Daniel (@dungeondive) continues the Wander: The Cult of Barnacle Bay playthrough with Tank and Ross still clawing their way out of the flooded tunnels beneath the village. He opens with a round of corrections — courtesy of the game’s BGG rules guru Tristan — that reshape play: moving both into and out of water ends movement, and enemy groups activate individually by line of sight rather than all at once, not as a bloc.
The bulk of the session is the underground firefight: throwing-axe range attacks picking off archers before they close, the ever-dangerous boomers (rat-critters that poison everything nearby when they die), and armoured brutes that soak hits. Along the way he showcases the systems he admires — exploding crit dice, defensive counters that punish attackers, dodge rolls when disengaging, and the initiative track’s position bonuses — while manipulating turn order to keep his tanky duo where they do the most good. A found thieves’ cape and steady leveling nudge the heroes toward tier two.
His running verdict stays warm: Wander is balanced, marrying colourful art and brutal story with enough tactical thought to matter without bogging down. Fiddly exceptions aside, he’s having a great time.
This session is largely Daniel walking back rules he’d been playing wrong for ages. Do you find a game more or less appealing when it needs a community FAQ to play correctly?