Au Sable (PC)

Sable — at least I think that’s the character’s name, I don’t know for sure there’s no clarification — is um… adventuring. Well the story in the readme says that she looking for the lost city of Harmonia. Unarmed and unarmored but accompanied by the two eyes of a god, she will do anything to reach the sunken fortress.

History

Another Benjamin Braden game, another nightmare. You might remember him as the creator of All of Our Friends are Dead — my review in the link. Braden, known online as Amon26, has made several games based on his intense and vivid nightmares. Giving anyone the opportunity to take a walk through these sinister dreams and finally fight back against the monstrous beasts that haunt the dark corners of his mind.

Au Sable was released in November 2009. It’s competition was Braid (PSN), Left 4 Dead 2 (PC and XBox 360), and Assassin’s Creed 2 (PS3 and XBox 360).

Experiences

Now, it’s unfair to compare games… but I’m gonna do it anyway. And this is for October’s spookiness so which game is scarier? It’s a tough thing to judge because they’re so similar but AoOFaD has a much more terrifying and ineffable world. The rough animation of the bosses and uknowable nature of the situation is pretty frightening. That being said, Au Sable seems like there’s some sort of grand design. It’s not just a nightmare, it’s a nightmare with a story. There’s something to be lost, it’s not just a bizarre hellscape. The monsters of Au Sable seem to be connected to something instead of just monsters for monsters sake, and they look more purposefully designed. In the end I would say that AoOFaD is truly scarier but that Au Sable is the superior game.

They’ve both got mysterious text but Sable has identifiable objects.

Gameplay

Au Sable is a pretty simple action platformer. You can move, jump, and eventually get the ability to fire weapons. There’s really not much to it. You just keep moving until you find the next place to go, sometimes it’s a little easy to get lost. The other main mechanic of the game is that Sable can use the eyes that follow her to activate switches and open doors — it’s quite bizarre that she can’t activate these switches without the assistance of a god.

The Gush

The monsters designs in this game are simply great . The Hunters and other various hellbeasts rival Splatterhouse in grotesqueness. There’s only one boss but their absence is supplemented by incredibly haunting god-like idols. And the enemy placement is superior than AoOFaD, much fewer enemies in places that will blind side you.

I don’t know what these god eyes are but I goddam love them. It’s interesting to be haunted by this greater power but I don’t know if I can trust their influence. I do wish though that I had gotten a greater idea of what they are and why they’ve been sent — I suppose because the deity wants me to continue.

The sound, music, and art do a marvelous job at creating a moody creepy atmosphere that builds a definite sense of dread. A few jump scares get thrown in there for good measure but they’re not so intense that they overwhelmed me.

The tentacle pursuit scene scared the hell out of me.

The Kvetch

The shotgun and machine gun are pretty good weapons but what sucks is that the standard configuration of the game comes with no cross-hair. Braden did it to represent her unfamiliarity with the weapon. I think that’s a really interesting idea but it makes the game very difficult to play. Perhaps the cross-hair becoming more opaque the more monsters she defeats would create a gradual difficulty curve, and strike a good balance between themeing and gameplay ease. Thankfully the cross-hair can be enabled by pressing the backspace key.

Seriously, shooting without the cross-hair is damn near impossible.

I heard something about multiple endings but I have no idea how to find anything but the one I keep getting. I’ve also heard that the most recent version of the game makes it impossible to unlock it… and that would suck. This is all hearsay because I couldn’t verify it myself but if this is the case then that’s a serious oversight.

The Verdict

Au Sable is a decently fun and compact game. I was able to beat it in a mere 30 minutes but I had a helluva time. Like all of the games in this series so far, Au Sable is totally free and available to download on the independent game wiki. It’s a nice way to spend 30 minutes getting absolutely spooked this Halloween season.

Next Week: Dungeon Defender

Sonny 1 and 2 (Flash Game)

 

In a modern world where magic is real and the undead are commonplace you assume control of one of the legion of the undead. But you are not a nameless shambling monster. You are Sonny, with a mind all your own. You’ve come to on a ship alongside a blind man bent on mentoring you. His mentorship is cut short by the by the bullets of the Zombie Pest Control Incorporation — or ZPCI for short. With his final moments he gives Sonny a tape that he says is certain to help him. Sonny takes the tape to civilization meeting the acquaintance of a ZPCI medic who is secretly a zombie in full gear, a fellow by the name of Veradux.

