Clank! Adventuring Party: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Deck-Building, Push Your Luck, Exploration, Asymmetrical
Player Age: 13+ Player Count: 2 - 6 PlayersTime to Play: 60 - 120 Minutes
Game Designer: Evan Lorentz
Player Age: 13+
Game Designer: Evan Lorentz
Introduction:
Clank's largest expansion is here with 6 new asymmetrical characters, the possibility to now play at 5 and 6 players, and more cards for the main deck.
New Cards:
35 new dungeon cards have been added to the deck which brings increased variability and enough content for up to six players. Two new prominent card types have come from this; choice arrive cards and react cards. Cards with ‘arrive’ have evolved to include a choice. Now players can choose out of two options when these cards arrive.
React cards work like normal cards except there is a bonus opportunity on other players' turns. The cards activate in a player's hand when a certain react effect occurs, such as three boots are generated by a player, or a clank is added by the player. Once this effect occurs the owner places the card in front of them and draws a new card. This card won't kick in to their turn but they were able to draw another card, increasing their hand size for the next turn.
More Players:
In this set there are now enough components to play up to 6 players with an additional board for the health track of these new players, 2 additional starting decks, and more mercenary, explore, and secret tome cards. There are also a few changes at this player count. Many of the artefacts now have a secondary artefact that can be grabbed. Also, each location that has minor secrets now has a larger stash, as the minor secrets are drawn from a face-down pile instead of two per location.
Invisibility Cloak:
There is a new market item available; the Invisibility Cloak. This new upgrade will allow players to sneak to new locations undetected, meaning any monster in that pathway can simply be ignored.
Asymmetric Characters:
The asymmetrical character has been pushed to greater lengths than ever before. These characters have unique starting decks with individual art. Additionally, they have a player board, unique meeple and the majority have tokens. The six characters will be elaborated on below.
Agnet:
Agnet has a larger focus on companions. Four times during the game she can permanently spend her conscription token to place a newly bought companion onto the top of her deck. This gives players that much-needed aid and speeds up her deck-building potential. She can then later inspire these companions to go onto the top of her deck instead of being discarded after being played, or draw an additional card with her rebel squire when other companions are played.
D'allan:
D'allan is a treasure hunter at heart. The first monkey idol, dragon egg, crown and artefact he finds will go on his character board. Later on in the game, if competition and exhibit are played from his deck, he can activate the text under one of his treasures. This can remove clank or stumbles, keep him from stopping at crystal coves, or even shop at the market. He can also play his collection card to gain coins equal to what treasures he has found so far.
Monkeybot Prime:
Mokeybot Prime is one noisy robot, after all, he is full of gears, nuts and bolts. 7 cogwheel tokens will be placed on his character board during setup. These cogs will be removed each time the player is hurt during a dragon attack. Once the cog is removed it will reveal a currency that you will gain every turn. There are two cards and the two stumbles in the starting deck to help speed up the chances of getting attacked by the dragon so you can fully benefit on your turn.
Lenara:
Lenara the mage has two cards in her starting deck that can accumulate mana tokens. Once she reaches 3, 5 or 7 tokens she can use these to transfigure a card by discarding one card and drawing a replacement, duplicate a card that was already played this turn, and acquire a card without paying its cost to immediately use it this turn.
Garignar:
Garingar is a warrior through and through. His Carnage token is placed at the start of his track on his board. The first time the player defeats a monster card every turn he will advance on the track by one, gaining the reward underneath the new spot. This will often be a choice between two items and if advanced far enough you will gain a minor secret.
Mr Whiskers:
Mr Whiskers has been around since the first release of the game and has become a bit of a mascot. Now you can finally play him. He has three tokens, each with one skill, sword or boot. Two of his cards will allow him to flip these tokens and gain that resource on this turn. Once all three tokens have been flipped over, Mr Whiskers summons the dragon, activating a four clank dragon attack at the end of his turn. The best part of this is that any clank of your colour will instead go back to your reserve. After this, all the tokens will flip back.
Final Thoughts:
- Increased player range
- Unique react mechanism that keeps players engaged during other turns.
- Six great new asymmetric characters.
- New market item now available.
Clank! Adventuring Party is one of my favourite expansions for Clank!. This is because I simply cannot pass up asymmetric starting decks in deck-building games. Even better, with these characters the boards give alteration during the whole game, even when your deck gets filled with other cards. For those characters alone I would recommend this expansion and give it a golden seal. However, the gameplay is further enhanced by the increased player range and the unique react mechanism which I would love to see explored in other deck-building games. If you enjoy Clank!, then this expansion is an easy addition.
Click...feed the addiction:
Comments
Post a Comment