Okay class, welcome back to Board Gaming 201. Today we’re going to be picking up from our discussion last week on the evolution of deck-building games and their impact on gaming as a whole. Turn to page whatever – cause this is the internet and it doesn’t really matter anyway – and follow along.
Last week we took a look at the revolutionary deck-building game Dominion and were introduced to the concepts and other junk that is important to deck building. You know what, I can’t do this. Serious is no my thing. But let it be known that I lasted for a paragraph.
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[There’s a metaphor here. Or symbolism.]
Dominion was the game that sparked a revolution, that is fact, but to say that the first was the best would be like saying the first iPhone is better than the 5th. Games, like technology, evolve, and mechanics are no different. This isn’t to say Dominion isn’t good (it’s actually great), but it lacks a certain appeal for some people. The core of Dominion and the general mechanic of play is solid; the biggest complaint players typically have is about the lack of player-interaction in the game. Dominion falls under the sandbox category, wherein players are each playing in their own little sandboxes. Sure, some sand blows from one box to another occasionally, but for the most part the game is about who can build the better performing deck on the fly. Dominion: Intrigue, the first expansion, tries to combat this with the introduction of more Attack cards, but a lot of people aren’t big fans of those.
The whole point of Dominion is build the best deck. You have to come up with a strategy and then battle against chance with how your deck is shuffled and deals its hands out. When you throw in an abundance of Attack cards into the market that players can purchase and then use against you, it reduces the effectiveness of your (and everyone else’s) hands and thus, slows down the game. Attack cards that give out Curses, which are as useless as Estates during the game, flood your hands with crap potentially every round. When you pick up Defense cards to try and combat your attackers, you’re introducing another set of cards that are potentially useless towards your overall goal each hand, which is of course to make fat stacks and then blow it on hookers and smack– I mean, Duchesses and Feasts. Or you know, some land. The guy that goes with the all-Attack all-the-time strategy is the douche at game night and doesn’t get invited back often, or at least not for nights when you want to play Dominion (or Ticket to Ride, or Cosmic Encounters, or Munchkin, etc).
Issues with Attack cards aside, there is a lot of strategy and fun to be had with Dominion, more so every time you purchase another expansion. The game is well balanced (give or take a card or two) and can be a good gateway game. It’s not the best gateway drug to deck-building though. No, that title I give to DC Deck-Building Game, a game that really needs a better title than it was born with.
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[Batman’s one thigh is drawn at such a weird angle. Too many broken femurs, I guess.]
DC Deck-Building Game, henceforth, shall be named… (drum roll please) Superheros That Aren’t Owned By Marvel Deck-Building Game Because Marvel Already Came Out With One And DC Needed To As Well. Just rolls off the tongue. Game designers, I’m available for freelance title suggests anytime.
Maybe I should start to talk about the game.
STAOBMDBGBMACOWOADCNTAW, or DCDBG (for short), sees each player putting on the spandex briefs of one of seven main DC heroes. You’ve got Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, and Green Lantern. Each hero gives a different bonus for different things, all of which make thematic sense for that hero. For example, Batman gets a Power bonus when he uses Equipment, Superman the same but with Superpowers, and Aquaman gets a bonus when other heros are played each turn, because let’s face it, he can’t do shit alone.
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[His thigh is much more normal here. Also, what makes red lightning?]
Thematically, the whole point of the game is to defeat the most villains, accrue the most heroes and get the best equipment. Realistically you’re just trying to get the most victory points in your deck and each card gives a certain amount of points at the end of the game, denoted by the star in the lower left corner. To obtain cards and add them to your deck, you need to gain enough Power in a turn to cover the cost of cards, marked in the lower right corner. You can gain as many cards as you can afford each turn that are available in the market, and when you play them, you simply do what they say. Simple, right?
The market itself is simple, too. Instead of a market made up of six base cards and ten kingdom cards like in Dominion, DCDBG’s market features only the top five cards of the market deck. Once cards are purchased from this deck, their empty spots are only filled at the end of the player’s turn, after that player has finished their purchases and discarded their remaining hand. This limits the cards a player can purchase from the main market to five, though there are always Kicks available for acquisition off to the side.
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[Superman’s summer outfit is apparently a t-shirt and jeans. But he keeps the cape on, you know, for reasons.]
Inside the main market you’ll find Heroes, Villains, Equipment, Locations and Superpowers. For the most part, Superpowers, Heroes and Equipment are only different in their name – abilities are basically the same. They grant you Power and some have unique abilities that you may or may not want to do on your turn. Locations similar to your Super Hero card and remain in front of your once you play them, granting you various bonuses that make sense for the location played (ie. Arkham gives you bonuses when you play villains). Villains, the bastards, feature abilities that can affect your opponents or the market. You can use Cheetah to steal from the market and Poison Ivy can give out Weakness, cards that are worth negative victory points at the end of the game.
There aren’t as many repeats of cards in DCDBG as in Dominion, so it’s harder to build a deck that just does one thing – you’re forced to diversify and buy what’s available in the market on your turn. Because the market is directly affected by each player (once a card is purchased, it’s gone), there’s less sandboxing happening during the game. The handful of Villains that attack can be annoying, but not nearly as a Dominion game with Witches, Militia and Thieves. No, the real pain in the arse in DCDBG is the Super Villains.
