The Game – Batman: Everybody Lies

Like I said, I’m not going to get into too many details on the game because, it’s a system that’s been done before. It does tweak what was done in the base Detective game, though, a little bit. So let’s focus on the differences here so you know what has changed.

Firstly, each character that you can play as has some backstory that you, as the player gets to find out about. Basically an introductory letter to the case and a specific mission that you want to find the answer for. And you can push further at some locations and some leads to find your answer. You are tested on them, so you want to do that as that’ll help your overall score.

Next, time is fixed in this. I don’t mean that it wasn’t working before, but it was variable, it might take you two hours it might take you three. Now everything takes one time unit and it isn’t done in days, you just has certain check points where you can stop.

Finally, there are also scenes. Now this is something that they kind of did for the original. But the basic idea is that there are comic panels that you can look at and try and figure out clues from it. It adds to the immersion of the game play.

What Doesn’t Work?

The group as a whole thought it was a bit odd how little Batman was in a game about Batman. No one plays as Batman, he is just a side character whom you can interact with. That makes sense in some ways because Batman would just always be the answer to doing anything. But it struggles a little bit because there isn’t enough Batman, not enough interactions with Batman or Bruce Wayne or Alfred.

The story is tied together, each part loosely connects in, though it feels like more so through the cast of characters versus a deeply intertwining story that the original game has. And some of it might be that we didn’t play it as consecutively, but the story is just not as strong, which makes sense in some ways because they needed to work with DC to get everything approved for a story.

What Works?

I do think that Batman in general for a setting works well, or Gotham I should say. And while I have some issues with how it was pulled off, it is still a solid experience playing it. Mainly because a lot of Batman’s rogues gallery is fun. And they use parts of it throughout, I won’t say who all shows up but they do a solid job of mixing in characters.

And I think some of the new things work well. The time is fine either way, but it makes it easier for new players. But the other things, the comic panels, I like those. And I like that each character has their own thing, sometimes which you run out of time to figure out. But because we know the characters you play as, or at least they are in the comics, they can create that extra bit of connection with them.

Who Is It For?

I think this is for someone who wants a deduction game or wants to get people to play a deduction game. The Batman theme is going to be more appealing than what feels like NCIS or CSI. At least for some people it will be. And because of certain things being easier, I think that it’s simpler to get to the table.

On the flip side, it’s just a little bit less interesting in a lot of ways than the other one. My complaint about how the story ties together won’t be noticed, though, if you haven’t played the other. But I do think for some people it might feel like it’s lacking a little bit.

Final Thoughts on Batman: Everybody Lies

I was going to talk about which one I preferred but it’s clear that I like Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game better. Now that doesn’t mean that Batman: Everybody Lies is a bad game, it just isn’t as good. I had a lot of fun with it and I know that they are working on more. And I hope that it builds up in the future to more in depth or connected stories.

I definitely think that there are elements that work well. And it’s fun to have it in a fictional setting like this one. And I do think that it’s easier to get into and that’s a good thing. So I more see it as that I’m not the target audience completely for this one. Because I know the other game and was up for that challenge, but if it was my first one, I think I’d have loved it more than I do.

My Grade: B-
Casual Grade: A-
Gamer Grade: B-

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The Gen Con Haul

I know that people don’t always have time to watch the videos, so I’m going to do a quick write up as well for the games that I picked up. This is not the list of everything I played, expect that tomorrow. But it is everything I bought and stuff that has come in as well.

Kingdom Rush – Not from Gen Con

This actually came in a bit ago. Kingdom Rush is going to be a tower defense game where you cast spells and try and stop waves of enemies from reaching the end. Classic tower defense, and based off of an app, I believe, that I should maybe checkout. This one I got because I got a code from Lucky Duck Games for 20% off, and it’s one I’ve wanted to try, but wouldn’t have without a discount.

City Chase – Not from Gen Con

Korea Board Games sent me City Chase to cover. I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but this is going to be a family weight hidden movement or deduction game as you take helicopters around trying catch a car, from my understanding. And the car can hide under buildings, so a bit of a deduction and trying to narrow down and trap where the car can go.

Arcadia Quest – Not from Gen Con

This is another game that I maybe wouldn’t have picked up except that it was used. Arcadia Quest is basically a go into a dungeon, complete objectives, knock out your opponents sort of game. Tons of minis and expansions for it, I only got the base game, but I figure I can add more later if I want to it. Seems like a solid light game with some good tactics and fun minis.