History

The Sonny series was created by Flash game veteran Krin. Known best for his Senjid series, his games generally involve ability trees, straight forward quests, unanswered mysteries, and equipment as character advancement. Popular on sites like Kongregate and Armor Games — some content is locked to the Armor Games client which makes sense considering Krin is a business partner with Armor Games. It is believed by fans that Sonny 3, coming out later this October, will reveal a lot of the questions in the Sonny series.

Sonny 1 was released on December 28th, 2007 and Sonny 2 was released on December 19th, 2008. They had competition like Beowulf: The Game (PSP), Knights: Journey of Dreams (Wii), Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP), and Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories.

Experiences

When I was younger I found the story of the Sonny games incredibly engrossing. What was on that tape? Why was a blind man on that ship? Did he revive Sonny? Why do Sonny and Veradux have sentience when most zombies don’t? Great questions but in my recent playthrough it seems more obvious that these questions may never be answered. And if they are I’m not confident that it will be satisfying. Between Sonny’s sudden and murderous mood swings, paradoxical character dialogue, and the sheer number of questions I have at the end of Sonny 2 I have serious doubts. I guess what I’m saying is play this game young and forget this section if you want to enjoy the games fully.

Gameplay

Sonny 1 and 2 are turn based RPGs where Sonny must mow through hordes of enemies and bosses with the accompaniment of AI companions. Sonny can acquire a series of abilities based on his class and how the player distributes his ability points along his skill trees. These skills can then be equipped to one of eight slots on an action ring around the opponent, or around Sonny or his allies for buffs.

It’s tricky to explain but really slick in execution.

Every area has a shop where Sonny can acquire sub-par gear, fight training fights where Sonny can get that sweet sweet XP and get gear that actually matters, and fight in plot fights where Sonny can continue the story with yet another fight. Sonny 2 also introduces the ability to alter AI companions basic behavior by setting their ‘stance’. This subtly alters their AI and sets them to be more or less offensive or defensive in their ability use.

The Gush

Each of the classses does a good job of being effective in combat in their own way. Figuring out how they work and what ability combinations work together are fun and satisfying. It’s a pity though that The Hydraulic class is locked to the Armor Games version but considering the relationship between Krin and Armor Games it’s not surprising. And just for the record, my preferred class is the Psychological.

I don’t know why but my favorite character in the series is Ed Spencer. Don’t remembe Ed? Haven’t met him yet?

He’s that guy by the blue glowing thingy.

Motherfucker doesn’t give a shit that he’s talking to a goddam zombie. He just wants to get from A to B on the train. He’s got artifacts for sale and I’m not gonna bother haggling and I’m definitely not going to steal from this guy because he’s the only living thing on this train and that frightens me.

Even when the train derails and he’s all messed up he’s pretty stoic about the experience

The voice acting, cut-scenes, and visuals are overall far better than I would expect from a flash game. Even though Veradux will often say, “I’m gonna knock you silly” three times in some fights the dialogue is usually well delivered if simple. I’m tickled pink hearing Veradux say, “Agh! There’s a knife in my face… again!”

 

The Kvetch

Now if only the character motivations made any goddam sense. Sonny seems like a decent guy but sometimes it seems he chooses to murder defenseless people simply because RPG combat demands that his opponents die. Even though battles commonly end with some dialogue and a fade to black. I just can’t draw a bead on who Sonny or any of the characters really is and because of that I don’t know who to root for or why.

I have no idea what my allies are capable of. Well, I know what their techniques are but I don’t know how the stats conferred by their equipment alter the effectiveness of these techniques. I keep giving them higher leveled equipment but I have no idea whether its helping anything or not.

As far as I’m concerned the story is total word salad at this point. I don’t know who Louis was. I don’t know why the tape was important. I don’t know why Sonny and a few other undead are sentient. And at this point and I just don’t care. Most of this story telling is really tropey and created with the thought of , “Oh man, wouldn’t it be cool!” Wouldn’t it be cool if the mentor in the first game was a blind man who could smell zombies? Wouldn’t it be cool if there was this mysterious object that holds the key to Sonny’s future? Sonny 3 is going to have to try really hard to tie everything together.

The Verdict

The game is pretty good! I might not like the story any more but the systems are so deep that I’m more than willing to overlook that. I love tinkering around with my kit and build especially in the face of special and unique bosses or interesting enemies. I’m actually pretty excited for Sonny 3 to come out. I hope it’s good and ties everything together but I have serious doubts. Like the others in this series, this game is completely free.

