Watch your Back: Week August 28 to September 3
It's the end of August, and things are starting to gather pace. We have four games launching next week, so let's see how they ease us into autumn.
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Let's start with a solo-only game, Weavlings in the Wilds. This is a card game in which you are trying to lure the fleeing population of weavlings back to their homeland, while also capturing dangerous wild animals.
You will do this by setting up a 3x4 grid of cards on the table, and then using your character's actions to remove cards and replace them with new ones from the deck. Wild animals and events also 'eat' cards, so you have to make sure you collect 10 weavlings before time runs out (you lose if you get 10 wounds, or lose 10 weavlings, or run out of traps). It is launching on Kickstarter on August 30.
Personal opinion: This is very likely a back for me. I like the whimsical theme and art style, and the card play sounds intriguing.
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Then we have Uluk: a 1-4 player worker placement game in which you are a tribe leader sending members of your tribe to collect food, process it, and build monuments in order to get the most happiness points. Solo rules haven't been revealed yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on August 30.
Personal opinion: This is a standard worker placement game which is not a bad thing per se but I don't see anything special that makes it stand out. I suspect an AI opponent for solo, so I will abstain anyway.
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The 2-4 player card game Space Explorers is getting the Age of Ambition expansion which includes a solo mode. The theme is the Cold War space race, and the expansion adds 7 new modules to the base game among which are goals, crises, leaders and scientists. Details on the solo mode haven't been revealed yet. It is launching on Gamefound on August 30.
Personal opinion: This is a good-looking game but without any info on the solo mode, I can't really have an opinion.
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I mentioned Kinfire Chronicles: Night's Fall in a previous post, so I'll just repeat myself here for convenience: this is a 1-4 player cooperative adventure game in which a group of heroes is fighting against the forces of evil. It is a 15-quest campaign game with RPG elements. Each character has their own set of skill cards and boosts.
Over the course of their journey, they will face encounters and events that will be resolved via skill checks. Success in a check is determined by the cards you reveal (e.g. flip four cards from your hand, the two have to be blue). Battles are resolved via pulling tokens from a bag for initiative, and using your cards to fight. It is launching on Kickstarter on August 30.
Personal opinion: Ehm, it's okay, I guess? I don't see anything bad here but neither do I find anything exciting. Why do heroes have to almost always be bards, elves and dwarfs? And always fight a dragon? This game seems to have followed the adventure game recipe to a T: pour one cup skill checks, two cups stereotypical heroes and monsters, add one tablespoon of CYOA, and serve with ice cream on the side. (Oh, I see there's also a robot among the heroes. Well, that changes everything :P )
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And last one is The Fog: Escape from Paradise. This is a relaunch of the 1-6 player abstract racing game in which islanders are trying to escape a threatening fog cloud by running along the beach and jumping onto boats. Your goal is to save as many of your people as possible.
On your turn, you will be spending movement points to move your people on the beach. The beach is crowded, and free spots are hard to reach, but you can use your available actions to run, swap places with another person, push them, squeeze through them, or jump over them. Different islanders offer different movement benefits. You score the islanders depending on the way they land in the boats. Solo mode hasn't been revealed yet. It is launching on Kickstarter on August 30.
Personal opinion: As I was watching Boardgame Brody explain the gameplay, I almost felt the panic of running for your life amongst a crowd. It looks very cutthroat, and therefore not suited for solo, but let's see how they devised the solo mode.