It's by far one of my most memorable games as a kid.
Which of the five new environments would be good to use in someone's first game?
Magmaria is very player-friendly – it would work wonderfully to introduce folks to the game without overwhelming them with frustrations like "Players can't play cards."
The Tribunal could also be entertaining, but it is more of a threat and has a card that can result in the players losing due to the environment. Not a bad thing, just something to be aware of – you'll have to think about if the players are going to be okay with that and if the characters chosen can deal with the threat (with either environment removal or healing of the chosen hero character card).
My thoughts on user-friendliness, most to least friendly to newer folks:
1. Court of Blood: Not really strong but can build up, the Mob is fun, and the Halls are scary.
2. Magmaria: Con be helpful, but too often newer players might not see their impending doom before it is too late.
3. Tribunal: Mostly straight forward with some really cool interactions and one or two really cool moments.
4. MMFFCC: Things to keep track of and more complex effects, not for the faint of heart.
5. Zhu Long's Temple: You are trying to stop the villain, what is Zhu Long's aim? This is the most impactful Environment deck I've played so far, and if allowed can take over the game, I also think it is really fun.
I would say we got 3 lower compleity environments and 2 high complexity environments.
Something VotM-shaped is at my post office! The initial estimated delivery date was this Saturday.
I hope my copy sends soon. I had ordered the first day but later recreated the order to add the Oversized Villain Cards.
My initial estimate was Saturday as well. It now looks like it will be in my hands Friday
Ordered the first day, Havent seen anything or even received a tracking number.
Still awaiting tracking, and shipped date. I'm getting ansty! Not that I am complaining, just really excited!
It looks like the first shipments were ones without the Villain card pack, including some who ordered but didn't get them, so those are probably a clerical error.
Anyone who gets their copy with the oversizd pack included please post.
I just got mine from the post office, and it included the oversized villain pack.
Just got a tracking number. I ordered 2 copies each of the game box and the oversized villain cards.
And Battle for Broken City, but I put that in a separate order.
Got the shipping notice for mine, estimated next Wednesday, Villains without the oversized villains cards, but including Scholor, Unity, Final Wasteland and Omnitron IV. I assumed adding those things in would delay shipping since it would be a non-standard order.
Mine was going to come Friday, but I just checked the ETA and it may arrive tomorrow instead. I ordered Villains and the Oversized Cards
I just got my shipping notice from Fedex today and lists I should get it next Wednesday.
Looking forward to my oversized villain cards to come
My package was just pushed back a day, and my heart shrank two sizes this day.
Mine is currently floating around with fedex and has the oversized cards. Predicted to be at destination friday
I ordered Villains + Oversized and then later ordered a second copy of Villains. I have tracking info on both. Based on the details (weight/size), I should have the package with the oversized cards by end-of-day today.
Impressions:
5-player matchup: Biomancer -> PW Argent Adept -> The Operative -> PW Tempest -> Greazer -> Best of Times Chrono-Ranger -> Sergeant Steel -> Adamant Sentinels -> Bugbear -> Desperate Naturalist in Madame Mittermeier's Fantastical Festival of Conundrums and Curiosities.
3 hour game.
This was the first time we'd seen the villains & environment, the heroes didn't have good damage-dealing capabilities for the first couple rounds, and Maze of Mirrors on the first environment turn made it harder for the heroes to deal any damage to villains at all (but kept the heroes fairly safe from most of the villains, too) so there were certainly good reasons for it to drag out. I expect to be able to try out the other five villain decks in one of our next game nights. I don't expect to play against these villains very often, because a single game taking 3 hours is less fun for our group than getting in 3-5 games in that same timeframe.
I did quite enjoy what we saw of the villain decks; they all have very strong themes and we all liked the mechanics and flavor of each of them. The game format just isn't going to be anywhere near as popular as the base style for my particular group. We've only played against the Vengeance crew a couple times as well, for the same reason, so this wasn't really a surprise to me. It's also entirely possible that a 3-player game with us knowing the villain & environment cards better would fit into the comfortable 40-60 minute play time so that's a possibility for the future.
Last impression - although I started off slowly as the Desperate Naturalist, by the last turn I took I was able to draw some comments of "Oh, wow!" which was fun. Croc form card plus Rhino aspect from the previous turn, Feral Fury to deal two instances of 3 damage, Desperate Prey to gain Gazelle aspect and play Primal Charge to draw 4 cards and deal 3 damage and deal 4 damage, Natural-born Vigor allowing Natural Form's Power to make someone draw 2 cards and me gain 2 life and deal 2 damage to 2 targets. That kind of turn was exactly what I'd hoped to be able to do with that promo hero, which made me very happy.