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. These will be my honest impressions of the game.

What is Mutant: Year Zero

Mutant: Year Zero is an RPG about surviving the end of the world. After humanity has been descimated by plague and war. Those left on this dying planet have developed strange mutations and must fight to survive. Factions have formed, some creating new life on the ruins of the old cities, others roam the Zone in search of survival. You are one of the lucky few to venture into this rotting landscape in search of a new way to survive. What secrets will you uncover? What stories will create?

Why Session Zero?

After taking a short break for life events, our play group got back together for a new campaign, and a new system. We were all excited to be back together, and even more excited to start our new adventure. I’ve learned the importance of hosting a Session Zero before the start of a new campaign over my short life as a game master. Session Zero is the space where the group can talk about rules and expectations (because we all have the right to a safe space to roleplay), and create our characters.

I like to have my players create their characters together because we’re a play group of busy dads, and I don’t want to give them homework. Since I am always jumping between systems and platforms, my players always have questions, and it is nice to have a space where we can learn things together. It also helps break the ice as they start planning their characters. Some players come with ideas and building takes seconds, others will take their time to do it during the session. We have fun talking about different mechanics and characteristics.

After we create our characters, I like to slowly introduce mechanics. I give them a space to Roleplay to help them get into the space, I through some checks and a bit of combat to give them a taste of what is to come. Depending on how long the planning session takes, I try not overwhelm my players with too much content on the first day.

I used to skip session zero and go strait into the first game. I’ve learned that having that space where we can jokes around, answer questions, and build our characters gets us ready for the upcoming adventure and gets us started on a strong note.

Impressions

Setting up for our Mutant campaign was easy. The book lays the character creation process clearly, and using the official Alchemy RPG module made things even easier. Most of my players created their character from scratch, but one of my players edited one of the premade characters. How balanced each method is yet to be seen. The most exciting part of character creation is rolling for the mutation. Mutations are random and permanent in this game, and that first gamble of the game shapes a players identity. At least it did at my table.

I very much appreciate how each player focused on a different part of the book. One was more interested in the lore, another the mechanics, and together we were able to answer most questions. I found the more we talked about the game, the more excited we grew. My players are itching to use their mutations and explore this new world, and I can’t wait to run it for them.

I am running the included Path to Eden adventure, and so far, I’m hooked. The lore is interesting, and I like that it gives me the freedom to create the adventure I want between the meta narrative its left for me. I will need to do a bit more digging, but so far, we are happy with the system. Stay tuned to see if that changes.

You can pick up the Mutant: Year Zero Core Rulebook on the official Free League Publishing website.

Board Games and TCGs, Uncategorized

Ruins of Sybaroum 5e: Adventure Compendium – Complete Review

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Introduction

I ran the Ruins of Sybaroum 5e recently at my table. It’s been a while since I’ve ran 5e and we wanted to make our return. Ruins of Symbaroum offered a different enough setting and flavor that we made our plunge and start with the Adventure Compendium. I did buy this book with my own money, and ran it using the official Alchemy RPG module (also purchased with my own money). This review will be on both the game and the module. You can pick up a copy of the Adventure Compendium on the official Free League Publishing site or your favorite game store. You can also pick it up through my Amazon Affiliate link. It really helps me out. I’ll be leaving affiliate links where I can.

What is Ruins of Sybaroum 5e: Adventure Compendium?

The adventure compendium is a 5e compatible adventure that takes players from levels 1-8. If you’re planning to run any of the other pre-written adventures in this series, or are a new DM, this is the place to start.

The Adventure Compendium is a collection of adventures that lets players not only explore the world of Symbaroum, but get a taste of the different types of adventures. There are witch hunts, murder mysteries, escort missions, and a few other neat surprises. You will need access to at least the OGL ruleset, but it doesn’t hurt to have a Gamemaster’s Guide. Things like the Ruins of Symbaroum Core Setting Book, Player’s Guide, and Beastiary are nice to have, but you can run this game with just the OGL.

The Module

Alchemy RPG is a VTT that focuses on enhancing Theater of the Mind campaigns. It can be used to run combat and it has tools to run battle maps, but the modules main job is to set the mood with its cool visuals and atmospheric soundscape.

The Adventure Compendium Module is fine, but it is incomplete. Buying other modules will make prep easier, but hombrewing what you need isn’t hard, just time consuming. If this is your first VTT, buying into it isn’t going to be a problem. It is reasonably priced with a clean UI that is simple and easy to use. As far as substance goes, the visuals for the module are cool, but not the real reason you’re buying the game. You can always supplement the module with your own content for free. I found the font too small to read, and I don’t like that you can’t move or resize any of the windows. It be nice to be able to move the notes around to move characters.

Combat in this module works fine. If you like to use maps, the experience feels a bit lacking. Resizing maps feels a bit clunky (but better than Roll20) and the maps included with the module aren’t very optimized. They work well enough if you ever need to run something quick, but Foundry VTT does it better. If you don’t care about maps, it’s great. Setting up the encounter is easy, and every chapter is neatly divided so you only get the stat blocks you need. I don’t think the included visuals and sounds did much to enhance combat, but setting up your own scenes with music and visuals is easy and quick.