Oathsworn – Not from Gen Con

And then we have a big game from Shadowborne Games. I backed this one on Kickstarter quite a while ago and it came in the day before I left for Gen Con. I am excited to get this campaign to the table. Two cool things for me about this game is the cool down track for abilities. You need to play cards out to cycle abilities back, down this track to your hand. So there is a puzzle with that.

Plus then you can roll as many dice as you want or draw as many cards as you want. But if you get two blanks, you fail. So there is a push your luck element to it. But, there is a less luck in the cards. The cards don’t reshuffle until all of them have been drawn. So the deck remembers and players know, you might have a hot deck with the blanks already out, or it might be cold with blanks left and just a few cards to draw.

Batman: Everybody Lies

I talked about this one yesterday, and Paint the Roses in my Highlights from Gen Con. As I said in that, I split the cost of the game with some friends, so I’ll probably be playing it tonight again. This is based off of Portal Games Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game series and system. But it has a Batman theme to it, it was a lot of fun. And it’s cool that we got the designer, Ignacy, to sign the cover for us.

Burncycle + Expansions

Burncycle is a post post apocalyptic cyperpunk world where corporations have taken over, granted this is after humanity took back over from the robots. You play as robots trying to hack into the system as well as complete objectives on the physical map. The game play seems like a lot of fun, and the production quality, as it is a Chip Theory Games is amazing. Probably one I’ll at least learn solo, if not play that way mostly.

Long Shot The Dice Game

This is a roll and write horse racing game. It’s one that I got to play the last day, and because it was the Kickstarter copy they were selling, decided I should pick it up. In this game, you are trying to buy horses, put bets on horses, and end up with the most money at the end of the game. It’s a good time, I like the artwork, and I like that there is a board, which is dry erase so you can mark it up with one of the expansions. I think it’ll be one that gets to the table pretty often in my sea of roll and write games.

Hero Realms + Expansions

Hero Realms is another one I got to demo, in fact I demoed it and got stomped. But I really liked what it was doing. And I decided to go in on it to the point where I could play it solo as well. Wise Wizard Games had a bundle you could buy to get the coop game play that allows for solo. Normally this is a head to head deck building and battling game that plays fast and you feel like you ramp up quickly.

Cartographers Expansions

No surprise here with new expansions for Cartographers that I’d grab them. This is three new map packs as well as then a bonus little hero pack for Cartographers heroes. I’m excited to see what different the maps do. And I need to play with all of the maps that I have now, because, well, there are six map packs, plus the base map which is double sided, so 8 different map options.

Paint the Roses

The other one I talked about in the highlights. Paint the Roses is a deduction game as you try and figure out what card a player has in front of them currently. You do that by putting down a tile, and then all players put down cubes on that tile if it creates a match. So if I put down a rose and my card is rose rose on it, if I put down that rose tile so it touches two other rose tiles, I’d put two cubes on it. Then everyone else would try and figure out what is my combo on my card. Simple but a ton of fun and pretty thinky.

Marvel Remix

Marvel Remix is a retheme and reskin of Fantasy Realms. In Fantasy Realms, from what I know, you are building out your best hand of cards to score points. It did it with a fantasy theme first and now with a Marvel theme. I believe that there are slight changes to the rules, but not sure what they are, and won’t really know as I haven’t played Fantasy Realms.

Lost Ruins of Arnak Expedition Leaders

Another game I got to play was Lost Ruins of Arnak. I even played it twice. Expedition Leaders is the expansion for it. It adds in some new items and relics. But the big thing that it does is it gives you, as the name would suggest, an expedition leader. They have unique powers and you start out the game with just that little bit of variability. I like that in a game, so seemed like an easy expansion to add.

NFL Five

Free game for demoing it. It’s basically a little football themed game. Not much going on it. I describe it in the video as rock, paper, scissors but harder. There is no tie and try again. It is just put down a play and hope that you match. But or something that’s football themed and from a football card company, it’s basically what I expected. And I don’t think it’s that bad, it’s just very basic.

Pocket Paragons

Finally, another game that I got handed, a little duel set demo of Pocket Paragons. I know nothing about this game, I’m assuming it’s a head to head battler, probably deck crafting, though maybe more like Dice Throne (just cards only) where you have stuff already set. I’ll have to learn it and give it a whirl, see what it is like.

Upcoming Streams

So, Wednesday, the plan is to play Stars of Akarios. I was hoping to get to rules read in the evenings at Gen Con and while I had some evening time free, I didn’t get to it. So it might get pushed back a week, depends on how well I can learn the rules today. If it does, I’ll be playing some other game solo on the stream.

