The second day ofEssen Spiel 2018 starts at the stand NSKN, where we immediately find a free and set table, with the demonstrator ready to explain the rules. However, if you have not yet enjoyed our first appointment, we invite you to retrieve the article with everything that instead offered us on the first day of the fair! enjoy the reading!
Chronicles of Frost
The game, a 1-4 player deckbuilding of Błażej Kubacki, is proposed together with its expansion All that burns.
In the game we find not only deck management, but also combat, exploration and objectives to be achieved.
The structure of the game is good, the rules clear from the beginning, too bad that the interaction between the players is practically non-existent, and the fights with monsters (which should be the cornerstone of a fantasy game) are few and too short.
Rating: 6 / 10
Underwater Cities
This title of Vladimír Suchý, from 1-4 players, it is presented to us as a Card Placement: in our turn, in fact, we will play a card from our hand on one of the action spaces of the board, combining the two effects if the color of the card corresponds to that of the space, and precluding other players from placing a card in the same position.
In all of this, we will try to build a network of underwater tunnels and cities, hiring collaborators and developing technologies.
The game is very reminiscent of Terraforming Mars in the combined management of the cards played and the board, as well as in the purchasable objective cards that provide victory points only to the owner, if the conditions are met.
The depth is not indifferent, the title at the table has convinced everyone, but it does not reach 8 for the materials not up to par, the very thin personal planks and the absolutely kitsch plastic domes.
Rating: 7,5 / 10
Cult: Choose Your God Wisely
Browsing through the stands of this Essen Spiel 2018, we stop at the Cult table attracted by the bridge, the demonstrator offers to explain the rules and let us play a game. "Why not".
This is a placement of workers of different levels (idea already seen), in which it is possible to place a meeple in the space where there is already an opposing worker (of a lower level) to prevent him from activating the location (also this already seen in other titles).
The pawns of different materials make us turn up our noses: the workers are in cardboard with their level printed, the leader (level equal to the number of followers) is instead a plastic miniature, while the followers are made of shaped wood.
The game also leaves us quite perplexed.
Rating: 5 / 10
Warpgate
4x title (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) of Artyom Nichipurov, which shows us another new mechanic, in this Essen Spiel 2018 quite stingy with news.
The player boards have slots on which the four action cards that we will draw at the beginning of our turn must be played. Each slot has a multiplier (1x, 2x, 3x and 4x) which modifies the power of the chosen card. Do we want to keep the “movement and research” card for the last phase, in order to exploit the highest multiplier to reach a planet on which there is an interesting alien technology? Or do we want to play our offensive card on the 4x, to launch a massive attack? Or do we prefer to keep the hyperspace jump last, which will bring a fleet of ships equal to 4 times the base number into our warpgate? The choices are many and difficult.
The depth of the management part is however ruined by an almost completely random combat phase: each player involved will go and draw two cards from a special deck, and will choose one to apply to the battle.
In conclusion, we liked the title a lot until the first fight.
