The Game – Elden Ring: The Board Game

This section is going to be a little bit light. Mainly because there are a lot of videos out there on this game that are probably just better to checkout. But the basics are that this is a campaign game with each session being two parts (or every other session). But there is a part where you explore, possibly to find a boss or some bigger quest part. And then there is a boss battle. How those work, you can checkout the videos from Quackalope and BoardGameCo below.

What Doesn’t Work?

Let’s, as always, start about what doesn’t work for this game. And unfortunately one of the big things is the company that is doing it. Not that they don’t turn out fun games, they do, and from watching this game play, I think it’s the most fun of a game play that I’ve watched. So I appreciate that, but from a crowdfunding side of things, they are hard campaigns to back.

The base game level pledge doesn’t get stretch goals. So if you’re just looking at that, it’s not worth backing, grab it likely cheaper, after factoring in shipping at retail. The next level up is probably the best deal but it’s notably more expensive. And then the all in, while it might hold it’s value, is now extremely expensive.

I also do wonder about the replayability. The game is a campaign game with about 20 hours, they say 20+ in the core box. That isn’t bad, but for a campaign it’s not that long. And price point isn’t the issue here, it’s that 20 hours is something I can sit down and stream, but if it’s fun, would I want to play it again. The story, at least in the introductory scenario, which might be just that, doesn’t offer that many choices. It’s more a random exploration and then a boss fight.

What Works?

Now, to go back on what I said in some ways, I think both the exploration and boss fight look fun. Mainly because players can get into mini fights with creatures in the world during the game. And the fighting system, I think that looks really intriguing. It’s about positioning yourself so that you don’t take too much damage but can be in there and get damage. And I like that you can change your stance from aggressive to more defensive so there is good strategy in that.

Plus I like that the boss fight isn’t that much different, it’s just everyone versus the boss with the boss scaling on how much health it has. And the bosses lair, for lack of a better term, is just a bigger version of what you are fighting on. I think that works really well because you don’t need to learn a new system for the boss battle or lose the strategic decision making points for the smaller battles.

I also want to mention the minis in this game. Because Steamforged definitely does really good minis. And this doesn’t seem to be any different. So for a fan of the game and a fan of campaign games with minis, I think you’ll enjoy painting them a lot. And even for someone like myself who doesn’t paint minis, I like the looks of them a lot for this game.

Finally, I like that in exploration there is a timer. You need to complete everything by a certain amount of turns, or basically turns that you aren’t doing anything to progress quests or fighting a monster. If you can progress, then time isn’t ticking down. But otherwise, a turn of just exploring new locations, that is going to get you closer to losing the game.

Who Is It For?

I think this is for that medium weight board gamer to play with their friends who are video gamers. Maybe you got through all of Elden Ring and now you want to play something else but there isn’t a new video game out, well, this might work for you.

As for heavier or campaign board gamers, like myself, I think it’s one that we’ll enjoy. The exploration phase might be a bit simple. But the combat definitely looks like it offers a good challenge. And there are boss battlers out there already, but this might have an easier theme to sell.

Back or Brick – Elden Ring: The Board Game

This is a tough one for me. I really do think that the game looks interesting for Elden Ring, and it is a theme and world that I want to explore more, both in the video game and with this board game. But right now, this is a Brick for me. Might I regret it, I think that I might. Might I back it still, it is possible, but there is one big reason it’s a brick right now.

And that’s the pricing model. For a base pledge of something like a CMON Zombicide Game, you get the base game and all the stretch goals. From Steamforged, you need to pledge up a level to get the same amount of things. So do I want to back for $90 + shipping and not get stretch goals. Or do I want to back for $180 + shipping and get stretch goals and not that much extra. It’s a huge jump. So I am more apt to just wait for retail on the base box and probably get it for $90 or $100, and if it’s $100, I get free shipping. They really want you to play higher up.

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Top 10 Upcoming Crowdfunding Games

10 – Oathsworn: Into the Deep Woods

This one is a bit of a cheat, but also, it’s hard to know everything that’s upcoming. I already own Oathsworn: Into the Deep Woods. This isn’t really adding in any game play for the new campaign. It is just going to be a reprint and probably some upgrades or something because Kickstarter doesn’t allow a straight up reprint.

