Valeria Card Kingdoms - Shadowvale: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Card Drafting, Deck/Pool Building, Action Selection, Dice Rolling
Player Age: 13+
Player Count: 1 - 5 Players
Time to Play: 30 - 45 Minutes
Game Designer: Isaias Vallejo
Game Artists: Mihajlo Dimitrievski
Let us now return the world of Valeria; only this time the atmosphere has turned eerily dark and supernatural beings have come to wreak havoc.The Expansion:
The gameplay has not changed but there is now much more variety to experiment with.Monsters:
Five new monster factions have been added to increase variability. The monsters have come from the realm of the supernatural in the form of the Den (werewolves), Necropolis (zombies), Crypt (vampires), Woods and the Sewers. In the base game, there are three types of monsters the boss, beasts, titans and minions. There is now a new monster type for each new monster faction, the warden who will be placed above the boss monster during setup. Which acts as a small boss.
Events:
This expansion adds events that are available throughout the other expansions but not the base game. Equal to the player count one event and one exhausted card will be shuffled together during setup. When a pile is depleted throughout the game either an event or an exhausted card that does nothing will be revealed. These events could be one time effects for all players; they may affect only the active players, or it could be an ongoing effect.
Domains:
Several more domains have been added which helps bring about the atmosphere of Shadowvale. These domains add new methods of gaining victory points, as well as ongoing abilities and one time effects.
Dukes:
Four more dukes have been added. Two of which are 'Gurira The Guardian' and 'Sir Roberts of Stoneblood' who both give points for every monster killed and points from a specific citizen type.
Citizens:
A citizen for each number has been added from 1-12, and yes that finally means that there is more variation for citizens 5 and 6 (these numbers often do not get more variability).
These all add changes from the base citizens, however, my favourite of which has to be the Dragoon. If a 9 or a 10 is rolled on your turn, the Dragoon allows you another slay action (attacking monsters) on that turn. With enough strength, this citizen can help you to lead a strong charge in defending your kingdom.
Final Thoughts:
Pros:- Plenty more variability without increasing the complexity.
- Events for players that haven't received events yet.
- New citizens for the numbers 5 and 6.
Cons:
- Doesn't change the core game (this could be a negative for some but does not bother me at all).
'Shadowvale' does exactly what an expansion should do; add more variability without damaging the essence of the original game. In my opinion, this expansion is a no brainer and will be earning a seal as this enhances my copy of 'Valeria Card Kingdoms'. Like the expansion before, it introduces events, which in my opinion should be used in every game as it gives the players a reason to exhaust a pile, besides merely rushing to the end of the game. Unlike the other large expansion, Shadowvale adds a new number 5 and 6 citizens to keep those essential citizens fresh and engaging. If you liked the original game and want more replayability then be sure to grab this expansion. If you are looking for different gameplay features then you may want to look at some of the mini-expansions that adds agents or relics.
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