Sentinels of the Multiverse!

[Uncle Yuan]

So, I recently got turned on to a newish preset* CCG (collectible card game) called Sentinels of the Multiverse when I supported one of the expansions on Kickstarter.  I went in large enough to get the complete set and it arrived about a month ago.  I am a pretty avid board gamer and this game rose quickly to the top of my favorite list.  Each hero and villain has it's own deck with it's own unique mechanic.  Tachyon (the Flash clone) gets more powerful the more "burst" cards she has in her discard pile - she gains momentum while Visionary (bald psychic, hm . . . ) specializes in manipulating the villain deck.  The art and color text add a lot of "background" feel, so while the SotM universe is completely self-contained and only about two years old it feels as if it's been out there for decades.  It's cooperative, so a team of heroes takes on a larger-than-life arch villain in a specific environment (which also hasi it's own deck and can dramatically alter the game play).  I can not recommend this game highly enough to any board gamer.  And if you are a board gamer who is also a comic nerd, well, do yourself a favor and check it out: http://sentinelsofthemultiverse.com/ 

*preset or fixed set CCGs don't expand by making you hunt for new cards to build your deck (a la Magic: the Gathering), but contain everything you need to play.  Expansions broaden the field but add only more sets rather than expanding existing sets.  "Dominion" was the first notable example of this sub-genre of CCG.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Actually there's another thread on this subject by someone else that gets updated whenever a new expansion is kickstarted.  I've had my eye on it for some time.  The same company is working on a brand new game now as well.

[lugaru]

Wow, I had gotten excited thinking somebody had read and responded to one of my threads! No such luck, but glad you discovered the game on your own.

Here are my opinions so far:

http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?topic=55921.0

http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?topic=55439.0

[Uncle Yuan]

Wow, I had gotten excited thinking somebody had read and responded to one of my threads! No such luck, but glad you discovered the game on your own.

Here are my opinions so far:

http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?topic=55921.0

http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?topic=55439.0

I figured someone had discovered this before me.  I have to say that playing this game really captures the tension and fun of superheroics.  And yes, the team-up tactics add a huge layer of fun!  I also see you noted the sheer number of combinations possible with all the heroes, villains and environments available.  I did the math - with the current expansions and mini-expansions there are over 450,000 possible combinations to play!!

[lugaru]

Yeah, in terms of the possibilities it is pretty insane... personally I am a very "flavor" first guy (it is visible in my Magic the Gathering decks) so I rarely feel like fighting the Serial Killer (Spite) on Mars but in pure game terms it is still a real blast.

Also I really love how simple the game is but how much variety they milk out of it, it is safe to say that most decks are completely different than other decks and pretty much each villain has unique card types. In terms of Marvel/DC imagine that Kingpin has Henchmen cards, or Lex Luthor has Scheme cards, or Thanos has infinity gem cards he is gathering or so on. In Sentinels the cards are nuts too... Ambuscade has traps shuffled face up into the deck (so you cant miss them), Gloomweaver plays a zombie from his trash every time you beat a cultist (they come back as zombies) and the nature elemental Akash'Bhuta has "limbs" (possesed trees and stones and such) that damage it when you destroy them.

It is pretty nuts.

[Uncle Yuan]

About two weeks ago I got the new "mega-expansion" for SotM, "Vengeance."  It adds five new heroes (all really cool), two new locations, and a new villain team and corresponding mechanic.  It's a great addition to the franchise!

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Mine just arrived today and I got to play with one of the new heroes in one of the frequent Google plus online games I've been playing in. 

Also check out the unofficial expansion, The Cauldron, which has original art that fits right along with the official game, undergoes lots of ballancing and testing and is just plain fun, with 11 new heroes with unique playstyles, 6 new environments, and 6 new villains, most of which are released and can be downloaded or custom printed.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1104083/tosxs-sotm-the-cauldron-expansion-tracking

[Uncle Yuan]

Mine just arrived today and I got to play with one of the new heroes in one of the frequent Google plus online games I've been playing in. 

Also check out the unofficial expansion, The Cauldron, which has original art that fits right along with the official game, undergoes lots of ballancing and testing and is just plain fun, with 11 new heroes with unique playstyles, 6 new environments, and 6 new villains, most of which are released and can be downloaded or custom printed.

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1104083/tosxs-sotm-the-cauldron-expansion-tracking

How does one find these games? I've done a good handful of the PBF on BGG (even ran one), but I'd love to find more!

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

https://plus.google.com/communities/117769941955241654989

We use Google's own Hangout feature, although mostly we don't use webcams, just voice chat.  We each use our own decks and either someone runs the spreadsheet in a publicly viewable window, or we all use a public Google doc page to keep track of everything.