Yeknomious

I’m new to Magic (the actual game) and as such have found the rules confusing at times. This digital version is great for learning the mechanics and, as stated by some of the other reviewers, has some well themed decks.

There are several modes available, but I mostly play custom games against the AI. Upon winning a game cards are unlocked for the deck you choose to play with – therefore you increase the options available for each deck.

All in it’s a pretty good App to have on a tablet – although I would like the cards to appear larger when they’re laid (I have to keep zooming in on them to see what they say) – although this could be a symptom of playing on a small screen tablet with a high resolution (Nexus 7).

This game would be amazing if the deck building was open to any cards you cared to have – you could then build and test decks before investing in the purchase of real decks to find they’re sub-optimal.

If you’re new to Magic – get the this and learn the game in the best way – by playing.

If you’re a veteran Magic player you’ll be disappointed with the limited deck building options.

This game is fun and fairly straight forward. As far as tablet games go its pretty decent and suits the medium well. I play this on a 7″ tablet but think it would suit a larger tablet.

Much of the charm and fun of Small World is lost in the digital version, especially when playing against the AI. The fun of Small World is grabbing regions from your friends and seeing there dismay as you vindictively remove there counters with a decent race/power combo. You can, in theory, achieve this with the digital version (pass ‘n play) but in reality it’s nowhere near as fun as the real thing.

As one of the other reviewers has stated it’s pretty pricey at $6.99, and unless you know the game and really are a fan, I would probably say save your money. Put the money toward the actual game!

I picked this game up upon spotting it in my local game store. It wasn’t too steep and I loved the SNES inspired box. I also saw the mini-expansion – Tools of Hero-Kind – which is in a Game Boy inspired box!

The game is very simple and quick to pick up and play (25 mins), and takes up a small amount of space. The components, all of which are cards, are of average quality, although the art is very good. I noticed the card used is thin so I sleeved them. Although luck does play a part in the game, we found in our experience some canny use of the spell cards and good placement of rooms is required to ensure victory. It’s also important to try and remember the heroes who have passed through as there are only so many of each type…

The game starts with each player selecting a boss monster at random, and receiving room/spell cards. This boss will, once the dungeon has reached its full compliment of rooms (five), level up – triggering a unique ability. The boss also has an XP value indicating the owners turn to play. Sadly the boss monsters do little else in the game, which is disappointing.

At the beginning of each turn room cards are taken from the room deck and heroes arrive in town. The first heroes to arrive are fairly week (4-8HP). Epic heroes (max 13HP) arrive once the standard hero deck is used up. The game then follows a sequence of turns = BUILD>>>BAIT>>>ADVENTURE.

The build phase is just that – each player places a room card to the left of their boss monster, either adding to the dungeon or upgrading an existing room. Some rooms, when built, will trigger events such as allowing a hero to be moved from town or a spell card to be drawn. There are standard rooms and advanced rooms, which come in two types – trap rooms and monster rooms. Standard rooms can be placed over any room, while advanced rooms upgrade existing rooms of the same type. Rooms of the same type can combo off one another – for example there is a trap room that allows a room to be destroyed within the owner’s dungeon adding bonus damage to each other room in that dungeon for the turn, to supplement this there is a complimentary card that, when a room is destroyed, allows the owner to draw two room cards. Therefore the room deck can be milled continuously for bonus damage. Some spells can be played during the build phase.

The bait phase is next. Heroes (clerics/warriors/mages/thieves) are attracted to dungeons which contain the most treasure symbols relevant to them – these symbols are depicted on the cards. Players must balance their attracting heroes with their dungeons potency. The strategy of the game comes in when trying to steal heroes from other players i.e. placing rooms with the correct symbols. During the bait phase heroes dutifully wait outside the dungeons…

The adventure phase comprises the movement of the heroes through each dungeon. Each room deals damage to a hero when they enter. Once the hero’s life is depleted that hero’s soul is claimed as a reward (epic hero’s yield two souls). The first player to reach 10 souls wins. Players who gain 5 wounds (hero makes it to the boss at the end of the dungeon) suffer a wound. Some spells can be played during the adventure phase, and can be a great way to screw over the opposition.

The mini-expansion adds numerous items which are equipped by respective heroes. This is a great addition as it adds increased variability and gives the heroes increased threat. If a hero is slain while carrying an item it is acquired by the player and used as a spell card. Sadly no extra boss is added, although a spell and several rooms are.

For the price I think it’s a good value game, although I would like a true expansion to pep up the boss monsters – after all they should be the life and party of the dungeon! I would also like to see the addition of a few more hero types.

Boss Monster is fine as a two player game, but shines with three or four people, at which point there is simply more going on. I have been looking into whether I can make this a solitaire game but no luck as yet…