Catch up here:

Rogue Angels Mission 1, Mission 2, Mission 3, Mission 4

Rogue Angels – New Cards and Companions

This whole mission was about getting new cards to play with and then a new companion. The companion is in Part 6 versus the getting the cards in Part 5. But either way, it’s two new elements of Rogue Angels for us to talk about.

These are not legacy elements of the game. They are campaign elements but not legacy. Nothing about them is destructive in terms of a Pandemic Legacy or Risk Legacy. You just pick a group of cards that you get, and you don’t end up with the other. The same for the companion. Though, I suspect with the companion, you get them either direction that they go. They are a simple addition to a mission.

The tech cards versus the weapon cards can help shape your group. Now some of them, one, can be used as a very effective weapon. But it works with a character at a cost. You spend one of your tokens. Now Tarira is heavily focused on damage so it’s going to be a great option for her. But it’s still a strong card for it’s basic ability. So I’m excited to see it in a mission and see what it can do.

I also like that with the cards it limits how many you can have. I might never get beyond two tech cards per player added. So it might be a moot point. But as the game goes on, you’ll unlock additional cards. And those cards are going to make you make choices. 7 starting cards plus two more cards is all that you can have. If you play with four players you’ll have more opportunities to bring more cards, but at two, I’m already maxing out both characters hands.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I stream at 9 PM Central. That is sometimes a bit hit or miss, but that’s the goal. And I do small solo game plays. The schedule is, right now, going to look like gaming every other Monday. A chance to see people in person came up for Monday and as much as I like streaming, it’s good to socialize as well.

On Wednesdays, well, I said that I plan to play at least 10 games of Rogue Angels. This is going to continue how I play my solo campaign games on the channel. My goal, play four different campaigns 10 times each. It’s tricky, but I think that I can do it. That is at 8 PM Central time for the campaign games.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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Roll to the Top! by AllPlay

Let me start out by saying, sometimes it’s worth looking to see what Board Game Geek recommends for player count. I don’t know that I agree with their ratings, though it does ballpark how good a game is. But when it comes to player count, it’s generally pretty solid.

Roll to the Top! is recommended for 2-6 players through it plays 1-6. I went 0-5 with the solo version of the game. And I see why people don’t recommend it as a solo game. Now, is it because it is too hard, yes, but it’s also not that interesting.

There is luck and randomness in the game. You roll dice and are filling in spots on your board with numbers. The number above a previously placed number needs to either be higher than that one or equal to it. And the variety of dice go from a four sided die to a twenty sided die, or 1 to 4 compared to 1 to 20. You roll a 20 on the first turn in a multiplayer game, everyone skips it. You roll a 20 in a solo game, the game holds it against you.

So, my initial impressions are that the game is just okay. Why, because the solo mode is hard. But also because the solo mode isn’t interesting. It forces you to use everything. And I was trying to read through the solo rules again, but it feels like it misses something in what you are doing. It makes it too hard to beat, and maybe I need to review them again. But either way the solo mode just isn’t that interesting to play.

Upcoming Streams

So on Wednesday we’re back to ISS Vanguard where we are going to be tackling a new planet. Join me as I explore and probably crash and burn. I do need to make sure that I did one thing right as I get setup. And I’ll explain what that was on the stream. You can find that upcoming stream here. My Wednesday streams are at 8 PM Central time.

And on Monday, next week, I am not sure what game I will stream. I have a couple of solo roll and writes I’m considering. Motor City or Three Sisters. Plus I am tempted to get back to Planet Unknown again. I need to correct a rules mistake there as well. But it’s a big game that I really love and it’s a fun one to show off. Monday streams are at 8:30 PM Central time.

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The Game – Stars of Akarios

This isn’t going to be a full review, but now that I’ve played a number of times, mainly in the tactical space combat, which seems to be most of the game. What do I think about it? I want to play at least one more planet and space exploration before I really give a full review on it.

But thus far, I have been enjoying the game. The writing in the game, the adventures I’ve been on thus far, it reminds me of space TV shows like Farscape or Stargate SG1. Is it the best writing, nope, but is it a lot of fun, for sure. I talked about it before, how Stars of Akarios nicely borrows story, not steals it, for the game.

