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Unboxing: DC Comics Deck-Building Game: Teen Titans

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Brett

Cryptozoic‘s DC Comics Deck-Building game is one of our favorite deck-building games out there. With each release they slowly add new mechanics, as well as new characters, that always change up the game just enough to make it feel fresh, but never over the top to make it feel like something completely different.

The company’s latest stand alone set features cards based on the Teen Titans, and also some new mechanics too!

We open up the pack and go over the cards, talking about the new mechanics, and what they might bring to the game.

You can get your set now.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site.

Cryptozoic provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Cryptozoic Reveals some DC Deck-Building Plans for 2016

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Brett

DC Deck-Building Teen Titans Speaking to ICv2 at Gen Con, Cryptozoic reveal some of their plans for 2016 for the DC Comics Deck-Building Game. The company will be releasing a new expansion pack, Crisis Expansion Pack 3, which will feature the Suicide Squad, a new Rivals – Batman Vs. Superman set that introduces a game board, another stand along set, and some other Crisis Packs.

The Suicide Squad focuses Crisis Pack sounds like it’ll be a fantastic addition to the game. Not only will it focus on cooperative play, but like Forever Evil featured the team of bad guys at the center of attention as the main focus of the game as far as playable characters. It also will attempt to create they’re rather fun bickering into the game in a new mechanic that includes a “traitor-ish” mechanic. There’s also a 100% cooperative play mode with heroes you can play with any of the sets. This expansion is planned in the first quarter of 2016.

Planned to come out when Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters, Cryptozoic will be releasing The DC Comics Deck-Building Game: Rivals-Batman vs. Superman set. This continues the Rivals set concept which is a two-player introductory game. The set will feature art from the comics, so it should be interesting to see what the set includes as far as that. The set will also feature a game board.

[The board] will actually be split down the middle long-ways. It’ll have Batman on one side, Superman on the other. So if I’m playing Batman, I sit over here and you are staring down Batman on my side of the board and vice versa. That’ll be very cool. We’re excited for that one.

The 2016 stand-alone box set is still being put together. The company is looking at a team-up concept with it being a 2-on-2 game instead of every man for themselves. This could be much needed variation to the game, which will be fantastic.

This December sees the release of a new Crossover Pack based on Watchmen. After that, there will be another one focused on villains and one based on The Flash television series.

(via ICv2)

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DC Comics Deck Building Game: Teen Titans and Crossover Pack #2: Arrow: The Television Series, Out Now!

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Brett

Cryptozoic Entertainment, under license with Warner Bros. Consumer Products on behalf of DC Entertainment, has released both the DC Comics Deck Building Game: Teen Titans as well as Crossover Pack #2: Arrow: The Television Series.

Each release adds complexity and changes up the game, something I’ve enjoyed about it. The DC Comics Deck-Building Game Crossover Pack #1: JSA sold out the first print run in a week, necessitating a second print run, due for release late July.

The newest standalone release within the DC Deck-Building game line, the Teen Titans edition is fully compatible with all previous releases of the product line. Play as youthful heroes coming up in the ranks. Cards include Raven, Beast Boy, Wonder Girl, Red Robin and more. The new focus of the set revolves around Ongoing abilities: these cards stay in play until they are needed. Every time an Ongoing card is put into play, it provides an extra card to utilize on a future turn.

Number of Players: 2-5
For Ages: 15+
Playing Time: 30-45 minutes
Retail Price: $40
Compatible with previous DC Deck-Building Games
Card combos, strategy, fan-favorite heroes and villains all work together to create a unique deck-building experience
Engaging card art from the DC Comics universe

The DC Comics Deck-building Game Crossover Pack #2: Arrow: The Television Series provides a true “crossover” where characters from the popular television series can be played with any DC Comics Deck-building Game! This series offers the first appearance of character images taken from the hit television series from Warner Bros. Television and The CW, Arrow. Also featured are favorite characters from the show, including The Arrow, Diggle and Felicity.

