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Cryptozoic’s DC Deck-Building Game, Which is the One for You?

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Brett

Cryptozoic has released four different versions of their popular DC Deck-Building Game, the DC Deck-Building Game, DC Deck-Building Game: Heroes Unite, DC Deck-Building Game: Forever Evil, and DC Deck-Building Game Rivals: Batman vs Joker. But what’s the difference between them? Besides the characters within. We take a look at all four releases, what the differences are, and which you should get.

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Unboxing: DC Deck-Building Game: Rivals: Batman vs Joker

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Brett

It’s the head-to-head showdown comic book fans have been waiting for with Rivals Batman vs The Joker Deck Building Game! This set contains everything two players need to settle the question once and for all… Can Batman take down The Joker or will he go mad trying?

The action is fast and furious, as players vie to add the right mix of components to their decks. When you’re ready, you can launch an attack directly at your arch nemesis! The first player to drop their opponent three times wins the game instantly, however, it will be harder to do each subsequent time. Also, if the main deck runs out, victory points are counted to determine the winner.

This set is a great introduction to the Cerberus Game Engine, which is used in the best-selling DC Comics Deck-building Game line of products. The addition of the direct attacks will appeal even to seasoned deck-building fans.

Batman and The Joker each come with three oversized character cards. When one is beaten in direct combat, the next one is revealed. The new one will have a boosted-up ability and will be harder to take down than the previous one. Naturally, the combatants can utilize Block cards to protect themselves. It’s a brand new experience, not to be missed!

We open up and show off what you get in this two-player version of the popular DC Deck-Building Game from Cryptozoic.

Cryptozoic provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Unboxing DC Deck-Building Game: Forever Evil

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Brett

It’s fun to be bad! In the DC Comics Deck-Building Game: Forever Evil, players finally get to play the game as some of the most infamous Super-Villains in the DC Universe! With a name like Forever Evil, you can expect to find new and more dangerous Attacks, rugged Defenses and a number of nefarious ways to mess with your opponents. Card destruction is rampant in the set! Like every good Villain knows, henchmen you leave behind don’t count toward the bottom line. If you’re tired of ending the game with Starter cards still in your deck, then this is the set for you! Forever Evil introduces Victory Point tokens to DC Deck-Building Game! Just be on the lookout for lowly thieves who would steal away your hard-earned loot. While this game is a full-fledged stand-alone game, it can also be mixed with all previous releases in the line.

Cryptozoic provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review.

We Talk DC Comics Deck Building with Matt Hyra

Posted on December 16, 2014 by

Matt Hyra is a veteran game designer, having worked on a variety of games before moving to Cryptozoic where he was given the challenge of developing a DC Comics deck building game. The recently released second major expansion is an indication of the success of the series thus far and in Matt’s ability to put together a functional and fun game. We got the chance to talk with him about his latest release – Forever Evil – where the bad guys finally get their chance to shine.

Graphic Policy: Are you a fan of comics? And if yes, how does that affect how the theme was chosen for this game?

Matt Hyra: Yes! I’m a DC guy and have been since high school. I also enjoy some small press titles as well.

The themes are chosen to explore new cross sections of the DC Universe, game mechanics, and game flow. When we started thinking about playing as the bad guys, the Forever Evil storyline was just starting up. So that was a great moment of synergy.

GP: What goes into designing a game like this and how long does it take?

MH: A stand-alone game takes about a year from start to finish. There is a lot of trial and error. We usually decide on the types of characters we want to feature first. Then we come up with game mechanics that fit those characters. Then a lot of playtesting.

GP: What are some of the challenges in interpreting a comic universe into a deck building game?

MH: One challenge is thematics. In order to keep the games infinitely replayable, we can’t just hand a Batman player a 40-card deck full of Batman-themed cards. You have to add a random and wide variety of cards to your deck to keep the game fresh.

GP: Is it hard to balance what fans expect out of certain characters versus the need of the game dynamics?

MH: Some comic characters have powers that are difficult to translate into the game. Other times we are forced to just focus on one aspect of a character.