![]()
[I have no idea which comic this guy is from. Does that out me as a Fake Geek Girl? Oh noes!]
These bad boys park on the outer edge of the playing field, only the top card visible on their stack. They are defeated and gained the same way that the small fry villains are in the market, but they’re worth considerably more and thus take a bit more umph to defeat. The game ends once all the big baddies are handled, but each time one is defeated, the next revealed gets a chance to do some damage. Each Super Villain has a “First Appearance” attack that is triggered when they’re revealed and these attacks affect all the players – not just the one that defeated the last guy. What this means is that you can’t focus on just your little castle the whole game. You need to be aware of other player’s capabilities and try to either defeat the Super Villains yourself, or be prepared with some defenses when someone else knocks the latest king off the pile.
That’s it, that’s the game. DCDBG is light weight and the strategy easily grasped, by gamers and non-gamers alike. Everyone knows who Batman and Superman are, and everyone knows that they’re fighting crime. The theme just makes sense with the mechanics used. Though, capturing Villains to then use yourself later against your opponents isn’t very canon, I will give you that. Regardless, though, DCDBG is captivating because you get to be a Superhero. I mean, yeah, you really should be yourself in life but come on! If you can be Batman, always be Batman.
Cryptozoic has done a solid job with creating a simple and balanced deck-building game for DC to answer the one Marvel released shortly beforehand. Legendary: A Marvel Deck-Building Game (now we know where DC got their inspiration) isn’t nearly as smooth to pick up and run with, no matter how awesome you think Spiderman is. It’s more complex of a game, featuring bystanders, a headquarters and even a board, for gods sake. This isn’t to say its a bad game – just more involved than what I’m looking for with a deck-builder. If I want involved, I’ll pull out Dominion and it’s slew of expansions. Or maybe Thunderstone. Oh.. Thunderstone. I think I know what I’ll be talking about next.
Anyway, I very much like the DC Deck-Building Game. And for nearly half the price of its direct competitor Marvel, can you blame me?
More Board?
Cryptozoic is known for reusing game skeletons that are proven to be solid and apparently DC Deck-Building Game was one such game. This year the gaming giant released a Lord of the Rings deck-builder, unsurprisingly named Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Deck-Building Game. If LotR is more your style than classic Superheroes, that might be the version for you, though be warned they have changed some of the core mechanics. Player cards are apparently not as useful and there are also some other theme-based adjustments, but otherwise it’s the same game. It's also as reasonably priced as the DC version of the game, so if that's something you're looking for, there ya go.
Last week we took a look at the revolutionary deck-building game Dominion and were introduced to the concepts and other junk that is important to deck building. You know what, I can’t do this. Serious is no my thing. But let it be known that I lasted for a paragraph.
[There’s a metaphor here. Or symbolism.]
Dominion was the game that sparked a revolution, that is fact, but to say that the first was the best would be like saying the first iPhone is better than the 5th. Games, like technology, evolve, and mechanics are no different. This isn’t to say Dominion isn’t good (it’s actually great), but it lacks a certain appeal for some people. The core of Dominion and the general mechanic of play is solid; the biggest complaint players typically have is about the lack of player-interaction in the game. Dominion falls under the sandbox category, wherein players are each playing in their own little sandboxes. Sure, some sand blows from one box to another occasionally, but for the most part the game is about who can build the better performing deck on the fly. Dominion: Intrigue, the first expansion, tries to combat this with the introduction of more Attack cards, but a lot of people aren’t big fans of those.
The whole point of Dominion is build the best deck. You have to come up with a strategy and then battle against chance with how your deck is shuffled and deals its hands out. When you throw in an abundance of Attack cards into the market that players can purchase and then use against you, it reduces the effectiveness of your (and everyone else’s) hands and thus, slows down the game. Attack cards that give out Curses, which are as useless as Estates during the game, flood your hands with crap potentially every round. When you pick up Defense cards to try and combat your attackers, you’re introducing another set of cards that are potentially useless towards your overall goal each hand, which is of course to make fat stacks and then blow it on hookers and smack– I mean, Duchesses and Feasts. Or you know, some land. The guy that goes with the all-Attack all-the-time strategy is the douche at game night and doesn’t get invited back often, or at least not for nights when you want to play Dominion (or Ticket to Ride, or Cosmic Encounters, or Munchkin, etc).
Issues with Attack cards aside, there is a lot of strategy and fun to be had with Dominion, more so every time you purchase another expansion. The game is well balanced (give or take a card or two) and can be a good gateway game. It’s not the best gateway drug to deck-building though. No, that title I give to DC Deck-Building Game, a game that really needs a better title than it was born with.
[Batman’s one thigh is drawn at such a weird angle. Too many broken femurs, I guess.]
DC Deck-Building Game, henceforth, shall be named… (drum roll please) Superheros That Aren’t Owned By Marvel Deck-Building Game Because Marvel Already Came Out With One And DC Needed To As Well. Just rolls off the tongue. Game designers, I’m available for freelance title suggests anytime.
