作者彙整: Matt Miller

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep is rolling out today, and Bungie was kind enough to let us check out a copy of the collector’s edition and share details and pictures with you. Hop down into the gallery if you just want a glimpse of the goodies inside, or read on for some brief descriptions of what you can expect to find within. Most reports indicate the Collector’s Edition has been broadly sold out, so if you didn’t snag a copy, here’s your chance to see what you’re missing.

The Collector’s Edition box opens up and immediately offers up a letter from Eris Morn, who writes to our Guardian of a doomed Golden Age expedition on the moon, and a mysterious power sought by the Hive. The opposite face of the letter includes a map of the First Light Mission Complex on Luna, with several areas circled.

The collector’s edition also includes both a digital code for an exclusive emblem and is supposed to include a digital soundtrack code, although I should note here that the soundtrack code seemed to be missing from our copy. Hopefully, that’s only a function of the early copy of the product we received, rather than an indication of what’s going out to consumers.

Dig a bit deeper, and you get to other goodies, including a physical patch (depicting the same image as your new digital emblem), and a piece of Eris’ jewelry that recalls prayer beads in its look, which is contained in a cinched cloth sack that may remind some of a dice bag.

A “Codes and Procedures” book offers some lore goodness to dig into, and seems to detail information about the lost Golden Age expedition that once visited Luna.

A “Luna Journal” is also included, and it features a wealth of new lore for fans to dig into, some of which veers a bit into spoiler territory for Shadowkeep. Without delving into those elements, it’s enough to say that the journal has mostly blank pages, but scattered across the pages of the book are log entries from the mission to the moon. Within the front cover, there is also a postcard and similarly sized images that are meant to look like pictures taken during this mysterious mission.

The pièce de résistance in the Collector’s Edition is the Hive Cryptoglyph, which will certainly be the display piece you’ll have out on your shelf as you play through Shadowkeep. The detailed artifact includes actual twisting bands that feature Hive runes, and the whole thing is actually a puzzle to be solved and opened, but we’ll leave the secret of how to do so up to you to discover, in case you’re actively avoiding being spoiled. 

Take a look at the gallery below to see what’s included. And whether you sprung for the Collector’s Edition or not, best of luck on the Moon, Guardians!

Click image thumbnails to view larger version

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I like knowing what I’m going to get with a game, and that means that Fantasy Flight’s living card game formula is very appealing. Unlike traditional collectible card games, the core sets and expansions for a living card game have a fixed distribution model; put simply, everyone who purchases a given set gets exactly the same content, cards, and components. Over time, it’s easy to stick with the basics or expand your engagement on a month-to-month basis, catering your purchases to your level of engagement.

Marvel Champions is the latest game to explore this model, and the initial core set is especially impressive. This single release includes all the cards you need to play the game solo or with up to four players total, without any additional purchases. The included rules books are articulate and welcoming, providing preset starter decks for your first few games to help get players up to speed, but a bevy of additional cards that allow you to begin experimenting with deck customization. The included cards are bright, the art generous and evocative of the original comic characters, and the related tokens and other components are solid and well produced. This is a robust game packed into a single box, and one that you can get to playing much faster than many comparable strategic card games.

All that risks burying the lead; Marvel Champions is a ton of fun, especially if you are a fan of the Marvel universe. And, let’s be frank here; doesn’t just about everybody have at least a passing familiarity and enthusiasm for characters like Iron Man and Black Panther at this point? Marvel Champions is a wholly cooperative game in which each character controls one of the iconic heroes, including in this initial set Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, She-Hulk, and Spider-Man. Working together, you confront one of several villains (Ultron, Rhino, and Klaw are included here) and their scheming plans, even while juggling the competing needs of both your hero and alter ego identities.

The general flow of play encourages players to balance a number of competing interests. Without a doubt, you must smash the opposing villain into submission with regular and concerted attacks. Simultaneously, you must counteract and thwart the villain’s blossoming scheme before it comes to fruition. Along the way, you’ve got to steadily improve and upgrade by attaching upgrades to your hero. And, from time to time, make sure that you recover from your battles as your alter ego, resting up and sometimes tending to your life outside of the suit.

That all plays out through a straightforward flow of turns. Each player enacts as many plans and attacks as they can with their current hand of cards, expending resources to perform actions and getting more beneficial cards onto the table. Villains then trigger, attacking each hero in turn, or advancing their schemes if the hero isn’t there to fight (because they are recovering as their alter ego). Then every player resolves an encounter, which might for example be a side scheme enacted by Rhino to steal stuff across town, or the arrival of Sandman into the fight to further cause trouble. Players pursue that structure of play until the villain has either been beaten to reach victory, or until the villain has either defeated all the heroes or completed them scheme, leading to a loss.