Both DC Comics Deck Building Games are now available for purchase at retail stores. The DC Comics Deck-Building Game Crossover Pack #1: JSA will be back in stock in late July. Retail price for Crossover packs is $10.

Game Review: Legendary Villains

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

Legendary Villains, the standalone semi-expansion to Upper Deck’s Legendary lineup adds in components which will perhaps look a bit different for gaming fans even if comic fans are not surprised by putting the villain in the spotlight. In recent years the role of the villain as protagonist has been a popular enough one in comics, with the likes of Magneto, Deathstroke and Sinestro each getting their own series. While this is a popular enough theme in comics, it doesn’t necessarily compute the same with my gaming fans. Many gaming fans like games because of the challenges which are posed, be that a need for cunning or dexterity, but rarely do gamers end up playing the role of the bad guy in games. In fact certain games such as “The Doom That Came to Atlantic City” are not as well liked specifically because players are forced into contests of destruction as opposed to heroism.

That being the case, this is a strange enough concept as applied to a table top board game, but it is equally true that the medium of board games has to be shaken up every now and then with something new to the mix in order to keep the games relevant and challenging enough. The question though is whether this is that game, and the answer is … not really. This game acts as primarily as game of opposites from the original Legendary base game with villains swapping places with heroes and vice versa. Although it is nice to see some characters that have been bypassed so far by the Legendary universe (for instance Wasp), they also show up only as enemies to the main characters, who are the villains. The choice of the characters is reminiscent of the original version, with a wide enough spectrum of choice – Bullseye, Dr. Octopus, Electro, Enchantress, Green Goblin, Juggernaut, Kingpin, Kraven, Loki, Magneto, Mysterio, Mystique, Sabretooth, Ultron and Venom. The commander cards are a bit more more limited in scope – Dr. Strange, Nick Fury, Odin and Professor X. As whole the game comes off as being pretty much of a copycat, except for those that want to play as villains which might be a thing for comic fans, but probably less so for the strict gamers.

While the game might struggle in terms of its applicability to non-comic fans and in its lack of originality, it also deserves some mention in its use as an expansion for the base game. As this is essentially an opposite version of the original, the game text is easily changed for interplay with the original by negating the game text (for instance bystanders are captured/freed.) While this does add a bit to the overall dynamic for the series, it also doesn’t do so by much. Whereby the expansions thus far have added to the game play by pushing the series forward in certain directions in terms of story telling, this does not do so as much. While there are instances in comics of heroes banding together with villains against a common threat, it also doesn’t happen all that often. Also due to the individuals chosen for the games, if choosing randomly from the entire selection it would be possible to play character versus characters, for instance either Kingpin or Professor X as both character and main villain/commander. One way in which this expansion does expand the game is by the use of even more specialized bystander cards, though these don’t really justify the cost of the entire game as an expansion only.

As a game this is a bit of a letdown, though still enjoyable, especially that the theme is a bit off mark. As an expansion it has similar problems, providing some fun new options but also missing the mark where it might have helped more. This thus stands as a passable game, but the bigger letdown of the series thus far.

Score: 7.4

Game Review: Legendary Paint The Town Red Expansion

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

The “Paint the Town Red” expansion for Legendary is the third expansion in the series, and the second in a row with a stronger thematic concept. Although the second expansion came right out and declared itself the Fantastic Four expansion, this is definitely the Spider-Man expansion even though it doesn’t really identify itself as such except for the box art. As an overall analysis of this game series reveals, it is the street level characters that are the bigger push in terms of popularity, but it is also these characters, their villains and these villains’ schemes which make for a much easier game play experience. The Dark City expansion helped a bit to counter this trend of the street level scenarios being that much easier to play, but this expansion goes much closer to the original trend. As opposed to the grand schemes of certain villains, this expansion plays out a lot more like a Spider-Man comic, fun at times but never in any real danger that the characters (or in this case the players) are in much danger.