Why is this one on my radar, because I’ve played the game, I like the game. I even own the game, like I said, but I don’t own all the minis. And I won’t lie, the minis for the bosses are amazing. Do I need them, definitely don’t. But I kind of want them because it’ll look even more epic on the table.

9 – Trick Shot

Trick Shot is another reprint coming, this time on Gamefound. And when it is up there, I’m going to spend some time looking into it because a hockey game sounds interesting. But is it a game that’ll work for me and is it a game that’ll feel like hockey?

Sports are so hard to simulate in a board game. I think that you’re better off, for the most part, not trying to create the experience that feels like the game but instead one that simulates stuff around the game. Ready Set Bet with horse racing is the closest to feeling like the event and that game is even more about betting. So is Trick Shot going to change my opinion, we’ll see.

8 – Escape from New York

Escape from New York I know basically nothing about. Well, I know basically nothing about the game, the movie is one that I really like. Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken is great. So instead of talking about what I know about the game, what do I want this game to be?

And I think that’s the question. The whole idea of Escape from New York is that New York is now a prison or post apocalyptic land, and the President has been kidnapped and brought there. Snake needs to get in and get out in 24 hours. How do you simulate that? Certain number of rounds is easy and there are side characters others can play, but I hope that it gives you gangs to fight along the way and interesting puzzles to solve as to how you optimize your actions. But the game also needs to be very variable with the gangs or issues you come up against.

7 – Destinies: Witchwood Expansion

Destinies is one where I might back it I might not. I didn’t back the first Destinies campaign, I considered it though. And I love what Lucky Duck does with their games. But I also don’t need to back it because it’ll likely come to retail. So I’ll need to see what they are offering on Gamefound.

But I really like Destinies. A competitive story driven game with scenarios in which you’re trying to get your glorious end first. And an app that integrates well with the story that it tells and doesn’t take you out of the game. I think what stands out for me and why I’m interested in more is that the game isn’t hard to play. I feel like it’s a story driven experience I could sit down and play with most people.

6 – Elden Ring

Another game where I really know very little. From Steamforged Games they are putting out Elden Ring. Steamforged has been a bit hit more miss at times, but more hits lately, even if not for everyone. And if I find Bardsung used, I might pick that one up even though it’s been a bit more of a miss for some people.

I don’t know what I hope for this game. Elden Ring the video game is such a big story that yes, you could do that in a board game. But if you do that, how big is this game going to be. I’d prefer, in some ways for a game set in that world, hard and cooperative, and maybe some shorter campaigns, 10-15 sessions, and you can get a few of them versus one massive 50 scenario campaign plus another 50 side quests you can do. I love that in some games, Gloomhaven, but I don’t need it in all.

5 – Slay the Spire

Slay the Spire probably should be higher on the list. Mainly because it’s probably the smallest game on the list so might be easier to back then some. But if you watched my most recent Slay the Spire video, which you can find here, you’ll know that I’m wondering what will be exclusive about the game. I hope it’s not game play, I hope it’s not the 4th character, so people can get the game at retail and get the whole game. But it needs something to interest me.

I really like Slay the Spire, and I want to see how they take a solo video game and turn it into a cooperative game. The cards that they are showing thus far, as the campaign I believe is getting close, all look like the video game. And that’s a good and fun thing, I just hope it’s not too much house keeping. But they’ve spent a very very long time getting this ready from when they first thought, so I have a lot of hope.

4 – 20 Strong

This is one I found out about yesterday. From Chip Theory Games I know not all that much about 20 Strong. It’s still going to have that great Chip Theory production, I’m sure, but it seems like a much smaller package, which sounds great for me and my wallet.

Plus this is a solo experience of an adventure, card driven, dice, and like I said that smaller package. Those are all things that interest me. I don’t want to compare it directly to Spire’s End, but that’s the feeling I get with the game that it’s going to have a bit of that Spire’s End feel to it which is a really good thing. Also, now I want to play Spire’s End again.