Even in my first game, I was impressed by the ease of play. Part of that is the included starter decks, which do a stellar job of onboarding new players through a structured first game that is characterized by the most straightforward cards and actions available in the box. But even beyond that initial game, Marvel Champions is one of those card games that just clicks very quickly. Heroes act first, villains respond; the natural flow of play is logical. Villainous minions trigger against the character who drew them, but not the other heroes. Character cards (which flip between their hero and alter ego sides) can only trigger powers that match the side of the card currently facing up. Through these, and dozens of other intuitive ideas, Marvel Champions is easy to learn and teach.

Simultaneously, it will only take you minutes to recognize the many ways that the designers have maintained strategic depth and engagement. Cards combo in exciting ways, like when Black Panther flings out “Wakanda Forever!” to trigger all his available upgrades, with damage bonuses if he manages to save those energy daggers for the last to trigger. Planning ahead pays dividends, like if Spider-Man thinks a big attack is coming, he can web up the bad guy to prevent the assault and stun them instead. Each character plays differently, and it’s fun to learn the playstyle for each, and makes me excited for the promised new heroes that will be introduced to the game over time. And importantly, many abilities are structured to encourage teamwork, like Carol Danvers’ core ability, which lets her choose any player to draw a card, expanding that hero’s options. Actions encourage the players to contrive for victory together, but independent character card decks encourage each player to still engage on their own, helping to avoid the dreaded dilemma of the single over-controlling player that can sometimes bog down a cooperative game night.

Beyond strategic depth, it’s clear that the makers of the game simply “get” what works about the Marvel heroes and villains, and recognizes ways to help each character feel right. Black Cat joins Spider-Man as an ally, and steals cards to bolster his hand. She-Hulk breaks out a massive gamma slam that deals damage proportional to how much battering she has already taken. Iron Man can head into battle with a carefully curated set of upgrades, but only after taking precious time as Tony Stark to carefully shuffle through those options and to build up his Mark V suit.

That sense of really being enmeshed in your character is aided by a number of other card types, including nemeses and obligations. Captain Marvel may be pulled away from the broader villain scheme being enacted by Ultron to deal with the arrival of Yon-Rogg. Or maybe Peter Parker must take a break from the action to deal with an impending eviction notice for his apartment. I love that give and take between the different aspects of the characters’ lives, and the need to regularly move back and forth between their identities.

One of the biggest triumphs of Marvel Champions is the way that it simultaneously offers a complete experience, but also leaves you hungry to snag those inevitable expansions as they come down the road. I’m already stoked to see what Captain America brings to the table in his announced hero pack, or how Green Goblin will seek to advance his plot in his impending scenario pack. And while the included and recommended starter decks offer a lot to play around with, the game also suggests intriguing deck customization options, which virtually beg to be tweaked through the addition of cards. For me, given that I can confidently purchase new expansions and know what I’m getting out of them, I don’t mind the drive to expanding the game, but it might be a turn-off for some players to feel like there’s always more to buy. With that said, this initial set includes almost 350 cards to get you going, and that’s going to add up to many hours of fun, even without any additional investment.

Cooperative games can really succeed or fail on the strength of the engagement they engender with the players at the table. Even the most interesting strategic affairs can fall flat if the core concept doesn’t get the whole group on the same page. It’s here that the Marvel license really pays dividends for Champions; after the last few years, these characters are at the top of their cultural popularity and enthusiasm, and the shared vocabulary of things like “web shooters” and “repulsor blasts” can do a lot to get the table engaged. That’s why I feel so comfortable offering this up as a broad recommendation to virtually any gaming group. My only caveat? The roughly 90-minute playtime, alongside the high dependence on reading and strategy, mean that the recommended age of 14+ is something you should think carefully about before breaking it out at the next family game night. While the colorful artwork is sure to hit a lot of buttons for that 8-year old Spider-Man fan, you need to judge for yourself if they’re ready for the complexities and time investment the game demands.

Whether or not you decide to give Marvel Champions a shot, I’m confident that I’ve got some sort of tabletop game to recommend that’s the right fit for your family and friends. Click into the hub banner below to explore past recommendations from Top of the Table, and drop me a line if you need some personal guidance, whether on whether Marvel Champions is a good fit for your group, or if you’re looking for something else entirely.

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The concluding season of Game of Thrones is now behind us. And if you watched, you’re sure to have an opinion about how it all turned out. Dire Wolf Digital’s recent release of Game of Thrones: Oathbreaker gives you the chance to see it all play out again, almost certainly with a new ending, but with your gathered friends cast in the roles of the conniving lords and ladies of Westeros, along with all the lying, backstabbing, and trickery you’d expect.

Oathbreaker is a social deduction game built to be played by five to eight players. The high player count means that it’s best suited for a larger get-together, perhaps as the main course in a board game night of other fun but lighter party games. An individual round plays out in around 45 minutes (presuming you don’t get too bogged down in discussions about who is a traitor), but I suspect many play groups will recognize the potential inherent to multiple playthroughs in succession, letting the winners of one session dictate the power structure of the subsequent attempt to control the fate of Westeros.

