Quick Review - Button Bashers Turbo - Kickstarter Preview

Button Bashers Turbo
Designer: Nate Moore
Publisher: Multi-Bit Games

Quick Review - Button Bashers Turbo - Kickstarter Preview
Disclaimer

Overview:

Hitting Kickstarter at the end of April is the latest game from Multi-Bit Games.  Back in June of last year (2014) Multi-Bit Games had a small, but successful campaign for their game Button Bashers.  Now they're back with Button Bashers Turbo, a very similar game with some modified mechanics that add more choices for players throughout the game.  They were nice enough to send me a copy of the prototype cards and a draft set of the rules.

UPDATE: The Kickstarter campaign for Button Bashers Turbo went live on April 29th and runs through May 28th.  The base game is $19, including shipping to the US.  You can visit the campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/multibitgames/button-bashers-turbo


Button Bashers Turbo is designed primarily for two players but it can also be played by 4 players in a free-for-all melee or tag-team matchup.  I played the two player version.  Each player chooses two fighting characters that resemble 90's style arcade characters.  These characters each have a set of unique special abilities that come into play as they perform combo attacks on their opponents.  Attacks are performed by playing a series of cards that represent buttons and joystick movements on an old school arcade machine.  OK, let's back up a bit...

The Gameplay:

After players choose their characters they set a slider on the cards to give each character full health (20 HP).  Then they choose one of the two characters to be the active fighter.  Next, the Stage deck is shuffled and one card drawn to set the scene of the combat for the first round.  Players also take a single Block card.  Finally the Button and Direction cards are shuffled (called the Bash deck) and placed face down (with the Bash side up) and each player draws two.  Now players are ready to start.

Slamu the Slammin' Salmon and Catbeard the Scoundrel
are ready to battle Fred the Zombie Gunman and OpanGi
the Seasoned Warrior.

On each player's turn they complete three phases.  The first phase is called the Bash phase and players draw as many cards as indicated on the top card from the Bash deck.  The player can choose three of the cards drawn and discard one.  If the Bash number was a 7 then the effects of the Stage card for the current round also take effect.

The second phase is the meat of the game.  The Action phase is where the player chooses an action to take.  He can either Block, Swap, or Burst.  Block and Swap are relatively simple, but Burst is where the fighting actually takes place.

If a player chooses to Block he places his Block card in front of him.  He can then shuffle any number of cards from his hand into the Bash deck (not into the discard pile) and then draw that many cards plus one from the Bash deck.  His turn then ends, however any damage done to him on his opponent's next turn is reduced by half.

If a player chooses to Swap he switches his active character with his benched character.  The new fighter can then make one attack (following the rules in the Burst section, except the character can only perform one attack instead of a combination of many attacks).  Also, the newly benched character can recover 3 HP.

The graphics bring a sense of 8-bit arcade game nostalgia!

The Burst action is how players deal damage to each other.  Burst allows the player's active character to perform multiple attacks, with each one increasing in intensity.  To attack the player looks at the available attacks for his active character.  Attacks consist of a combination of direction and button cards.  Each character has its own unique set of valid combinations.  For example, playing an Up card and a Button may be a valid attack combination for one character, but not for another.

The amount of damage done in an attack depends on the button used.  Buttons can be light, medium, heavy, special, kick, or turbo.  Light, medium, heavy, and special buttons do 1, 2, 3, and 4 points of damage respectively, turbo lets the player draw another card, and kick lets the player change their opponent's active character so they can continue attacking the other opponent character (although the combo count is reset to 0 when the new character comes in).  All players also have access to two common attacks - a jab is a single button that always does 1 point of damage (regardless of the type of button used) and a hyper combo uses all four of the damage dealing buttons (for 10 points of damage) and cancels out an opponent's block action (for subsequent attacks as well).

So I've mentioned a few times multiple attack combos.  During the Action phase, if the player chose the Burst action they can perform as many attacks as they like.  Each attack inflicts one additional damage point.  This is in addition to the damage from the button(s) used.  The first attack does 0 additional damage, but the second attack does 1 additional damage, and a third attack would do 2 additional damage.  So the more attacks you are able to string together in a turn the more damage you'll do.

Buttons, joysticks, and 8-bits, oh my!

As soon as a character reaches 0 HP they are out of the game.  The player then only has one character to continue fighting with and can't use the Swap action.  Additionally when an opponent plays the Kick button it has no effect on a player with only one remaining character.  The player with the last character standing wins.

Going Deeper:

Those are the core rules of the game, and they're pretty straight forward.  Where the game gets challenging is in the other effects each character's various attacks have.  This is, at the same time, the most interesting and most problematic aspect of the game.  It's here that any elegance to the mechanics is lost.  In addition to the damage that an attack does through the buttons used in it and any combo bonus, each attack has another effect that may or may not come into play.  This is a great idea, but I found the effects to be unnecessarily complicated and a huge detriment to the momentum of the game.

Each character has 6 special attacks in 4 levels (1 blue, 2 green, 2 yellow, and 1 red in increasing complexity).  But even the simplest attacks have somewhat complex effects.  For example, if you use OpanGi's blue level Jaw Breaker attack (up and a button) you have to look at the top card of the Bash deck.  If it's Bash value is 3 then your opponent discards one card and the top card of the Bash deck is also discarded.  OK, that's not that challenging and it results in something simple happening (your opponent discarding a card) some of the time.  But OpanGi's green level Spam Ball attack (right and a button) has the exact same effect if the top card of the deck is a Bash 5.

