KeyForge
For those not in the know, KeyForge released last year with a gimmick that I sneered at. I’m not sneering anymore! After earning the Origins award for Best Collectible Game (which I voted for), Richard Garfield’s latest creation is here to stay, and fans couldn’t be happier. I have a lot to say about the gimmick from a psychological perspective, but I’ll spare everyone the lecture on dopamine and intermittent reinforcement.
So what is the gimmick? Simply put, each play-ready deck of KeyForge people buy (for about $10) is heavily randomized and cannot be altered. You see, each deck has a unique name attached to it, which has actually wound up creating some odd and hilarious combinations. What this means is that each cardback in the deck is the same, and it’s never replicated anywhere else; your deck is 100% your deck. Each deck includes three houses out of seven, each making up exactly one-third of the deck. Commons, uncommons, and rares exist, but in relatively the same quantities across decks. What’s more, rare cards aren’t necessarily better than commons, as a good KeyForge deck requires a strong single strategy or balance.
The goal of the game isn’t to kill the opponent. Instead, players have to forge three keys, each using six amber on a turn. When someone gains six or more amber, they eventually pass their turn, and the opponent gets a chance to do something about it, whether that means destroying or stealing amber. If nothing is done by the player’s next turn, the key is created. Creatures may be played and can target enemy creatures in combat, but they can also “reap,” meaning collect an amber. Of course, most creatures have some unique ability and can create some fun synergy but never attack the opponent. Action cards, artifacts, and equipment for creatures also exist, but that’s about it. Simple, right? Oh right, one other key detail: each turn, only one house can be “called” and played. So if a player’s hand of six cards includes a lot of one house, she may want to call that house, but this is further complicated by a board of creatures that can’t do anything unless they belong to that exact house. So what do you do with a hand full of Mars cards and a board full of Sanctum creatures? That is part of the skill and strategy of KeyForge.
If this still doesn’t sound like a serious or enticing game, I get it. My brother pitched this to me and even bought me a deck for Christmas last year, and I doubted. He understood; he doubted, too. KeyForge has to be played to be believed, and with events happening all across the US, the game is simple to hop into even if you don’t have a friend to play with. The KeyForge area took up a lot of Origins real estate this year, with events occurring throughout our entire time at the convention. Big tournaments, small tournaments, and tons of unique goodies to purchase with currency earned through such events were available to all attendees.
Root
If card games aren’t your thing, then how about asymmetric gaming? Earlier this year, I reviewed Vast, which is one such game amongst the budding few. Perhaps that’s not fair, though. “Budding” implies a degree of infancy, as if immature and lacking depth. Since Root won Game of the Year this Origins, that would be hard to justify. Like Vast, Root is an asymmetric game in that each character plays differently with unique goals. As I stated in my Vast review, this means that this one game can feel like learning five different games, and it isn’t the most new player friendly. Personally, I feel like Vast is the better game, but the board gaming community clearly finds Root to be just fine, indeed!
Although I’m not the biggest fan of Root, I wanted to draw attention to it because my taste alone shouldn’t determine whether or not you try this otherwise incredibly popular game. Most of all, I wanted to point to Root as an indication of where game design might be headed in the board gaming world. Rather than the traditional board game fare earning Game of the Year, Root is likely to make a splash as developers and publishers take note of what people are voting for. With so few asymmetric games available, there’s money to be had here. Unfortunately, developing and balancing an enticing asymmetric game has to be a daunting and seemingly impossible task. The game has to be simple enough for most people to learn without giving up, deep enough to sustain one’s attention, unique in feel across characters to justify the “asymmetric” moniker, and playtested to death across all characters. Fortunately, if Root and Vast are any indication, the reward for achievement in each of these areas is a fan-favorite experience and dollar signs.