The focus here is all Spider-Man, meaning that anyone expecting more variety will be disappointed. Instead this sticks close to the Spider-Man story lines with Black Cat, Moon Knight, Scarlet Spider, Symbiote Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. The schemes are equally related, focusing on Carnage and Mysterio and various spider-related problems, although one does strive for a bit more by trying to take on the Clone Saga. As with the Fantastic Four expansion, this does little to expand any of the more disappointing mechanics of the game, as the S.H.I.E.L.D. draw pile and the bystanders are once again left untouched. This is an expansion on the same scale as the Fantastic Four expansion, incorporating in fewer cards while also adding to the refinement of the game play experience.

At this point the “street vs. skies” divide in this game might almost be moot anyway. At the very least the base game is required to play Paint the Town Red, but by incorporating in the other expansions the imbalance between the two character types is less evident. While heavy hitters like the Fantastic Four might have no trouble in a street level scenario, at least in this way one can face Black Cat against Galactus and see what happens. That is the fun of these expansions, is that their price is not outlandish, and that they therefore help to build the game easily and inexpensively, even if the individual expansion offers little else new, the sum ends up being greater the parts.

Score: 8.2

Game Review: Legendary Fantastic Four Expansion

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

The Fantastic Four expansion for the Legendary Marvel Deck Building game is the first one with a strong thematic outlook. The base game and Dark City have focused more so on an overall approach to the Marvel universe, including various characters from various inspirations. This expansion narrows that field of view considerably by looking at Marvel’s number one family. This is a smaller expansion, and bodes well for Marvel’s approach moving forward, to focus on smaller corners of its universe while allowing fans to pick out the pieces that interest them the most. In this case even most non-fans are likely to be interested because of the potential of the characters involved, the core of the team plus their main hanger-on – Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, the Thing and Silver Surfer.

As a game that has been defined by either the street level scenarios and villains being rather easy to beat versus the power scenarios and villains being harder to beat, this game definitely is more in the second category. In fact some of the scenarios and combinations are downright impossible to beat (required over five run-throughs to defeat) as the challenges are that much stronger. Interestingly this fits thematically with the group as well, as the team itself, although powerful in a sense, has gone up against some ridiculously powerful opponents and managed to walk away victorious.

As this is a smaller expansion it does not do much to help some of the previous problem with the game. While Dark City helped expand on the concept of the bystanders, there just isn’t enough room in this small boox to add more to the bystander deck. Instead there are the five heroes, two new masterminds, their schemes, two villain groups and nothing else. As opposed to Dark City which was mostly a full game without the board (though it still required the base game to play) this feels like much more of a true expansion, especially as it is smaller in scale and priced to sell as such. The combination of theme and in-game mechanics make this the best of the series so far, dependent on the main game, but refining it to be much better with its inclusion.

Score: 8.8

Game Review: Legendary Dark City Expansion

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

The Dark City Expansion for in Upper Deck’s Legendary games is perhaps an unexpected one for the franchise. The base game introduced a number of different characters and scenarios, but it did not really go too far in either direction in terms of the scope of the game. Comic book characters are roughly divided into two different camps, the street level and the planet busters. Most of the “street level” masterminds and schemes from the first game proves easy enough to beat, while the few more powerful schemes proved to be more challenging. This led to more experienced gamers mostly focusing only on the bigger and badder schemes as opposed to the smaller scale ones. Despite this set of mechanics, for the first expansion the series seemingly decided to go smaller and to focus on the street as opposed to the skies.

It is likely due in part to fan service that the theme behind this expansion was released second, only after the base game. After all the street level contains a lot of the more popular characters that fans would want to play, even if the track record is that it makes for a worse game play experience. Although there are some more obscure characters such as Cable, Domino and Forge, there are also fan favorites including Angel, Bishop, Blade, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Iceman, Jean Grey, Professor X, The Punisher, Daredevil and already the second implementation of Wolverine.