Now let's look at Mrs. Soft Serve's blue level attack, Ice Barrier (a combination of any two left and right direction cards): Reduce the total damage you take next turn by 2 for each time you've used this attack.  OK, it's still a simple effect (negating less damage when you are attacked next), but it's starting to get more complicated since you now have to remember on your opponent's next turn how many times you used the Ice Barrier attack.  But how about some of her other attacks?  Delicius Downpour, a green level attack (up and a button) says: Until the end of your turn, increase the [clock icon] by 1 for the sake of your attacks only.  If you used Ice Barrier this turn, increase by 2 instead (Max round is 5)  I'm assuming that the final instructions will explain what the clock icon means.  I'm assuming from the last text in parentheses that it represents the round number, but I'm not sure.  If it does mean the round, then that means the yellow level Let It Go attack (down, left, button) could actually be harmful in round 1 and of very little help in round 2, unless you are able to play Delicious Downpour and Ice Barrier first.  Let It Go's effect is: Draw cards equal to the [clock icon]. Than [sic] discard 2 cards.

How about Boz-o the Wize?  He's a level 4 difficulty character.  His blue level attack, Surprise! (up and a button) has this effect: Put one button in play face down.  This is a SURPRISE.  When your opponent attacks, discard any SURPRISE that matches the button from that attack.  Deal that button's damage.  Otherwise, add SURPRISE back to your hand before you bash.  Woah.  It took me three times reading that to figure out exactly what I was supposed to do, and I'm still not completely sure I understand.  Apparently I'm supposed to take an additional button card from my hand (or is it the button used in the attack?) and place it face down in front of me without my opponent seeing it.  If my opponent uses that button in an attack against me it basically backfires and hits my opponent instead, most likely leaving the opponent's adjusted attack (without the button that I chose) ineffective.  OK, I guess that's kind of cool, but that's the simplest effect?  Boz-o's yellow level Flower Squirt Surprise (right, up, button) tells you to check the bottom card of your deck.  If it is a directional card, add it to your hand.  If it is a button, put it face down in play.  This card remains in play with an effect.  When you use Surprise! it becomes a SURPRISE.  First of all, I'm assuming you check the bottom card of main Bash deck since each player doesn't have their own deck.  Second, what does it mean that the card remains in play with an effect?  And what happens if I don't play a Surprise! attack this turn?

6 attacks each with various effects for 12 different
characters means it'll take a long time to get comfortable
playing any character combinations. 

Individually these effects are interesting.  Combined, and having six different effects on each player makes the attack phase, which should be a quick, action packed phase, drag as players try to read, understand, and use various attacks with a multitude of strange effects.  I can see where if you played this game a lot, and funny understood each character's attack effects, this would move quicker and you'd be able to plan a bit.  But there are so many effects that make you and/or your opponent discard cards, draw new cards, swap cards, etc. that planning for the future is difficult at best.  It's definitely a reactionary game, which I suppose a fighting game should be, but I think it would work much better with simpler, more generic attack effects, especially for the lower level attacks.  Simple effects like drawing extra cards, opponent discarding (or drawing/keeping fewer cards on their next Bash), increasing damage, etc. would be quick to choose and process.  The more complicated effects should be saved for the yellow and red level attacks.

Another issue with the effects is how many of them have exceptions, conditions, or different behavior based on other events.  And a lot of those exceptions and conditions don't just apply to the current turn, the trigger on future turns, or rely on things that happened in previous turns.  It all leads to confusion and a bit of analysis paralysis, especially for newer players that aren't intimately familiar with each character.

Final Thoughts:

I really wanted to like Button Bashers.  I was never a huge fan of arcade fighting games, but I spent my fair share of time in the arcade or in front of a console battling friends, and this seemed like a cool trip down memory lane without having to fire up the old NES.  The core idea behind the game isn't too bad and has potential, but the sheer variety of moves that each character has available make this a game that's not going to be easily accessible by the majority of people.  This game is not a casual game to teach to new players.  It's unnecessarily complicated and feels more like work than a fast, fun, action packed experience.  In fact, both my son (who loves video games and was super excited to play this game) and my wife got frustrated with the game and quit well before round 1 was finished.   And honestly, I was relieved and ready to move onto something else, too.

Where I see Button Bashers Turbo finding a niche is with players who both enjoy the nostalgia of arcade fighting games and want to take the time to play this repeatedly with the same character.  Like an arcade game, once you start to learn your character and his special moves and abilities (and your opponents' moves and abilities) you'll be able to strategize and react quickly.  But until you've overcome that huge hurdle of becoming intimately familiar with each character you'll be stuck reading and re-reading and trying to figure out each move and what it's effects and ramifications are and how it combos with other moves... in an ongoing mess of analysis paralysis, and this isn't the type of deeply strategic game that lends itself to that type of deep thinking.  Or maybe you'll just give up trying to plan a strategy and you'll just play whatever cards you get in random moves and take whatever consequences pop up.  The trouble with the "mash the buttons and hope you get a few hits in" approach though is that there aren't enough generic, common moves that you know will work for every player.  Every fighting game I ever played had a set of core moves that every player could do, like a kick, punch, leg sweep, block, jump kick, etc.  Even if I didn't know all the character's special moves I at least knew I'd get a few hits in and maybe luck out on guessing a combination.  That doesn't really happen in Button Bashers Turbo though since every attack is part of a combo and has special effects that need to be resolved.

The box looks like a cool retro arcade game.

Button Bashers Turbo has an interesting idea, but really needs to be streamlined to make it accessible and appealing to a wider audience.  Those willing to put the time and effort into really knowing and understanding the abilities of each character will probably find an entertaining game here, but for the masses it'll be an exercise in frustration and not a game that will be fun or easy to introduce to new players.  Unless arcade style fighting games are really your thing, I can't recommend backing Button Bashers Turbo.

