Winds of Numa Sera I don't do a lot of reviews but…
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Winds of Numa Sera
I don't do a lot of reviews but sometimes a game comes along that compels me to share my experience in hopes of impacting someone who might not be sure about trying it.
When I was introducing the game to my gaming group, I had a hard time comparing it to anything else. I love all types of games, but I especially enjoy RPGs, area control, and hand management. Winds of Numa Sera checks all of these boxes and then some.
GOALS
The goal of the game is achieve two out of four possible objectives before someone else does. The objectives are:
1. Unlock all classes. There are a number of classes in the game that are "unlocked" by each individual after they complete a certain condition. You unlock the paladin, for example, after acquiring three pieces of equipment. Once unlocked, you can then play two combat cards in battle instead of one. If you acquire three different skills, you unlock the Rogue, which lets you take previously used combat cards instead of randomly drawing from the Explore deck during the explore phase, etc.
2. Slay two heroes. At the start of the game, you choose one of four factions, and each faction has three heroes each with their own abilities. You choose the order you want the heroes to be present in the game (the next one only being active when the previous one is slain by an opponent). These heroes determine your base attack, defense, and power (health), which are increased or decreased based on the items you equip and other cards that modify your stats. You can then attack or are forced to defend against other heroes during combat, and if you reduce an opponent's hero to 0 you are considered to have slain them.
3. Control four strongholds at a given time. There are cards called Strongholds, which can be attacked by heroes to add to your Kingdom (this is considered a "kingdom building" game, after all). When taking over strongholds, you gain access to their specific abilities and potentially increase your income generation. Each round you produce income that is used to purchase new equipment and skills, or to play combat cards in battle.
4. Attain level 3 in two different skills. There are skills that upgrade your abilities in certain areas. Forging lets you use the upgraded ability of equipment or hold mythic items, Lore lets you see more exploration cards during the exploration phase and mitigate bad stuff from happening, Attack and Defense each upgrade your attack and defense respectively, etc. It's difficult to get to level 3 in two different skills because the cost goes up each level, but with enough income generation it becomes a big risk to other players.
GAMEPLAY
While I addressed much of the gameplay above, each round follows a structure that is all printed on your factions board, making it easy to follow and remember what is coming next. You start with generating income simultaneously with other players, move to a market phase where you can buy equipment and skills, activate abilities, then choose between "building" or combat. Combat is what it seems - you choose to attack an independent stronghold that is not claimed by a kingdom, another player's stronghold, or another hero. During combat, you use battle cards to influence the battle and roll a die that impacts your success. I usually strongly dislike dice rolling that can throw off all of your careful planning, but there's enough ways to not only mitigate bad dice rolls but also use them to your advantage.
When building, you choose an ability to check off with an erasable marker and activate on your faction board. Each faction has unique abilities and are better at some things than others, but you never feel stuck to one strategy.
OBSERVATIONS
One concern I had when first playing the game was if someone gets teamed up against, but that hasn't seemed to happen in the handful of games I've been able to play so far. If you feel you are a target, you can focus on defense and make it very risky for someone to attack you, causing others to want to focus on someone else.
Another concern I had is there aren't a lot of equipment cards in the game and you tend to cycle through them if the game lasts long enough. That didn't present an actual issue, though, since later in the game it's less about the equipment and more about trying to stop people from achieving their win conditions. It's a game that pays off playing it more to really understand what everyone is capable of and what they are trying to achieve at any given moment since you only need two of the four available objectives. It also leads to a nice sense of tug of war toward the end of the game when your kingdoms are all established. I would like to see more equipment and factions in future games, however.
There's a big political component, too, where you're encouraged to make deals and trade. That didn't come up too much in the games I've played so far, since the people I played with didn't have a deep understanding of what would benefit them later in the game, but the more I play it the more I see the political aspect becoming relevant.
Winds of Numa Sera has quickly become one of my favorite games, and I'm really excited for the expansion. It provides a very unique experience, giving me enough vibes of an RPG, territory control despite there not being a board, hand management with combat cards, and player interaction without the game dragging on too long.
Would love to hear other people's experiences with this since there doesn't seem to be a social media group dedicated to it.
