Game: Overpower

Thread: Re: I love this game.

stormseeker75 — 2008-05-01T20:14:08+00:00

DarrellKH wrote:
This is what passes muster as a review, these days?

This is a lot better than some of the other crap I see posted as reviews. At least there were some opinions in there, not just a total rules rewrite. Plus its his first one.

Thanks for joining the ranks of reviewers Zack. This is a good start. We all have to start somewhere.

Thread: Re: I love this game.

mjfassio — 2008-05-01T13:26:58+00:00

Thread: Re: I love this game.

DarrellKH — 2008-05-01T11:13:20+00:00

This is what passes muster as a review, these days?

Thread: Re: I love this game.

cheng — 2008-05-01T02:29:30+00:00

Ah, a forgotten classic. I actually picked up this game after its demise, in late 2000. A friend who had played since the beginning got me into it and we played it every chance we got throughout a 6-month deployment. I still have all my cards.

I heard that battle sites ruined the game. We never played with them, but they seemed silly to me. We had a rule that you had to be able to explain how your 4 characters could end up on a team. (A theme that I tried to apply to HeroClix and had to give up to be competitive).

The only promos I remember seeing regularly were the Onslaught cards. When you put all 4 of them together, it was vicious.

Thread: I love this game.

Jedekai — 2008-04-30T22:20:17+00:00

I've been playing this since I was 13 in 1997. I picked it up about two weeks before plunging headlong into my bank-account draining love affair with Magic.

Although the game is easy to play, and there are more than enough players out there, one of the things to remember about this game is how "broken" it is.

Example:

While boxes only run about $5-$20 per box (depending on which set) it is the promo cards that are the most costly, and the most broken.

"Alien Symbiote" being a good example - found by sending in Oscar Meyer labels I (no joke) traded 2 to a die-hard Overpower fan for a Gen-Con promo Bayushi Kachiko for L5R. She's worth over $100 in general to a Scorpion player. The two symbiotes cost me $20 at a CCG shop and I don't think the owner realized what he had.

Then there are the ::ahem:: Legendary Promos.

"Captain Universe Spider-Man" (9Pw, 8In, 9St, 7Psy) (Gen-Con promo)
"World War II Captain America" (9's across the board - they were only given to Marvel employees, and his base existence is considered urban legend. He has no Psyche stat.)
"Alien Symbiote" (A free +1 to every stat. Just a wee bit broken.)
"Hapless Bystander" (MISSION card, have a Teamwork card on every character "ready". Each character gets +1 to his highest stat.)
... There are many more, but the problem is that promos were never banned from tournaments. They were so rare and had to find they were allowed, simply because of rarity. (Reminds me of "The Gathering" for Highlander. Which was: "I'm playing a MacLeod, you're not. I win.") I guarantee you Oscar Meyer made a killing by giving you a 1:4 chance (the card was at random) for 5 labels to get an "Alien Symbiote".

Still a fun game if you put a limit on what promos are allowed.
(IMO - WWII Cap is still the most broken card ever printed for a CCG. Makes M:tG's Black Lotus look like a small child in a boxing ring.)

The DC expansion didn't help, but if you screw up the courage the Indie set was actually one of the best expansion stand-alone (you read that right) sets I've ever seen. Balanced all the way around.

Probably the greatest Beer and Pretzel CCG I've played.

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Gecko23 — 2007-12-05T04:25:40+00:00

The various types of cards that make up the deck

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Gecko23 — 2007-12-05T04:24:47+00:00

Rulebook, reference card, typical adventure card front and back

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Gecko23 — 2007-12-05T04:23:51+00:00

The inner tuck boxes

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Gecko23 — 2007-12-05T04:22:36+00:00

2 player starter set

Thread: Re: Checklists?

GrimJester — 2007-08-20T21:39:22+00:00

Let me look through my old files. I'll upload something within a few days.

Thread: Re: User Review

jbwc — 2007-08-20T02:16:43+00:00

I too, use to play this game a lot back in the day. Of course, as time went on my interests changed and I got rid of them (the large boxes of power cards at least).

I recently started thinking about converting Overpower to a dice game, something similar to that of Golo or Yahtzee. You would use 4 eight sided dice to represent the four character stats- energy, fighting, strength, and intellect- along with a +,-, neutral (blank face) die that I picked up at the local comic store.

You'd roll all five dice at once, picking the best attack or modifying it (plus or minus) to allow a character to now sucessfully make an attack. Ex: Roll a 6 strength along with a (+), your character has a 7 strength stat on their card- he/she now has that 7 strength attack instead. (-) would be used in this way as well, in case you'd roll an 8.

As for the blank side of the die, I'd consider using it for the special abilities, although this proved to be more complicated- How would I factor in characters super powers without having the cards present to represent them? Which special cards of the group would you get to choose? How could this be played without the visual punch of DC/Marvel/Indy artwork and not be seen as playing war with dice?

I've hit a roadblock with this concept, but I don't want to give up hope quite yet for the little CCG that could. Any ideas?

-jbwc

Thread: Re: Original Precon decks

michaeldavidcox — 2007-08-02T14:47:46+00:00

supermodiklein wrote:
Does anyone know where to find a list of the original preconstructed marvel decks? I have a couple of old decks kickin' around, but there's a few boosters mixed in that I want to sort out.I actually have some of the precon decks still in shrinkwrap. I will go through them and list the cards later this week. I have a large collection thanks to eBay so I am trying to sort them all out now.

Thread: Re: Checklists?

MartinStever — 2007-07-31T16:43:43+00:00

The book works far better as a checklist that as a price guide. For each card game and expansion there is a complete list of all the cards.

Thread: Re: Checklists?

michaeldavidcox — 2007-07-26T09:47:40+00:00

Vandemonium, thanks for the websites. Those are a definite start.

MartinStever, thanks for the book recommendation. I have never looked at those "price guides" before.

Michael

Thread: Re: Checklists?

MartinStever — 2007-07-25T23:50:10+00:00

The book from Krause, "Collectible Card Games," has complete lists of all Overpower releases.

Thread: Re: Checklists?

vandemonium — 2007-07-25T23:40:07+00:00

Not sure how complete or correct this is but a quick search found:

Marvel
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/allender/opccgmc.ht...

DC
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/allender/opccgdc.ht...

Thread: Checklists?

michaeldavidcox — 2007-07-25T19:29:26+00:00

Does anyone know where I can find a complete checklist (preferably in Excel so I can do sorting/deckbuilding)? The link on the main page no longer exists.

Thanks!

Thread: Original Precon decks

supermodiklein — 2007-06-07T01:30:50+00:00

Does anyone know where to find a list of the original preconstructed marvel decks? I have a couple of old decks kickin' around, but there's a few boosters mixed in that I want to sort out.

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johnnyrobo — 2007-05-28T20:33:06+00:00

Overpower - Image Comics Version: Witchblade & Fairchild

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johnnyrobo — 2007-05-28T19:14:52+00:00

Overpower - Image Comics Starter Deck (Front & Back)

Thread: Re: General Comment

Kiesman — 2007-04-24T02:48:07+00:00

Huh, you think so. I feel that way strongly about VS. and other Super hero games. I felt like Overpower was the most like super Heroes fighting out of any CCG I played. Check out POWERSTORM though. I'm a little biased because I did some design on it.

It has the same base mechanic of states, but we tried to design every bit of it with the super hero feel in mind.

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delenore — 2007-04-07T18:09:24+00:00

universe cards

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delenore — 2007-04-07T18:05:26+00:00

DC Card Back

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delenore — 2007-04-07T18:03:12+00:00

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delenore — 2007-04-07T17:49:26+00:00

2 Dc villains

Thread: Re:User Review

donkeystyle — 2005-04-11T21:28:24+00:00

KakarisMaelstrom (#63859),
I agree that Overpower is a great bidding/bluffing game. It is underrated because of its simplicity, but Poker is simple too. Great CCGs don't have to be complex.

Thread: A good bluffing/deck-building game with a pasted on theme

KakarisMaelstrom — 2004-11-05T19:49:36+00:00

Overpower is a fast paced card game designed for 2. You start out by selecting a 51 card deck made up of cards that support your choice of four heroes from the Marvel, DC, and Indy comic book universes.

Basic gameplay is very simple.

Three of the heroes are placed in front. One is placed behind "in reserve".

You draw a hand of eight cards, discarding duplicates in your hand or placed on heroes (other than your reserve).

Then each player takes turns "placing cards" on their heroes. The benefit of this is if a card remains unused at the end of the round, it is discarded. However, now only that hero can use it.

Then the players take turns playing cards. Their goal is to defeat the other team's heroes. This is done by causing 20 damage or by hitting them with one of three types of attacks: Energy, Fighting, Strength, or Intellect (added in later expansions). Typically it's easier to get the "rainbow" kill.

There are a number of different types of cards, I will highlight the ones in the basic set only:

Power - a basic attack ranging in value from 1-8. It is either one type of attack or a "rainbow" card which is lower in value (only 1-4) but all multipower cards on a hero count as an energy type of their opponent's choice.

Universe - these have a requirement to use, like the hero must have 6 Energy. This adds a +1 to +3 when played in conjunction with a power card. In effect, it makes it more difficult to block but does not add to the damage. An example would be a "lamp post" being used for high strength characters. Another type "Training" is used for lower stat heroes and instead require the hero to have a low enough stat to use it. A "Teamwork" card lets one hero start an attack and then confers a bonus to other heroes who take another type of attack.

Special - these are generally specific to one hero, for example Iron Man's Early Warning. They have a variety of effects. Some are hard attacks, others are light attacks that allow a follow-up. Others dodge or make a hero unable to act for a round. In later expansions some cards became "Any Hero". Due to the fact you have to drop duplicates, these cards are extremely powerful since any hero can use them.

That's it for card types (I believe). Later expansions brought in a ton of new stuff: Allies, Tactics, Events... we'll go over those later if people like this review.

What you do is effectively play war. One person takes an attack, maybe modifying it with a Universe card, which is then directed at an opponent's hero. He may then defend the attack if he chooses. He does this by trying to meet or defeat the number thrown at him. Then his opponent does the same.

It may seem pretty simple and not very challenging. And it frankly is. Who can pull out the biggest number or best heroes and win?

The solution to this is the advanced game. In this, after you place cards under your heroes for later use, you venture a number of missions (up to 7). If you venture more than 2 your opponent gets to draw a card. Whoever ventures more quickly goes first.

The person who does the most damage to the other wins the venture (though there are cards that modify venture total). Their missions move up (to completed) and their opponent's move down. If a completed mission was ventured, it pulls one out of defeated and back to the default position (reserved).

The ultimate winner of the battle is whoever moves all their missions to completed OR causes their opponent to lose all their missions OR defeats their opponent's heroes utterly.

Now the beauty of the missions is you can choose, instead of attacking, to conceed. The reason you'd do this is because you might have drawn an especially bad hand, had to discard alot, or because you placed a lot of cards and your opponent did not (giving you an edge if they do not get to play their hand).

Defeat of heroes are often not what end the game when you're playing with missions. In fact I played a game with my wife the other night where there were still 5 heroes sitting on the table at the end (due to a number of healing events). It's still beneficial to defeat enemy heroes though - if they draw a Jubilee card but Jubilee has been KO'd, that card is now useless to them!

The game goes from being a deck building challenge that plays something like modified war to poker. It's important to build a good deck, bid, bluff, and outplay your opponent. To me, this makes Overpower one of the best CCGs ever. And seeing as it's out of production and unpopular, this made it very inexpensive. We played the hell out of it in college because I could put together a deck for someone for a couple buck whereas a booster of a current CCG costs $3+.

The artwork is great, the cards are good quality (though the texture does change between release but this only matters if you are playing competitively with cheats). Later on they added in Intellect (a new type of power). This didn't unbalance the game though - old decks could still be used against new decks.

Two flaws in the system:

1) Some heroes are simply better than others. They could have made up for low stats by giving these heroes superior special cards but they didn't. Tournament rules for Overpower called for decks to be in a certain range, like each hero could have no more than 15 in total stats, or no more than 60 total stats across all your characters. Setting a stat limit like this ensures that all your heroes will get some play time without having to suffer repeated defeat in order to do so.

2) The booster packs are not packed randomly. I don't know much about this but I have heard repeated reports that if you took two boxes of the game and opened them both you'd find that the location of the boosters in the box are random but the cards inside those boosters are not. I don't know - this doesn't seem like a big problem to me since I do not play it competitively. Plus rarity is another reason I don't play current CCGs. The cards ought to be balanced by the cost to bring them out or maintain them.

I'd really recommend this game to anyone looking for a two player game that would generate a lot of fun for little cost. Try picking up a box on eBay for $10 or so (Mission Control is pretty inexpensive but I'd suggest getting the first Marvel Overpower set because you will want the heroes from the first set for some of the Mission Control cards). Mission Control, the base set, and Monumental Overpower are reasonably priced.

The later sets where they added in Intellect I'd pass on. With the box sets going for $80+ generally you could buy 3-5 Kosmos or Rio Grande 2 player games for that. And it doesn't add much considering many of the cards in these sets are rereleases of the heroes you already own but now they have one more stat and sometimes a reduction in their other stats to compensate.

Give it a go, the bad rep this game gets is because of the packing and the fact people never try the mission mode. The game has a ton of subtlety if you give it a chance - far more than any other 2 player game I know.

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

A bit too light for my taste. I'd rather play a more involved superhero-based CCG, but I couldn't tell you what that'd be. This game really just doesn't give me any feeling that the characters on the cards are actually participating in the game. They seem far more like a bunch of generic characters with random stats who just happen to have a familiar drawing on them.