UPDATE: The Kickstarter campaign for Button Bashers Turbo went live on April 29th and runs through May 28th.  The base game is $19, including shipping to the US.  You can visit the campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/multibitgames/button-bashers-turbo


Preliminary Rating: 4/10
This review is of a prototype game.  Components and rules are not final and are subject to change.

Did you like this review?  Show your support by clicking the heart at Board Game Links , liking GJJ Games on Facebook , or following on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

GJJG Game Reviews are independent, unpaid reviews of games I, George Jaros, have played with my family and friends.  Some of these games I own, some are owned by friends, some are borrowed, and some are print and play versions of games.  Where applicable I will indicate if games have been played with kids or adults or a mix (Family Play).  I won't go into extensive detail about how to play the game (there are plenty of other sources for that information and I'll occasionally link to those other sources), but I will give my impressions of the game and how my friends and family reacted to the game.  Quick Reviews will only get a single rating of 1-10 (low-high) based on my first impressions of the game during my first few times playing.  Hopefully I'll get more chances to play the game and will be able to give it a full review soon.

Quick Review - Ion: A Compound Building Game - Kickstarter Preview

Ion: A Compound Building Game
Designer: John Coveyou
Publisher: Genius Games

Quick Review - Ion: A Compound Building Game
Disclaimer

As a homeschooling family that loves both science and games, educational science games are right up our alley.  Unfortunately many educational games are just trivia or 'flash card' type questions mashed up with stale roll-and-move mechanics.  So when we find games that purport to be equal parts educational experience and game, we jump on it!

I was fortunate enough to receive a prototype copy of the newest game from John Coveyou and Genius Games, Ion: A Compound Building Game.  If you aren't familiar with John and Genius Games, be sure to check them out.  Ion is the third game in John's collection of science based games.  His first game, Linkage, teaches about DNA Transcription and was listed in Popular Science's list of 10 Best Things for February 2015.  The second game, Peptide, teaches about RNA to Protein Translation and had a successful Kickstarter campaign last fall.  John Coveyou was also involved in the hugely successful Tesla vs. Edison game as well, although not through his Genius Games company.  Ion: A Compound Building Game is all about bonding ions at the atomic level to create more complex compounds and is Genius Games' latest game to hit Kickstarter.  The campaign launches on April 8th here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geniusgames/ion-a-compound-building-game

UPDATE: Ion has successfully funded!  Congratulations to Ion for successfully funding in less than 24 hours!  The game has already added a number of stretch goals and is well on its way to adding more!  Read my review of the base game below, but be sure to read my UPDATE that includes information on how some of these stretch goals change the game.

Overview

So, how does Ion stack up as both an educational tool and a game?  Well, let's start by explaining a bit about the components and how to play.

Set up and ready to play Ion: A Compound Building Game.

The game, as I received it, contains 47 charged ion cards (representing ions like Chloride, Hydrogen, Fluoride, Potassium, Magnesium, etc.) and 18 noble gas cards (Helium, Neon, and Argon).  There are also 8 sets of three action tokens and 7 compound goal cards.  The element cards include a representation of the element's atomic structure as well as game critical information.  The only flavor text on the element cards tells the type of element (e.g. Halogen, Alkali Metal, Noble Gas).  The prototype compound cards have no artwork, but they do have flavor text that tells a little about each compound.  The prototype action tokens only have functional text and a simple graphic of an atom.  While the artwork on the prototype cards is sufficient, the final game will have much nicer artwork, including pictures of what the compounds are used for.

Elements, Compound Goals, and Action Tokens make up the game.

The final artwork on the cards will be much more visually attractive.
Elements show even more detail in the atomic structure, compounds
show what the compound is used in, and everything pops!

Playing the Game

So, how does the game play?  The core mechanic in the game is card drafting.  The secondary mechanic is matching.  Each player starts with a hand of 8 cards and will choose an element (ion) card to add to their tableau and then pass the rest to the player on their left.  After the first turn each element card can either be bonded (matched) to an already played ion in an effort to build a balanced compound (i.e. matching negatively charged ions with positively charged ions to create neutral compounds) or played unbonded (on its own) in the hopes of being able to bond it to something else later.  The only exceptions to this are the noble gas cards, which are already balanced and can't be bonded to any ions.  Play proceeds until each player has a hand of three cards to choose from.  The player then chooses one card and discards the two remaining cards.  Then the player's tableau is scored (each element card has points on it and players score for all balanced compounds they have created).  Then all the cards are cleared away, shuffled, and the whole process is repeated two more times for a total of three rounds.  The winner is the player with the most points.

Two Sodium Chloride compounds are bonded and Fluorine
is waiting for an ion to bond with.

To mix things up a bit, though, there are compound goal cards and three action tokens that each player has.  There are 2 or 3 compound goal cards laid out in each round that give you bonus points if you are able to construct one or more compounds.  These allow for a few choices when playing cards, other than just choosing a card from your hand.  You can work towards compounds that will give you extra points or use an action token to select two cards from your hand, get an extra card from a set of four laid out in the middle of the table at the start of each round, or initiate a reaction.  But the action tokens must be used sparingly.  Each action token gives you an added benefit, but also costs some negative points, and each can only be used once per game.

That's it for gameplay.  It's a very simple drafting and matching game with a few common goals.  I taught the game to my family in about 5 minutes (ok, about 15 after my wife spent 10 pulling out chemistry books and explaining to my 8 and 5 year old boys what ions and compounds are).  The game played fairly quick, with each round taking about 5-10 minutes and even that would have been even quicker without the interruptions of a dog that had to go out, then in, then out, and in again.  The game can easily be taught to a group of students and played during the course of a single class period.