#games
source
I don't do a lot of reviews but sometimes a game comes along that compels me to share my experience in hopes of impacting someone who might not be sure about trying it.
When I was introducing the game to my gaming group, I had a hard time comparing it to anything else. I love all types of games, but I especially enjoy RPGs, area control, and hand management. Winds of Numa Sera checks all of these boxes and then some.
GOALS
The goal of the game is achieve two out of four possible objectives before someone else does. The objectives are:
1. Unlock all classes. There are a number of classes in the game that are "unlocked" by each individual after they complete a certain condition. You unlock the paladin, for example, after acquiring three pieces of equipment. Once unlocked, you can then play two combat cards in battle instead of one. If you acquire three different skills, you unlock the Rogue, which lets you take previously used combat cards instead of randomly drawing from the Explore deck during the explore phase, etc.
2. Slay two heroes. At the start of the game, you choose one of four factions, and each faction has three heroes each with their own abilities. You choose the order you want the heroes to be present in the game (the next one only being active when the previous one is slain by an opponent). These heroes determine your base attack, defense, and power (health), which are increased or decreased based on the items you equip and other cards that modify your stats. You can then attack or are forced to defend against other heroes during combat, and if you reduce an opponent's hero to 0 you are considered to have slain them.
3. Control four strongholds at a given time. There are cards called Strongholds, which can be attacked by heroes to add to your Kingdom (this is considered a "kingdom building" game, after all). When taking over strongholds, you gain access to their specific abilities and potentially increase your income generation. Each round you produce income that is used to purchase new equipment and skills, or to play combat cards in battle.
4. Attain level 3 in two different skills. There are skills that upgrade your abilities in certain areas. Forging lets you use the upgraded ability of equipment or hold mythic items, Lore lets you see more exploration cards during the exploration phase and mitigate bad stuff from happening, Attack and Defense each upgrade your attack and defense respectively, etc. It's difficult to get to level 3 in two different skills because the cost goes up each level, but with enough income generation it becomes a big risk to other players.
GAMEPLAY
While I addressed much of the gameplay above, each round follows a structure that is all printed on your factions board, making it easy to follow and remember what is coming next. You start with generating income simultaneously with other players, move to a market phase where you can buy equipment and skills, activate abilities, then choose between "building" or combat. Combat is what it seems - you choose to attack an independent stronghold that is not claimed by a kingdom, another player's stronghold, or another hero. During combat, you use battle cards to influence the battle and roll a die that impacts your success. I usually strongly dislike dice rolling that can throw off all of your careful planning, but there's enough ways to not only mitigate bad dice rolls but also use them to your advantage.
When building, you choose an ability to check off with an erasable marker and activate on your faction board. Each faction has unique abilities and are better at some things than others, but you never feel stuck to one strategy.
OBSERVATIONS
One concern I had when first playing the game was if someone gets teamed up against, but that hasn't seemed to happen in the handful of games I've been able to play so far. If you feel you are a target, you can focus on defense and make it very risky for someone to attack you, causing others to want to focus on someone else.
Another concern I had is there aren't a lot of equipment cards in the game and you tend to cycle through them if the game lasts long enough. That didn't present an actual issue, though, since later in the game it's less about the equipment and more about trying to stop people from achieving their win conditions. It's a game that pays off playing it more to really understand what everyone is capable of and what they are trying to achieve at any given moment since you only need two of the four available objectives. It also leads to a nice sense of tug of war toward the end of the game when your kingdoms are all established. I would like to see more equipment and factions in future games, however.
There's a big political component, too, where you're encouraged to make deals and trade. That didn't come up too much in the games I've played so far, since the people I played with didn't have a deep understanding of what would benefit them later in the game, but the more I play it the more I see the political aspect becoming relevant.
Winds of Numa Sera has quickly become one of my favorite games, and I'm really excited for the expansion. It provides a very unique experience, giving me enough vibes of an RPG, territory control despite there not being a board, hand management with combat cards, and player interaction without the game dragging on too long.
Would love to hear other people's experiences with this since there doesn't seem to be a social media group dedicated to it.
#games
source
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