It's New Game Friday! David Wiley (Cardboard Clash) is here to tell us about the new games.
Here’s what is new this week:
- Dungeon of Darkness
- Escape From Station 52
- Madoshi
This week's new games are all available at https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/new-games
Dungeon of Darkness
A solitaire dungeon crawler where the player wants to accumulate as much gold as possible. Players will venture through the dungeon and explore the level by revealing dungeon cards 1 by 1. Danger such as monster, darkness cards and nasty events awaits the player, but do not lose hope because there will be items to aid players through the adventure as well. The game ends when the player escapes the dungeon alive and gold will be calculated as a score.
Explore a 4x3 grid of cards, one level at a time, facing monsters and events to gain loot. Every time you find the ladder for the level, you can either move to the next floor (resetting the 4x3 grid with new cards) or escape to end the game. A push-your-luck adventurer exploration game with the added effect of darkness, which is sure to be harmless (right?) to your exploration attempts. There’s a really simple combat system in here, which means you’ll spend more time playing and less time reading and referring back to the rules during your exploits.
Escape from Station 52
Escape from Station 52 is a roguelike solo card game where you, as the survivor Stella Hoshiko, have to escape from a space station that was taken over by a cosmic anomaly. The deck consists of 52 cards, each not only representing the situations and threats that infest the station corridors, but also the weapons and equipment needed to deal with them. Press forward through the Station, dealing with 4 cards at a time in search for the cards required to gain access to the Escape Pod. When unable to sneak past conflict, use Weapons and Gears, like the Flashbang to fend off Threats, or Emergency Kits to heal yourself.
A simple game mechanically, with only two pages of rules and 52 cards to cut, but one that promises a lot of replayability within a 15-20 minute playtime package. Note that this one is a solitaire-only game, but for the solo gamer who likes a thematic game where you try to accomplish an objective, get upgrades, and overcome threats...well, this should be right up your alley. Another great benefit is having several ways to lose, which I always feel adds some extra layers of tension to the game, giving you multiple problems to worry about as you try to be successful. The other great thing, of course, with a 52-card game is that resetting your game to play a second time should be nice and easy.
Madoshi
The worshippers of the Sun and Moon are at odds. Two powerful priests engage in battle for the dominance of the Yokai. The spiritual essence of all things deemed supernatural by mortal man, the Yokai can bring good fortune or bad. Harness the elements, capture Yokai, and use their magic to swing the balance of night and day to your favor. Seize enough of their power and your will reign victorious.
I love a good asymmetric 2-player game experience. While crafting tokens might be out of my personal PNP comfort zone, this game sounds incredible enough that I might need to make an attempt. You are either the Sun or the Moon, and the patterns you need to match are based upon which of those players you are. The Yokai cards have points and powers, so capturing one gets you a cool ability to use. You’ll either be flipping tokens or exchanging the placement of two tokens during your turn, as you and your opponent jockey to make their matches before one of the Yokai piles runs out. Bonus point here, too, because it also includes a solo mode. If you like pattern-matching games, this one is sure to delight your senses.
Check out all of the new games here: https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/new-games
Game of the Week: The Final Flicktier on sale for $3
The Final Flicktier is a 4X style space game with dice flicking at its core. Players will take on the role of unique factions all vying for control of the galaxy. They’ll flick their spaceships (dice) around the board in order to explore new planets, build structures, harvest resources, and attack other factions. The player with the most victory points at the end wins.
Take advantage of those polyhedral sets of dice laying around the house and utilize them for a 4X dexterity game unlike anything on your shelf (I might even be able to guarantee that, huh?) While the dexterity is a part of the game, there are techs and abilities to help mitigate any lack of precision on the part of a player. Coming with a nice solitaire system, and playing up to 4 players, there’s a lot of content to explore in here. Who wants to sit down for an all-day slog through a game like Twilight Imperium 4 when you could play this to completion in about an hour and get multiple games in, or even explore other games during your game day instead of playing just one really, really long game.
Check out Game of the Week here: https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/game-of-the-week
See you next week with more information on our newest print and play games!