Watch your Back: Week November 5 to 11
Hello, hello! Long time no post from me, I know. Life has overtaken hobbies, unfortunately, but here I am today at least. In case you were wondering if there's anything to back next week, let's check together.
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Machines To The Sky is a 1-4 player competitive bidding and resource management game in which players are contributing to the construction of the Ark that will carry humans away from a dying Earth.
Each player will try to develop technology and fulfill the requirements of the Ark. In the solo mode you will be playing against an AI with its own deck of cards. It is launching on Kickstarter on November 6.
Personal opinion: It doesn't seem very solo-friendly.
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Next, we have the reprint of Stars of Akarios, a 1-4 player cooperative narrative sci-fi game in which you travel in space exploring different worlds and engaging in fights.
The new edition comes with a reworked rulebook, redesigned exploration mechanism, revised scenarios and rebalanced space combat. The Gamefound campaign on November 7 will also include two expansions: Drones of Akarios and Battles of Akarios.
Personal opinion: This didn't draw me in the first time it launched for some reason. Maybe it was the storybook, maybe it was the artwork that didn't click, I'm not sure. I don't have the time to play these big games anymore anyway.
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Moving on to a sequel: Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles will be concluded with Episodes 3 and 4. In the first two episodes, survivors in a dinosaur island created settlements and faced the island's animal inhabitants.
In episode 3, the settlements have grown into cities, and the humans have learned how to tame and ride the dinos. In the final episode, the settlers build ships and fight against ancient foes. The principal mechanism of the game is dice placement, and the solo mode has been designed by David Turczi. It is launching on Gamefound on November 7.
Personal opinion: Again, this seems to be more well-suited to multiple players instead of one.
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And the last one for today is Misty Waters: At the Edge of World. This is a 1-4 player nautical exploration and fighting game in which you sail the seas looking for treasure and trade, and engaging in encounters and battles.
The game supports various modes of play, including solo against AI and two player co-op. You will be consulting the weather, moving your ship on the board and performing actions such as selling goods, repairing damages, and facing threats. It is launching on Gamefound on November 10.
Personal opinion: This looks like a fun game although I would prefer to play it co-op with another person. Perhaps it's feasible two-handed solo, if upkeep isn't too much.
Regarding my previous content on Dungeons of Draggmar, The Moongrel's previous production: I actually looked at things for myself and it appears that the second rule book does a much better job at teaching the game. So, sure, ideally, a game is blind playtested and you solve the rulebook issues before hand but... at least we have been given a workable rulebook in the end (or so it seems).
The solo mode changes quite a bit, but it remains the same loop: go into a dungeon, flip cards on automatic cards, get loot and game, hire a better party.
Actually, diving into the rules reminded me a lot of Challengers!. Which made me quite excited to play it! Then work…
I actually bought the first run of Stars of Akarios. At the time, I don't think I had figured out which games I would actually play VS. which games seemed like they would be cool.
When that ridiculously GIGANTIC box was delivered, I knew I would never, ever, have the time to learn and play it.
I immediately sold it to Noble Knight games.
I bet it's cool, but there is just no way I'd ever learn it. I'd rather just play another round of Skyrim than learn that many rules.
Thanks for the post Athena!
Perseverance looks beautiful and I look dinosaurs. Could this become my first Turczi ever? Let's be honest: I'm not backing a $100+ sprawling euro game no matter what.
I would be wary of any games published by the Mongrel. These are nice productions at a usually affordable cost, but Dungeons of Draggmar did not have a real design to justify it. It came with an unplayable rulebook, and the updated rulebook published entirely changed the gameplay. Now I don't know which game I own and consider I have none.
As both Dice Throne X-Men and Secrets of the Lost Tomb were too expensive for me, I'm suffering from crowdfunding withdrawal symptoms. I'll look into Misty Waters 👍🏻