Blog Archives
Witness My Exhaust Pipe, Sucka
There’s something refreshing about Thunder Road: Vendetta. In a bygone era we would have called it Ameritrash, although there’s an elegance under the hood that belies its spots of rust. Designed by a whole committee at Restoration Games, it’s a reimagining of the 1986 Milton Bradley Thunder Road, albeit with all the advantages of nearly four decades of intervening design and component upgrades.
Unwitched
As much as I would prefer to cast off all longing and become immune to nostalgia, I will confess a squishy soft spot for The Witcher. No joke, my adventures with Geralt of Rivia helped me come to terms with becoming a father to a tiny screamy baby. And while parenthood hasn’t contained quite as much monster-slaying as promised, I still sometimes find myself asking how the White Wolf would handle daily indignities like PTA meetings and where this grocery store has hidden the chicken stock. (It’s a fetch quest, I tell myself. Just a fetch quest.)
Which is why, even though I had determined to pass on any additional sets until the next Unmatched Adventures showed up, I discovered that I was still helpless in the face of this tie-in. Please note that these two sets, Steel & Silver and Realms Fall, are not parenting guides.
Catapults, Mostly
Between Tales to Amaze and Return to Dark Tower, I’ve reached the phase of my life where Restoration Games ranks among my most anticipated playthings — not for my own sake, but because I know my ten-year-old is going to gush over each new release. Crossbows & Catapults: Fortress War is a remake of Henri Sala’s 1983 original, minus the decaying rubber bands and plus, well, a whole range of things. Better tempo. Action cards. Special ammunition. Mercenaries.
Look, there’s a critical quandary here, but it isn’t a tough circle to square. At thirty-eight, this isn’t my favored way to pass an hour. For my kiddo, it’s the most revolutionary construct in existence. Take one stab at who wins that tiebreaker.
Return to Return to Dark Tower
I’m wary of expansions. Doubly so when it comes to expansions for adventure games. Back in its heyday, Fantasy Flight Games couldn’t resist the temptation to overload any successful title with additional cruft. New decks, new characters, new sideboards. Shudder. So many sideboards. After a couple expansions, setup became so daunting that it was easier to leave it all in the closet.
So when Alliances and Covenant, the first two expansions for Return to Dark Tower, showed up on my doorstep, I was both excited and apprehensive. No small measure of the original remake’s appeal was its dedication to a streamlined experience. Would the addition of new stuff be the accidental conclusion of my love affair with Return to Dark Tower?
I shouldn’t have worried. As usual, the crew at Restoration Games has a preternatural understanding of what makes games tick. What follows are three ways that these expansions, in particular Covenant, get it right.
Annie Christmas vs. Motthew
I have such a soft spot for Rob Daviau and Justin Jacobson’s Unmatched series. That goes double when they’re producing sets like Cobble & Fog, adaptations that faithfully translate works of literature to the gaming table and let the Invisible Man slug Sherlock Holmes in his upturned snoot.
Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze takes the series in a new direction. Designed by Jason Hager and Darren Reckner, this set is transformative in the literal sense, reworking those staple clashes into cooperative boss battles. In comic book terms, it’s the crossover event that sees all those ruffians and louts teaming up to topple an even nastier baddie. It’s such a shift of perspective that it would be a minor wonder if it worked at all. Instead, it comes off so perfectly that I’m tempted to drag my older sets out of storage.
Gimmick’s Got Game
I didn’t grow up playing many board games. In our household they fell into three camps. There were classic games like Risk and Monopoly, also known as “boring games.” There were the complicated multi-session games my friend Brent played, which required more investment than my periodic visits could provide. And there were demonic games, those that might rupture the fabric of reality like a turgorous pimple and allow the devil’s hordes to pour into our plane. These included ouija boards and face cards.
But then, in between episodes of Duck Tales, a commercial showed me something new. In vivid colors and a thespian’s voiceover, it boasted of something that was as much a mountain of plastic as it was a game. It was mechanized. It made sounds. Its turbulence was part of its gameplay. I had to have it.
That game was Forbidden Bridge. Its commercial was seared in my memory. That Christmas, it became my first encounter with gimmick-as-gameplay.
Pavement & Haze
I love the gentle irony of Unmatched becoming the flagship property of Restoration Games. You know, the company dedicated to remaking older titles. Yes, yes, I’m aware that Unmatched is a quasi-remake of Star Wars: Epic Duels, but come on — that “quasi” is doing some world championship lifting.
Lest you assume I’m being sarcastic, I can assure you that my affection is genuine. The initiatory set, Unmatched: Battle of Legends, was one of the best games of 2019. My only complaint was that it was a mite too basic. With so many titles passing through every month, I wanted to see Daviau & Co. put their best foot forward. Show us the weird stuff! Go crazy with your characters! There’s no guarantee of any property surviving even a few weeks, let alone long enough to justify additional releases.
Well, I’m happy to eat my fedora, because Unmatched is still kicking. Better yet, Cobble & Fog is easily the most confident set in the series thus far.
Burn Notice
When Conspiracy: The Solomon Gambit showed up in the same box as Unmatched: Battle of Legends, I set it aside under the assumption it would be a “lesser” offering from Restoration Games. You know, this wave’s Dinosaur Tea Party or something.
Nope. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The Solomon Gambit is a firecracker.
(Un)Match This
Being in high school during the Prequel Trilogy didn’t remedy my absent appreciation for Star Wars. Nor did it improve my chances of playing that Epic Duels game the other nerds set up in the journalism room. Don’t get me wrong, the problem wasn’t the game. It was my total lack of interest in seeing who would win between Hayden Christensen and that jetpack-wearing space praetorian who defeated himself by flying into a pit. So hip. I can totally see it. No, please don’t explain it to me.
The motto for Restoration Games is “Every Game Deserves Another Turn.” A lovely sentiment! Especially in an age where far too many releases are forgotten within a month. But what I appreciate most about their work is how they’ve given me a first turn at a handful of games I otherwise missed. Unmatched: Battle of Legends is their latest. And although I never got around to playing Epic Duels, it’s already obvious that this is the superior version. No space wizards, for one.
Jerkforce, Jerkier
Even a year later, Downforce — or Doucheforce, as my group affectionately calls it — remains one of my favorite comedy games. Revolving around haphazard betting far more than actual racing, it sees its participants buying cars, placing wagers, and then doing everything in their power to come away rich(er). And if you’re playing right, you’ll place unexpected wagers, persuade everyone to hassle the lead car, and then gum up the roadways so that nobody else can pass. There’s a reason my driver is named Gandalf.
Danger Circuit adds more. Just more. And while that’s pretty much what I wanted from Downforce’s first expansion, nobody should hop into this particular car expecting a new engine. Read the rest of this entry
SPACE-BIFF! 