Hi all,
I am excited about getting the game and trying it out with my daughter and wife.
Does anyone have a suggestion for a good hero for a kid to play?
I know that my daughter will want to play a girl.
I see that Wraith is the only female complexity one character. Do people think she is the best choice? Other ideas?
Thanks!
My gf likes to play Tempest he can do almost everything(healing,damage, destroy, on-going cards) and is pretty simple to learn.
Also since Tempest's gender isn't set your daughter can still play it.
Wraith is still a pretty good choice, throws down 1-2 equipment cards to start dealing damage. Most of the cards are straightforward for her.
Would avoid Abosolute Zero and Vissionary for first time as they are more complex IMO.
I think Wraith is the best choice for a first-time playing child who wants to play as a girl.
After she gets the hang of it, I'd recommend Tachyon or Expatriette.
After that, it's all choice.
I agree, I have played with a couple of younger girls (whoa… that sounds creepy) and they both enjoy Wraith. She is pretty badass and still girly (dresses up for social events, uses a hair dryer as a weapon, etc.) and pretty straight forward to play.
My 13-year-old daughter loves playing Unity best. She's pink, she has cute pets. It's a natural.
Among the female heroes, I think Tachyon edges out Wraith for easiest to play.
Wraith ends up with lots of gear in front of her, which can be really fun and her strategy is straightforward. It might be frustrating if you pick an environment or villain with lots of equipment destruction. And her "search your deck" cards and deck scouting require an understanding of the different decks. You can kind of avoid those, but they're some of Wraith's best cards.
Tachyon's complexity comes from mechanics that refer to cards in her trash. She's mostly got one-shots and a couple straightforward ongoings. She's fun because she plays a lot of cards and can perform some really impressive moves with big damage late in the game. The only other thing is her base power lets her look at the top card of her deck, and either discard it or leave it there so you have to be able to make quick judgements about what cards you want.
Yeah I'll second Tachyon. All you really need to know with her is "bursts in trash = good" and you're off.
Yeah, personally I would give a young girl Tachyon... kids can have shorter attention spans and Tachyon gets to do a lot more than other heroes. Also her trash mechanic is really simple... overal one of the best characters.
Also as said Tempest can pass for male or female but gives a new player an insane toolbox of damage, healing, prevention, control, etc.
Have fun!
I simply said Wraith because she's a level 1 hero.
Otherwise yes, I'm totally in favor of Tachyon, but that might just be because she's my favorite.
1st- Young Legacy.
Then Tachyon or Expatriette :)
I'm going to vote for The Wraith. She's more consistent than Tachyon, who is heavily dependent on not having a damage penalty. Also, there are fewer decisions about what cards to discard and the like with her.
I think Wraith is also a good choice for your daughters first play. And then if she enjoys the deck control aspect of wraith more than dealing damage, maybe try Visionairy next. If not then go to Ex-Pat or Tachyon.
I totally agree with Young Legacy. If you don't have the actual promo, print it off from BGG. When my daughter is ready (she's only 4, but LOVES daddy's board games, so soon… soon), she'll play Young Legacy first.
Something tells me a kiddo who wants to play a lady would: 1. Not classify Tempest as a feminine character (regardless of the genderless status of Tempest) 2. Not wanna play Young Legacy if all of her cards had her big, beefy dad on them. Just a guess, though. They're actually two of my favorites (but I'm a 22 year-old guy, so that really doesn't help you much), but in my experience kids want to play characters in games that are their own gender.
The point is that Wraith or Tachyon would probably be up her alley. I think Tachyon is a bit easier to grasp than The Wraith, but they're both awesome. They're great role models, too! A business person and a super scientist (and they both wear comfortable shoes and don't show off an excessive amount of skin) who fight for truth, justice, and fun times around the table!
Visionary is a support character, Unity has to break her own cards to play more cards (don't know if that would appeal to a kiddo, but the Golems are awesome!), Expatriette fires off Guns (she might like it, you might not. Depends on your attitude about kids with guns.), Nightmist is very complicated and uses her HP as a weapon (I don't know your daughter, but I think I would be a bit upset if my character had to hurt themselves to do stuff if I played this when I was younger).
In order, from first to last, I'd go with: Tachyon, The Wraith, Expatriette, Visionary, Unity, Nightmist.
Is there a reason Fanatic is not included?
Also I am guessing since he just got the game, I am going to assume he only has the core.
So I am guessing he only has Tachyon, Wraith, Fanatic and Visionary.
Snap! I completely forgot about her! I feel foolish now...
Fanatic is awesome. She's got wings, a big sword, and some awesome plays that aren't too complex. Let me revise that list...
Tachyon, The Wraith, Fanatic, Expatriette, Visionary, Unity, Nightmist.
Thanks for the heads up! My bad.
I'll say no to Wraith. I've had new players completely paralysed because they don't know which equipment to play.
Tachyon gets my vote for first time player.
I played Wraith in my first game and thought she was really cool, so I played her in the next few games too. Once I actually got hold of the game myself, a few months later, I started playing other characters and have now played as everyone at least once or twice. I think Tachyon, while easy to play, can have trouble if any kind of damage soak comes in, unless her own damage is buffed to prevent it. Still, you get to play a zillion cards most turns, and can do the multi-Lightspeed Barrage combo to either finish off or severely wound the villain :). On the other hand, Wraith can pretty much always do something useful - deal damage, remove an annoying ongoing/environment card, heal herself, mess up the villain by deciding which card they get to play next, etc. She's a bit like a female Tempest, really, but with a bit less constant damage.
You didn't say how old your daughter is or what kind of level she's on in terms of finding stuff complicated, etc. So maybe try her on one of those two (or even a different one, if you prefer ;)) first and if she doesn't like it, just switch to a different one in the next game :D.
Hi all,
Thanks for all the great responses. My daughter is 7, so a bit on the young side, but she is a good reader and plays a lot of games with Dad. But easy is defiantly best at least at first.
I currently have the two expansions and I have Enhanced Edition preordered. No Unity yet, but I did the Kickstarter so I should get that in March. My current plan is to start with the base game and Infernal Relics. I will add some of Rook City later.
I will probably give her the choice of Wraith or Tachyon, and maybe Young Legacy and/or Fanatic.
While we are at it any suggestions for my wife? She will also want to play a girl, but she would be more willing to buy Tempest is unisex then my daughter would be.
That's a good point. It would be cool if >G put out a promo deck that was the exact same as Legacy's, but with alternate images for Pauline.