GP: It seems to be popular recently to want to play as the “bad guy”. What do you think about this phenomenon?

MH: We like it! Mechanically, it’s no different than playing as a Super Hero. But with Forever Evil, which just released last week, we could have a lot of fun with it. And the players are liking the new play patterns.

GP: What can we expect to see in future expansions? Tie-ins to the movies maybe? And any characters that you would like to see in the future?

MH: You can expect to see Crossover Packs. These small “booster” packs allow you to sub in a new set of Super Heroes and Super-Villains, plus a few new main deck cards… and that changes up the game about 50% with minimal effort. The first Crossover comes out in early 2015 and features the Justice Society of America.

Crisis Pack 2 will also be out very soon!

As for movies, that is a separate license that we don’t have.

As for characters I would like to see… probably Mr. Mxyzptlk. Just because he would allow us to do something really crazy.

Unboxing DC Comics Deck Building Game Crisis Expansion Pack 1

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Brett

We open up and show off Cryptozoic‘s DC Comics Deck-Building Game Crisis Expansion Pack.

The DC Universe is in peril! In the DC Comics Deck-Building Game Crisis Expansion, you will face some of the most epic challenges, events and destructive forces in the history of comic-dom. But this time, you won’t be going in alone! The Crisis Expansion introduces co-operative gameplay and “Impossible Mode” for fans of the popular and critically acclaimed deck-building game. If you thought things were rough before, you ain’t seen nothing yet!

You can pick up your copy now!

Cryptozoic provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review.

Review: DC Comics Deck-Building Game Forever Evil

Posted on December 13, 2014 by

The DC Comics Deck Building Game: Forever Evil represents the third expansion of the original game, and the second which is playable by itself. The mechanics of this game is very similar to those games which have preceded it. There are only with some slight changes to make it a bit more confrontational, but that also fits with the villain themed story. Players can play as a number of villains – Harley Quinn, Lex Luthor, Black Adam, Black Manta, Bizarro, Deathstroke, Sinestro and Bane as the promo card – but this game can also be easily tied into the original in the series to create all kinds of new combinations.

As a comics deck building game, this is invariably compared to Legendary for Marvel, but with this addition it has likely overtaken its competitor. If there is a drawback to Marvel it is that it is somewhat constrained by the mechanics of the series. Thus while they released their only villain themed expansion earlier this year, it didn’t really fit as well with the original. The DC Comics version is much more wide open. Thanks to the Crisis expansion, a similar mechanic to Legendary is there, but this is not necessary either, as players can determine what they like best about the mechanics and suit it to their own desires. For the first time in either of the two series, by combining this expansion with previous ones, players can play hero vs. villain, but still the other options are there for hero vs. hero or villain vs. villain. If there is one criticism of the mechanics here it is the second rate importance given to some of the iconic villains of the major heroes. Wonder Woman specifically is given a bit of secondary status. Her main villain, Cheetah, remains as only a drawable card in the original game, and no other major villain of the hero shows up in any other game, despite Cheetah being featured prominently enough on the cover. With the inclusion of such obscure character as Atomica having the same status, this kind of reduces the importance of some of these foes. This is likely to correct itself though as the game is getting a number of expansions in the near future.

Perhaps the best indication I can give of the playability of this game comes from my wife. She is a fan of board games but doesn’t really know so much about comics. Despite that, after playing once she saw the variety of options available and wanted to play again. This all around appeal is one of the hallmarks of this game, and puts it on equal ground with other deck buildings games such as Legendary and Dominion, as even for those that are not as interested in comics will enjoy this.

Game Designer: Matt Hyra

Score: 8.8

Unboxing DC Comics Deck-Building Game: Heroes Unite

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Brett

We open up and show off the contents of Cryptozoic‘s DC Comics Deck-Building Game: Heroes Unite.

