Champion of Earth: Review

Champion of Earth: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Push Your Luck, Hand Management, Take That
Player Age: 5+
Player Count:1 - 6 Players
Time to Play: 10 - 40 Minutes
Game Designer: Ed Jowett
Game Artists: Sophia Michailidou
Publisher: Shades of Vengeance
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
BGG Link
Kickstarter Link

Objective:

Earth has been invaded by an onslaught of aliens, undead, and creature monsters. Your job is to successfully vanquish the most monsters. In the event that all heroes fall to their knees in front of the ruling invaders, you still have a chance to be champion by having defeated the most.

Card Anatomy:

Hero Cards:

These cards represent your character and each player is given one before starting the game. If they are harmed during battle they will flip to their injured side. Once injured, if the hero is struck again they will die and be taken out of the game to tally their score.

Equipment Cards:

These are the weapons and gadgets that are used to slay the monsters. Each equipment will have an attack that can target one monster (unless otherwise stated). The attack can range from 0-9 and have an ability to be used either with the attack or instead of. These cards can only be played on your turn unless the card says ‘interrupt’ meaning it can be played anytime.

Monster Cards:

The monster deck consists of three types of monsters, each with a unique back to the card and a coloured border:
- Undead = red with a skull
- Creatures = yellow with eyes
- Aliens = green with an alien head
Each creature has health that can range from 1-9. The player must have an attack that is equal to or greater than the monster health in order to defeat them. Additionally, the monster may have an ability that effects either the monster itself, other monsters, the hero, or a combination of any of these. When a monster is defeated it will be added to the victory stack of the player that has defeated them.

Setup:

- Give each player a hero card
- Shuffle the monster deck
- Shuffle the equipment and give each player one equipment to start with

How to Play:

Let the defence of earth begin!
On your turn you will choose between 1, 2 or 3 equipment cards to gain from the deck. This number directly corresponds to the number of monsters that are drawn and placed face-down in a line. The active player will now choose how many monsters they want to fight this turn, the number can be zero (after all real champions fight wisely) as long as the number of monsters in the line are equal to or less than five. Otherwise, if the number is above five the player must fight the exceeding monsters (at least). For example, if there are seven monsters then at least two have to be fought this turn, however three monsters is still an option.

After choosing how many monsters to fight this turn, the monsters are flipped face-up starting from the left most monster and continuing in this order. If any creature had already been revealed prior to this turn, they are included in the stated number of monsters to fight and will not require being flipped. After the monster reveal, those flipped will activate their abilities which may result in more monsters being revealed or monsters gaining more health. The active player can now play as many equipment cards as they choose to defeat the revealed monsters (the monsters have to be destroyed in order from left to right). If the player fails to defeat all monsters nominated to fight this turn, they flip their hero to the injured side. Becoming injured again will mean that they are out of the game. If the active player knows they cannot defeat all monsters this turn they can seek help from other players by offering some of their previous kills (victory points) as a reward. Anyone who accepts this offer will play equipment cards to meet the condition of the deal set by the active player. Play will continue in this way until all players have either failed twice or the monster deck has been defeated in its entirety. Once either one has occurred each collected monster will count as one victory point and the player with the most points are declared the champion of the earth.

Final Thoughts:

Pros:

- The card stock is sturdy.
- The monster factions vary in style i.e. the creatures work as a pack and gain more health per additional revealed creature, the aliens manipulate the row of enemies and the equipment cards, and the undead defeat creatures and absorb their health.
- There are more monster factions available through expansions.
- A fun balance of pushing your luck with a healthy touch of take that mechanics.

Cons:

- Some effects on cards and rule clarifications need to be decided by the players.

'Champion of Earth' is a fun push your luck game of deciding how many monsters you think you can handle each turn. Throughout the game you want to build a useful hand of cards, while successfully defeating a horde of monsters to score decent points per turn. However, if you push your luck too far it can easily lead to your own demise (which will be assisted by your fellow players through interrupt cards). If you fail twice you are out and can no longer gain points  but that doesn't stop the other players from soaring above your score. So when playing this you could have several strategies, maybe including killing fast and frequently, or battling at a slow and steady pace. Champion of Earth is a fun push your luck game that has me curious to see what the expansion monster factions (dinosoids and robots) bring to the game. This game has earned my Silver Seal of Approval and it will certainly see future plays at my table.

Click...feed the addiction:

Shades of Vengeance
Expand Your Game Facebook page
Expand Your Game Instagram