I only played once so far… so limited experience. I like the added decision of which card/route to choose based on what goals you need, and what you have already setup. It seems stronger than just basing your decision on if you can survive (which I do in Ironhelm)
I played a warrior type, so haven’t played with the magic yet, and wasn’t smart enough to mix any ingredients into potions.
I think that with more content it will be quite epic. Hopefully the Level card progressions can interact a bit more with the game, as I found that a bit light.
Also I wish it came in the Ironhelm sized box, as it was great for card storage, and Underquest box sorely lacks a good way to store the cards.
I have a feeling it could possibly get to the Quest for the Lost Pixel at some point. (Or I hope it does)
@boardgamebrewer mentions the core difference with choice around icons matching. In general, the biggest other differences I notice are more narrative, larger variety of enemies (with the abomination cards), loot, and a potion crafting system. There are a ton of cards so it feels quite varied.
I will keep Iron Helm. It’s slightly lighter and I appreciate I can carry everything in the small box. Here is what I also wrote on another forum: I’ve played several more games of Underquest and I’ve thought of a few reasons why I will keep Iron Helm:
I like the thematic dungeons of Iron Helm with specific enemies and boss. Multiple games have better continuity, where you feel like you are working towards a goal of taking on tougher and tougher dungeons. While you can visit the Lonely Troll Inn between adventures in Underquest, the only thing that changes, is to use the more difficult level cards. In Underquest, there is more of a feeling of rinsing and repeating even though you will take on new quest combinations, discover new random draws etc. Iron Helm has an end game and multiple sessions feel more satisfying. Expansions likely will help Underquest in this department.
Iron Helm feels more like a true Roguelike. Underquest has more narrative elements and specific quests you are fulfilling in the game and emergent narrative is stronger. Iron Helm is about dungeon delving with a bit of narrative spice thrown in but it very much is about the monsters, traps, loot, character progression, more basic but more in line with a true roguelike minimal dungeon delving experience which sometimes I crave more.
The art of course is great in both games but Underquest feels a bit more busy and intricate. I like it a lot. However, I find the white background contrast with visual elements, very satisfying. It reminds me more of old school D&D (AD&D 2nd Edition Monster Manual anyone??).
I’ve been working my way through the cases of LA-1. I grabbed a copy after watching Daniel’s review and I’m glad I took the plunge.
The first play was underwhelming (I solved it in three rounds), but I shuffled the decks and played the same scenario a second time. That session became a trial for the detectives. The world was against them, time was running out and they couldn’t make ends meet. The lead investigator was assassinated while reaching beyond his abilities. I was stunned by the real consequences, and then joyfully ‘hired’ a replacement character to close out the case.
Spending the wing going through old boxes and found a copy of SPIs The Return of the Stainless Steel Rat. Looks like a paragraph adventure game. Anyone ever play it? It looks pretty neat that I might give it a try.
I do have (somewhere) a Stainless Steel Rat adventure book (and all the paperbacks, naturally!) but it didn’t have a game board / map of any kind with it. It is called ‘you can be the Stainless Steel Rat’ IIRC.
Last night we played Great Wall for the first time in a long time. I enjoyed it a lot more than I remembered. We got the rule wrong on buying off shame (we thought you could only buy off one per round) but only spotted this right near the end so stuck with it. It turned out to be quite close, with a spread of about 115 to 155 points last / first placed.
Played through the first 2 missions of Tomb Raider, and I love it! It has a 15 mission campaign, with things carrying over from one to the next, and it has a fully randomized hex map campaign with smaller, randomized dungeons. I really love this system, and I’m hoping the publishers are smart about it, and will utilize it with different themes and IPs. A Conan game using this system would be amazing. I’m so stoked this game is as good as it is. It’s got a great dice pool action selection system, you can craft new outfits, weapons, abilities, ammo, etc., is pretty quick to set up, easy to learn, and really quick to play. One of the more pleasant new board game experiences I’ve had.
Oh no! I had to talk myself out of backing this game multiple times. I felt good at the time that I had resisted the temptation. Now I’m going to second guess my next FOMO resistance.
Let me amend my last comment for a different perspective from a new day. I’m still glad I didn’t crowdfund the unknown game that looked interesting. I got to wait and see some early feedback on the game, and it still sounds like fun. THAT is my reason to avoid FOMO purchases. Now I have more information, and I’ll likely preorder a copy.
I have been working (for a while) on getting the Mordheim skirmish game to the table. I just received my hardcopy of the Mordheim Rulebook and the primary miniatures for my Undead Warband.
Pretty happy to have found a copy of Prince Duvalle to use for my Vampire (from Direchasm: The Crimson Court) to go along with the Necromancer, the Dire Wolves, and the Ghouls. I plan to add a few of the Skeletons (as Dregs) and Zombies from Warhammer Quest: Cursed City as needed.
I will be using Jelsen Darrock from Cursed City as the leader of my Witch Hunters. The rest will be composed of the Warrior Priest from the City of Ash box set and the Regiment of Renown: Ven Denst’s Hounds.
I have gone with the Sorcerer of Chaos as my leader and will use models from the Accursed Cultists as my Possessed and Mutants. I will add three of the Pestigors from Warhammer Quest: Darkwater to the squad as Beastmen.
The Mercenaries were sourced from the City of Ash box set. Jorvan Kreel from that set will serve as the leader, and I plan to use this one set to represent all three variations of the mercenaries (minus the Warrior Priest, which will be part of the Witch Hunters).
The City of Ash box set will also be the foundation for my Skaven Warband. It will provide my Assassin Adept leader, Black Skaven, and Night Runners.
I have added a model for the Eshin Sorcerer and a model for the Rat Ogre (from Island of the Blood Ogres) in case my warband can ever afford to hire one.
I randomly clicked on this video after binge watching Daniel’s solo RPG vids.
This guy is hilarious and just a joy to listen to. Highly recommend taking a look at this video.
