Also this week our column dedicated to the single player returns with the reviews of Triplock ed Heirs of the Wizard King.
Triplock
The first title is a Kickstarter area of Chip Theory Games, by Adam Carlson e Josh J. Carlson (authors of Too Many Bones and Cloudspire, with the same publisher).
It is a 1 or 2 player game in which we will play the role of a steampunk character (or a series of characters in the solo mode) struggling with a lock to break. The setting (to which an abundance of material is dedicated among the cards and cards included in the box) is almost irrelevant since Triplock it is an abstract title: the actions available in our turn (determined mainly by the dice rolled) allow us to interact with the game chips that represent the mechanisms and safeties of the padlock. Our efforts will be directed at placing the mechanisms in certain combinations to obtain the points provided by the “diagram” cards.
The single player mode takes place through a mini-campaign of four scenarios, further mini-campaigns are available with the three “solo-packs” released.
We got to play the campaign included in the base game, which turned out to be very enjoyable and challenging at the right point. It should be mentioned the memory component necessary to play the title, an element that not everyone will appreciate (we, first of all, like it a little). A final mention goes to the components of the title, with an amazing quality, to say the least Chip Theory Games he always got used to us.
Rating: 6 / 10
Heirs of the Wizard King
Another Kickstarter, this time by the newcomer Jonathan Politis and published by Closet Full of Games (publisher also newcomer).
A dark wizard has assassinated the sorcerer king, acting as heirs of the Wizard King it will be our job to foil a macabre ritual and defeat the black wizard before it's too late. Heirs of the Wizard King it is played with a deck of cards, each of which has a type of spell (among six different ones) and a power level.
The aim of the game is to complete chains of spells (placing cards of the same color or level side by side) to get advancements on a track and get to the bottom before the opponents. Meanwhile, the spells in the hands of the players can be "cast" directly with the power level indicated on the card or "absorbed" to increase our knowledge of that spell.
Having overcome the obstacle of the manual (written in an indecent way to say the least), and after having clarified several doubts thanks to the boardgamegeek, we manage to unravel in this actually rather poorly made title. The idea of being able to use cards in different ways works and is successful. The effects of the spells, however, leave us perplexed and involve some distortions. The single player experience is absolutely frustrating, we often witness the nullification of our strategy due to a single lucky draw of the black wizard (but vice versa it is also easy for the player to destroy the chains of the automaton: in essence, we remain turns and turns to repeat the same actions, waiting for an unfortunate draw from the bot to allow us to conclude). The inexperience of author and publisher is perceived all.
Rating: 3 / 10