Alchemy is a solid VTT for those who want to focus on the story and don’t care much about combat. It is free to try (with a few limitations), but you can start with the module if you want to support the publisher and want the convenience the module provides. You can run the game without the module, but it is a little time consuming.

The Book

If you’re a new Gamemaster with new players looking for a darker grittier adventure, the Adventure Compendium is a great place to start. The book has solid pacing and a good variety of actives to get things started.

The world of Symbaroum is very unforgiving and will wipe a careless party. GMs can always tweek and change an adventure to fit their table, but the adventure is supposed to be harsh. Monsters are supposed to be strong, resources are supposed to be scarce, and the danger is supposed to be feel real. Games like these seem to have more meaningful moments of epic heroism, but the table needs to be in the mood for it. Changing survival mechanics and re-balancing combat is always fine, but it takes away a bit of the spirit of the campaign. As it turns out, we weren’t really in the mood for a more serious campaign and we couldn’t form that connection. Lowering the difficulty to allow room for shenanigans made it not as good.

But, just because the game didn’t fit the flavor of our campaign, it doesn’t mean it won’t fit yours. The Adventure Compendium does a fantastic job at being an intro product, and with a good amount of difficulty to keep things grim. It does feel like it is geared towards newer GMs and players (it could be a lot harder) and that is perfectly fine. The stories it tells are also fine, but not a real reason to buy this book. If you want to explore the world of Symbaroum and don’t need the crutch, you can try starting with the setting book instead. I’ll be doing a full review at some point so stay tuned.

Board Games and TCGs

Doomlings Game Review: A Fun, Simple, Cute Card Game

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Disclaimer

I was sent a free copy of Doomlings base game to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

Sponsored plug

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What is Doomlings?

Doomlings is a cute and simple card game for 2 to 6 players. Games last about 20-45 mins to play, and learning only takes about five minutes.

Players are on a race against time as they build the strongest Doomling before catastrophe destroys erases everything. Players use their collection of cards, called traits, to build a powerful gene pool before the end of the game. Traits give players abilities, but most importantly, points. There are also ages cards that change the rules of interaction each round. They can do things like change hand sizes or affect certain colors. Events can also be catastrophes, and drawing three catastrophes ends the game. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. Use the official web app to tally scores easily.

What’s in the box?

  • 167 Unique Doomling Cards
  • Rulebook
  • Nice Box for Sleeved Storage

How to play

The official how-to-play video is the best resource to get you started. While the instructions are clear and the game is easy to learn, the video is invaluable.

Card Art

Catastrophe

Ages

Traits

Review

Doomlings is a very cute game that is worth looking into id you need something simple, quick, and a lot of fun.

The game comes in a good-sized quality box that will fit a sleeved deck and a few expansions easily. You are going to want to sleeve these cards. While the card and print quality is durable enough to survive the first few play through, the cards are a difficult to shuffle. The cards are textured, and the texture feels nice, but it prevents a bit of the randomization you can get with sleeves. A noticed a bit of damage after the first few shuffles, but I am also a crazy person who sleeves everything.

The artwork for this game is simple, thematic, and cute. I enjoyed that each color had a unique flavor without being too busy. The focus for a game like this should be the rules and interactions, and the art is good enough to see on the table. It is a really cozy feeling game considering the it deals with the end of the world.

Gameplaywise, the game is solid. I like that it is very easy to learn, and even easier to teach. Set up takes only a few minutes (including teaching), but I recommend you check out the official how-to-play video to fill any holes. The mechanics are sound and there is room for some sneaky strategy. You are going to hate a few of your friends, but you will have fun doing so. I like that no two games were ever the same, and my strategy always changed thanks to the draw and hand mechanic. I just wish I sleeved my cards before hand for a more randomized experience.

Doomlings is a fantastic game to pull out when you have company that doesn’t play many board games. There is enough strategy involved to keep things competitive without alienating the more casual gamer. The is very easy to learn, even if there is no prior board game experience. We had a lot of fun playing the game at our table, and I can guarantee it can find its place on any table.

You can pick up Doomlings on Amazon for $24.99 using my affiliate link.

Board Games and TCGs

Wasted my Money on the GameStop Premium Deck Box

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I was at Gamestop the other day and decided to treat myself with a new deck box for my Grand Archive deck. The one I was using at the time was ratty and falling apart. I chose to pick up the GameStop Premium Trading Card Deck Box, but this thing was anything but premium.

What I liked

The deck box has a slick black vinyl texture with red stitching along its edges that gives the box its alluring elegant feel. There are strong magnets on the flap for secure storage, and two plastic dividers to keep your cards organized. The inside also has this sleek black for the matching aesthetic. It’s a nice looking box, but those looks fade fast.