3 – Elder Scrolls

Then another Chip Theory Games Game with Elder Scrolls. I’ve played some Elder Scrolls games, and I’ve played some Too Many Bones. Both of these matters because Elder Scrolls is an interesting setting. And I like the Too Many Bones mechanics. I hope that this meshes them both together well.

And, I stole my suggestion for Elden Ring from Elder Scrolls. Elder Scrolls, what I know of it, promises some scenarios built up of every games. You can pick the scenario you want to play, but instead of it being a massive campaign game, it’s not a shorter and faster experience. Kind of like what Sleeping Gods does where it can give you a whole experience of a campaign game in 10-15 hours.

2 – Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin

This one should be obvious. I love Tainted Grail, one of my top campaign games. And Kings of Ruin just promises maybe some streamlined rules, but mainly another campaign to play through. And that is exciting for me because I love the world of Avalon that they’ve created.

I think that is what will get me to come back to the game in the future. I’ve played two of the campaigns and I’m going through the third. And the story is just so good, it can be very hard at times, but that’s okay when it’s probably the best writing in a board game I’ve come across.

1 – Rogue Angels

Finally, no surprise, I am waiting for Rogue Angels. I want to play this game more, and I know there is a print and play version that you can try on the Rogue Angels discord. If you like to do print and play, I definitely recommend it.

Rogue Angels is just so much fun, the writing is great, you’ll miss some of that in the print and play. The characters feel different and the scenarios are what stand out to me, plus some mechanisms. But going into one scenario need to blow everyone up, other scenarios racing from objective to objective, it all works. And I know that Emil Larson, the designer has scenarios that do even more.

Upcoming Games

From what I know of these, we have some that will be out in about a week, and others in March. I expect that even with that, there will be some on my list that are even further out. I know that Rogue Angels, when that comes out is still up in the air.

Plus there are a few coming up that I don’t quite want to talk about yet. One because I am doing playtesting for it, and I don’t want to get into what I know about mechanics until the company has put more out there. But each iteration that I playtest, I’m liking the game more and more. So I hope to do a fair amount of coverage on that one when it comes up.

What game are you looking forward to coming to Crowdfunding?

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Pros

• Theme/known IP
• Entry Level Pledge Price
• Known company
• Great Minis

Cons

• Entry Level Pledge Contents
• Previous video game adaptations from the company
• Stretch Goal structure

The Page

You are going to see one comparison made pretty often and that’s going to be with with Primal: The Awakening, which is another monster hunting game. But looking at this page, I think that it looks pretty solid. I like how they have everything laid out in terms of explaining what is in the different pledge levels.

But I am going to knock the pledge levels some. It looks like it could be solid with the entry level pledge, but you get zero daily unlocks. I get that they are trying to keep the price point low, but it is 4 monsters and 4 heroes. Not every campaign needs to have a million different options to play, but that isn’t much. And that is one of my cons, their previous video game adaptation, Horizon Zero Dawn, might be a great game, but you need stretch goals. The basic box provides way to little content, and from the looks of that entry level pledge, it will again.

Otherwise, I like the page layout and they spend a fair amount of time on the game play. I’ll get into that in more detail in the next section. They definitely highlight the size of the minis on the page as well, but this, like Primal: The Awakening, is always going to have giant minis. The only thing look wise that I don’t like is the board. In one picture you see it close-up with a bunch of a white circles on it, and it just doesn’t look as put together as it should.

The Game

Game play seems interesting. You level up your characters and characters are unique which I really like. The monsters even level up as well. Three different levels per monster to the point when you defeat any of the monsters as four star monsters you win the campaign. Or you can play one-shot arena battles against a monster. I like the fact that it has those combos.

I also like that much like Primal: The Awakening, the game play seems to be based around cards. In fact, looking at everything, I’m not sure I see any dice. And a game like this could easily have just been a dice chucker. That gives me more faith, like I was saying about Horizon Zero Dawn, that this will be a solid game mechanically.

The leveling up system looks interesting as well. It appears to give you some options as to how you can do that and how you can branch. When you have the option to level up, I don’t want it to be just one fixed path. I don’t believe that Monster Hunter World will give you that.