I scored 18 points this round for my two noble gas cards, Hydrochloric
Acid, and Hydrogen Fluoride.  Plus 5 points for building both acids
on the compound goal card netted me 23 points in this round.

The Review - be sure to read my UPDATE that includes information on how some of these stretch goals change my opinion of the game.

So, was it educational?  Somewhat.  It was a very basic introduction to ionic bonding and building compounds.  And the compound cards do have a nice explanation about what each compound is (e.g. HF - highly corrosive acid that can dissolve glass, and many types of metals and plastics.).  But the compounds that you create are very simple; HCl, NaCl, KOH, etc.  The most complex compounds are alkaline earth bases like Mg(OH)2 and alkaline earth salts like Ca(F)2.  So yes, the game teaches the basics of ionic bonding, but doesn't go too far.  It's a fun alternate to your traditional educational game and has a mechanic that most students probably won't be familiar with, which will make it more interesting in a classroom environment than your typical trivia type educational game.  But it's not going to be a great teaching aid for more than one or two lessons on basic ionic bonding principles.  Once the topic advances to polyatomic ions, more complex compounds, and balancing complex equations the usefulness of the game as a teaching aid will quickly be surpassed.

However, there will be some stretch goals in the Kickstarter campaign that will be able to help extend the life of the game in the classroom.  I was unable to preview any of the additional features these stretch goals will add to the base game, but adding in polyatomic ions, radioactive elements, and a ph scale.  These should add in a lot more advanced concepts, as well as more player interaction and game complexity, hopefully in easy to explain increments so that the game can grow as the educational subject matter advances.

Cards have a minimal amount of educational flavor.  Maybe atomic
weights or some other facts about the elements would be useful.

But was it fun?  Yes, we had fun playing.  The game moved quick enough that it kept both of my boys engaged.  My 5 year old doesn't do well with a lot of player downtime and since there really isn't any downtime (especially when you're the slowest one at making the decision of which card to play) this really kept him engaged, plus it was easy enough for him to pick up almost immediately.  However, I can see the core game getting old pretty quickly.  There is very little player interaction and very little decision making in the game.  It really played as if each player was playing a solitaire game of matching.  Cards are either going to match or they aren't.  Everyone is aiming to build the same goal compounds and there are generally enough cards to go around that each player is going to be able to build one or two of the goals without any trouble.  There really weren't any synergies between the cards and none at all between players unless someone decided to play a reaction token.  But even then the reaction only applies at the end of a round and only to unbonded ions that opposing players weren't going to score points for anyway.

My Thoughts - be sure to read my UPDATE that includes information on how some of these stretch goals change my opinion of the game.

So I guess overall I was disappointed in the game.  Yes it's a different type of educational game.  Yes it has more 'gamer' elements in it than your typical educational game.  But it was very light, very simple, and not deep at all in the subject matter or game complexity.  I think my biggest disappointment though is that the game could be so much more.  When I first read the description I had high hopes for the game, and after playing it I still think it has some great potential.  But as it is now it falls way short of what it could be.  Hopefully the stretch goals will change that by adding more complexity and more player interaction, but unfortunately they weren't in the game that I tested and will only be in the final version of the game if some stretch goals are reached.

All the game boiled down to was matching + and - symbols on cards.

What do I think could make it better?  I'd love to see improvements to the mechanics and depth of strategy to the game included from the get-go.  I love the idea of having to build compounds using ionic building blocks.  But each round is essentially the exact same thing.  There is no sense of building toward a bigger goal.  Other drafting games like 7 Wonders grow in complexity each round, allowing you to lay a foundation early in the game, and then build on that in later rounds.  Cards have interactions that give you additional abilities.  What you build depends on what your neighbors are building, so you want to keep an eye on both what you are getting and what you are passing to your neighbors.  The base game of Ion has none of that.  For the most part I couldn't care less about what my neighbor is building.  I know they're trying to make the same matches I am, so if I can grab a card that benefits me I'll grab it.  It all comes down to the luck of a random distribution of cards.  The end score would be pretty much the same if we just turned 32 cards face up and let players take turns selecting one at a time until each player had chosen 6.  Even as a filler or opener game on game night, Ion is too simple to have much replayability.  I don't see it getting to the table more than once or twice outside of a classroom.

The game has so much potential though.  It's a great idea, but it just feels underdeveloped (or maybe oversimplified from a bigger game).  I understand the desire to keep it simple enough to teach in a few minutes in the classroom, but I'm not sure that's absolutely necessary.  Maybe the classroom environment has changed in the 20+ years since I was in high school, but in my history classes we played games like Avalon Hill Civilization and Diplomacy.  They were complex, took a really long time to play (many class periods - the boards would be set up for months), and had everyone absolutely fascinated and engaged.  I don't think Ion aims to be that type of game, but somewhere in between I would think would be a great bridge between quick, overly simplistic educational games that don't leave the classroom and more complex gamer games that people want to play at home with family and friends, too.

Even something as simple as giving each player their own compound goal to work toward each round, instead of having shared goals, would increase the player interaction immensely.  Then I'd have more of a decision to make.  Do I grab this Hydrogen to make HCl, which will give me a bonus, or should I grab the Sodium to make NaCl, which won't give me a bonus, but will prevent my neighbor from making NaOH to get their bonus...  Or maybe bigger changes could incorporate different sets of cards for each round so you could keep your tableau out after each round and work toward bigger and more complex goals.  You could have basic ions in round 1 so you can work on building either simple compounds that you score that round, or unbalanced polyatomic ions that you won't score in round 1, but will help you build much more complex compounds for bigger scores in later rounds.  Have interactions with other players' compounds, too.  Maybe an element you play reacts with a compound that a neighbor has built.  Play Mg and your neighbor's two HCl compounds react to create MgCl2 and H2.  Maybe if reactions are exothermic you get bonus points, or if they're endothermic your opponent loses points.  The stretch goals might add some of this depth and interaction, but I really wish there was more of it in the core game.

