Well, I'm the primary game buyer for my RPG club (we play boardgames in between RPG "slots" which generally last 4-12 weeks, before everyone switches over to a new game).
And we had some spare cash, and I realised that we were missing a superhero-flavoured game. So I researched the main three that were available and Sentinels looked like the best of the bunch. Now I have to point out that I'm not into superheroes and I definitely prefer Eurogames so I was expecting not to like the game at all, but what the hell. It wasn't for me anyway.
And then of course I played it, loved it, got all the expansions and mini-expansions, printed proxies of the promos, made my own character selection cards and other accessories, found this forum, and started playing online in Google Hangouts. Countless hours and hundreds of times playing a game I was expecting to dislike.
Just goes to show, when I'm wrong, I'm wrong properly.
This. It was in December of 2011 on a "Top ten Christmas gifts" list, and I actually got it as a Christmas gift. We've been playing every single week ever since.
Shortly before this picture was taken, I managed to shove a pint glass to shattered destruction on the floor while explaining something to arenson9’s nephew.
I was actually looking around the net about thsi other card game, Smash-Up (which, in truth, I haven't touched in a loooong while), when I came across a review saying that SotM was better. I checked it out, and BOOM. Obssession initiated.
I played a friend of mine's copy at Dominicon 2011, which I think was some time around November. I imagine he got it at Gencon. Himself and his brother had obviously played it before, but I don't know if anyone else in his circle of friends had. I enjoyed it, but kind of forgot about it for a while until I saw the Infernal Relics Kickstarter.
Funnily enough, a few of my friends had been getting into board/cardgames ever since moving into a shared house near me at the end of last year. One of them had been a fan and converted the others, so they had all sorts of games and gradually I was 'exposed' to that.
Anyway, a few months ago, I noticed Patrick Weekes (one of the better writers at BioWare) tweeting about a game called Sentinels of the Multiverse (you might have heard of it...), and seeing that it was co-op and superhero-themed, my interest was piqued. I mentioned it to another of my friends who had been converted like the others and was keen to get me playing more, so he started linking me all sorts of other things, like Tom Vasel's love for it, and then one day pointed out that the local gamestore had just received stock.
Having read a bit, and getting a sense of the game, I decided to take the plunge. A couple of group games later and I was in love. Unfortunately, it seems my friends have fallen out of love with it, even if I think it's one of the better games that any of us owns (I think it's because our villain battles tend to last at least an hour and a half, and they seem fond of randomising heroes, which means less chance of finding someone to suit your preferred playstyle). I don't know many games so strong thematically and mechanically that supports all 5 of us playing, and I think the >G guys did a great job.
Paul, on a tangent, since you are watching this space, would you like to share with us what you were thinking and feeling the night before GenCon 2011 opened?
Nothing in particular out of the ordinary or unexpected. I'd been to Gen Con many many times, so I knew what to expect in general in terms of the show. I was wondering what sort of reception we'd get, how traffic flow around the booth would go, what sales numbers at a convention like Gen Con would be like, etc.
Met the guys at PAX Prime 2011. Had just played a game of Uncle Slam in the booth next door, and Christopher hit me and my friend with the pitch - "How would you guys like to play a cooperative super hero comic book card game?" We couldn't resist. That first game I played Wraith and my friend played Ra, and there was a Tachyon and I think Legacy in the game. Christopher ran Voss on half health in Insula Primalis. It was an awesome game, and we instantly saw how varied the heroes were.
I spent the rest of that day and the next wandering the show looking to see if there was anything else that would deserve my spending money more - not even close.
I picked up a nice velvet bag and a fistful of d10s at the same time, including 3 brass dice like the style second from the front in this photo to use as villain hp.
I don't use those dice much any more (usually use the sidekick app), but they're really nice to have.
You know... I don't even remember how I first heard about the game. It was sometime right after the Infernal Relics was delivered and I ordered everything I could right away and was bummed i had missed the promos... but eventually hunted down those down through auctions and being one of the lucky first in the Shattered Timelines Kickstarter.
Since I was a fan of super-heroes and since I always look for ways to get my less gaming inclined friends to play with me a superhero game was high on my list of things to find. I found Sentinels of BGG, but was wary of purchasing it (This was before the Enhanced Edition came out and there were complaints about the box, tracking hitpoints, etc.)
I checked up on it every few months without biting. I'm a listener of the Ludology podcast and they had an interview with Christopher last September/October. Listening to the history, ideas, and future of Sentinels was all I needed to push me over the edge. Christopher mentioned the Shattered Timelines Kickstarter and I exicetedly went to see it, only to realize that I was a day late to the party.
Tech month for a highschool theater teacher is a dark time of 16-hour days which kept me from keeping with the podcast for just long enough.
Needless to say I was miffed, and the game was out of print at the time so I was even more miffed. I checked the website daily through November and December until it was available and ordered it as soon as I could. After the first three days I ordered Rook City, and before that even arrived I ordered Infernal Relics. It quickly rose to become my favorite game (even if I have an oddly difficult time getting anyone to play it with me,) and was enough to keep me from buying any more games for months afterwards (if you don't count Shattered TImelines and the various mini-expansions.)
Have a game night every Saturday. A friend of a friend came by and asked us if we'd ever played "Sentinels of the Multiverse". We started a game and got hooked immediately.
Over a summer, possibly close to two years I think, I was meeting with some of my fellow school guild members who were in the area for a weekly game night. Sentinels was one of the game we played. I believe they had just gotten Rook City and they had been playing the basic edition. We played one game (Ra, Tempest, and Mr. Fixer against Plague Rat in Rook City) and it was brutal. I was Fixer, and I was rocking it with Dual Crowbar double strikes and nice steady damage, but I went down. Then Ra ended up killing himself due to Flame Shield and Infection. Tempest was left out with barely any health, Cleansing Downpour, and our abilities. We barely kept him going long enough for him to finish Plague Rat, but a single bad card coming up would have destroyed us. Needless to say I loved the game, but I didn't get to play it again (actually I still haven't played it with those guys again) until I purchased the Extended Edition... wow, almost 6 months or so later. Then RC and IR. Then Shattered Timelines and expansions. And Now I will be pre-ordering Vengaence and a mat (which I probably shouldn't afford) once my bank transfer is finished tomorrow.
I first heard about it from Tom Vassel's videos when the original edition was printed, read a few reviews, found it interesting, but not enough to spend my money on it. Money is sparse.
I forgot about the game untill I saw the new edition on BGG. as I had nothing interesting to play, I decided to look if there was a vassal module, and test the game, among others. So I did.
Two days later, I found an european online shop where to order the then "complete package" (enhanced edition + Rook city + IR + ambuscade + unity) for a correct price. The game was just home when the new kickstarter began, and I jumped on board instantly. I am poorer, and must pass some other games I'd like, but have no regret.
A friend introduced me to it at GenCon. I loved it from the get-go, played it a bunch, bought everything, and have been hooked ever since. I love playing cooperative games, but this one far outshines the others for its teachability and replayability.
I've read about it first at BGG. I've dismissed it the first time because they said the game was not very scalable regarding the number of players. When the Enhanced Edition arrived to my FLGS, with the H mechanic, I bought it on impulse. After one month playing only SOTM I've started to aquired everything that was available for the game :)
I was looking for a super hero game to begin with. Bought DC deck building game and Legendary, but passed over SotM because the heroes were "made up" and not mainstream. Stupid me. Luckily my brother in law, who is part of my regular gaming group, knew of my desire for a good super hero game and bought it for me for christmas. DC and Legendary, though good in their own right, rarely get played. SotM is always brought to game nights as an option.