Back or Brick

So let’s dive into this. Is this a Back or Brick for me? Right now, this looks like a Brick for me. If the daily unlocks were coming to the entry level pledge, I’d probably be in on it. But it feels like this is a limited pledge level that is mainly just going to make you wish you’d gotten more and then pay larger numbers over on Ebay later. Also, if I hadn’t already backed Primal: The Awakening, I’d be more apt to back this as well. I think that Primal: The Awakening might be a simpler game to play and easier to get to the table. Will this be a bad game, probably not, but I wouldn’t get the Entry Pledge.

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

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Pros

• Quick to set-up
• Non-standard fantasy races/classes
• Dungeon crawl
• Session Length
• Campaign Game
• Price

Cons

• Dungeon Crawl
• D20 based
• Very much D&D inspired
• Price

The Page

I think that they do a solid job on the page. I get some idea of the game play and while there are obviously a lot of minis in this, they could highlight them a lot more. And that’s not saying that I want them to highlight it more, in fact I appreciate that they don’t. Too often games like this focus on the minis and then not at all o the game play.

I also like how they show off a number of guest writers for it, which some fun names in there. I like it when games can pull in more creators to help give different parts of the game a more robust and interesting feel to it. It also helps with the diversity in the game, because a smaller team, though Steamforged Games is not small by any means, can mean that you have less diversity in the game and creators.

I will knock them a little bit, as I do most campaigns on Kickstarter, the information for the game play is pretty low on the page. So I don’t have a ton of idea until I’m about halfway down and they’ve tried to sell me on add-ons shown off the minis a few times. And while the section is fairly large, I feel like it’s actually light in details for the game play itself.

The Game

So, this part is interesting and I am looking at the game from what I can tell in the rules, plus watching some game play.

They talk about simple character creation and it being simple to get up and go overall for this game. This is both true and a lie. Character creation is definitely simple, you get a starting set-up for your character, you toss on a couple of tokens to note things, and that is great. I like how simple that get into the game is. Same with setting up the map, you have a starting map spot and your character and that is it, and you’re ready to go.

But it’s also a lie. When building your character, you get to choose how you progress. They made it free and open so that you won’t have to be stuck in a class. I like that aspect about it, but that means in future games and future times when setting up your character, it won’t be as simple, in fact you’ll have to keep track of what you’ve done. Plus the action dungeon crawl itself. Gloomhaven doesn’t pretend it has fast set-up, this does, this probably has longer in game set-up than Gloomhaven does just because you are flipping a card, that tells you what map tile is next, you find that tile, then you need to figure out what bad guys go on there, then you need to shuffle up the combat order that people go in, the marching order. I’ve played Shadows Of Brimstone which uses a set-up mechanism like that, it’s faster to get it going on the table, it is not faster when all set-up time is considered.

I do like how the enemy AI works. It isn’t completely unique, as things like Sword and Sorcery and Imperial Assault have done this as well, but it’s basically a list of things. If the enemy can do the top thing, that means they do that, if they can’t, look at the next one, and so on and so forth. It makes enemy combat easy to do, but can make it a bit predictable. This compared to Gloomhaven which has an enemy deck so you don’t know what might be flipped up.

Back or Brick

So there are things that I like about this game and things that I don’t. I do think that this game has some interesting characters, but at the same time, it also has a lot of D&D related characters and monsters and I could just play D&D. Then there is the D20, I didn’t talk about it much in game play, but you are rolling a D20 to do things, and the issue with that is that a D20 has massive variability. In Dungeons and Dragons that can be an issue, but D&D is a much about the role playing as it is the roll playing. This is a board game, so as much as they want it to be like an RPG Board Game, it is going to be a board game first, which means that variability sucks. For me, this ends up being a brick because of that, and because I don’t believe the set-up and getting going is that much faster, it just shifts it to down time in the game versus at the start of the game. Add in the title, I like the idea of bards singing about your deeds, but from what I can tell the name is just a fun name and doesn’t have anything to do with what you really are doing in the game.

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

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