The third game in Genius Games' set of educational science games.

There's a lot of potential in Ion that's been untapped.  I'd love to see something bigger and better come of this.  I'd love to see science based educational games that can bridge the gap from classroom to game group, but as it is, Ion isn't that game.  It might get there, but it's not there yet.  Unfortunately I can't recommend the game to hobby gamers, which makes me really sad because I was so looking forward to the game.  For educators, this is a decent game to grab and add to your collection.  Good educational science games are pretty rare and Ion incorporates basic ionic bonding concepts in a game that is quick, simple, and different.

As I said, I love science and I love games.  I like what John Coveyou has been doing to merge science education and gaming, but I feel this one falls short or its potential.  It's good for the classroom, but out of the classroom it'll likely need the stretch goals.  With just a little more depth it could be really great.  Here's to hoping it gets there.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geniusgames/ion-a-compound-building-game

UPDATE: Ion has successfully funded!  Congratulations!
As I mentioned above in my original review, there were a number of stretch goals slated for the game.  These stretch goals were necessary, in my opinion, to push Ion over the threshold to be both a good educational game and gamers game.  And I'm SUPER HAPPY TO REPORT that Ion has reached a whole bunch of stretch goals and is poised to reach a few more before the end of the campaign! These are just what this game needed to make it a good buy for both educators and gamers.  So what are the stretch goals that have been hit?

Target Acquired: Radioactive Elements Expansion in in our sights!

Well, achieved within the first few days were stretch goals for a Noble Gas Goal Card (which was in my prototype copy) and a Neutralization Goal Card.  The Noble Gas card gives players an additional bonus for collecting sets of Noble Gas elements.  The Neutralization Goal Card gives players a bonus if they are able to create both an Acid and Base.

Reached shortly after were stretch goals for Polyatomic Ions and Transition Metals.  Polyatomic Ions are more rare than the other ions, but if you manage to make bonds with them you have the option to score points or flip back over an action token.  Transition Metals have two sides, each with a different charge.  Players can choose which side of the card to use for different amounts of points.  These both add some new mechanics to the game, which adds more depth and complexity.  They're not huge game changers, but they do add enough to give more choice and allow for varied strategies.

More recently a stretch goal for additional Noble Gas cards was reached, which really only affects the rarity of those cards, bu doesn't change the play much.  And almost acquired is a stretch goal for better quality components by having a linen finish on all the cards.  Again, this isn't really a game changer.  But the next stretch goal after that is a HUGE GAME CHANGER!

At $50,000 funded Radioactive Elements Expansion will be added to Ion!  This is a big addition to the game, thus there's a pretty high threshold to get it funded (it actually adds enough to the game that it's pushed into the next cost level for shipping, so the game has to be funded enough to compensate for that).  Radioactive Elements are just what I was hoping for in Ion.  They're elements that stay with players even after the current round.  They allow players to score or lose points based on the number and type of radioactive elements they acquire throughout the course of the game.  So there is some more long-term strategy involved.  I'm not clear on all of the details and mechanics for the radioactive elements (Do they affect other elements?  Can they be bonded with anything else?  How do half-lives come into play?), but having long term decisions will definitely add to the depth of the game.

So, in the course of weeks Ion went from a game that I was hesitant to recommend to anyone but the biggest Chemistry fans and some educators to a game that I'm excited about adding to my own collection.  It's still a casual game and won't appeal to those looking for a deeply strategic game, but it's turning into a great casual filler game that incorporates solid science, which is a huge win in my book!  So, get over to the Kickstarter page for Ion today and back it!  I really want to make sure we hit that Radioactive Elements expansion stretch goal!

Preliminary Rating: 
For Educators: 7/10 8/10
For Gamers: 5/10 (higher if stretch goals are hit) 7/10

This review is of a prototype game.  Components and rules are not final and are subject to change.

Can I recommend Ion: A Compound Building game to gamers?
Unfortunately the answer is "Na" "YES!!!"  It should be a great addition
to science classrooms, too.

Did you like this review?  Show your support by clicking the heart at Board Game Links , liking GJJ Games on Facebook , or following on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

GJJG Game Reviews are independent, unpaid reviews of games I, George Jaros, have played with my family and friends.  Some of these games I own, some are owned by friends, some are borrowed, and some are print and play versions of games.  Where applicable I will indicate if games have been played with kids or adults or a mix (Family Play).  I won't go into extensive detail about how to play the game (there are plenty of other sources for that information and I'll occasionally link to those other sources), but I will give my impressions of the game and how my friends and family reacted to the game.  First Play Impression reviews will only get a single rating of 1-10 (low-high) based on my first impressions of the game during my first time playing.  Hopefully I'll get more chances to play the game and will be able to give it a full review soon.

Quick Review - Gauntlet of Heroes - Kickstarter Preview

Gauntlet of Heroes
Designers: Aaron Detmar
& David K. Jordan
Publisher: Flame Stryke Games

Quick Review - Gauntlet of Heroes
Disclaimer

Gauntlet of Heroes has launched on Kickstarter and I was fortunate enough to get an early prototype copy to try out.  The artwork is still being finished up and the card designs are being cleaned up some, but the copy I received was very nice.