I also think that the space combat works well. In terms of a game, it feels like it could stand alone and be it’s own game if it needed to be. I like it with the other things, the space exploration doesn’t feel like too much, but the planets add to the story, from what I saw. But I really like trying to figure out the puzzle of the space combat. It is such a good tactical experience. I know the Dice Tower did a review and they said the AI isn’t the smartest, that’s true, but I don’t find it an issue. I generally just pick the AI doing what’s worse for me.

And I think the biggest thing for me with it is that I want to continue playing the game. When a big game keeps me hooked after 5 plays now, so about 5-7 hours of game play. That’s a good sign. The only thing that’s keeping me from pushing on further is that I have other campaign games to try. But Stars of Akarios is one that I recommend if you are looking for that big space epic game with really good space combat.

Upcoming Streams

Monday the plan is to tackle another roll and write game. I believe it’s going to be Long Shot the Dice Game, though that one might get played over the weekend. If it does, then it’ll likely be a different solo game, Dinosaur Rawr ‘n Write being the most likely one. Though that’s a bigger one and I’d need to find the time to learn the rules. Hadrian’s Wall could also be an option, or Black Sonata or Coffee Roaster.

As for next Wednesday that’s the question. I know that Oathsworn is coming back to Kickstarter sometime, so I’d like to show that one off. But it’s even more heavy into the story so there is a great risk there that you’ll be spoiled. Plus it’s another big game to learn. Or I could continue with Stars of Akarios, but if I push forward with it, it’s a massive game, so it’d be what gets played for a long time. I think next Wednesday I’m probably going to change it up, play a different game, but leave Stars of Akarios set-up. Take that week off, and then probably come back to it. But let me know if you want more Stars of Akarios?

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The Game – Paper Dungeons

This is going to be a bit of a mini review for Paper Dungeons, mainly because you can see how it is played above. But I really enjoy this roll and write game. I think it’s for sure top 10, probably top 6 or 7 for me. Now, it isn’t without it’s negatives. I made some easy mistakes that I shouldn’t have in game two and corrected them the best I could. And that’s probably the knock on the game, there is a lot going on, but also a plus to the game.

Paper Dungeons is not one of the easier roll and write games to teach. While it might not have as many combos as something, let’s say, Sonora or Ganz Schon Clever, they are sneakier combos. And with all the areas, the pieces are pretty simple, spend a die, fill in a spot, but when you level up a hero, did you remember to add health. You complete a row of potions did you take the bonus? It is small things like that which you need to keep track of and make it harder to teach.

That said, it’s the small things like that which make the game so fun. The monsters you fight aren’t that different but that doesn’t matter. With the power and objective you get, it can change how you play the game. With the goals, it changes how you play the game. Yes, my two games ended up looking somewhat similar, but I was crafting more in the second game, and going for gems more in the first. Plus I like how they build out the dungeon.

My Grade: A-
Gamer Grade: B+
Casual Grade C (just because it’s a bunch to learn)

The Drink

So, following up from Monday’s drink, I used my Orange Jameson again. This time mixed with cream soda to basically create orange creamsicle. Not too surprising, it was a very tasty drink. I would compared it to an orange ice cream float. A bit less creamy than that, but that’s okay. And the orange flavor came through well on it I’d say.

Upcoming Streams

So next week I’ll be playing another smaller solo game. I don’t know which one yet. I think I want to learn how to play Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write and play that one. But I doubt I’ll make up my mind until the end, because I would mind trying Floriferous solo or playing Village Green again.

Plus, Monday, I am most likely going to continue going through my game collection to find more games to cull from it, or find more games that I really need to play. So expect to see a stream then, either 8:30 or 9. You can catch up on the Should It Stay or Should It Go series here.

And vote on what the next campaign game should be. Or maybe I should continue the Paper Dungeons campaign, though I might do that on my own time.

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Pros

• RPG Like
• Campaign
• Solo
• The Miniatures
• Aesthetic
• Shipping

Cons

• Price

The Page

This is an awesome page. I often complain about pages where they don’t give you that much information. And some of that comes from having a lot of miniatures and wanting to show them off. This does have really cool minis, in fact I want even more minis like this in games. But this page tells so much about the game and I feel like I have a good idea on how it’ll play. I wish that more could see more pages that looked like this.

