


The characters all feel very mechanically distinct and there’s a satisfying challenge to coming up with ideal party composition. It also better enables secret information, like the difficulty of a challenge or what weapon types an enemy is vulnerable to. The result is all the kinetic pleasure of playing a tabletop game without needing to do as much math. Most challenges, from swinging a weapon to picking a lock on a chest, are handled by rolling dice, with players inputting the results into the app. However, the app will point out who an enemy is attacking, and track random occurrences like special enemy defenses or triggers on a player’s weapon that can do extra damage or apply debuffs. On the other hand, having players take turns voice acting their characters does add to the feel of being part of a TTRPG.Īfter the app shows you where to initially place each monster and your party members, it’s up to the players to track their movement on the game board. Some voice acting would have been nice, since there’s so much exposition and dialogue that can be hard to share if you don’t have your computer synced to a screen big enough for all the players to see. These features make Legends of the Dark feel very familiar as a video game, even if I think its designers could have leaned into that medium a bit more. It includes more than 20 individual cardboard terrain components.ĭescent: Legends of the Dark contains a comic book-style visual novel filling in the story behind every mission, and decision trees for each of the characters, which impacts not only the current scenario but also future encounters.
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The required companion app guides players through missions, informing them how to build a 3D map and populate it with treasure, traps, and monsters.Ī sample set-up based loosely on the stock photography on the back of the box. Set in the world of Terrinoth, a relatively benign, Tolkien-inspired high fantasy world, the game’s campaign unites six heroes to fight off all manner of threats from ruthless bandits to mad wizards. The result is a rich, seamless experience and one of the very best board games published this year. Now Descent: Legends of the Dark - Act 1 has truly fulfilled the series’ promise, providing an experience with all the tactical and narrative depth of an RPG while relying on an app to do the heavy lifting. The game’s second edition, Descent: Journeys in the Dark, improved on the experience by providing a greater mission variety while still requiring one player do most of the work.
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One player served as the game master, running the rest of the group through a series of adventures while controlling all the enemies - a bit like Dungeons & Dragons, but with a simplified ruleset. Published in 2005, Fantasy Flight Games’ Descent was among the first modern board games that tried to recreate the structure of a traditional role-playing game.
