Boardgame Month here at Geek of all Trades, so we’ve broken out our box of Sentinels of the Multiverse (SotM) to give you guys a peak into what you’ll find in the game. SotM is one of the first superhero games I ever picked up and one of my favourite cooperative plays, and over the years it has spawned four full expansions and a slew of promo or alternate cards. Published by the folks over at Greater then Games, The game follows a team of superheroes that must overcome a super villain at specific locale every game in order to win.
The Backstory
Based off no actual intellectual comic book universe, SotM does an excellent job in “simulating” the typical Comic book feel regardless. This works amazingly and overall it actually feels like the characters stepped straight out of a long running series of comics. The fact that they have chosen not to base it on Marvel or DC characters has one additional advantage: the designers are absolutely free in designing the characters and abilities from scratch, even if they borrow some concepts from more famous caped crusaders. There are no limits or restrictions on how they develop a certain character which makes it much easier to design a “damage dealer” character, or a “deck control and support” character following roles rather than in creating a Spiderman or Green Lantern deck, after all, what role would YOU give to Spiderman that doesn’t cause an outcry from fans? Everyone has certain expectations what a SotM character does and doesn’t do. If you are a comicfan, you will even recognize the inspirations behind the most famous comic book heroes in SotM characters – some are obviously and clearly influenced by their “real” counterparts, but they are never a “cheap copy” in that they have all been well thought out by the designers.
Each Hero character and each Super Villain, are all distinct and strongly differ from the other characters in the game. Thus playing a different character will change your experience and is an entirely challenge each time. This is stacked with the fact that your “Team” of heroes also changes from game to game, so how you work together to take down the “Big Bad” will most likely have to differ each play. Teamwork and tactics will need to be adjusted according to this character’s traits, strengths and weaknesses. Trying out a new deck without knowing what to expect, and finding out what it’s about, is a really exciting part of the game!
The Rules
The Legacy is excellent at both powering up his allies and protecting them!
At its core, SotM is very simple. Each hero (player) has their own deck of cards, with each card detailing a specific power or equipment used by that character. These are very thematic and each hero operates in very different ways to others. For example, Wraith, the female masked vigilante billionaire who uses gadgets (and who is in no way Batman) has a Targeting Device that allows her to do +2 damage when using projectile weapons. Villains meanwhile have their own deck and operate entirely off a set of pre-scripted “Rules” which enable them to enact their nefarious plots , so baddies like Baron Blade have cards detailing goon squads or devices to hinder your progress. Like the Heroes, the Villans all player VERY differently. Some being very straight forward to beat, whilst others requiring some creative thinking and strategy on the players part! This being a cooperative game, the heroes will all win or lose together, depending on if the villain can achieve their evil goal, which is generally clearly defined on the villain card. All players start with a few cards in their hands, then each turn a player will play a card from their hand, then use a power on any card of theirs in play. They then end their turn and draw a card. After all the players go, the villain gets to play cards and deal whatever damage he can, according to the villains “AI” ruleset and based on the cards in play. Rinse, repeat until the heroes defeat the villain or lose the game. This is a very simple game to teach and play from a mechanical point of view, but once its all running, you quickly realise that there is a lot to learn about each hero and their play style. This of course can sometimes make the learning curve a little steep in some cases. For example, My first ever play I picked Absolute Zero, a master of thermodynamics, as a hero. This resulted in me generally overloading my own suit and setting myself on fire for a good few rounds, much to the mirth of my fellow heroes. Thankfully, the rulebook is quick to list heroes and their complexity levels for you, so you too can quickly disregard their sage advice and end up permanently encasing yourself in a block of eternal ice.
Components
The game ships with Ten different heroes, Four villains and Four environments. This gives you a huge amount of different combinations to try right from the get go. If it gets too easy, each villain has an Advanced option which makes them even harder than their usual vile selves, essentially providing two modes of play to beat each villain. Then if you add in the expansions, each which add several new heroes, villains and environments, all in manners we know and love from the comic book words (such as through the use of Time Travel, Alternate universes and even revenge arcs as the villains team up to get payback on the heroes!) you can play the game endlessly without ever getting the same combination. (You can browse the full list on the Website)
Nothing is better then good box control… Seriously, sometimes I just buy games so I can organise them…
Overall the game is shipped in a solid box with a nifty plastic inlay, optimized for storing all your game decks through the use of provided deck divider cards. Interestingly, Greater then games provides you with way more box space then you need, so that if you do decide to buy the expansions, everything still fits snugly into one carry box (Huzzah for foresight!)
The cards are regular-sized, so finding sleeves for them is quite easily. Unfortunately, if you do decide to sleeve your cards, that nifty box we just talked about will no longer fit your collection, as your cards become slightly too large. (Ok, maybe their foresight wasn’t that great after all…)
The cards are good, strong and glossy. Each deck cleverly has a distinctive backside and can be separated quickly and easily from the other decks. The counters and markers provided are good quality, sturdy thick card stock. The printing quality of the cards is good, full colour, and the pictures on the cards are atmospheric and modern. Each deck has a slightly different art-style and presents their super hero and their abilities, items, and powers in a very comic bookish style. Much like how each comic hero has their own artists. The illustrations for the super hero speedster Tachyon, for example, are all themed around the concept of speed and motion. All in all, the art design is worthy of any comic book in it’s own right. Very fresh, very modern and very dynamic. Overall, the same quality you would expect from any popular boardgame. Sleeving the cards is highly recommended to prevent those inevitable chip dust crime finger prints, regardless, or perhaps because, the overall card quality is very good.
Why should I buy this game?
Some Random Villain abilities give bad days all around
Obviously, to begin with, I can recommend the game to fans of superhero comics and movies in general. It’s neutral nature of course ensures that even those who have a fixation on Marvel or DC or even other existing universes without immediate fan boy/girl wars breaking out over who gets to play as Batman.
Whilst the game rules are very easy to learn, the game is extremely hard to beat! A good portion of the time (Specially in the beginning) your teams will be smashed by the super villains unless you play and coordinate very carefully. So if you are the player type who is easily frustrated and would rather get in a good night of easy Cluedo, this game is not for you. A good comparison for difficulty is Arkham Horror. Brutal, devastating villains, who will derive cool pleasure beating you most of the time. If you can enjoy a game regardless of whether you win it or not because figuring out combinations, working together as a team and power experimentation is part of the fun, you should definitely give it a bash! Winning, as a result is a very rewarding experience, feeling like the end of a full story arc.
Speaking of teamwork, another key point to consider is if you like cooperative games. This game is definitely for you if your favourite boardgames are played together instead of against each other. There is a lot of table talk required, players have to coordinate their actions, and lone wolves who ignore the groups plans won’t stand a chance as the party falls apart due to indecisiveness. The game is very unforgiving, the villains are really tough, and you are forced to cooperate all the time. Specializing on a certain role or characters within your group will make you a valuable asset and allow you for even playing the more complex characters in a helpful and supportive way.
All in all, SotM is a fantastic superhero card game which I can recommend wholeheartedly. It offers a bunch of great superhero stories, amazing variety, well placed longevity and an ease of expansion that other boardgames can only envy. It generally retails for around R600 or so, with expansions coming in much cheaper
Keen to give it a try?
Geek of all Trades and DeeTwenty are going to be hosting an international Boardgames day on Saturday, April 11, 2015 from 9:00 AM. Register here, or join the Facebook Event Here Come join us and give the game a go!