The Kickstarter campaign goes from Friday, February 13th to Sunday, March 15th.  The funding goal is $13,468 and the pledge of the base game is $26 with free shipping to the US ($15-$25 for the rest of the world).  Pledge levels range from $1 to $300.  Specific stretch goals haven't been announced, but are said to include Custom Dice, Additional Heroes, Additional Mystery Elites, and Additional (Cursed?) Treasures.  Check out the Kickstarter here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/224363751/gauntlet-of-heroes

So what is Gauntlet of Heroes?  Well, it's a dungeon crawler and mock-RPG, of sorts.  This un-cooperative game for 2-5 players mirrors serious dungeon crawlers and RPG games with a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor, much like Munchkin does.  But this isn't just a Munchkin clone.  The game is completely card and dice driven and contains a slew of heroes, monsters, and treasures to flavor the game.  The object of the game is to have your Heroes explore the dungeon, complete challenges, collect treasures, and win by having the most Victory Points.  Victory points are earned by defeating monsters, completing challenges, and collecting treasures.

In Gauntlet of Heroes each player controls three Heroes from one of several standard fantasy races (including humans, dwarves, elves, orcs, etc.) and class (soldier, priest, rogue, wizard, etc.) and are each endowed with four attributes of varying strengths.  Might, Guile, Magic, and Faith are divided so each character has a total combined strength of 10.  Each Hero also has a different set of attribute strengths that total 5 when he/she is injured.  Heroes have special abilities, too.  Sometimes the ability is available when they are healthy and sometimes when they are injured.  An injured Hero's card is turned sideways, thus displaying the injured ability text.

Three of the Hero cards.  We have Helga, an Orc Rogue, Chook
the Chin, a Human Barbarian, and Fergus Rockson, a Dwarf Noble.

The game is setup by laying out Treasure cards face down in a pyramid with two cards at the peak.  Then one Challenge card is placed face down over each Treasure, except the peak treasures.  These challenges represent rooms of a dungeon and the obstacles present in each room.  Some of the challenges are monsters that have to be fought, some are traps that will do different things to the Hero that stumbles upon it, and a few are helpful.  At the peak of the pyramid of rooms an Elite card is placed face down instead of a Challenge.  The Elite is a very powerful monster that must be defeated.  Once a Challenge is completed or the Elite is defeated the Hero that was successful wins the Treasure that was in that room and then opens up access to rooms deeper in the dungeon.

The basic setup for 2 players.
(With three face up Treasure cards for a small variant I tried out.)
Optionally other dungeon layouts can be used.

So how do I explore the dungeon?  Throughout the game you'll be able to equip your Heroes with weapons, spells, and other items that will increase their strengths.  Each turn starts with a player choosing to either equip a Hero with an item from his hand, or healing a Hero that has been injured.  Then the player chooses a Hero to enter a room of the dungeon and find out what the Challenge is.  If the challenge is a monster then combat is required and the player chooses which attribute he will use to fight with.  Sometimes the Challenge is a trap, obstacle, or reward that you can complete without combat.  But the monsters are the really fun part of exploring a dungeon, right?

Equipment can be added to a Hero to enhance their strengths.

Each Hero can carry up to 4 items.  Items are equipped in slots so that their
enhanced attributes display on the corresponding side.  Each slot can have one
item (unless an item allows more) and the Hero's strengths are increased by the
total value.  So here, Chook the Chin would have a total of 11 Might, 6 Guile,
4 Magic, and 3 Faith.

A few of the monsters and other challenges you may encounter
in the dungeon.  Monsters have their own attribute strengths, other
challenges just have text that tells you what to do.  All challenges
are worth Victory Points when they are completed.

So how do you defeat a monster?  Well, the game has a pretty simple, yet effective method of combat.  The Hero's strength in each attribute can be enhanced by the weapons or other equipment the Hero is carrying.  Combat is determined by simple dice rolls.  The player rolls two dice and adds that value to the total strength his Hero has in the chosen attribute.  Then another player rolls two dice for the opponent and adds that value to the opponent's total strength in the chosen attribute.  The winner is the combatant with the highest total.  If the Hero wins he gets to place the monster into a Victory Pile along with any treasure the monster was protecting.  If the Hero loses he will be injured (or killed if he was already injured).  Injured Heroes are turned sideways and then their attribute strengths and special abilities change.  Heroes that lose a fight also lose one piece of equipment to a monster, which can then become equipped with the weapon or tool.  This weakens the Hero and strengthens the monster.

Here Helga and Fergus Rockson are injured.  Fergus has a new special
ability that only takes effect when he is injured.  Helga has lost her
special ability since it only applies when she is healthy.  Also,
Helga is resting, something Heroes must do for one turn
after facing any challenge.

This is all pretty straight forward and somewhat uninteresting at first.  But what makes the game more than just an exercise in dice rolling is the stage that comes between the Hero revealing a challenge and rolling the dice to determine the outcome.  Between these two steps each player has a chance to play a Battle Card.  These cards can drastically change the outcome of the battles by adding or removing special abilities, adjusting the attribute strengths of the combatants, negating weapons, and more.  Or they may affect other aspects of the game, like letting players get extra equipment, healing injured Heroes, injuring healthy Heroes, swapping Heroes, stealing cards from other players, etc.  This is really where the un-cooperative aspect of the game comes into play.  There are lots of chances to help your opponents or really screw them over.  If you like that type of play, this game as a ton of it.

A few of the many Battle Cards that really add to the player
interaction and backstabbing in the game.