The expansion is designed to be more street level, but it also does better to address the fact that the street level encounters in the base game were a bit too easy. Instead here there are more complicated scenarios, some of which incorporate in some famous story arcs from the comics. It is also worth mentioning that the bystanders are expanded upon here. While it might be nice to see some added variety in the starting decks or in the S.H.I.E.L.D. deck (of which there are 2 and 1 different kinds of cards respectively), at least the otherwise bland bystander deck is expanded upon with news reporter, paramedic and radiation scientist. While it is somewhat unlikely to run into too many radiation scientists on the street, this at least adds a new dynamic to these cards which no one much seems to care about, as the specific type of bystander can now have different effects. For instance rescuing the news reporter allows the player to immediately draw another card, which could have a big effect (or no effect) on the passage of a particular hand and could theoretically turn one’s luck around.

In the end this is not kind as good as the original, but more due to a lack of strong central theme. As opposed to other expansions which help to refine a player’s interests in the game, this one could have just as easily served as another half to the base game. There is little to distinguish this expansion aside from the individual characters included. Certainly some gamers that are also fans of comics are going to want to pick up this expansion solely for the ability to play as their favorite characters, but equally this expansion does little to refine the game, only to make it bigger. It is still a fun expansion, only that perhaps more could have been done.

Score: 8.2

Game Review: Legendary A Marvel Deck Building Game

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

Legendary is Upper Deck’s adaptation of the Marvel universe in a deck building game. Deck building games have been riding a good wave now for a few years. Although it is not the first game to do so, the mechanics of the game borrows from others such as Dominion which helped establish the format as something specifically different from customizable card games. As opposed to games such as Magic where the person with the best deck walking in has a huge advantage, the customizable card game evens the deck for every one as they start, in that no one has any real advantage going into starting the game other than being a better in game strategist. This takes a different approach once again when applied to Legendary as it is a cooperative game. While some players might be able to better strategize or maybe just to pull better cards by chance, it doesn’t really matter except as it pertains to the final point count, which those who are super competitive can still use to determine the winner after the scenario is complete.

Right off the top this is going to be a problem for those that do not like cooperative games, but even for those that do, the mechanics of the game are fun, especially so for fans of comics. A deck is used to populate the HQ, and hero cards are purchased from the HQ as they are available for the price listed. As is common with this format of game, the cards give one of two base benefits as well as in game text that can modify that further. The two base benefits are purchasing power and attack power. Purchasing power is used to buy new cards as they cycle through the HQ, while attack power is used to combat the villains that cycle through the game. The use of the villains is interesting as well which leads to the overall dynamic of the game. The villains rotate through once per turn, with the odd exception of a few special cases for the villains deck, some of which will give the players a chance to catch their breath, others which will throw all other plans out the window. The villains themselves are part of the criminal enterprise of the mastermind, and his scheme which involves some kind of mayhem.

On the whole it is a pretty fun game, although there are a few drawbacks. The artwork on the cards for the characters is pretty good, but there are a limited number of characters. Each character has fourteen cards of which there are a few duplicates in each set of fourteen, there are only one of each card worth 7 or 8, but numerous for the lesser values. While the combination of the characters can be fun, it is also worth noting than only five heroes make up the deck. This stands in contrast to the DC comics building game which includes a vast selection of characters that might show up in a particular hand, in this case it is going to be one of the five of Thor, Emma Frost, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Captain America, Wolverine, Deadpool, Storm, Gambit, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Hulk or Iron Man. The characters are at least chosen before hand, which allows the players to get to play as some of their favorites, even the deck never gets very wild. Another key problem is the masterminds and their schemes. Some of these are fairly sedate, something like the Red Skull and a bank robbery, while others get pretty complicated. While this is a good approach to new gamers, it is a bit of problem for more experienced gamers. The introductory scenario is so easy that it might turn some off from the game, in that it might appear to be all about the flash of the superhero cards and not as much about the substance. It is not the case, although it does take some time to find a combination of mastermind and scheme which are downright impossible to beat (though there are a few of these.) Evidently some aspects like the bystanders need to be developed further as it is a fairly generic aspect of the game.

