by ryanjamal
Disclaimer: This is not a legitimate review. My thoughts about this game are still swirling around me, and my understanding of it is limited. There are other great reviews of this game that you should read instead of this one. And if you do read this and you haven’t played the game before, definitely read the comments that point out how I’m wrong or if I’m right. I probably shouldn’t have posted this, but I needed some way to process how I feel about this game, and hopefully others’ responses can steer me towards further clarity. Here goes.It’s been 72 hours, and I can’t say for sure whether or not I think it’s good, but I can’t shake this game. I hosted a Descent night on Friday, starting a new campaign with a couple of friends, and one of them brought over the DC deckbuilder they’ve been talking about in case we had time for a filler. Indeed we did.
Luckily, we finished with Descent before he broke open the box because after my first game—I was hooked. We played three games before I had to call it at 1:00 in the morning (having to wake up at 5:00 when my toddler would awaken), and it was a blast. Fast moving, simple yet fun, interesting translation of comic book icons and personalities into game mechanics—I ate it up.
But it’s still probably not a good game. At least I think it isn’t. I’ve only played the game five times, three times with three people and two times with two, which isn’t a very large sample. But in those few games I don’t know if I made many difficult or important choices. The game’s attraction is in its simplicity, but it’s probably too simple. Maybe.
The game is in many ways the antithesis of Thunderstone. Like Dominion, Thunderstone gives you control over what goes into your deck, allows you to choose and pursue a strategy. DCDBG muddles it all together. Cards come at you at random, providing you with a few choices, a few strategies that you can half-effectively pursue, but ultimately most of the game is out of your hands, and most of the time the optimal choice is obvious. DCDBG does give each player a superhero whose special ability lends itself to a specific strategy, but again the random aspect of the line makes this mostly out of your control. Thunderstone also incorporates multiple levels into the game’s strategy—you have to consider your purchasing power for shopping, your combat strength, how much light you have, the weight of weapons and average strength of your heroes, etc. DCDBG has one currency: power. That’s it. In Thunderstone and Dominion you also have to strike the balance of finding the right moment of when to shift over to buying victory point cards or to only slaying monsters. These cards clog up your deck and make them less efficient, so you can’t buy or slay too many of them too early. But in DCDBG there isn’t this tension. Everything is worth victory points, and the super villains are not only worth the most victory points but are also some of the most powerful cards in the game.
Simple. Perhaps—probably—too simple. But still had a blast. The game's simplicity allows for a streamlined, and non-brain-burning deckbuilder that makes for a easy game among friends. After those three games played back to back, I thought about the game all Saturday, and then had to call my friend up to play again on Sunday. But the two-player games didn’t thrill me as much as the first three. It could be the difference between the player count, but I fear that the real problem is that this game doesn’t have legs.
But I know I’ll still play it next time my friend brings it by, hoping that initial enjoyment returns.
-ryanjamal