These games are in the midst of their Kickstarter Campaigns. Luck on our side, we have been fortunate to play these games. We have played each multiple time and delved deep into their lore.Here is a peek into these games and our thoughts on why they are back on the table.
Big Game Big Return -Tokyo SidekickSuperheroes Meet-Up tonight, bring a Sidekick!
Tokyo Sidekick from Japanime games is a super cooperative superhero deck-building game. The fate of the cities in Japan is ever-increasing against villains, supervillain, and then the big baddies. The missions are time-sensitive due to incidents unresolved that can turn critical, unleashing mayhem. This night can go two ways; save the day by taking down 2 Villains and two Super villains to get the Menace’s attention and defeat it or die by depleting the Damage Deck, and Destruction Gauge maxes at 15. If it is the latter, players can regroup, adjust missteps, and start over. That is what the Japanime Games has done. They tweaked a bit of the game and are relaunched to Kickstarter.
Our Thoughts
The Manga of original content contained lore, and the characters’ personal connections gave the game a compelling and exciting level for play. We definitely embodied our characters’ personalities.The art and game pieces are extraordinary and striking. It took several games for us to banish the villains and become Hero Nerdz. The game is fast-moving and unpredictable. Being a novice at the RPG, but reasonably good at strategy, felt that I could benefit the team. Tokyo Sidekick is a rare creation that we found had the perfect balance between depth, style and substance, and fun and challenge.
Big Box!
Antematter Board Game- Fly Safe Space GamblerSpin a tale of intrigue, extortion, grease monkeys, speakers of lies, and giggle juice… that’s right, Boozehounds Smugglers.
ANTEMATTER combines tabletop strategy and poker in a one of a kind space board game, pitting you against competing adventurers you control a band of smugglers that have a hankering to Loot the Conflux then burn fuel over to the joint to partake in labyrinthine poker.Funded in two hours on Kickstarter.
Mechanics That Worked for Nerdz Garage
One of the Nerdz relied thoroughly on the crew cards and deck building. After his first Plunder, he visited the Dive Bar to refresh his cards for the poker round. He was leading the whole game until the last hand.Thinking ahead to where the planets would move to after the poker round and setting your ships up for easy access to gain cargo and chips was strategy advantageous.Utilizing the bridges, in the beginning, to jump to planets for looting cargo and chips built the bank for the poker rounds.
Our Thoughts
In the rulebook, there is a deep and compelling Lore section for each faction that brought interesting and boisterous interactions in gameplay. The cards though vastly diverse, still were very balanced. The Lore backstories are well thought out and included tips and tricks that were highly beneficial. It combines a sizable amount of strategy and sabotage in both components of the game-plunder and poker. It does take a moment at first to jump from space looting to space poker; however, the Crew Cards skillfully bridge them together. Antematter feels timeless that we would want to play it now and years from now, and the game would feel fresh.The random movements of the Planets were a brilliant mechanic and wholly changed each game.Thematically, the cards detailing Antematter by Bardshark Games are very well thought out, and the art is an idyllic blend of Gatsby and Space Cowboys. We had a roarin’ good time!
Thalara: The Last Artifacts
In the world of Thalara, the magic is dwindling away. Scattered across the land in temples, Watchmen uses powerful Artifacts to draw magic away from the land. Players are tasked to fight for the last artifacts to preserve the power before it is too late. Players endeavor to combine energy and spells to gain the most Artifacts and restore strength.The first records of card games were noted during the Tang Dynasty, and since then, they have emerged to a multitude of themes and expressions. They embody wild creatures, witchery, and classics as Star Realms. Thalara: The Last Artifact is a fresh, fast-paced, highly interactive, hand-building strategy card game with distinctive mechanics. The game features a unique hand-locking mechanic: Each round, more of your cards get “locked to your hand” to be used in each subsequent round. These cards, Victory Points, however, frequently contain lower strength. Thalara’s core is a hand-building game where you do not just select the cards you want; you must outmaneuver to gain them.
Mechanics That Worked for Us
The action blocking or modifying a conflict with spells was advantageous towards the end of a round.I did not keep the color card requirement for spells in the latter rounds and found it caused such detriment. I then focused on conquering Artifacts that would aid in my spells and not be lasered focused on the higher Victory Point Artifacts.Hand management by holding in reserve higher strength cards towards the end of a round.
Our Thoughts
The unusual twist of conquered cards mandated to your hand was an adept mechanic.Some characters are easy to learn, and some take a few games. They are exceedingly thought out because, for their diverse abilities, they felt balanced and fair. It is cleverly layered with impressive actions and mechanics on the cards. The story and quotes of the Characters are delightful and added to the entertainment value. Nerdz Garage plays Dungeons and Dragons weekly (three campaigns), and we do fancy a good spell and Thalara: The Last Artifacts is brimming with them!!!
Let’s be honest; there is still a bit of drama when we play.Sit Down -Grab a Drink – Join the Game
Suzzan Smith