Maybe I should start to talk about the game.
STAOBMDBGBMACOWOADCNTAW, or DCDBG (for short), sees each player putting on the spandex briefs of one of seven main DC heroes. You’ve got Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, and Green Lantern. Each hero gives a different bonus for different things, all of which make thematic sense for that hero. For example, Batman gets a Power bonus when he uses Equipment, Superman the same but with Superpowers, and Aquaman gets a bonus when other heros are played each turn, because let’s face it, he can’t do shit alone.
[His thigh is much more normal here. Also, what makes red lightning?]
Thematically, the whole point of the game is to defeat the most villains, accrue the most heroes and get the best equipment. Realistically you’re just trying to get the most victory points in your deck and each card gives a certain amount of points at the end of the game, denoted by the star in the lower left corner. To obtain cards and add them to your deck, you need to gain enough Power in a turn to cover the cost of cards, marked in the lower right corner. You can gain as many cards as you can afford each turn that are available in the market, and when you play them, you simply do what they say. Simple, right?
The market itself is simple, too. Instead of a market made up of six base cards and ten kingdom cards like in Dominion, DCDBG’s market features only the top five cards of the market deck. Once cards are purchased from this deck, their empty spots are only filled at the end of the player’s turn, after that player has finished their purchases and discarded their remaining hand. This limits the cards a player can purchase from the main market to five, though there are always Kicks available for acquisition off to the side.
[Superman’s summer outfit is apparently a t-shirt and jeans. But he keeps the cape on, you know, for reasons.]
Inside the main market you’ll find Heroes, Villains, Equipment, Locations and Superpowers. For the most part, Superpowers, Heroes and Equipment are only different in their name – abilities are basically the same. They grant you Power and some have unique abilities that you may or may not want to do on your turn. Locations similar to your Super Hero card and remain in front of your once you play them, granting you various bonuses that make sense for the location played (ie. Arkham gives you bonuses when you play villains). Villains, the bastards, feature abilities that can affect your opponents or the market. You can use Cheetah to steal from the market and Poison Ivy can give out Weakness, cards that are worth negative victory points at the end of the game.
There aren’t as many repeats of cards in DCDBG as in Dominion, so it’s harder to build a deck that just does one thing – you’re forced to diversify and buy what’s available in the market on your turn. Because the market is directly affected by each player (once a card is purchased, it’s gone), there’s less sandboxing happening during the game. The handful of Villains that attack can be annoying, but not nearly as a Dominion game with Witches, Militia and Thieves. No, the real pain in the arse in DCDBG is the Super Villains.
[I have no idea which comic this guy is from. Does that out me as a Fake Geek Girl? Oh noes!]
These bad boys park on the outer edge of the playing field, only the top card visible on their stack. They are defeated and gained the same way that the small fry villains are in the market, but they’re worth considerably more and thus take a bit more umph to defeat. The game ends once all the big baddies are handled, but each time one is defeated, the next revealed gets a chance to do some damage. Each Super Villain has a “First Appearance” attack that is triggered when they’re revealed and these attacks affect all the players – not just the one that defeated the last guy. What this means is that you can’t focus on just your little castle the whole game. You need to be aware of other player’s capabilities and try to either defeat the Super Villains yourself, or be prepared with some defenses when someone else knocks the latest king off the pile.
That’s it, that’s the game. DCDBG is light weight and the strategy easily grasped, by gamers and non-gamers alike. Everyone knows who Batman and Superman are, and everyone knows that they’re fighting crime. The theme just makes sense with the mechanics used. Though, capturing Villains to then use yourself later against your opponents isn’t very canon, I will give you that. Regardless, though, DCDBG is captivating because you get to be a Superhero. I mean, yeah, you really should be yourself in life but come on! If you can be Batman, always be Batman.
Cryptozoic has done a solid job with creating a simple and balanced deck-building game for DC to answer the one Marvel released shortly beforehand. Legendary: A Marvel Deck-Building Game (now we know where DC got their inspiration) isn’t nearly as smooth to pick up and run with, no matter how awesome you think Spiderman is. It’s more complex of a game, featuring bystanders, a headquarters and even a board, for gods sake. This isn’t to say its a bad game – just more involved than what I’m looking for with a deck-builder. If I want involved, I’ll pull out Dominion and it’s slew of expansions. Or maybe Thunderstone. Oh.. Thunderstone. I think I know what I’ll be talking about next.
Anyway, I very much like the DC Deck-Building Game. And for nearly half the price of its direct competitor Marvel, can you blame me?
More Board?
Cryptozoic is known for reusing game skeletons that are proven to be solid and apparently DC Deck-Building Game was one such game. This year the gaming giant released a Lord of the Rings deck-builder, unsurprisingly named Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Deck-Building Game. If LotR is more your style than classic Superheroes, that might be the version for you, though be warned they have changed some of the core mechanics. Player cards are apparently not as useful and there are also some other theme-based adjustments, but otherwise it’s the same game. It's also as reasonably priced as the DC version of the game, so if that's something you're looking for, there ya go.