in 2015 From Software released a kind of spin off from their world famous Dark Souls series called Bloodborne. Set in a victorian-esque gothic city plagued by, well the plague, it was a nice change from the previous games which were all set in traditional castles, forests & dungeons. I LOVED Bloodborne, so the moment I saw Bloodborne The Card Game on Amazon it had to be mine. So on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I went to visit some friends (who are also Dark Souls mad) and we played it for about 6 hours! So what's the verdict? It’s good, It’s so so so good! I know I created this blog for Solo Roleplaying and Gamebook experiences, but every now and then I come across something special and just have to share it with you guys, hence why this is "Something A Bit Different". However something to note about this game in particular, even though it suggests 3-5 players, you can (difficultly) play it solo, lone-wolf style as you would on the PlayStation. To start with, let’s go over the contents of the box, and what you get for your monies. You get: The very detailed and nicely put together Rulebook 5 Player Boards and 5 Player Health Dials A "Player One" Figure 5 Final Boss Cards 7 Boss Cards 18 Monster Cards 25 Starter Cards (5 per player) 32 Upgrade Cards 3 Monster Dice 15 Trophy Tokens and 75 Blood Echo Tokens And all of this comes in a really solid box with a nice tray that securely holds every piece in place, making transporting the game easy. The aim of the game is to work together to kill the monsters and bosses in the dungeon, but ultimately come out on top by earning the most blood echoes during the course of the game. You start out by selecting a Final Boss to rule over the dungeon. You can pick at random or you can all collectively choose one to take on. Final Bosses have an active effect that is present throughout the entire game. It could be something bad like limiting your maximum health to a certain level or it could be even worse like a perma-death rule, where if you die twice in the game, you're out. For good. You then select 3 Boss cards and 7 Monster cards, shuffle together and then that is your dungeon. 10 encounters followed by a bloody showdown at the end, all in a race to get the most blood for your hunter. The monster cards are awesome, all of them are present in the PS4 game and come with great detailed artwork and descriptions. It seems like a lot to take in when you first read the rules as each round has 8 stages that each player has to go through, but once you get started its really smooth and makes a lot of sense. You all pick an action card to play first, these can be weapons, consumables, traps, tricks or even the ability to return to "The Hunters Dream" which is kind of like a safe haven where you can upgrade weapons, restore health points, claim back used cards and bank that all important blood! Some of the sections will have instant effects that you must enforce as soon as you place them down. This could give you some extra blood, or allow you to get a shot in before anyone else, or maybe even cause some damage to the other players. In Bloodborne the Video Game, you have the ability to "Transform" your weapon. In the Card Game you use this to play basically a bluff card on your first go. That allows you to see what your other players have put down before you make a decision on what to do. After all, the game is still competitive even though its cooperative. There can only be one winner, and that person is the one with the most blood at the end. The monsters and bosses each have a colour coded dice depending on their strengths and monster types. Green ones are less of a threat, orange is middle ground and the red ones are the nasty ones who are really out to ruin your day. Some numbers will have a + next to them meaning you carry on rolling and add up the total. This can wipe out an entire party in one go (much like in the game!). Then play your action cards you picked at the beginning of the round, they are put into a used pile and then the appropriate damage is taken from the beast and given back to you in the form of blood echoes. Something to bear in mind is that if you are the 3rd or 4th player in the round, the monster may be dead before you get a chance to attack, meaning you don't earn any blood. That's why there are trick cards to steal other players blood or to get a swing at the monster early before anyone else. There's so many effects on these cards and every time you play a new one, everyone looks round, excited to see what it does. 9 times out of 10 everyone wishes they'd played something else when this happens! After each monster's demise, you get trophy points to assign to your players board. these can be traded in at the very end of the game for even more blood. However, you only get the trophy points if you assisted in the final round of that monsters combat. Another thing to note is that monsters can flee during combat, meaning you might have wasted an attack card. It’s all down to the luck of the Dice and the Draw. You can go from having a very bad game to a very good one in just a couple of rounds (and vice versa!). That's what makes this game so great! Its unexpected, unpredictable nature means you always have a different experience every time you play, just like in the video game. Cool Mini Or Not (The Devs) have done an incredible job of converting that punishing video game experience into a tabletop card game. It has a great Dark Gothic feel to it and I absolutely love it. Once you get the hang of it, you can be clearing dungeons (or failing to) in about 30 minutes, meaning it'd be a perfect game to play during shorter sessions, or as a bit of a warm up to something longer, like a fully-fledged DnD session or even the Dark Souls Board Game (which has like a 3 hour playtime!!) I love this game and I highly highly recommend it to anyone who likes the video game. 100% worth a go and its dirt cheap compared to other card games out there. I also found out there's a Hunters Expansion that came out a little while ago. I've already ordered it and its on its way as I write this! It comes with even more monsters and player cards, as well as a new system to punish you even more for dying in the game! I can’t wait!! Weiterlesen
