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Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out!
First: We come in peace or rather shoot to pieces the planet earth in Martian Dice
Next: We’re never so happy to spot land in our lives as we build our hodgepodge armies in Magic: the Gathering – Adventures in Forgotten Realms
Lastly: We do whatever it takes and we mean whatever it takes to gain popular vote in Devolution: Become a Supreme Leader for Life!
Martian Dice
Designed by: Scott Almes
Published by: Tasty Minstrel Games (2011)
Players: 2 – 99
Ages: 8 & up
Playing time: 10 min
In Martian Dice we play martians whose mission is be the first to fill your earthling abduction quota! Our goal is to collect samples of the Chicken, Cow, and Human to determine which of them is actually in charge.
You roll 13 custom dice, after each roll you must first set aside any Tanks, representing the human military coming to fend off your alien invasion. Then you may choose one type of die to set aside as well Chicken, Cow, Human, or Deathray … At the end of your turn, if you have at least as many Death Rays as Tanks, then you may abduct the earthlings you’ve been setting aside. You can’t pick any type of Earthling twice in one turn, but if you manage to abduct at least one of each you’ll score a bonus!
Magic: The Gathering | Adventures in Forgotten Realms
Designed by: Richard Garfield
Published by: Wizards of the Coast (1993)
Players: 2 +
Ages: 13 & up
Playing time: 20 min
From the official website: In the Magic game, you play the role of a planeswalker—a powerful wizard who fights other planeswalkers for glory, knowledge, and conquest. Your deck of cards represents all the weapons in your arsenal. It contains the spells you know and the creatures you can summon to fight for you.
This is the grandfather of the collectible card game (or CCG) genre. Cards are categorized as common, uncommon, rare, and mythic rare. Players collect cards and build decks out of their collection.
Players build a deck of cards and duel against an opponent’s deck. Players are wizards attempting to reduce their opponent’s life total to zero. The first player to reduce his opponent’s life to zero (or meet another set win condition) wins the game.
An important part of the game is deck construction, which is done prior to the actual game by selecting what cards are included in a particular deck. There are nearly 20,000 different cards from which to build your deck!
Cards can be lands, which usually generate mana of various colors, or spells, which require a certain amount of mana to be used. Some cards (creatures, artifacts, and enchantments) stay on the board and continue to affect the game, while others have a one-time effect.
Players randomly draw spells to see what they get and can play each turn. Although this limits your choices, there is a lot of strategy in how you play those spells. A robust list of game mechanics, including intricate rules for reactive card play called “the stack,” provide for rich tactics and tough choices each turn.
Though traditionally a two-player duel, there are several casual and tournament formats to Magic that allow more players to play.
Devolution: Become a Supreme Leader for Life!
Designed by: Jason Rye
Published by: Taike Games (coming to KS in 21/22)
Players: 2 – 8
Ages: 18 & up
Playing time: 20 – 50 min
Devolution is a game about the dark nature of politics, where you will attempt to take control of the Judiciary, Media and Strategic Companies to gain absolute power over the Republic and become the Supreme-Leader-For-Life! (Just a heads up though, life may be short and death unnatural).
To do that, you will need to gain popularity points by bribing or manipulating the voters. It comes at the cost of increasing depravity of public life and so the doomsday clock is set in motion! If you don’t seize power before it reaches 100, the people will storm the palace gates and hang everyone.
The increasing depravity may not be all bad news. When the Depravity Meter reaches 70 there will be an opportunity for one of you to seize power as the leader of the revolutionary movement that will soon swallow everyone. Players can also seize power with the generals in a Coup d’État or with Priesthood or with Business.
winning conditions depend on the number of players
Each player holds seven cards and plays 2 per turn. These and popularity can be used to buy cards from the Republic deck or to spite and stop the other players which raises the depravity which, as Depravity Meter reaches 70, gives one more opportunity, for those holding the Spirit of the Revolution card, to seize power as the leader of the people. There are a variety of cards in the deck, some can be used out of turn in reaction to another player’s play adding more dynamic interaction to the game (you can foil someone else’s plan by assassinating the Judge they needed to gain an Judiciary Institution with a Black Ops card, for example).
Like in politics, the effects of one’s actions are not always 100% predicable: dice rolls) and as the Depravity Meter goes up past bomb-marked fields, the player causing the depravity has to draw a card from the Shit Happens deck which may adversely affect just them or everybody at the table (the logic being that the misdeeds within the party affect the image of the whole party). Players draw cards at the end of their turn.