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(More customer reviews)Colby Dauch may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of seasoned game designers but if Summoner Wars is any indication of what's to come from this former freelancer, that's all about to change. Like countless games before it, I came into this one well aware of the hype, hoopla and general acclaim this title seems to have generated in its relatively short tour of duty. Only unlike many of the others, Summoner Wars lived up to the praise that's been heaped upon it.
Let's begin with the hard facts as they're swift and sweet, kind of like the game itself. It's designed for 2-players (expandable up to 4), is recommended for gamers ages 9 & up, and rounds average out to between 30 to 60 minutes. Within either of the two starter sets currently available (Phoenix Elves Vs. Tundra Orcs or Guild Dwarves Vs. Cave Goblins), players will find the following: A paper battlefield mat, 20 wound tokens, five 6-sided dice, 2 complete faction card decks, and a 15-page, full color rulebook.
While at present these four total factions (or pair of starter sets as the case may be) represent all of the available options for potential gamers. However, Colby has hinted steadily since the game's release that expansion faction kits are in the works. These foil pack card decks would be notably cheaper to buy as such bits as the battle map, dice, and tokens would simply be used from the starter sets. However, before you get nervous that this has the makings of but another collectible card game series (CCG), rest assured Plaid Hat Games has made it clear very early on that there will be no "blind buying"; all the cards in a given kit will be clearly identified to the player prior to purchase. And indeed it would seem that the company is remaining true to its word by listing each and every unit included within each faction on the back of each of these starter sets.
Decks are customizable, however, and can be mixed and matched for unique gaming scenarios (I'm personally going to attempt some Orc Vs Dwarf action later this evening in fact). While either one of these two sets includes everything 2-players will need to get underway, having both allows for 3 and 4 player campaigns and the rulebook devotes a nice section to setting up these particular scenarios.
Speaking of the rulebook, definite recognition is required on a job well done! While Plaid Hat Games may be a company just getting started, a player would never know it based on the quality, clarity, and user-friendliness of the included instructions. The is a first class effort all the way from the background story which is surprisingly convincing to the abundant full color photographic examples of in-play situations and tactics. The material is broken down very intelligently and never bogs first timers down with unique scenarios and rule-exceptions to consider. Such things appear in due time and referring to the manual is also a quick and painless affair.
To further compliment the user-friendliness of the whole package, Plaid Hat includes a reference card for each and every deck that covers everything from the starting position of their units on the board, the sequence of events that constitute a turn, and breaks down the names and amount of event cards within that given deck. Very useful!
Now, as I'm sure you've read enough about my praising the attention to detail, let's discuss the game itself. This is tactical combat in the strictest sense of the word and thankfully, Colby never allowed the purity of that fact become clouded throughout the development cycle of the game. The goal is as straightforward as they come: To kill the opponent's Summoner. Each deck has one of these cards that gets placed upon the mat initially. Take down your enemy's Summoner and you've won the game. Should he defeat yours, victory is his. I certainly appreciate the singular focus of the game as an abundance of victory scenarios does little more than cloud the true art of war. Here there are many naturally occurring strategies to aid in your goal (including of course the simultaneous task of protecting your own Summoner) but never do any of these feel contrived or "patched in" for added complexity.
I'm a big fan of games that literally work off their own mechanics successfully and there are few examples as crisp as this one. Destroying enemy units in either attacks or through the use of magic sends the card to your own magic pile. This pile can then be spent to summon new troops to your own army. Movement is always to empty adjacent squares on the grid and there are no directional limitations (except that diagonal moves count as one spot up and one over or one spot over and one up). The brilliance here is that attacking and retreating feels surprisingly tactical and there are unmistakable benefits to such things as long distant attacks and the protection of walls.
Combat is fairly straight forward, with dice rolls determining victory only rather than typical "sum the value rolled" action, Summoner Wars works of the system that any 3 or above registers as a single hit, while 2 or 1 misses. There are no defend or retaliatory rolls so many units will sustain injury or become destroyed entirely while the player helplessly watches on. However, this too factors into the grand scheme of things as its wise to put yourself in a position to be able to sustain such losses and still mount an offensive. In this regard magic cards often act as a great equalizer.