Next Week: Au Sable

Madness Interactive (Flash Game)

Somewhere in Nevada the world has gone mad and you have chosen to fight back against injustice. The Sheriff is the ringleader of this circus but you’ll have to fight through hell and back to defeat him. Whether with your fists or scavenged weapons use your bullet time and perks to avoid harm and dish it out on the way to the Sheriff’s office.

History

The Madness series started off as an adobe flash animation series by the Newgrounds creator Krinkels. The Madness series started on July 25th of 2002, kicking off a series that would continue until July of 2013. Each one depicting the iconic cross-faced men fighting in progressively larger and larger melees — the benchmark for badass for every 14 year old on the internet. In between the 4th and fifth installments of the series Krinkels teamed up with game make, Flecko to create a game based on his series. Complete with the mindless violence that the madness series had been predicated on.

Madness Interactive was released on August 26th, 2003. It’s competition was Soul Calibur II (PS2, XBox, and GCN), Silent Hill 3 (PS2), and F-Zero GX (GCN).

Experiences

I remember the days of sneaking this in during class in middle school. One eye on the bad guys and the other on the teacher to make sure I didn’t get caught. It was damn hard to play on a track pad but we did what we had to do to have fun during those dark times. Heck, I ended up playing the game before I saw the flash movies. Then came the mods. Most of them just had different weapon skins and backgrounds but a few changed the game significantly. I used to have the flash source files for a mod known as The Matrix: Rayne. Complete with dual wielding and multiple characters with unique stats. Sadly this sort of thing was lost to the ages, rediscovered but I haven’t been able to track down the browser independent version. I last found the full download 8 years ago but the link was dead. Now it’s time to go back to the original, let’s see if it holds up.

Gameplay

Madness Interactive is seperated into 3 basic modes, the campaign, experimentation, and challenges. Each mode is a 2-D side scrolling beat ’em up with guns that your player can recover from enemies. The player can also drop weapons while swinging them to hurl them at enemies with mixed results. When the screen gets crowded with fire-arm toting badies then the player can initiate bullet time to slow down gunfire and give the player more breathing room.

The campaign has you going through progressively more and more difficult levels with staged spawning enemies. Every level you complete gives you the option between one of three perks which can range from longer character reach to additional bullet time. Unfortunately the character only has 3 lives so you’d better make them count, you don’t have a lot of health.

Some of the perks are really useful, others… not so much.

The challenge modes are zombie attack, matrix mode, knife throwing, and laser dodging modes. They’re a little self explanatory but the point is that they offer a great change up to the normal gameplay. And they unlock cheats! Get all those cheat codes! You can use them during the campaign mode to make it a little less difficult but, you won’t unlock any campaign mode cheats with any other cheats enabled.

Experimental mode is how most people played the game. Full control, spawning in any weapon, spawning in bad guys, and just having fun.

The Gush

The challenge modes manage to be fun without relying on combat expertise. Half of them don’t even have opponents. Why is it important that they’re fun without combat? We’ll get to that…

The music in this game is really good. Between the moody music of the main menu and the ongoing music of the campaign mode it makes me feel slick as hell. I only wish I knew where to buy these tracks, I’d put hard money down on them.

The game comes with a lot of cool costume elements you can use to decorate your character. It’s something small but it’s fun to create a goofy looking Jesus with an eyepatch in a suit.

The Kvetch

Some of the perks like Golden Bullet are really interesting but others like First Aid (which restore the character’s incredibly low health) fall flat. It’s such a pain because the three available options are chosen at random so a run of bad luck can ruin your run.

The campaign is based more on memorizing enemy spawn points than quick reflexes and accuracy. The game moves so fast, the controls are so clumsy, and the bullet time is so limited that it’s goddam impossible to survive past the third level without knowing what’s coming.

Miss one shot and it’ll plunge you into hit-stun hell.

What’t not fun about the combat? The incredibly clumsy controls. I can scarcely aim at enemies because the mouse controls are overly sensitive. In a world where one missed shot means getting riddled with bullets and ending up in a life losing fiesta these clumsy controls are unacceptable.