While the game’s focus on deception and deduction are welcoming to any player, it should come as no surprise that being fans of the show (or, at the very least, the books) makes the experience far more rewarding. In addition, be conscious that the game demands lying, underhanded statements, and trickery from almost all the players; that won’t be the right fit for every gaming group, so bear that dynamic in mind when you consider ideal play groups.

Bluffing games are a familiar fixture of the party game scene. Fun releases like The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow and Avalon can offer many hours of laughter and lying. Oathbreaker distinguishes itself through the asymmetric nature of the player roles. A single player always takes on the role of the king or queen of the kingdom, while everyone else adopts the role of recognizable nobles from the Game of Thrones universe. Some of those nobles will be designated to remain loyal to the sovereign. But in every game session some of those nobles will secretly be conspirators working to sow chaos in opposition to the king or queen’s rule. Figuring out who is who is key to winning the game.

The game unfolds through a series of missions, which usually reflect recognizable moments and events from across the Game of Thrones fiction. Perhaps the Battle of the Bay unfolds in one round, while in another there’s an effort to hire the Faceless Men. Each noble carries a hand of cards that can be played onto missions, and each card exhibits various icons. No matter the situation, each mission can only be completed if the correct type of influence icons are played onto the mission (represented abstractly by Crowns, Ravens, and Swords). A completed mission means greater order in the land, and a step toward success for the sovereign and their loyalists.

Meanwhile, Sabotage icons counter that influence, helping the conspirators undermine the king or queen, and ensuring the failure of the mission. Whether you play helpful influence or unhelpful sabotage, it’s all done in secret. Cards are played face down. When those cards are revealed, that’s when the real discussions begin, as everyone begins to charge each other with treachery. Is Arya a traitor to the crown because she didn’t help out more in the attempt to rout the Wildlings? Did Tyrion manage to trick the conspirators from playing cards to a mission by adding all those helpful cards to the mission, or was he just trying to regain the queen’s trust after the blatant sabotage he committed in the previous round?

Over time, the king or queen is given their own opportunity to sway events with decrees, especially ones that bestow favor or suspicion onto a given noble. Do you dare to help Ned Stark in a subsequent round after the king has marked him as duplicitous the round before, or are you dooming your house to fall as well?

At the end of the game, the success or failure of various missions helps determine whether chaos or order reigns, but the ruling player also gets to make guesses about who was and wasn’t loyal, which can further adjust the scoring. In addition, favors and suspicions played on each player can add order or chaos to the track.

And in one final twist, every noble has also been harboring a secret ambition. Even if your side (loyalist or conspirator) has come out ahead, you only personally win if you also fulfill your ambition, represented by a secret card you receive as the game begins. Perhaps you have been gathering honor to be like Jon Snow, or you are power-hungry like Cersei Lannister. The various missions you’ve been involved in net you these resources, like coin and power, so it’s yet another variable that must be factored in if you want to be one of the winners.

Taken together, Game of Thrones: Oathbreaker offers a deeper bluffing gameplay loop than many similar games, with far more factors to monitor. The king or queen must juggle constantly shifting alliances and actions by every player at the table. Each noble must be judicious in their use of cards. Loyalists must find ways to really prove their fealty, especially because the conspirators are actively trying to shade their every action. Meanwhile, conspirators must simultaneously sabotage enough missions to bring down the king or queen, but still find ways to gather the resources they personally need to win at the end of the game. There’s a fascinating interplay between these competing goals, especially since almost everyone at the table has different paths to a win.

Oathbreaker includes some excellent optional rules to customize play. An 8-player variant includes both a king and queen, working together to maintain order, and a smart system for how that works – making it far more doable to manage the large number of players sitting at the table. Among other options, I also really like the “Order in the Court” option, which expressly forbids nobles from speaking unless it’s their own turn, thereby limiting the cross-talk or conspiring that often unfolds among experienced bluffing game players, and consequently speeding up play.

Licensed projects connected to movies and TV shows sometimes get a bad reputation, cashing in on popular properties with simplistic gameplay models or low-quality components. That’s not the case with Oathbreaker. This is a rich and nuanced social party game, and a great pick for play groups who have tired of more straightforward options in the genre. Two separate double-sided game boards (each for a different player count) offer a beautiful map of Westeros and a way to track missions and rounds as they pass. The card and component art is mostly photography from the show, but that imagery does a great job of recapturing the personalities that so many of us followed for the many years that Game of Thrones was unfolding. This is a satisfying and well-produced release that you’ll be happy to see laid out on the table.

If you feel like your gaming group is ready for a rewarding trip into the world of Ice and Fire, Oathbreaker does an excellent job of capturing the vibe of deceit and underhanded dealings. It’s also one of the most innovative twists on the bluffing game concept to release in recent years, and well worth a look for the many fans of that playstyle.

If you just can’t stomach lying to your best buds over a Saturday evening’s entertainment, worry not. There are plenty more great tabletop recommendations waiting for you over at our Top of the Table hub. Click on the banner below to explore those options, or drop me an email if you’d like some personalized recommendations; I’m always eager to help you find the right game for your friends or family game night.

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