Also I will say that I am a bit worried for them with shipping. Granted it might be better, but off-settting the shipping for $20 for several thousand backers is a lot. Now, I suspect that some of the cost might have been rolled into the price of game itself. I’m sure that they figured it out but it is a bit risky and if shipping was $40 for everything that you got in the game, I wouldn’t feel like that wasn’t fair. However, the total price point with that would be very high.

The Game

The game has a ton of things that I’m interested. I like campaign, I like RPG like games, and solo games work well for me. And it has a fantasy theme, which fantasy isn’t as much of a draw when it looks more straightforward fantasy, but it isn’t a negative. It is just part of the game.

Let’s talk about the classes, characters, and minis. I think that the class system looks cool, not only that, you get to pick your own character. And with that you get a painted mini but not only that you can swap the heads on the minis. Why is that cool, now I can make any character look like me. Granted, I’m what a lot of the characters generally look like, but more in general anyone can. They have come up with a great way to make diversity in their characters while not tying that to a specific character.

And I really like the equipment system. You have a board where you are placing different pieces of equipment that you find onto your characters. Not only that, but the monsters will attack specific parts of the body. So a rat bites your hand, you’ll take more damage than a rat trying to bit your chest when you have a breast plate.

Finally, this exploration system looks very unique and interesting. You go from a tile map to that’s just a hex on the board. That might have a point of interest so you pull out another tile that is for that point of interest. That might have more for you to interact with, so you go to those spots and you could flip a building so that you walk into it. Honestly, that might be the coolest part of the system.

Back or Brick

So is this a Back or a Brick for me? As I was writing this out I almost talked myself into buying it. I’m going to have to consider between Chronicles of Drunagor and this. Maybe I’ll do a new article next today on the debate between the two. But this one is right now a Brick for me. I think had this come in March, I might have backed it, but I have a number of these bigger campaign style games coming. Still, if you think that Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread looks good, I’d highly recommend it. There is a great pedigree for this company with Xia, so I can’t imagine you’ll be disappointed.

Is this one a Back or a Brick for you?

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Pros

• Theme
• Solo Play
• Art and Aesthetic

Cons

• Simple Game Play
• First time creator

The Page

While I don’t have a ton in pros and cons, I do have more to say about the page. I don’t love this page. The art is great on it because it’s the comic art, but the issue I have with the page, it doesn’t show me what I want to see in a good order. We get the pledge breakdowns at the top of the page and a link to the rules. I can read the pledge breakdown in the side of the page, I don’t need that laid out to me as the first thing. I want a bit of a description of what the theme of the game is and what you’re doing in the game. And some glamour shots of the game, things like that.

Also, a link to the rules doesn’t cut it for me. I want more rules explanation. And we get some of that with a game play explanation, which is what I want and what I really look for, and ideally you’d have that and then at the end of that you’d have a link to your rules for people who want to go more in depth. But a random link higher on the page is not going to be something I’d look at twice, except for the fact that I’m writing up about it.

All of that said, they nail the comic aesthetic throughout the page. So it looks like they’ve tried to get the theme into the game which I like to see, i think that they just miss some of on the overall layout of the page and providing information in a good way. And their add-ons don’t make much sense either, it’s just additional pledges, not really an add-on. If it was a version of the comics or something like that, that’d be an add-on.

Back or Brick

When I heard about this game, I was interested, not excited, but interested. I enjoyed the Netflix show, and the comics have been interesting to read. I feel like both of them have their flaws though. And when looking at this game, I see stuff on the page that I don’t love. Overall this game seems too simple for me, and I’m not sure how you’d make it that much more complex or what you’d do differently, but this looks like something for big fans of the comics, but not really big board gamers. And I’m worried about the shipping as well, it’s vaguely written and I suspect they are going to run into money issues with shipping. Also, this game isn’t up on BGG yet, now that isn’t the most important thing in the world, but for something I’ve seen advertised, it doesn’t seem like it’s being created by a game company or at least one highly in touch with the modern hobby. For me, while I like the aesthetic of the game, there are too many red flags and doesn’t feel like my type of game, so it’s a Brick for me.

How about you, is this game a back or a brick for you?

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

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