The game proceeds until all of the rooms in the dungeon are cleared out.  Usually the last monster to be fought is the Elite, although there are cases where the Elite can be battled earlier.  The Elite is generally much stronger than the other monsters in the dungeon.  Elites get one piece of equipment immediately when revealed and have to be defeated twice.  Like Heroes, Elites can be injured when they lose a fight and that can change their various attribute strengths and special abilities.

Elites are much more powerful than other monsters and
get injured before they are defeated.

Once every room in the dungeon is completed players total up their Victory Points by adding the numbers in the small gold coins on each card in their Victory Pile, Heroes, and items equipped on Heroes.  Items still in a player's hand do not count toward victory.

So what did I think of Gauntlet of Heroes?  Well, the concept of the game is great.  The artwork is excellent, although the cards are a bit busy.  The execution of the concept left a bit to be desired though.  When I first started playing I found that getting new equipment for your Heroes was a challenge.  The rules that came with my prototype copy state that you must add treasures won into your Victory Pile.  This makes finding new weapons and building up your Hero somewhat of a challenge, especially when losing a fight might mean you have to give up weapons to monsters.  With little influx of new equipment I found the game both challenging and dull.

Vulcan's Hammer adds a lot to your strength,
and gives you 3 Victory Points.

But the good news is that the developers have been working on several different options to keep the equipment flowing in the game.  Ideas I know they are trying out (some of which I suggested, some which are their own, and some we both hit on independently) include getting to add discovered Treasures into your hand or Victory Pile, special rooms in the dungeon that are always available for combat, and a village market where players can buy new equipment.  So it sounds like the specifics of the rules are still in flux a bit.  I know the few adjustments I made to the game really added to the choices and decisions and made the game much less random.

When your strong Hero has to rest the weaker ones tend to get pummeled.

Another aspect that I know the developers are working on is the artwork and card layout.  While the characters are really great, the cards are busy and the fonts are tiny.  The guys at Flame Stryke Games are working on cleaning all that up and making the fonts much easier to read.  There were also several typos throughout the cards, rules, etc. but I'm confident those will be cleaned up in the final version.

That said, the humor in the cards is great.  There are plenty of spoofs of common fantasy themes.  Each card has a bit of flavor text that enhances the humor of the game.  And the artwork on the cards is light hearted and occasionally hilarious.

Great characters and lots of humor keep the game light-hearted.

I'd also like to see more Elite monsters to add to the end-game variety.  Some of the Elites are definitely more challenging than others, which just increases the need for alternative ways for players to be able to add equipment to their Heroes.  And actually, given more ways to 'level up' your Heroes, I'd actually like to see more of the difficult Elites.  There already is a lot of variety to the Elites that are present since the Elite will get equipped with a weapon upon being revealed, but a pool of more than the eight base ones would be great.  Maybe a Kickstarter stretch goal?  UPDATE: Yes, more Elites are a planned stretch goal!

The Battle Cards were also a bit of a sticking point.  Despite their role being a core part of the gameplay I found that many of the Battle Cards have very little effect.  Maybe in games with more players the number of Battle Cards would be OK, but in games with 2 or 3 players there seemed to be a lo of Battle Cards that were only useful in very specific situations.  There were also a lot of Battle Cards that became less valuable as more of the dungeon was explored.  There are also a few weapons that have abilities that can only help in very specific situations, although the designer has said they've been tweaking abilities to balance this better, and the weapon abilities were less of an issue.

My wife also found the method of equipping Heroes by sliding cards underneath the Hero to be a bit cumbersome and messy.  She likes her games to be neat and well organized and having to slide around piles of up to 5 cards and keep them organized was a big turn off for her.  I didn't mind, but I like fiddling with cards (which just added to her annoyance).

Stacks of cards get messy sometimes, but aren't too unwieldy.

With a few aspects of the game balanced better and the artwork cleaned up a bit this is a very solid game.  And with the right adjustments this could be a really awesome game, poised to give games like Munchkin a run for the money.  Honestly, I enjoyed playing Gauntlet of Heroes more than Munchkin after tweaking the rules just a little bit.  With the rules I received I'd rate the game at a 4, maybe 5 - it needs some better ways for players to control how they can equip their Heroes rather than relying on the luck of the draw.  With the adjustments to the rules that I know are coming though, the game is a solid 6.  And with some of the potential changes that I know the designers are testing out and playing around with, my rating could climb even more!  I'm very excited to see how the final game looks and plays once the Kickstarter launches!  Gauntlet of Heroes has the potential to be a really great, fun game for anyone who likes fantasy, humor, backstabbing, and a good time!

A nice sized box for all the cards, although I'm not sure
what happened to Chook the Chin's legs...

Preliminary Rating: 6+/10
This review is of a prototype game.  Components and rules are not final and are subject to change.

Great character art on the Heroes.

Stoneheart can't be killed by another Rogue.

Fergus Rockson is strong and cunning.

Working our way through the dungeon.

End of game Victory Piles.  My heroes were pathetic.
I lost by nearly 50 points!  OK, so maybe it's mostly my
ability to roll dice that is pathetic...

Did you like this review?  Show your support by clicking the heart at Board Game Links , liking GJJ Games on Facebook , or following on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

GJJG Game Reviews are independent, unpaid reviews of games I, George Jaros, have played with my family and friends.  Some of these games I own, some are owned by friends, some are borrowed, and some are print and play versions of games.  Where applicable I will indicate if games have been played with kids or adults or a mix (Family Play).  I won't go into extensive detail about how to play the game (there are plenty of other sources for that information and I'll occasionally link to those other sources), but I will give my impressions of the game and how my friends and family reacted to the game.  First Play Impression reviews will only get a single rating of 1-10 (low-high) based on my first impressions of the game during my first time playing.  Hopefully I'll get more chances to play the game and will be able to give it a full review soon.