Next Monday I think I’ll be doing a Top 10 list. Not sure what the list will be on. But I think that’ll be the plan. I of course, do have some games, like Long Shot the Dice Game, Cartographers, Hero Realms or Lost Ruins of Arnak that I could set-up and play solo as well. We’ll have to see what I end up wanting to do.

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Top 10 Games to Buy at Gen Con 2022

10. Sagrada: The Great Facades – Glory

The only expansion on the list, I know that I’ll grab it. It is more fun for Sagrada and while I don’t play Sagrada a ton, it is a blast when I pull it out. Glory is going to give another twist on how to play it. And I like how they are doing the expansions. I wish that this was Sagrada Legacy but that wasn’t able to make it in time.

9. Scout

Scout is probably going to be one of the hot games. I say that because it just won the Spiel de Jahres. But I also am not sure how available it has been. Scout is a card shedding game where the cards have two numbers. And you decided at the start which set of numbers you want to use. But you can’t flip it to give you a perfect set-up, it is just how it is dealt. It seems light but intriguing.

8. Paint the Roses

Paint the Roses is going to be a bigger deduction game. Each player knows part of the puzzle to keep the Queen of Hearts from taking off their heads. But you can’t tell what that is, other players need to figure that out from what you are doing so that cooperatively you can get the garden painted and done. There is a deluxe version of this game that looks amazing.

7. Planet Unknown

Planet Unknown is another game that I expect to be flying off the shelves or from the booth. This is a game that was on Kickstarter and has a cool thing with a tile board that rotates. On your turn you rotate it to pick a tile that you want but everyone else gets to pick a tile from in front of them to add to theirs. A cool concept that I think could make for a fun game.

6. Nightmare Productions

Speaking of a fun concept, Nightmare Productions is a game about making horror movies. Now this is not a new game, but it is the first time that Trick or Treat Studios is putting it out and the first time that I know of with only a horror theme. The only horror theme makes it more interesting for me as you try and make your best movie possible. One that I want to checkout and because of the theme probably buy.

5. Marvel: Remix

Marvel: Remix is a reskin of Fantasy Realms with Marvel. I am interested in plain old Fantasy Realms but Marvel: Remix is a theme that I like better. This is basically a small combo building game to give you the most points at the end of the game. You do that by adding or removing cards from your hand. Not sure completely how it works, but looks like a good one.

4. Long Shot: The Dice Game

Another one that I guarantee will be hot. And one that is already out and has been for a little bit. But it hasn’t been consistently easy to get your hands on. This is a roll and write horse racing game where you bet on horses and it just looks like a nice light fast and fun game. I really haven’t heard anything bad about it, maybe some okay reviews but nothing bad.

3. Cat in the Box

Cat in the Box is a fascinating sounding trick taking game. In this game you are playing standard trick taking, you predict how many tricks you can win, and you get points for that. But cards never have a color, at least not until they are played. Then all of a sudden they have a color, and you can declare yourself out of suit at any time, but be careful, because that might create a paradox.

2. Cartographers Expansions

I guess there is one more expansion on the list, Cartographers is getting three new maps. I think if you pre-ordered them they have already shipped. Do I need these? Probably not. Will I get them, most definitely. I love Cartographers, one of my favorite roll and write games, I think it got bumped to #2 or #3, but we’ll have to see when I do my Top 100 games of all time this fall.

1. My Father’s Work

Finally we have My Father’s Work. My Father’s Work is a big game, one of not so many big games on my list. Oathsworn isn’t on there because I backed the Kickstarter, otherwise it would be. But My Father’s Work you play as a mad scientist, but not just one, three generations as you try and pass down knowledge, deal with the villagers and complete your machines, monster, whatever it is. It is scenario based with an app, and while it is heavily Euro mechanics, I think it looks so fascinating. I could see this one being popular, but it is fairly expensive.

Do You Have Gen Con Must Buy?

Let me know what you want to buy. I do want to swing by the Shadowborne Games booth to see Oathsworn, of course my copy will be showing up today. And same with Batman: Everybody Lies, but I might wait on that one. And The Librarians just missed the list, I thought the game was fun, didn’t back it on Kickstarter, and now I want to see what the final production looks like. There are a whole lot more games as well I can imagine being hot, Final Girl and Ark Nova likely will move fast as well. But let me know what you want to pick up over on Twitter.

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