Reviewed: Quarriors

So, I've decided to do something newer this time around (gasp!), and went with a recent impulse buy that worked out pretty well.

Reviewed: Quarriors! (yes the ! Is in the title).

I have proof.

This one comes from the new NECA Wizkids alliance (and here I thought Wizkids suffered a horrible murder fate of doom).

Eaten by lions I believe is the traditional end to most gaming company employees when a group goes under (rather, the end I wish for Palladium and Paizo)

Well, not that I have it established in my head that the employees did not in get eaten by lions, I'm happy to say they seem to have stepped up their non-clix production team for at least this game.

Play style: long and short: Quarriors is one of the quickly growing "X-building" genre. This usually entails deck building, but it this case decks and cards have been replaced with dice.

This many dice (130), to be more accurate.

Each player starts with a bunch of dice to make creatures/amass energy to buy more dice to use in their quest to glorious glory (read: win).

No really, glory is all you seek. subtly.

You use monsters and spells which are represented by the dice to work to win/thwart others from winning. Each monster also has a special ability that effects the game when in play depending on what gets rolled or just while it's in play.

Important bits: The most notable thing about this games is it's quick to learn, and silly silly quick to play (set-up can easily take longer than a round of it). The major selling point I would say is the sense of humour the game carries. To say the designers didn't take the game seriously during design would be an understatement. All of the descriptions and quotes on the packaging are ludicrous, and the rule book reads like the star munchkin RPG book (you understand there's a game in there, but it almost seems like it's hiding).

This may be the pinnacle of comedic gaming.

The only beef I have with the game is that it is seemingly really one-sided. As soon as a player starts winning, it would be a safe bet that they'll end up winning the round unless something really weird happens. Also the chance factor that sometimes doesn't reward smart play is ever-present (I feel like everyone knows about that as it is, but sometimes talking about it isn't a bad thing). Also, what is smart play in this particular game can be quite questionable at times, unlike the more standardized deck-building games this is grouped with.

Price tag: 40 or 50 canadian. If you already have one of the "X-building" games I'd advise against it, but it is fun to have around. It's already quite apparent the format supports expansions, given some of the big games in the genre (resident evil, thunderstone and dominion), already have 2 or more expansions that cost as much as the base game. So if you're looking for a lighter experience compared to the other "X-builders" (maybe this isn't a staple at gaming night and only shows up once and a while), it may end up being the best choice in that regard, as it takes up the least amount of space (and comes in a neat collectible tin! I think there may only be the one tin though..). Because of the amount of expansions for other types, it does turn out to be the cheapest of the bunch though. Expansions may even come out for this depending, but I don't see them being big (absolute minimum of 3 cards and 5 dice because of game mechanics, meaning you could fit probably 3 or 4 more of that size in the base box).

Overall: Like I said, worth it if "X-building" isn't something you're big onto but enjoy once and a while, definitely the cheapest iteration given the depth of the other games in the genre. Really the only thing I could see is picking up one of the others if there's something about the setting in them that you really like (hint: they're all fantasy so far except for two I'm aware of).

And those two are both niche markets as it is.

It is also pretty funny, so I'd count that as a point for it overall. Oh, it turns out there's already an expansion out that adds new rules and dice... it's bad you can fall behind that quickly (but it shows a point that these things go over well at least).

That's there is this time, and I didn't even make fun of myself for once!

Your adoring audience is so happy for you (28x)

Ta for now.