Mars. The very near future.

Solarus Corporation discovered an infinite source of rare and precious minerals deep in the red crust. Resources that will end the energy crisis on earth and fuel the planned space expeditions when the population grows beyond capacity.

You have been chosen to lead an elite crew of pod pilots who will go below the surface of Mars on the Solarus Corporation’s first major drilling expedition. As part of this maiden voyage, the company has agreed that whatever wealth you discover can be reinvested in training your pod pilots to improve their skills and efficiency. Will you be remembered as the greatest Solarus Corporation employee in the galaxy?

A simple narrative that doesn’t detract from the wonderful fun of deck building.

Super Motherload has few mechanics. Players will appreciate the ease with which the game can be learned.

Two to four players command a team of pilots and take turns until all of the artifacts on the board have been claimed and the player with the most victory points is declared the winner.

These rounds consist of two actions. And these actions can be any combination of three options: drawing new cards from the deck, discarding pilots and drilling, discarding a pilot and bombing. Draw, drill or bomb. Nothing else.

However, the complexity or diversity of the game that results from the minimal set of rules is something special. By drilling or bombing in the right places, players are rewarded with higher mineral yields, which are spent on buying better pilots. The upgrades to the deck increase efficiency and allow players to create more powerful drilling maneuvers.

The post Sci-Fi Deck-Builder Drills Down Deep — GameTyrant first appeared on DECKSAND FENCES DAILY.

With every game played, small changes increasingly change the entire play-through.

I think this is something that could enthrall new and old players alike – and it wouldn’t be difficult to post more content that would refresh player decks, upgrade decks, bounties, and monsters either.

That’s the beauty of card games, especially deck builders. You can really extend the life of the game by resizing the decks and adding new cards. The few and cursed benefit from this genre.

As a reviewer, I have of course read through many board game rules. I’m also the one who often teaches the rules of the game to my friends and family I play with. So how well the rules are laid down and how the gameplay is referenced is important to me.

And that’s the only real area where I didn’t care about making the game. The board was beautiful, the cards were beautifully illustrated, and the gameplay was fluid. But I thought the rules were missing in the layout and execution.

The first thing that bothered me was the quick start guide printed on the back of the rulebook. In a deck building card game, it’s strange that these weren’t printed out on individual double-faced cards for the players to use. It makes more sense. There are only four to six cards left, depending on the number of players, and it frees up the rulebook which can be used by anyone who needs it during the game.

A quick reference in front of all players facilitates the gameplay in the first few games until everyone knows the rules.

Whether or not I review a game, the first few games I like to flip through the rulebook to make sure I’m playing right. The rulebook for The Few and Cursed is more than 30 pages long, which can be easily summarized into a smaller, more concise structure. Smaller graphics, different font sizes, and other improvements could have made this a more accessible set of rules. I love Felipe Cagno’s art, but the layout needs improvement.

These are very special issues that will not distract most players from the game, and while I don’t think they make the game any less fun – because it is very much – they do slow down the gameplay for the first few games.

The post Tabletop Players Will Be Thirsty For This Outlaw Deck-Builder — GameTyrant first appeared on DECKSAND FENCES DAILY.