Cloudspire

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. 4 out of 10

   burgessshawn1

   Concept is great, excellent asymmetry in the races, the tech trees are cool, the production is stellar............but the game isn't good. Very disappointing because I can see that there's a good game in there somewhere, but it didn't make it out. Landmarks and events are way too swingy, there's a million exceptions to keep track of, you're constantly looking up rules and edge cases that are unclear and not adequately explained, game takes forever (4+ hours) and never really gives an adequate payoff. I love massive games with elaborate rule sets, but this just doesn't gel. It's too bad, I really wanted this to be good. I almost backed it in the kickstarter but couldn't quite pull the trigger, in retrospect I'm glad.

2. ajewo

   Defend your fortress while sending forth heroes and minions in a MOBA-style competitive tower defense game by Chip Theory Game (Too Many Bones, Hoplomachus). [b]What makes it special?[/b] * Stacked disc are used to represent health, abilities, and groups of units [b]Pros:[/b] + Components (printed poker chips, printed dice, durable mats, waterproof) + Modular board made of hexagon groups + Command point system: players spend different amount of command points to activate actions. + Visualization: by stacking colored disc on top of each other, players can see the health and + Relic cards grant special abilities and options + Market where players can purchase unique heroes and equipment (players can improve their market options, turn order grant advantages as well) + 4 very different factions with different units. Units have different stats: health, range + Different scenarios with special rules + Players build or upgrade defenses, purchase advances, or unlock new units or equipment + Simple dice-based combat + Organizers included for chips + Big player aids (unique for each faction) + Fun solo and coop mode: very puzzly and you have a lot of options to solve it. [b]Neutrals:[/b] # Theme: generic fantasy, a bit quirky. # Artwork is okay, terrain looks a little too busy # Solo and coop mode # Chaotic resolvement with higher player counts (outcome is hard to foresee) # Neoprene hexagon tiles # Best with 1 player # Expensive game (overproduced?). # Events each round in competitive mode that affect all players (positive or negative). Can be very swingy. # The Onslaught Phase is a combination of automation and choices by players: minions move. Some units automatically attack if possible. Hero units have more flexibility and options (however, the amount of choices seems to be a little limited without Relic cards) [b]Cons:[/b] - Tedious unit resolvement. - A lot of rules, rules exceptions, and keyword referencing. If you do not play this game regularly, you have to re-learn it (tedious). - Random events - Complex factions. In competitive mode, you not only should know how to play your own faction, but also how your opponent's faction works. - Too unpredictable in competitive mode due to simultaneous secret unit deployment. [b]Similar games:[/b] * Guards of Atlantis (competitive team-based miniatures game inspired by MOBA computer games) * Hoplomachus (quicker and less complex arena game by the same designers with a great solo mode)

3. 10 out of 10

   Alan How

   It’s a fantastic puzzle with no easy solution, multiple ways to solve it but each could go wrong with enormous replayability. Stunning. 10/10. And that’s just the solo game. Then there’s 1v1, 1v1v1, 2v2 and cooperative. And by the time we’ve played that they’ll be an expansion. Even better than Too Many Bones which was also a 10.