Tiny Epic Kingdoms Solo Rules Variant

Tiny Epic Kingdoms
Designer: Scott Almes
Publisher: Gamelyn Games
Solo Variant: George Jaros

Over the last few weeks I've been playing a lot of games by designer Scott Almes.  I've had Tiny Epic Kingdoms for a while now and have played it a handful of times, enjoying it every time.  I also just recently received in the mail Harbour and Tiny Epic Defenders, two Kickstarters that I backed last July and received both over a month early!  I also just backed Tiny Epic Galaxies, the third entry in Scott's Tiny Epic series, published by Gamelyn Games.  All of those games have solo variant rules included in the game, except for Tiny Epic Kingdoms.  Since I've been playing solo games a little more frequently I've decided to give a shot at creating a solo variant of Tiny Epic Kingdoms.

There is no official solo variant of TEK, although there is one available on Board Game Geek called Dark Armies that sounds interesting, but it adds a few components to the game and focuses on warefare.  Since there is a lot more going on in TEK than just fighting, I decided to write my own variant.  

After playing and reading about the solo versions in other Scott Almes games I decided that I wanted my solo TEK variant to follow in the vein of Scott's own solo game variants.  That is to say, I wanted to the solo variant to match the multiplayer game as close as possible.  I didn't want any extra components to be required and I wanted the AI to be stupid, predictable, but still challenging.  And by stupid, I mean that the AI won't be making any critical strategic decisions.  Having an AI that has to make decisions means that the player has to make those decisions for the AI and it basically turns the game into a single player just playing two sides.  That's never fun (unless your name happens to be Richard Ham).  The AI also had to present a challenge without being overly difficult or overly simplistic.

So I worked on a few ideas for how the AI player could work based on ideas from Scott's AI player mechanics in Harbour.  After a few tweaks and adjustments I think I've found a balance that is challenging, engaging, and simple to play while still keeping the overall Tiny Epic feel of the full game.  

I'd love to get some feedback and hear if you think it works well, too.  This is a work in progress, so if you have any ideas for tweaks let me know and I'll take them into consideration!

You can download the Tiny Epic Kingdoms Solo Variant by GJJ Games PDF file here: http://georgejaros.com/Files/Tiny-Epic-Kingdoms-Solo-Variant-by-GJJ-Games.pdf

UPDATE: 6/18/2015 - Added a new file that is formatted to print on one page (double sided), adds a few clarifications, tweaks a few rules a bit for better balance, and adds rules for Ruins and Capital Cities.

Playing solo Tiny Epic Kingdoms.

Tiny Epic Defenders by Scott Almes and Gamelyn Games - Unboxing

Today the second of two Kickstarters that I backed in July arrived.  Both were by designer Scott Almes, both from two different publishers, and both were shipped 2 months early!  Last week I received Harbour from Tasty Minstrel Games and today I received Tiny Epic Defenders by Gamelyn Games.  Back in July I reviewed the print and play version of Tiny Epic Defenders and loved it.  So I've anxiously been waiting for over six months and now that I have a copy of the game in my hands I'm super thrilled.

Tiny Epic Defenders is the second in a series of 'Tiny Epic' games designed by Scott Almes and published by Gamelyn Games.  The first is Tiny Epic Kingdoms, which I found out about after the Kickstarter was over, but bought later and love, and the third is Tiny Epic Galaxies, which is in its last day of funding on Kickstarter right now, so get on over and back it and join the Tiny Epic fanbase!  You won't regret it!

So, without further ado, here are the unboxing pictures of Tiny Epic Defenders so you can see just how high-quality these Tiny Epic games from Gamelyn Games are.  Seriously, the production value puts anything else I own to shame.

Can't wait to open this!  I actually peeled that Deluxe Edition
sticker off the wrap so I could stick it inside the box =)

Upon opening the box the rule book is on top with all the
components laid out nicely inside.

This is everything that was in the box, including an extra zipper bag.

Even the inside cover of the box has artwork,
a nice touch that all the Tiny Epic games have.

Seven territory cards are all double sided.  All, except the Capital City
have different abilities on both sides to add to the game variety.

These are the 10 races that come in the base set.

The back side of the race cards is larger artwork.
FYI this is the same artwork as the races in Tiny Epic Kingdoms,
so there's a nice thematic link there.

Six Epic Foes come in the base game.

This is the artwork on the back of the Epic Foe cards.  The artwork in the
smaller box matches the artwork on all the cards in the Turn, Horde, and
Destruction decks (which will eventually get mixed throughout
the course of the game).

Enemies, Dire Enemies, Allies and Artifacts.

Tiny Epic Meeples, health and damage tokens.  Look at the
awesome hearts and flames!

The Deluxe Edition comes with 2 Epic Foes, 5 Heroes,
2 Artifacts, and 2 Dire Enemies.

These are the backs of the Deluxe Heroes.

Well, I have to say, I was definitely not disappointed in Tiny Epic Defenders.  The component quality is superb, just as it was for Tiny Epic Kingdoms.  The cards, mats, tokens, and rules are all top notch.  And the box is a work of art in itself.  It's the little extras like the box that take Gamelyn Games up an extra notch.  The game would have been fine in a standard brown cardboard box (Harbour definitely doesn't hurt for a cheaper box), but the white board box with the extra artwork on the inside just pushes the Tiny Epic games into elite territory.  The gameplay of the print and play game was solid and fun and I can't wait to give this one a try with all the new components and extra additions.

And remember, there's still time to jump in on Tiny Epic Galaxies!  It's the most funded Tiny Epic game so far and comes with an unbelievable amount of extras!  Check it out today before you miss out!