The Verdict

My Rose Tinted glasses have failed me. I did not enjoy revisiting this game. Playing the online version is damn near impossible because if your cursor slides off of the frame then the game won’t respond to any controls until you get back on. Things get better in the full flash edition but good luck finding a good download — Flecko.net has been defunct for a good long time. If I didn’t find the SWF file in my old computer’s folder then I would not have been able to find it. Overall the campaign’s limited lives systems makes it uncomfortably difficult. But it’s not all bad chum, at least it’s free.

Next Week: The Sonny series.

Defend Your Castle (Browser Flash Game, iOS, and WiiWare)

An army surrounds your entire fortress nation, the enemies are at the gates. As they marshal their forces you must make use of your castle’s ancient guardian, the mysterious cursor spirit. It has the ability to manipulate things in reality, sending them flying into the air and then crashing back down. Otherwise unprepared for the assault you must manage and build more defenses using the blood of your enemies to fuel your war machines. — By which I mean I made this all up in order to justify the rules of a flash game.

History

Defend your Castle was made by XGen Studios, a Canadian indie game studio lead by one Skye Boyes. Fully founded in 2005 after Boyes’ browser games began to accumulate acclaim. Skye also took this time to drop out of the Computer Science field. XGen would go on to attempt to port Machinarium to WiiWare, an enterprise which would ultimately fail due to WiiWare’s resolution and memory limitations. Xgen would go on to release an updated multiplayer version of Defend Your Castle to WiiWare.

I would say that it looks pretty nifty… but a little too messy.

Defend your Castle was fully released in 2003. It’s competition was Samorost (Browser Flash game), .hack//infection Part 1 (PS2), and Call of Duty (PC).

Experiences

One of my favorite things in games is creating a perpetual motion machine. I know that sounds weirdly paradoxical, ‘your favorite part of a game is the part where you don’t have to play it anymore?’ And the answer is, yeah kind of. I love the point when the castle becomes this sort of self sustaining engine. With enough archers to defend the gates and enough engineers to repair it I kind of don’t have to do anything anymore. I let it go and watch the points roll in. There eventually comes a point where even the engine gets clogged and overwhelmed by the sheer number of attackers. But that just reveals the experience of watching entropy take its claim.

Gameplay

Defend Your Castle is a point and click browser game in which an array of stick people invade from the left side of the screen. Using the cursor you can move and manipulate them, sending them hurtling into the sky where they eventually land in a bloody fanfare. Every level they send more enemies toward the castle and eventually send different and more advanced enemies.

Ah, the days of the early castle before things spiral out of control.

Every one you destroy awards you with points — not dollars, gold, gems, or any other form of currency… just points — and these points can be spent to repair and upgrade your castle. Allowing you to build building like the Temple which allow you to brainwash — I MEAN — convert your enemies into loyal minions — I MEAN — citizens who can be put to work as archers who occasionally dispatch enemies automatically. Or to the mana pool where they can become wizards capable of casting devastating and useful spells.

The Gush

The sound design is really good. From the way the ambient music clashes with the sound of stick figures falling to their doom. To the annoyed plop they make when they survive a fall or the bizarre cackling laughter of the death spell. It all just sounds good.

To me, this game is all about that point the castle doesn’t need me to babysit it anymore. I kickstarted the engine and now it’ll run until it’s out of gas. The real challenge of the game is figure out how to reach that point.

The Kvetch

Trained archers, engineers, and wizards take a toll in the form of upkeep costs. Every day they cost points, and that’s fine. The problem is that you need enough points to cover their costs at the beginning of your day, not at the end. If you train too many archers then you’ll get charged for upkeep costs, and then lose all the archers you couldn’t afford to pay with the points you had at the beginning of the day. I don’t know how many you lose, I’m not sure if it’s proportional, but they still charge you the cost of the people who leave. It’s really frustrating and it can kill a good run if you spend too much on wall upgrades buildings.

Escalating enemies are the only thing this game has in terms of a difficulty curve. Now, the guys with the battering rams, they’re cool. The problem comes with the giants. They can only be slowed down with clicks and cannot be flung so you either have to wait for a lucky arrow to dispatch them or have a mana pool to cast the instant death spell. If you don’t have the mana pool by the point they arrive — and you, the player have no idea when that will happen — then you’re basically screwed.

They also do a lot of damage, as you can imagine.

