Robert Austin 'Evil Overlord' Review
Are you a tyrant of a most awesome evil? Want to rule with a mighty fist but just cannot seem to find the time to make it so? Well, you are in luck. Recently, Shades of Vengeance has launched their brand new game, Evil Overlord, on Kickstarter. In this quick 5-10 minute game for 2-8 people, each player becomes an Evil Lord who must assemble an army of great strength to battle the blood thirsty forces of the other Evil Lords at the table.
To begin, each player is dealt a hand of seven cards containing soldiers of four factions: Mechs, the Dark Elf Empire, Creatures, and Undead. There is just a single catch. These factions do not get along at all and absolutely will not fight beside one another. Not to worry, though! The other players have hands of reluctant soldiers as well, so why not trade before matching arms? Enter: the trading phase.
To begin, each player is dealt a hand of seven cards containing soldiers of four factions: Mechs, the Dark Elf Empire, Creatures, and Undead. There is just a single catch. These factions do not get along at all and absolutely will not fight beside one another. Not to worry, though! The other players have hands of reluctant soldiers as well, so why not trade before matching arms? Enter: the trading phase.
Some "Undead" Soldiers
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Some "Mech" Soldiers
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Known as the minion market, players may trade any number of cards with any player, as long as they receive the same number of cards in return. The only other strict trading rule is that no information may be shared about what cards are being traded. Both players are essentially blind in what soldiers they are getting. When a player is satisfied with their hand, they place it face down on the table and may no longer trade. To assemble a formidable army though, you need to consider three things. One, as stated earlier, only soldiers of the same faction will fight for you. Any outcast soldiers will be discarded before the battle. Two, cards have a power number from 1-9, with some exceptions. These numbers will be added to create a total power for your army. Three, many cards have special abilities. Make sure to read these carefully, as they may drastically change the outcome of the battle.
Some "Dark Elf Empire" Soldiers
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Some "Creature" Soldiers
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Some "Unpowered" Soldier
Once all Evil Lords have drafted their armies, the soldiers are flipped face up and laid out, discarding any conflicting soldiers. Thus begins the
battle phase. Before all powers are counted though, soldier abilities are triggered, starting with the highest powered card and continuing in descending, sequential order around the table. Any ties in power go to the player that completed his or her army first. Some cards do not have a power number. These cards always feature abilities, which are triggered either at this time or when powers are determined. After all abilities are resolved, the power of each army is totaled and the Evil Lord with the strongest army is the newly anointed Evil Overlord! Not content with a single victory? Keep playing until the deck is empty to truly determine who the most Evil Overlord is!
The game comes with 108 wonderfully illustrated cards, picturing a library of fantasy creatures from all realms. The rulebook is short and simple, but I wish it were a little more in depth. The main reason being some in-game terms caused some confusion and discussion among our group of players. This slowed down the initial, generally quick gameplay. However, after playing a few games and debating these terms a bit, your group will fly through the rounds. (Edit: Rules clarifications can be found on the Shades of Vengeance website, here.) Also, I recommend a higher number of players. The more Lords, the merrier!
battle phase. Before all powers are counted though, soldier abilities are triggered, starting with the highest powered card and continuing in descending, sequential order around the table. Any ties in power go to the player that completed his or her army first. Some cards do not have a power number. These cards always feature abilities, which are triggered either at this time or when powers are determined. After all abilities are resolved, the power of each army is totaled and the Evil Lord with the strongest army is the newly anointed Evil Overlord! Not content with a single victory? Keep playing until the deck is empty to truly determine who the most Evil Overlord is!
The game comes with 108 wonderfully illustrated cards, picturing a library of fantasy creatures from all realms. The rulebook is short and simple, but I wish it were a little more in depth. The main reason being some in-game terms caused some confusion and discussion among our group of players. This slowed down the initial, generally quick gameplay. However, after playing a few games and debating these terms a bit, your group will fly through the rounds. (Edit: Rules clarifications can be found on the Shades of Vengeance website, here.) Also, I recommend a higher number of players. The more Lords, the merrier!
The most entertaining part of the game for me was the trading. The haggling and passing of cards was great fun and full of laughs. There is a weird bit of strategy to this that starts with mostly passing unwanted cards to random people. Sometimes, you end up with a good amount of cards from two differing factions and have difficult decisions to make. At one point, I was trading to attempt to regain cards I had given away in order to build off of cards I had just received. You never quite know what is going to find its way into your hand. Overall, if you are looking for a filler game with quick to learn rules and enjoy fantasy themes, this may be the game for you.
Evil Overlord is currently live on Kickstarter and will run through June 2018. The game is already over double its funding goal and a base deck will cost just $20 USD (plus shipping). Other funding levels include the addition of the award winning prequel to Evil Overlord, Champion of Earth and its expansion. Funding stretch goals will add extra cards to each faction. Be sure to check out Shades of Vengeance to see their ERA RPG line as well.
Evil Overlord is currently live on Kickstarter and will run through June 2018. The game is already over double its funding goal and a base deck will cost just $20 USD (plus shipping). Other funding levels include the addition of the award winning prequel to Evil Overlord, Champion of Earth and its expansion. Funding stretch goals will add extra cards to each faction. Be sure to check out Shades of Vengeance to see their ERA RPG line as well.
Robert Austin - Husband. Gamer. Musician and music lover. Car enthusiast. Spider collector.