Review

The plastic covering the bottom of the deckbox came undone on the second day, exposing my cards to the box’s cheap interior cardboard. I should have taken this moment to get my money back, but I wanted to see what would happen. The red stitching that runs along the edges started to come undone shortly after. After my third locals, I started to notice the inside fold of the flap starting to tear away. I am very careful with my trading card and accessories and was surprised at how rough the box looked after only a few uses. It would have been better if I bought cheap plastic ones instead.

I wasn’t expecting a high quality product that would last me forever, but I did expect it to at least make it through the year. I might have gotten a defective unit, but if Gamestop is truly attempting to make their transition to an LGS, they need to do better. If you only have 20 bucks to spend on a deck box, you can do better.

Board Games and TCGs, Uncategorized

Enhance Your Hero Realms Experience with Character Packs

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I was sent the five Hero Realms character packs to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

If you’re looking to buy any card games, board games, miniatures, and more, get it over at Game Nerdz using my affiliate links. Game Nerdz offers some fantastic pricing on anything you need, and it really helps me out.

What are the Character Packs?

The character packs introduce the class system to the fantasy-themed deck-building game. The playable characters I received were cleric, fighter, ranger, wizard, and thief. Each pack comes with two special ability cards unique to the corresponding class, and a few uniquely themed resource and attack cards. These packs will act as a player’s starting deck. The packs also have a unique character card and authority tracker for flavor.

You will need the base game if you want to play with these cards. Make sure you check out my review of Hero Realms if you don’t know what I am talking about.

Cleric Pack

Fighter

Wizard

Thief

Review

If you haven’t played hero realms yet, it is worth checking out. The game is easy to learn and teach, and has some terrific flavor. The cards are high quality, and the texture is wonderful. Make sure you check out my full review!

While the character packs aren’t a necessity, they do not disappoint. The packs are all printed with the high quality and care that I have come to know from Wise Wizard Games. The flavor of each pack is fantastic in both mechanics and art. This game has some fantastic art, and if you like fantasy, you’ll love these character cards.

Power level-wise, the classes feel pretty even. Most games were decided based on RNG, and none of the classes seemed unfair. I preferred using the cleric because I am always the group’s cleric. You can get away with only buying one character pack. I played a few games against a character without one and while the abilities do offer a slight advantage, it was manageable. That said, I would have preferred to play with a class because the class abilities add a fun dynamic to the game.

If you don’t sleeve your cards, you can pack the character packs snugly with the base game, but the box will only fit one character and the base game. You’re going to have to get creative with storage if you are like me and sleeve everything. This isn’t a criticism of the game, but rather something to think about if you’re getting ready to purchase.

I love Hero Realms because of the flavor and gameplay, and I recommend you at least start with that. If you want a way to spice up your Hero Realms game night, you’re going to want to check out the character packs. They aren’t necessary, but they are worth the money.

You can pick up the five-character card bundle on Amazon for $24.94, or the cleric, fighter, ranger, wizard, and thief separately using my affiliate link. It really helps me out if you do.

Board Games and TCGs

Hero Realms is the Fantasy Deck Builder that Delivers

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I was sent a free copy of Hero Realms to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions of the game. This will be my honest review.

If you’re looking to buy any card games, board games, miniatures, and more, get it over at Game Nerdz using my affiliate links. Game Nerdz offers some fantastic pricing on anything you need, and it really helps me out.

What is Hero Realms?

Hero Realms is a 2-4 player fantasy themed deck building game. Build your coffers, hire your heroes, cast your spells, and be the greatest hero in the realm. Can you build the deck to rule them all?

What’s in the box?

Hero Realms comes with 144 fantasy themed cards for the unique deck building game, an instructions manual and the 4 sets of life tracking cards.

How to Play

Players all start with the same basic deck and take turns buying cards for their deck, and attacking their opponents. The goal is to bring your opponents life to zero, and the last hero standing wins. The included instructions are fine, but here is a how to video by Watch it Played for you visual learners.

Review

Players will immediately notice the fantastic quality of this unique deck builder. The art on the cards is beautiful, the words are legible, and it is all printed on high-quality card stock. The cards also have a lovely texture that feels good to the touch and makes the game pop. The cards feel sturdy, but I still recommend sleeving since the game requires a lot of shuffling. All 144 sleeved cards do fit snugly in the box, which is a huge plus for this game.

The game is easy to pick up and teach, but I still recommend looking up a tutorial for some of the less intuitive rules. I like that there are additional rules for alternative game modes for variety, but I wish there was a solo variant for the times I can’t get a group together. The variants are fun, but I prefer the base game.

As far as deck builders go, you can’t go wrong with Hero Realms. The game has fantastic flavor, beautiful art, and a solid loop. There also seems to be a good amount of diversity in the available strategies. Of all the times I played the game, I never built the same deck twice. My only real complaint is the lack of solo play, but that isn’t a deal-breaker.

If you’re looking for a new deck builder with solid fantasty flavor, you can’t go wrong with Hero Realms. You can pick up the Hero Realms base game on Amazon for $23.95 using my affiliate link.