Catching Up on Games (4/9/25)

Posted byThomasPKingPosted inArticles, Session ReportsTags:, , , , , , , , , , ,

Arydia

We played this a few times to see if this was one we wanted to commit to like the Dunwich campaign for Arkham Horror LCG.

Nope.

While my brother seems to really like the game, my friend and I were still very “meh” on it after a handful of sessions. It’s a very bloated game; lots of maps, cards, minis, stuff upon stuff, and a lot of it makes only a brief appearance before being put away for the rest of the campaign, never to be used again. Not to mention how many tokens exist just to say it has 1 armor on it. But I think my biggest issues are that after exploring most of the starting map (what I assume is only the starting map) and completing a handful of jobs/quests, not only is the setting incredibly bland, the writing and stories aren’t much better. This is just not a world I have any desire to return to.

It doesn’t help that much of our time is spent shuffling things around, swapping cards, maps, placing this or that, then reading a bunch (nothing terribly interesting), swapping more stuff around, reading more, etc. for about an hour before we finally get to engage in gameplay. But the real meat of the game (literally most of the rules) is combat. Which is a lot of rules and fiddling around to roll a d20 and maybe do 2-3 points of damage.

Graphic design also has some major blunders of not including vital pieces of information where it needs to be.

  • Arydia: 6/10 Not bad, just over-designed combat and bland setting/writing

Lord of the Rings: Trading Card Game (solo)

I had re-read the books and re-watched the movies last year, but I was still deep in LotR, so I re-watched the movies again earlier this year. I also spent a lot of time actually organizing my collection, rebuilding starter decks so they’re ready to play, and making some dividers. Haven’t finished with the dividers, but they work pretty well.

I also ordered some cards and decks (nothing too expensive) to plug in some holes for the movie block. I didn’t actually have anything from the Return of the King block, but was able to get a great deal on the starter decks. I also found the two Black Rider decks for very cheap and grabbed those because why not.

I also had started getting cards to make the starters legal-sized decks (they’re a bit small out of the box). I used the LotRTCG Online versions of the deck lists to find what to put in. In some cases, there were a few other changes to the decks.

I also played some more solo games. After messing with more starter decks, I decided to make a deck that was the whole Fellowship. It was a very silly deck fighting against a Shadow deck that mixed all the major threats from the movie (Nazgul, Moria orcs, and Uruk-Hai). After the first run of the deck, I made some adjustments. It’s fun but silly.

  • LotR TCG: 9/10 Still a classic!

Lord of the Rings LCG

While I was hesitant about getting Journeys in Middle-earth and ended up loving it, I was also considering getting the revised core box of the LCG. But after playing my friend’s copy, now I’m glad I didn’t.

We played the Mirkwood scenario but with the separate starter deck products (not the ones that come in the core box). I figured it would give the game the best chance, even though I knew the core scenarios also weren’t great. The decks were definitely more fun than the base decks, but the game still has a lack of theme.

I was going to look into the Fellowship of the Ring campaign next, since the campaigns are supposed to be really good. If those scenarios still don’t quite deliver what we’re looking for, it’s probably time to give up on this one for good.

  • Lord of the Rings LCG: 7/10 Fun with good decks, but I keep wanting to like it more

Altered TCG

We finally played some with customized decks, once again, Muna vs. Axiom. It was certainly closer than last time.

It was nice getting to explore some of the more specific strategies of the factions and not just a tiny sample of what the faction can do (with lots of vanilla cards). The anchor/boost dancing Muna can do is pretty fun.

Sadly, I decided that the Dragon Shield art sleeves I bought just weren’t great. They have a rough shuffle to them and I don’t like the style of matte backing they use. The Gamegenic art sleeves have a way smoother shuffle; some of the flattest sleeves I’ve ever seen.

  • Altered TCG: 9/10 Great fun with custom decks
  • Dragon Shield art sleeves: 5/10 Expensive for sleeves that don’t have a smooth shuffle

Ostia

We finally had a chance to try this out after hearing a lot of good things about it. And it’s certainly a great production.

I really enjoyed the customization of the mancala, but we felt that there wasn’t quite enough depth for frequent replays? There aren’t many strategies to pursue, so by the end of the game, players have all done most things. It’s not as bad as when we played Endless Winter where the winning player basically did everything and left no strategy to explore next time. There’s a lot of variability, for sure, but it’s mostly minor differences. We’re not sure if it’s going to create wildly different strategic approaches like in The White Castle.

It definitely offers some satisfying crunch without too much rules overhead. Maybe one of the expansions will add what we’re looking for.

  • Ostia: 7/10 (first impressions) A good game that hides its limited strategies behind a lot of setup variability

Pokémon TCG (Pre-con Decks)

After having played some sealed with the Build & Battle Boxes and limited constructed, my friend wanted to try some of the stand-alone pre-con decks they sell. He was in search of what Pokémon product he might want to buy. He ended up buying a few different things like League Decks and World Championship Decks.