Games like these literally succeed or fail based on a single element (which is why it's so incredibly risky for a company to begin on such an ambition): balance. Should any single faction possess what could be deemed even the slightest advantage over any of the others, gamers are quick to cry foul. And while Colby self professes a strong case of attention deficit disorder (ADD), one would be hard pressed to find evidence of it here, in what surely was the most painstaking part of the whole development process. The balance between the four available factions is unprecedented in terms of its own system of checks and balances. Don't be surprised if you find yourself feeling that your opponent had some sort of advantage should you fall in battle- this is a perfectly natural defense mechanism (and this is experience talking here as my own bruised ego left me no choice but to blame the cards several times early on too). The key is to immediately switch decks. Do this enough and it becomes clear that any faction is capable of claiming victory at any given time. This is a game that relies on player cunning, tactical planning, and just a little bit of luck (in the combat system) to get the job done.
Of course what good would a game critique be if it consisted only of endless praise? To find complaint in Summoner Wars, I have to resort to "bandwagoning" with all of the other critics who complained about the paper game board. Unlike most however, my complaint isn't so much centered on the fact that it's paper in and of itself (hey, I understand the cost of production is no small factor to consider in a start up company) but rather the fact that it's folded so tightly to fit in the box that it's impossible to flatten out completely. I've heard of players who've attempted to iron out the creases, have stored the unfolded mat under encyclopedias, and even brought the thing into the sauna then took a rolling pin to it! In the end the only solution, it would appear, is to hard mount it or to lay a large section of clear Plexiglas over the top of it. The rest of us are going to have to deal with cards sliding on hills (some companies even might try to pass this off as geographic realism).
My only other complaint, and this one is more a general outcry to the entire gaming industry as opposed to targeting Summoner Wars directly, involves the luck element of combat rolling. Perhaps I'm just a bit bitter having literally rolled 5 back-to-back misses in my first round of play, but it was frustrating enough to force me to put the game away then revisit it when cooler heads prevailed. However, in all fairness, the chance element is a fact of life in 99.9% of games and this one here just so happens to be strong enough to offset my minor griping.
In all, it's very, very rare that I should enter into a game with such high expectations and not come away from it letdown in one capacity or another. Summoner Wars is that incredibly uncommon exception, the game that manages to pack dozens of fantastic gaming elements into a small, easily comprehensible package. There is a definite trend, in war-gaming in particular, to succumb to the pressure to keep adding rules, stipulations, unique scenarios, and counterbalances to make the game fresh in a saturated market. I often view this tactic as the inherent opposite of what makes games like checkers, chess, and mancala timeless classics. In other words, if you can't play the game without the aid of a 100-page manual, there's a strong chance your great-great grandchildren will never have heard of it. Summoner Wars is refreshing in its ability to combine strong tactical combat traits with a high degree of intuitivism- the making of, in my opinion anyway, a future classic.
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The Mountains of Sorrow are aptly named for they have been the site of the unending clash between Goblin and Dwarf. The Cave Goblins seek merely to throw themselves upon any foe with the will to fight. The Guild Dwarves sit in their mountain halls jealously guarding their ancient riches. But with the discovery of the Summoning Stones comes a new kind of combat and now these two great races will help set off the War for Itharia. Summoner Wars: Guild Dwarves vs. Cave Goblins gives players everything they need to join the War for Itharia as either of these great races. Will you play the Guild Dwarves whose knowledge of siege warfare knows no rival? Or will you play the Cave Goblins and swarm your foe with your fanatical hordes? This Summoner Wars Starter Set provides 2 complete Faction decks as well as all the materials needed to play games of Summoner Wars. Summoner Wars is an expandable non-blind purchase card game. It will be expanded with new common and champion units for customizing your favorite faction and will also be expanded with all new factions and all new Summoners for existing factions. Summoner Wars can also easily support 4 players with the purchase of 2 Starter Sets.
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