Skip to content
Login / Register
Menu
Kickstarter – Gamefound
Board Games
Strategy
Family and Children
Party
Adult
Thematic
Ελληνικα Παιχνιδια
LCG
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Marvel Champions: The Card Game
The Lord of The Rings: The Card Game
RPGs
D & D
Pathfinder
Gamebooks
Others
Accessories
Game Mats
Bags
Dice
Sleeves
Sapphire Sleeves
Paladin Sleeves
Other
Novels – Books
Plunder boxes
Marvel: Crisis Protocol
Search for:
Home
/
Shop
/
Board Games
/
Strategy
Add to Wishlist
Totemic
15m - 30m
1 - 2 Players
Ages 14+
Card drafting games are games in which players pick cards from a limited subset, such as a common pool, to gain some advantage (immediate or longterm) or to assemble hands of cards that are used to meet objectives within the game.
Card Drafting
Hand management games are games with cards in them that reward players for playing the cards in certain sequences or groups. The optimal sequence/grouping may vary, depending on board position, cards held and cards played by opponents. Managing your hand means gaining the most value out of available cards under given circumstances. Cards often have multiple uses in the game, further obfuscating an "optimal" sequence.
Hand Management
Games that use the Memory mechanic require players to recall previous game events or information in order to reach an objective.
Memory
Variable Player Powers is a mechanic that grants different abilities and/or paths to victory to the players.
Variable Player Powers
9.00
€
30 day low:
Out of stock
Search for:
Kickstarter – Gamefound
Board Games
Strategy
Family and Children
Party
Adult
Thematic
Ελληνικα Παιχνιδια
LCG
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Marvel Champions: The Card Game
The Lord of The Rings: The Card Game
RPGs
D & D
Pathfinder
Gamebooks
Others
Accessories
Game Mats
Bags
Dice
Sleeves
Sapphire Sleeves
Paladin Sleeves
Other
Novels – Books
Plunder boxes
Marvel: Crisis Protocol
Login
Cart
Your cart is empty!
Return to shop
Skip to content
Open toolbar
Accessibility Tools
Accessibility Tools
Increase Text
Increase Text
Decrease Text
Decrease Text
Grayscale
Grayscale
High Contrast
High Contrast
Negative Contrast
Negative Contrast
Light Background
Light Background
Links Underline
Links Underline
Readable Font
Readable Font
Reset
Reset
littlechandler
I thought this game would be a deeper and more variable version of Elements/Khmer, with a theme I really like and a solo mode on top of that. However, while in Khmer/Elements you gradually narrow down the opponent's hand possibilities, but there isn't the sense of circling your opponent trying to find an opening when they have low cards in hand. The cards you gain from the central row are interesting in that the lower valued ones have better powers, but a surprisingly small percent of your cards actually come from that avenue. Instead, you are constantly drawing blind from the top of the deck, including after every challenge. Therefore it, lacks the gradual gaining of information of your opponent's hand in Elements/Khmer, and therefore card play manuevering & bluffing of that game. In fact, sometimes you will immediately follow your opponent's challenge with a challenge of your own just because you top decked 2 good cards, and you know your opponent has no control of 2 out of 3 cards in their hand, so it is likely you will win. Instead, it feels more like 2-player Poker, with also the same amount of luck and need to play many games to even out luck. I don't like Poker, but the variability and some maneuvering of card powers does make it somewhat better than Poker for me. Unfortunately, I think people who are fans of Poker may dislike it for muddying up the bluffing, especially with the multistep checks to ensure 3 cards in hand (which wouldn't be fiddly at all in a game even of medium-light weight, but feels like too much procedure in such a light game). I wonder if this game would have been better, at least from an Elements/Khmer perspective, if instead of by default always drawing back to 3 cards on your turn you just cannot challenge/be challenged until both players have 3 cards in hand, and also all other actions ensure that you net one card in hand (e.g. make all powers not discard cards unless they draw a same number of cards, make it so when you take a card from the center row you don't have to discard a card from hand unless it would make you exceed 3). That would make more of the cards come from the interesting center row part of the game. The totem in the game is a complete gimmick, and mine does not turn easily. Would have been much easier with some tokens. It's annoying that the animal-specific cards do not list the corresponding animals on the front of the card, especially since the art style makes it sometimes hard to tell which animal is which. The solo mode obviously lacks the bluffing aspect, which is a big part of the game. It has a risk management aspect with the AI getting a +0 to 6 modifier, so may be decent enough for a time killer once in a while, but I would definitely not buy the game for it.
Reyne49
So much fun! This is a great game to have little competitions in! Obviously there is a lot of luck, but as the game is very quick it works well! The variety in animals and their abilities is what makes this game better than it should be. Fun little game with fantastic art.
CotB
Weight - Light Playtime - 10 Minutes Optimal Player Count - 2 Table Time - Key Mechanisms -Duelling -Hand Management -Bluffing Rankings