Shadows: Heroes & Monsters

I don't feel like this game hit with me as much, but I definitely see the potential in customizing the library for those who like that. I just felt like winning was too focused on just dumping cards down that gave xp or coins. Still, interesting systems abound

Probably the best three-player card game out there.

Shadows: Heroes & Monsters is basically what would happen if you took Cutthroat Caverns and mixed it with Magic the Gathering.

My only negative is that I just do not understand the reasoning behind the collectible element when this game would have been better off with a living-style expansion system.

I playrd this at GenCon and everyone who played in our group bought it immediately. Slightly crunchy but well thought out and fun to play. My 13 yr old learned to play at home very quickly and really enjoys it.

Played at Gencon 2023. A lot of fun and I enjoy the deck customization.

Great mechanics with unique cards and skillsets. Really good with 3 players!

Disclaimer: I got to play this 4 times in 2019 at Protospiel Madison, and again multiple plays at Protospiel Madison in December 2021. I found the designer put a great deal of thought and work in improving the game over that time. Enough that in the spirit of Protospiel offered to proof/review the instructions. I'm not sure if that makes me biased for my involvement or if it's an endorsement of how much I enjoyed playing it over multiple games.

The top thing that attracted me was the game's hybridization of standard ccg dueling mechanics (MTG, etc) and a dungeon co-op (Tempest, Set A Watch, One Deck Dungeon, though without dice here). And it does this blend really well. On the ccg mechanics, it avoids the race to kill your opponent first - Knocking them down gives tangible benefits, and you want to protect yourself, but the game isn't over if you don't draw into the combos you want and the timing of knock downs can be a strategic choice by both players. The dungeon monster creates a great outside force that keeps you thinking about how to manage turns to determine if the monster, your opponent, or your status should the the focus of your turn. The victory point system puts the focus on hero improvement - adding new skill cards and equipment to make them powerful.

The basic mechanics of the game are fairly easy to learn with a little bit of reference for ability key words. The deck building component isn't highly randomized. You select skills from all available cards in your deck (some cards will stay on the field after play giving persistent benefits or be on a cool-down before they can be added back to the deck). Which card gets added to your deck from the library when you earn enough XP is also a choice. When cards can be played is also clear as cards activate by initiative number on the card.

One of the more unique elements of the combat abilities is a Predict mechanic, that has you guess if you opponent has, generally, defensive cards in their hand. Guess correct, gain a benefit, and possibly do damage. However, even if you are wrong, you gain knowledge about whether your opponent may have skipped out on defense this turn.

The Heroes and their starting decks are highly asymmetric archetypes - Tank, Assassin, DPS - but the library with new skills means that you can stay the course or take on dual class feeling abilities. Your opponent's choice of hero also influences your play - knocking down the tank is hard with physical attacks, but the monster may be a better target or predicting the defensive cards may be a alternate route to gain XP.

The monsters are also unique allowing more variation. Players defeat the monster by being first past the post to deal a set amount of damage, rather than dealing the killing stroke of collective damage. The monster is where luck factors in a bit more heavily. A deck of action cards determines the monster's response to each attack. An action icon on the revealed card corresponds to an ability on the monster's card. Some monsters have very straight forward counter attacks or blocking abilities, more powerful ones get a bit more creative in their responses. But the responses aren't fully random, as each round the rotating leader starts the round by drawing and presetting the first responses for each player. Thus the leader has a big advantage in making their plans, while the others have guess what the leader may have set them up with. I found this a bit annoying in my first plays, but after several plays it was a source of interesting decision making and bluffing by the leader.

The Negatives: Snowballing is possible, especially if you don't see it coming and don't adjust your strategy. But that applies to most things where you do the same thing and expect different results. A well-timed adjustment and some daring risks can get you back in the game. In a three-player game, the snowballing is much less of an issue as a round or two of piling on the leader can slow them down, and keep a win within reach of all players until the very late game.

The collectible element. ++++The base game has all the cards needed to bring the game to the table over and over in new configurations.+++ This isn't a card-crack game where you need to buy packs of cards to make play worthwhile. The base game plus random skill boosters make each game set unique. The art for the game is varied and incredibly well done for a small publisher, so it's disappointing you can't easily get it all. I also am a bit of a completionist when it comes to Kickstarters and will spend the extra, but I appreciate that the random boosters can create a cheaper base game. Having living-style expansions on themes or play styles would probably been an easy way for me to toss more money in the game's direction.

The rule book is long. I know a basic "how to play" video is in the works, but the book may be a bit intimidating. However, it is detailed to cover many different questions and gives play examples. The answer is probably in there, but it may take a little while to look it up. The length may also result in players creating house rules for scenarios and then later realizing there was guidance in the book.

No solo. COVID has left me trying out more games with solo modes as I have a few more hours of gaming each day in me compared to my wife. With the PvPvE I think it would be a bit much to try and automate that much. There may have been (or there may be) a standard dungeon co-op experience (or a co-op until X experience) among the cards, but there is already so much there to create an interesting PvP experience it would be a nice bonus rather than a disappointing absence.