Jerker Kenntoft
Villager
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Tyrants of the Underdark
Jerker Kenntoft
Villager
5 out of 5 rating for Tyrants of the Underdark
The fact that this game is not reviewed here makes my headline credible.
This game got released in 2016, with what seemed like a big marketing campaign.
Yet it failed to produce hype and failed somewhat, for reasons beyond me. I suppose one reason could be the theme of the game, another the color palette, which for non D&D fans could be off-putting.... But you should never judge a book or a board game by the cover, should you?
Overview
Tyrants of the Underdark is a territory control game combined with a deck-builder. Kind of like Kemet and Dominion mixed together, and it's set in the Dungeons & Dragons world of Faerun, in the massive set of caves under the main continent, known as the Underdark;
Each player leads a house of Drow, the "darkelves", in a section of the Underdark. The Drow house is represented by a deck of cards, with each card being a minion in that player's deck. Each minion belongs to one of five aspects of Drow society, and those aspects correspond to different strategies in the game, e.g., malice minions excel at assassinating opponents' troops, while ambition minions are best at recruiting additional minions and promoting minions to your "inner circle", which is a special zone that increases their value at the end of the game.
OPINION
The good
Mixes two different types of games (deckbuilding and area control) in a very streamlined way.
The area control mechanics are very well put together.
The "Inner Circle" is a new taking on "trashing" cards.
Easy to grasp and teach.
Lots of different ways to score points.
Awesome theme, especially if you like fantasy and/or D&D.
Scales very well at 2, 3 or 4 players.
The bad, kind of
The palette, as mentioned earlier, is probably gonna put some people off. But who cares, the game is solid.
The components, especially the troops are a bit fiddly. The rest is OK, not great, but OK.
Overall a VERY solid game, and a very underrated one at that. One of the best games of 2016, if you ask me.
Rating: 9/10, or 5/5 stars if you will
Well, this was fast and furious, mainly because it's not the complete review,
you can read the full review of tyrants of the underdark right here.
The fact that this game is not reviewed here makes my headline credible.
This game got released in 2016, with what seemed like a big marketing campaign.
Yet it failed to produce hype and failed somewhat, for reasons beyond me. I suppose one reason could be the theme of the game, another the color palette, which for non D&D fans could be off-putting.... But you should never judge a book or a board game by the cover, should you?
Overview
Tyrants of the Underdark is a territory control game combined with a deck-builder. Kind of like Kemet and Dominion mixed together, and it's set in the Dungeons & Dragons world of Faerun, in the massive set of caves under the main continent, known as the Underdark;
Each player leads a house of Drow, the "darkelves", in a section of the Underdark. The Drow house is represented by a deck of cards, with each card being a minion in that player's deck. Each minion belongs to one of five aspects of Drow society, and those aspects correspond to different strategies in the game, e.g., malice minions excel at assassinating opponents' troops, while ambition minions are best at recruiting additional minions and promoting minions to your "inner circle", which is a special zone that increases their value at the end of the game.
OPINION
The good
Mixes two different types of games (deckbuilding and area control) in a very streamlined way.
The area control mechanics are very well put together.
The "Inner Circle" is a new taking on "trashing" cards.
Easy to grasp and teach.
Lots of different ways to score points.
Awesome theme, especially if you like fantasy and/or D&D.
Scales very well at 2, 3 or 4 players.
The bad, kind of
The palette, as mentioned earlier, is probably gonna put some people off. But who cares, the game is solid.
The components, especially the troops are a bit fiddly. The rest is OK, not great, but OK.
Overall a VERY solid game, and a very underrated one at that. One of the best games of 2016, if you ask me.
Rating: 9/10, or 5/5 stars if you will
Well, this was fast and furious, mainly because it's not the complete review,
you can read the full review of tyrants of the underdark right here.
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