Speaking of different enemies. There’s one that sort of rubs me the wrong way. There’s a suicide bomber enemy because this was 2003 and we all thought it was cool to be edgy. But the thing that really bothers me about them is that every other stick figure is white with a black outline and the suicide bomber is all black. They’re apparently referred to as suicide ninjas but it just seems really off-putting and weird. Why are these reported ninja blowing themselves up instead of sneaking in? Why was it necessary to visually differentiate them in this way?

The Verdict

First things first, I am SUPER nostalgia blind for this one. I’m certain that the only reason I went back to it is because I’ve played it before. I’d be genuinely curious what a newcomer thought about the game, playing it for the first time, because it’s really rudimentary. That being said, for the flash games of the time it’s a real powerhouse which comes at the great price of completely free. There are far worse ways of burning an afternoon than playing this. And the WiiWare version looks fantastic, I’d really love to go a round or too waggling wii-motes with some friends.

Next Week: Madness Interactive.

Bioshock (PC, Mac, iOS, PS3, and XBox 360)

A plane crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and there is one miraculous survivor. Stranded in the sea he makes his way to the burning light of a nearby lighthouse. Emblazoned in a marquis above the arch reads ‘Welcome to Rapture’. Inexplicably drawn to a bathysphere deeper within our hero hears words of desperation coming from a nearby radio. The static laden voice asks the survivor to come to Rapture and help him save his wife and child, for Rapture has lost its mind. The survivor cannot speak, he cannot disagree. He would kindly love to.

To the sea floor he goes bound for a city in which the great are not restrained by the weak. Where the human genome has been mapped, a map which they have changed into a canvas. And where a man is entitle to the sweat of his brow.

History

Published by 2K games, and developed by 2K Boston and 2K Australia with help from other 2K teams. Bioshock was planned as the spiritual successor to System Shock 2 after 2K got bored of making games in the future/space. The original idea did take place in space with a drone, defender, harvester relationship being the primary focus of the game with the player being a sort of brain-washing enthusiast. These themes were too dark and were considered un-publishable but the themes would endure to Bioshock as we know it.

Fun Fact: The underwater 1940s-punk aesthetic of Rapture was created because the team thought cyber-punk was getting a little boring.

Bioshock was released on August 21st, 2007. It’s competition was Wild Arms 5 (PS2), Medieval 2: Total War: Kingdoms (PC), and Lair (PS3).

Experiences

Last week on this very blog I discussed Dishonored, a game that lies to the player too much for all the wrong reasons. This is a game that employs its deception masterfully. I fear I may have gone too far bringing it up but the game is 9 years old and I just have to point out when people do it right. And in this post-Undertale world the line between mechanic and in-game entity are becoming more and more blurry every day… and it makes me giddy.

Gameplay

Bioshock is a first person Action RPG which features a host of weapons, pseudo-magical powers — called plasmids –, tons of upgrades, and hordes of different kinds of enemies who’ll want to mess up your day. The game leads you on a guided tour of Rapture’s most prominent — and deadly — locations as you find more weapons to keep you up to snuff in combat and plasmids to widen the design space — seriously, just think of all the things you can do with the power of telekinesis or the ability to shoot lightning… in an underwater city.

Which will become incredibly useful when you’re fighting a woman like this.

No matter what you’ll be fighting your way through Rapture. How you do that is up to you. You can spend ADAM to upgrade or purchase additional plasmids, use dollars to buy ammo from hackable vending machines, or use other machines to upgrade your favorite shooter. All of these being totally viable options.

What’s this ADAM that’s in all caps up there? Why it’s the genetic sensation that’s sweeping the city! ADAM is a miracle material that allows quick and easy manipulation of someone’s genetic code, giving them the power to create fire or summon a cloud of angry bees — warning. Sellers of plasmids are not responsible for unintended genetic rewriting or any damage to the psyche caused by use of such products. How do you get ADAM, well you’ll (harvester) have to get it from the Little Sisters (Drones) but be careful of their Big Daddy bodyguards (defender). What you do with the poor girl is up to you at that point but, just remember, you get more ADAM by performing invasive surgery to get the ADAM out.

Ah, the Little Sister. As iconic as she is creepy.

The Gush

Between weapon, plasmid, and personal upgrades the only wrong way to play the game is not to explore and discover these things — then again, that’d make a helluva challenge. Even if you want to go through the whole game with the wrench as a melee warrior that’s totally possible and even capable of doing more damage than any other weapon in the game.