In the DC Comics Deck-Building Game: Heroes Unite, each player takes on the role of a Super Hero such as Shazam or Hawkman. Your Super Hero has an ability that will guide your strategy throughout the game. Each player starts with his own basic 10-card deck and draws a hand of 5 cards each turn. Power is the currency you will use to buy new, stronger cards to add to your deck. The goal of a deck-building game is to craft your personal deck into a well-oiled machine. There are five different types of cards that can be acquired: Villains, Heroes, Equipment, Super Powers, and Locations.

Play as Shazam., Hawkman, Red Tornado, Nightwing, Black Canary, Batgirl, or Booster Gold in Heroes Unite, the first standalone expansion for the DC Comics Deck-Building Game. Unlock special abilities, like Force Field or the Helmet of Fate and unleash devastating card combos against your opponents. Craft your hero deck into a well-oiled machine to take on the most vile villains in the DC Universe in your quest for Victory (Points). Mix the cards from Heroes Unite with the core DC Comics Deck-Building Game set to wage the ultimate showdown.

If the above sounds fun to you, you can get the game now!

Cryptozoic provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review.

Game Review: Legendary Guardians of the Galaxy Expansion

Posted on October 17, 2014 by

The Guardians of the Galaxy for the Legendary Deck Building Game is the sixth release in this series, and the fourth expansion for the core game. This is the first expansion released in what is presumably trying to tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this expansion adds in new mechanics to the game while adding the core characters from the Guardians of the Galaxy – Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot, Drax and Rocket Racoon. Along with the new characters come new kinds of cards, infinity gems and artifacts. The game does play out pretty well, particularly focusing on what is to date the most powerful of the line’s villains in Thanos. The new scenarios also add to the overall challenge of the game, which has a tendency to be a little easy for most of the typical scenarios in a lot of the cases. In this sense this expansion is the best since the release of the Fantastic Four expansion which had introduced some harder scenarios and more challenging villains. Having only played this version as a standalone with the base rules, a player that was after a more challenging game could throw in the Heralds of Galactus into the villain deck for a near impossible challenge.

There are a few drawbacks to this game. Perhaps the most obvious is the natural evolution of deck building games. Most eventually come to resemble one another, and in so doing this expansion takes on aspects of other popular deck building games such as Dominion and the DC Deck Building Game. As well, this expansion had been rumored to include a sixth character, which is absent, but it feels as though the developers could have thrown another in there – Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel or Nova – just to expand the game a little as well. Another problem is that with the introduction of artifacts, that fans are going to wonder why this was not include earlier as artifacts are essentially just equipment, and fans of the comics are likely to want to see a lot of artefact tie-ins in the future, be them web-shooters, Captain America’s shield or even Wolverine’s claws.

On the whole though, this is a good expansion and keeps the core of the game relevant while adding a bit of new mechanics to make the game just a little different. That this was released to closely tie into the movie is also hopefully not a coincidence, and is rather an attempt by Upper Deck to tie into all Marvel movies a lot more closely which means that we will see a steady progression in this series to include most of the Marvel Universe.

Score: 8.3

Upper Deck Releases a Guaradians of the Galaxy Legendary Expansion

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Brett

Upper Deck’s Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game has become the company’s top gaming property with two core sets (Legendary & Villains) and three expansion sets (Dark City, Fantastic Four & Paint the Town Red) in the market. Now Upper Deck brings Marvel fans even more excitement with the fourth expansion in the series. With content dedicated exclusively to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy cast of characters, comic fans have enjoyed over the years and that Marvel movie fans have come to know and love as well. Legendary fans are going to be thrilled to add their favorite Guardians of the Galaxy characters to their decks as this expansion will include 100 all new playable cards featuring original artwork.

This expansion will feature the five key heroes from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Groot and Rocket Raccoon) as they get help from Nova to do battle with one of the evil masterminds; The Kree Supreme Intelligence. New game mechanics, schemes and tactics will add to the gameplay and these new cards will all be playable with cards from the previously released sets!

Gamers can play with or against each other in Upper Deck’s latest Legendary expansion for Guardians of the Galaxy when it releases on October 15, 2014.