Watch your Back: Week January 16 to 22
We have three game releases announced for the coming week, so let's dive in.
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What's better than milking a cow? Answer: milking two cows. CMON has proved time and again how good a farmer they are, and Marvel Zombies: A Zombicide Game is a marketing marvel indeed. Michael Shinall, the designer behind last year's Bloodborne (and Xenoshyft if you're an old-timer like me), is the lead designer here, and along with Fabio Cury, decided to turn the Marvel superheroes into hungry monsters. However, because not everyone is keen on playing a zombie, and because it would be wasted potential otherwise, a second core box will be available during the Kickstarter allowing you to play as the Heroes against the Zombies.
The game supports 1-6 players in cooperative mode just like standard Zombicide. The main difference in gameplay is that each Marvel zombie will have a Hunger track that will determine their attack strength each round (how many dice they will roll), and that instead of scavenging for weapons, each zombie will be able to gain single-use skills. Zombies will have to face troopers, guards, specialists and Heroes.
Saving the worst, I mean best, for last, do you remember the Cthulhu megature from Cthulhu: Death May Die? We have another big plastic statue in Marvel Zombies which is of course KS exclusive but not a limited order item. Galactus is said to have a role in gameplay, so it won't just take up space in your living room. The campaign will launch on January 18.
Personal opinion: I don't want this but not gonna lie: if anyone ever invites me to play, I'll grab a bag of pretzels and some beers and join them at the table.
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One day before, on January 17, PSC Games will lauch Total War: Rome on Gamefound. This is a board game adaptation of the famous video game, and supports 1-4 players in competitive mode. You will be playing as leaders of Rome, Carthage, Greece, and Gallo-Germania from 250 to 50 BC.
Each faction will have its own army consisting of different unit cards. You will be able to manage your forces, developments and income on your faction board. The winner is the first player who reaches 25VP, and points will be gathered through invading territories, engaging in naval battles, earning gold, and expanding your empire. The game can be played solo by controlling one or an alliance of two factions against the other two: details will be revealed when the campaign goes live. In the meantime, you may wish to check the Gamefound Preview.
Personal opinion: it doesn't interest me but I'm glad it exists for fans of the genre.
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Finally, on January 22, Dragon Dawn Productions is launching White Hat: a 1-6 player competitive game in which you play as a Hacker trying to prove their worth in cyberspace. This is a trick-taking game combined with a game board on which players will be moving their top hat-shaped pawns.
The winner of the trick each round will get to move their pawn one space further on the board. You can play one or three cards from your card, and to win a trick you must play the same number of cards as the lead player.
In the solo mode, you play against the game - a bot with its own hand of cards- and manage the movement of all the hats. The lowest scoring hat at the end of the game will give you your final score.
Personal opinion: this one sounds like a good puzzle for solo but the theme does nothing for me. It seems to be best as a multiplayer anyway.
I was curious about Total War : Rome and had been following along before it launched along with 18,000 other people. Since it has now launched it looks more Like Total War : Total Mess!!!
It's a very pretty page, with, as you might have guessed, loads of stuff, cards and minis galore but then you start noticing things like how little they actually tell you about the game. But that's alright I'l watch the numerous playthrough videos that a game of this size will have organised....
Er, what do you mean no playthrough videos....
TTS or Tabletopia..... Nope!
So I have to base my buying decision on a few draft rulebooks, which , by the way are being picked…
I really liked what I read about White Hat, I love the theme, but the graphic design does nothing for me, if anything it's a bit of a repellent. A shame.
In my mind, board games adaptations of video games as intricate as those of the Total War series are bound to be fiddly. I don't quite get the idea.
I'd also gladly play any Zombicide game in someone else's place. I'll never get any of these, for sure, but it doesn't mean I despise these games, or I wouldn't have fun playing them. I'm sure I would.
White Hat, although I'm fond of trick-taking games: same as you, theme does nothing, solo is not alluring enough.
So I guess I think quite the same as you this time, except for Total War.