Holy philosophy Batfellows! Are you ready to see Capitalism, Libertarianism, and even more isms duke it out for control of Rapture? If you’re not then you’d best get ready because that’s what this game is all about.

I’ve got to say, I really like the hacking minigame. I never though pipe dreams could be so much fun!

Or should I say ‘plumbing minigame’?

Rapture might seem too far out to be real but I find it incredibly fascinating that it’s not impossible to build the fabled city. It would be incredibly impractical — and even more expensive — but Andrew Ryan was not a practical man.  The sheer technical possibility of its creation — even in the era of the game the 1940s — shows how much the designers cared about the world they made.

The music in this game is very impressive. I still can’t listen to ‘Welcome to Rapture’  without shedding a tear. It perfectly compliments the visuals musically with ideas of what could have been. Something irrevocably lost, a doomed experiment that could have produced wonders.

The Kvush

I really like the persistent moral choice presented by Bioshock but I feel the good side of the bargain might be too powerful. The big choice is rescuing the Little Sisters and getting a small ADAM supply or killing them — well… they might survive the incredibly invasive surgery — and getting a huge ADAM supply. But if you keep saving the children then you’ll be rewarded with little care packages filled with med kits, unique plasmids, ADAM, money, and even special ammo types. In the end harvesting all of them only offers the player 10% more  ADAM than they would have gotten otherwise. Oh… well, I guess the player doesn’t know that. The player has to trust that their good deeds will be rewarded in what presents itself as a Libertarian utopia. That all of Ayn Rand’s ideas go out the window when someone’s kindness is rewarded. When someone does something just because they feel that butterfly roiling of a good deed. That people feel indebted to those who do right by them. Did I just talk myself out of thinking this was bad design?

I don’t know, did you?

The Kvetch

The final boss SUCKS. After all this buildup and all of these complex psychological themes and intrigue the final boss is a big red jerk you shoot until he dies — three times, just in case one was too easy. The game even has a killer finale leading up to him that had my pulse pounding and my hands sweaty with stress and excitement. But the let down of his defeat could only be saved by the game’s stellar ending. Still, the fight is really boring and plain.

The Verdict

Wet damn this game is good. For twenty dollars on Steam it’s a steal. And that’s not even including buying a used copy for your console machine or how cheap it gets when it’s frequently on sale online. I cannot recommend playing this game enough. I find it incredibly shocking how well it holds up today.

Next Week: Bioshock 2

Armello (PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and PS4)

Armello is a kingdom composed of four major clans; Rabbit, Wolf, Bear, and Rat. Long ago they fought a grand, unending, war among one another but were united by the great and powerful Lion King. As of late however The King, a beacon of wisdom and justice, has lost his mind and begun to turn to dark magicks. You choose a hero from one of the clans and must dethrone the king by whatever means necessary –putting yourself on the throne wouldn’t hurt either–, Purge the land of this evil, become the heir apparent, kill the king with your own hands, or prove that you are truly the greater evil — why choose a lesser one?

History

Armello started off  in 2012 being developed by Team of Geeks, a 15 person team. It was originally going to be an iPad exclusive but Team of Geeks got a little stalled out. Development staggered forward for 2 years until they began a Kickstarter Campaign. Asking for $200,000 and getting $300,000 they made the game available for PS4 and computers.

The game’s influences include The Dark Crystal, Red Wall, Magic: The Gathering, and Spirited Away.

Armello was released on September 1st, 2015. It’s competition was Grow Home (PS4), Super Mario Maker (WiiU), and Undertale (PC and Mac)

Experiences

Big shout out to Youtuber Kikoskia, without whom I would have no knowledge of this game. Check him out, he makes good stuff. Before I go on I must announce that I have not actually played any PVP multiplayer. I can only speak to the vaguely competent AI. In my estimation games against other players would be totally different from a single play experience. I foresee the King dying and the players waking from their pvp smashing stupor to realize they were supposed to be playing the game instead of creating an endless cycle of revenge. My heart is filled with equal measure dread and zeal to play against another human.

“Are you guys even trying to kill me?”

Gameplay

The first thing you do when you begin a game of Armello is pick a character. Each character has unique statistics and a special ability, their clan also gives them an affinity for night or day — offering them bonuses during that time. Fight is how many dice you’ll role in a fight, body is your health, wits limits the number of cards you can carry and is used to avoid certain perils, and spirit is the amount of magic you get each night and is used in certain perils as well.

