Oh boy!
This week’s review game is hard to peg down in terms of how we at The Meeple Guild got on with it at the table.
DraeAscaria: Rogue Beasts has players taking on the role of a mythical creature wandering through a dungeon maze where beasts pop up every turn and must be battled. If you win, you may be able to recruit the beast to your “team,” at least up to four of them. You can then have those beasts help you in future encounters.
If the beast wins, you go “poof,” re-materializing back at the starting location. It feels very video game-esque. In fact, I recall an early video game my son loved as a kid that felt much like this, with players randomly trolling for monsters before ultimately taking on the big baddie to win. Yes, that’s the goal here too.
The artwork is nice. It feels very much like it would fit into a Pokémon card set, and the whole game gives off that vibe in a major way.
So this one seems to skew toward a younger player. We at The Meeple Guild were rather underwhelmed and ultimately bored with it.
However, if you were a pre-teen into the aforementioned Pokémon, this might get a very different reaction. Rather strangely, though, the game is rated 14+, which we sort of see as the upper limit for truly embracing it.
There are also a few things here that didn’t enhance the game experience.
The big, chunky life counters somehow seem out of place. That may sound like nitpicking, but it all contributes to the overall appeal of a game.
There is also a “rock-paper-scissors” aspect to how beasts fare in a fight, but there is no player aid to help keep the extended “this beats that” cycle fresh in your mind.
You can gain “treasures,” such as healing potions, but there is no explanation as to whether you can simply quaff one at any time or whether drinking it takes the place of another action that turn. That makes a rather huge difference.
If you and a beast tie for who goes first in a battle, is it an instantaneous battle where both get their swings in?
For what is ultimately a really simple game, we found too many questions that lacked answers in the rulebook. That meant players had to agree among themselves on how to handle certain situations. Maybe that’s why they recommend ages 14+, so players have enough gaming experience to draw upon.
From designers Jesse Frost and Chris Sheehan, you can check out DraeAscaria: Rogue Beasts at www.mystfanggames.com.
About Author
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
DraeAscaria: Rogue Beasts
This week’s review game is hard to peg down in terms of how we at The Meeple Guild got on with it at the table.
DraeAscaria: Rogue Beasts has players taking on the role of a mythical creature wandering through a dungeon maze where beasts pop up every turn and must be battled. If you win, you may be able to recruit the beast to your “team,” at least up to four of them. You can then have those beasts help you in future encounters.
If the beast wins, you go “poof,” re-materializing back at the starting location. It feels very video game-esque. In fact, I recall an early video game my son loved as a kid that felt much like this, with players randomly trolling for monsters before ultimately taking on the big baddie to win. Yes, that’s the goal here too.
The artwork is nice. It feels very much like it would fit into a Pokémon card set, and the whole game gives off that vibe in a major way.
So this one seems to skew toward a younger player. We at The Meeple Guild were rather underwhelmed and ultimately bored with it.
However, if you were a pre-teen into the aforementioned Pokémon, this might get a very different reaction. Rather strangely, though, the game is rated 14+, which we sort of see as the upper limit for truly embracing it.
There are also a few things here that didn’t enhance the game experience.
The big, chunky life counters somehow seem out of place. That may sound like nitpicking, but it all contributes to the overall appeal of a game.
There is also a “rock-paper-scissors” aspect to how beasts fare in a fight, but there is no player aid to help keep the extended “this beats that” cycle fresh in your mind.
You can gain “treasures,” such as healing potions, but there is no explanation as to whether you can simply quaff one at any time or whether drinking it takes the place of another action that turn. That makes a rather huge difference.
If you and a beast tie for who goes first in a battle, is it an instantaneous battle where both get their swings in?
For what is ultimately a really simple game, we found too many questions that lacked answers in the rulebook. That meant players had to agree among themselves on how to handle certain situations. Maybe that’s why they recommend ages 14+, so players have enough gaming experience to draw upon.
From designers Jesse Frost and Chris Sheehan, you can check out DraeAscaria: Rogue Beasts at www.mystfanggames.com.
About Author
Calvin Daniels
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
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