Despite a few drawbacks, the overall aspect of game play and fun is there. This might piggy back a bit on the popularity of the comics in order to provide a fun experience, but the game works well enough on its own that even those that are not familiar with the comics will find something to draw them in. Of course it also helps that table talk is allowed thus the individual players are not acting alone but rather can strategize together as to how to take out the bad guys. It is a pretty fun game, and sets up the potential for further releases on the same platform which will expand the universe within the game.

Score: 8.5

Game Review: DC Comics Deck Building Game Crisis Expansion Pack 2

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Brett

I’m a fan of Cryptozoic‘s DC Deck-Building Game. While I’ll admit I didn’t get it when I first played it during its debut at Gen Con many years ago. It’s grown as one of my favorite board/card games to play in my free time. For those who have never played it the game is a card game where you spend points to build your deck. Each card bought increases the cards you can play, and then you can buy even better cards. You also use points to defeat villains, which then gives you even better cards to play and the game ends when the deck runs out, or all the villains are defeated. The winner is determined by who has the highest score.

So far, Cryptozoic has release three versions of the main game based on DC Comics, a two-player version, and one expansion. Each release can be combined, expanding the different combinations, and keeping the game fresh. Their latest release, DC Deck-Building Game, Crisis Expansion 2, continues upon that adding even more cards, and changing up the game play even more.

The first thing about each Crisis Expansion is that they allow for cooperative play. Instead of playing against opponents, you team up, working together to defeat even harder villains before time runs out (the deck runs out). Playing through, you absolutely need to cooperate, and we won our game with just one card left in the deck (and it was only there due to my partner’s ability to add cards to the deck). As the deck dwindled the pressure increased, and we scrambled to keep ahead to win. This alone is enough reason to grab the expansion for fans of the game (you need a copy of the main game to use it).

Like the first Crisis Expansion, this release compliments the main set that was released in the same order, in this case Heroes Unite. The Crisis version of the game features suped up versions of the characters that come with that game, as well as monstrous “impossible” versions of previous villains.

Beyond that though, the cards keep up the card flavor of Heroes Unite. The thing that stood out to me about that particular set was the heavy focus on the Green Lantern mythos, and that continues here, especially the DC Comics Blackest Night which featured the Black Lanterns. If you’re a fan of zombie versions of heroes, then you’ll love this set. I was giddy at a card featuring Black Hand holding the skull of Batman. I really enjoyed the DC story, so I particularly enjoyed the set.

What’s also interesting is the new heroes included and their abilities. While many have abilities we’ve seen in the past, the new Lanterns included, like Kyle Rayner, focus on card color. This is a new aspect which takes the game beyond its usual “super power,” “hero,” “villain,” “location,” and “equipment” focus. It’s something new and I hope it’s explored more down the road.

Overall, DC Deck-Building Game, Crisis Expansion 2 adds new gameplay options by continuing the cooperative gameplay, but also adding in this new aspect of focusing on the color of the cards, on top of the card type. For those who already enjoy the game, this continues the fun and expands the possibilities.

You can buy a copy and add it to your gaming fun now!

Check out the list of cards you get below as well as our unboxing video!

Unboxing: DC Comics Deck Building Game Crisis Expansion Pack 2

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Brett

Cryptozoic is adding a new expansion to their fun DC Deck-Building Game. The Crisis Expansion Pack 2 includes six new Super Heroes and main deck cards. The expansion also includes “Impossible Mode” Super-villains, and the eight Super Heroes and 12 Super-Villains from Heroes United have been revamped for cooperative play. That’s the same formula Cryptozoic followed for their first expansion which introduced cooperative play, and included new version of heroes and villains previously seen.

In the first expansion you had to beat various events based on some of the iconic moments in DC Comics history as well as defeat villains like you regularly do in the game. It changes up the main game enough and expands the already impressive replay value of the game.

Since it is an expansion, it requires the DC Comics Deck-Building Game, Heroes Unite, or Forever Evil base games to play.

We open up the box to show off the 61 game cards, 14 oversized Super Hero Cards, and rules.

The expansion will be released in February.

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