My favorite character is Barnaby because there’s something about a bunny in full plate that gives me the giggles.

What’s a peril? It’s a thing on the map that’ll mess you up if you fail to overcome it. What’s a card? Well it’s an item, spell, or trickery card that you can use, equip, cast, inflict on someone, or plop on a space and turn it into a peril. Cards also have a symbol on them corresponding to one of the faces on the armello dice — which are sword, sun, moon, shield, Wyld, and Rot. You can discard a card in combat or when faced with a peril to force one of the dice to roll that symbol. Barring that you can roll the dice and hope they fall favorably.

You also get to see who played the peril so if you know who’s at fault.

The resources in Armello are gold, magic, prestige, and rot. You gain gold from delving in dungeons and protecting settlements. Your magic equalizes at nightfall or can be boosted with certain items. Prestige is gained by defeating enemy heroes, saving towns, or killing monsters. It’s lost when you fall in combat, spend it on certain cards, kill a guard, or other special circumstances. Rot is acquired by playing certain cards, being killed by corrupted creatures, or failing certain perils — and rot is bad voodoo, just one point changes the way your character works and five points changes the game entirely.

The goal of Armello is to become the next monarch of Armello. You can do this by having the most prestige when the King dies, killing the king and surviving the encounter, gathering four spirit stones and bringing them to the king, or getting 5 rot and challenging the king to corruption mortal combat.

The Gush

When you have the most prestige you are prestige leader. Being prestige leader gives you the privilege of advising the king at the dawn of each day. He will present two options about how the kingdom should change and they’re almost always a choice of damnation. It’s a matter of choosing the lesser evil and some of the lesser evils are still very great. It’s a strategically satisfying mechanic.

Naturally, as prestige leader you cannot have the least prestige so… uuuuuh, guess we’re not fighting each other!

You can unlock certain items that can increase your stats for the duration of the game. Increasing weaker stats to balance out your character or making their powerful stats even more impressive. Even possibly granting new and interesting abilities altogether like regaining health at night or starting with 2 Prestige.

There’s something very satisfying about discovering effective strategies with each character. The first time I played Barnaby, The Screwloose Tinkerer, I stumbled upon a Blacksmith in my quests which made Barnaby’s weapons and armor even more effective. Now, whenever I’m presented with the opportunity to acquire the Blacksmith as Barnaby I do so.

The latest patch just put in a speed up function. Now during other players turns you can speed things up and skip their combat scenes. It makes everything run lightning fast when you’ve seen all the animations a hundred times — although watching the other turns was entertaining when I started playing.

The Kvetch

Achieving the rot victory is frustratingly difficult. I have yet to figure out how to get enough rot quickly enough to challenge the king before he keels over naturally. It might just take a lucky hand of opening cards and abilities but that would also be very unsatisfying. Maybe it’s just something that happens on accident?

At the end of the game each character is given some superlatives about how they played but… the game never explains what each superlative correlates to so I just gotta guess.

What the hell does being a warlock mean? Cause I didn’t cast a single spell. Or does that make me a purist?

I understand the flavor for each of the clans and it’s thematic and enjoyable. Wolf is all about fighting, rats are sneaky, bears are spiritual, but I have no idea what Rabbit’s deal is. Are they like the Hufflepuff of the clans? Doing that loyal and true thing? The closest thing I’ve got is that they’ve got a lot of ingenuity… I think… I dunno.

Sometimes I feel like the game’s go big or go home mentality makes the game too much about luck and too little about skill. Between card draws, dice rolls, Wonky AI, Guard placement and movement, monster movement and spawning, peril placement, and percentage chances of completing quests I sometimes feel victory goes to the luckiest.

It’s a 20% chance or nothing and there’s no way to improve my odds. If I win everyone will groan. If I lose I will be sad.

The Verdict

Armello is serious fun. It presents all the best parts of a board game without the worst parts of a board game. There’s no set up time, no putting away time, and no way to screw up how the rules work. The systems are very simple but also incredibly deep. Playing each character feels like a new experience. You might go for a certain path to victory but it’s much easier to win if you have an adaptive strategy adding even more to the replayability to the game. I’m not entirely sure if it’s worth the $20 price tag but it’s definitely worth $15 if you can catch it on Steam sale. Alone or buying it with a group of friends it’s incredibly fun.

Next Week: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion