I was wondering around the mass of humanity today at New York Comic Con having a good time, but was dissapointed in the lack of Table Gaming there. YEah WotC was there with all their D&D craziness, and there were a plethora of heroclix and even retired card games at one booth, but not fantasy flight nor Troll and Toad were there like they were last year, so i was dissapointed. Then I saw this booth, the realms masters game forge booth. I thought "Cool...maybe I'll get my gaming fix."
and I did.
There was currently 2 demos going on, so I had to wait a mere 10 minuetes, but once it cleared up I grabbed a seat and we dived in.
I was dealt a character from one of the expansions, a random mission (Kill 10 Zombis) and 2 Equiptment card (Tactical Vest, Sniper Rifle) The Sniper Rifle gave me a nice +3 at the top, but because I didn't know how to play the game I didn't know it's specifications (Obviously it has somehing to do with combat)
Gameplay was simple, each player takes turns drawing 3 cards from the deck and either fleeing or fighting the interesting zombies that come up. Each player has a mission to complete, so the objective is always on the mind. (Mine was to kill 10 zombis total) For combat you have to roll 2 dice and hope you get over the zombis "Protection" stat. Adding bonuses, like from the sniper rifle, can help.
I killed a good amount of zombies right off, but made a fatal decision to try to complete a TASK card instead of taking 2 easy kills. I failed the Task, and took a hit. In the time it took me to get back on track my opponent (The cool guy from the booth) had collected all the resources (Points towards a certain category you get by slaying zombis) and completed his mission. I would've liked to see how playing as a zombi comes out, but the game ended before either of us became zombi food.
Okay heres my little review section, because nobodies posted a review yet.
I like Chaos Isle, and Ive only played one game of it. I want to delve deeper into it with multiple players (and you can play it solo) I think it's the best card game Ive played since Chez Geek, and I love SJ Games. They sold me the complete pack (Base Game + Fresh Meat Expansion + Reinforcments expansion.) for the reasonable price of $30, and they gave me a free signed poster, which was cool too.
The game itself, to put it bluntly, is solid. It wasn't just a skirmish card game, like you see all over the place, it has a uniqueness to it that's more like a breathe of fresh air. It's not insanley long, which is nice, but there are ways (Like campaign play) to extend you game. I really liked the combat mechanics (simple and effective) and I enjoyed how each character (and some zombis) have special powers that make them feel different to the gameplay, not just different numbers on the cards.One of the small hiccups I noticed was some of the art (not the zombi cards, those are brilliantly illustrated) on some of the cards look like they were done in MS Paint.
Chaos Isle is well worth the price, and I can tell I'm gonna have alot of fun with it in the coming weeks. Good Job realms masters game forge, I look forward to the coming expansion "The Lunatics"
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