I forget what these were, but we’ve yet to try the World Championship Decks. They’re neat, but they do kind of highlight some of the issues the game suffers from at high-end play. Namely, lots of searching your deck and reshuffling.

  • Pokémon TCG: 8/10 A really fun game that’s easy to pull out whenever
  • Pre-con Decks: 7/10 Neat but not the experience we’re looking for

Unmatched (Witcher)

Unmatched has been one of our recent go-to games when we’ve got extra time to kill. It’s such a quick game, and each time, it’s easier to hop right into.

This time we tried out the new Witcher set, Geralt vs. the Ancient Leshen. Dandelion didn’t really do anything, and it was over pretty quickly with Geralt ripping the Leshen to shreds. I really like the variety each fighter brings. I’m surprised how differently they can play.

  • Unmatched: 8/10 A breezy skirmish game with loads of fun variation

Reavers of Midgard

I was in the mood for a more laid-back Euro that showered you in resources, and that’s exactly what Reavers of Midgard is.

It probably could have used some streamlining, and at least a bit more tightening up, but it was pretty fun. The game is so generous with various stuff, I feel like too many resources would run out at 4-players! Quite the table hog, too.

  • Reavers of Midgard: 7/10 A fun game but probably not one I’d often be in the mood for

Fleet

We’ve played a couple of times on BGA but this was our first game at the table. It was a lot easier to get back into this time around. It’s a bit of a quirky game that doesn’t play the way you’d think.

It’s very much about the auctions. You need a license in order to catch fish (or even launch a boat), but the licenses also come with special bonuses. Without them, you’re heavily restricted in different aspects from card draws, money (which comes from cards in-hand), launching boats, captains. But they can also build into fun combos that get more powerful the more of the same license you own.

  • Fleet: 8/10 A really unique but smooth card game; can’t wait to try out an expansion or solo

SETI

Somehow, my friend, who is really into space themes and heavy Euros, had not looked into this at all. But he ended up picking it up from hearing about it and my brother talking about it. My brother ended up borrowing it to play 2-player (he had also tried it solo).

It’s got a lot going on, but it doesn’t take too long to get the hang of it. The flow feels a bit like Terraforming Mars; taking actions until you run out of things to do, then drawing cards and getting income to ready for the next round. But SETI isn’t really about building an engine, though you have several areas where you can improve actions and increase various incomes.

However, 2-player didn’t work that great. Some parts of the game just don’t get used as much, and some aliens definitely benefit from more players than just 2. But we look forward to trying it 3-player.

  • SETI: 7/10 (first impressions) A neat game that is likely better at 3

Brass: Lancashire

We’ve played Birmingham a handful of times, but this was our first play of Lancashire. It’s still mostly the same game, but the two versions definitely change things up.

Lancashire makes it a bit easier selling goods since you don’t have to worry about Beer, and you can also build your own links to outside markets. But money felt very tight in this one. There also weren’t as many building types, so it was more about how deep you went with your chosen path rather than doing completely different things from other players. Turn order remains possibly the most important part of the entire game, though. Going last at the change in era is brutal.

  • Brass: Lancashire: 8/10 Just as good as Birmingham; there’s probably room for both

Pokémon TCG (Pre-con Decks)

I don’t remember which deck types these were. It’s hard to really tell the products apart. One thing we had an issue with was that these decks search your deck for all kinds of stuff (so lots of reshuffling), but there’s not much card draw and few ways of getting energy. If you don’t draw into energy, you’re kind of stuck.

Perseverance: Episode 2

It’s been a long time since we last played this. It’s a tough one to bring back out, it’s just so huge and has so many rules and mechanics. For some reason, my brother thinks it’s no big deal.

It’s still a fun game, but I wonder if episode 3 or 4 might be better just by streamlining things more. There’s just so much stuff that interrupts the turn here, you sometimes have to do like 4 turns’ worth of stuff in one turn, and it can take a while to get through, leading to notable downtime issues.

  • Perseverance: (Episode 2): 7/10 Fun but it’s just a lot of work; I wish it were more streamlined

Altered TCG

We played a couple of games this time with our customized decks, this time Ordis vs. Muna. Best I could do was go to a tie-breaker ending in one game (which I had terrible draws for and lost without being able to put up a fight). Ordis tokens is incredibly strong in a game with very limited direct removal and almost no board wipes. I wonder what the competitive scenes looks like. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be doing well in the US, but is doing much better in Europe.

  • Altered TCG: 9/10 Great fun with custom decks, even if Ordis is overpowered!
Page 3
Pages: 1 2 3

Leave a comment