Awaken Realms is known for its large, epic expert games such as Nemesis, The Tainted Grail or ISS Vanguard. Since 2018, the successful Polish game publisher has also been targeting the family and connoisseur game market more closely under the name Awaken Realms Lite. With Platformer launched a game on the publisher's own website in 2021 Crowdfunding platform Gamefound, that already announces its inspiration from its name. You can find out in the following review whether the analog game can live up to its virtual jump'n'run role models when it comes to fun.
Inspired by a video game genre
Platformer is a platformer-like adventure game for 1 - 4 people. The goal is to reach the top of four levels and defeat the boss there first. To do this we have to inflict a certain amount of damage, which depends on the chosen game duration. Because even if we could march straight through to the boss, this isn't always the smartest way. For now, you should prepare well for the fight by defeating smaller monsters from lower levels, collecting their rewards and using them to purchase equipment and potions.
Until one person wins, Platformer continues to play in turns. On our turn we roll 5 action dice and a monster die. We then apply the dice - starting with the monster die, which determines in which direction all monsters move or whether they attack heroes on neighboring spaces. After the monsters have completed their turn, we use the action dice to carry out various actions. Which actions these are is determined by the symbol on the die. You can choose from a boot symbol, a sword symbol, a coin symbol, a monster symbol and a skill symbol. With the boot we can move our hero one space diagonally or vertically - if we meet an opposing player, we can push him one space. With the sword we receive one damage and with the coin we receive one coin. With the monster symbol, however, we can move a monster in any direction and with the skill symbol we can activate our hero's or heroine's special ability.
Our actions can be enhanced with collected crystals that appear throughout the map. The number of crystals doubles for each point you want to strengthen. For example, if you want to strengthen a movement die by 1, you only need one crystal. If you reinforce the cube increased by 1 again, an additional two cubes are required. Therefore, crystals should be divided into several cubes so that you can strengthen as many cubes as possible for as few crystals as possible. Alternatively, we can always save a symbol and use it as an additional dice for the next round.
The gravity thing...
After we carry out our actions, gravity activates and all heroes and monsters that are in the air (for example by pushing or moving the character) fall until they hit the ground. As a result, especially in games with four players, you often end up deliberately throwing your opponent into the abyss. In general, platformers have a high level of interaction. You can anticipate equipment or resources from opponents and even push them off platforms.
Depending on how far you fall, this can disrupt the course of the game or even be quite dangerous. If a player is at least two levels above the lowest level at the beginning of a turn, this is removed. Heroes who are still at the lowest level become unconscious. Even if all life points are used up, the character falls unconscious. The character is then removed from the field and can only be reinstated with an action die.
Win against the boss!
There are two bosses in the game, Medusa and the powerful overlord Ikee. Both have different tricks up their sleeves to look out for. If you fall unconscious, the character will be revived at a shop in the boss level. This means: Once you've reached the top level, all you have to do is fight the boss. Therefore, this step should be carefully considered. Do you have the necessary equipment to fight the boss or could you continue to stay outside.
Information about platformers
| Number of people: 1-4 people Age: from 12 years Playing time: 60 minutes Difficulty: Family game Classification: Platformer, Dice Insertion Game, Dungeon Crawler Game idea: Artur Lutyński, Łukasz Włodarczyk Illustrations: Krzysztof Piasek Publisher: Mirakulus, Awaken Realms Lite Official Website: Link Year of publication: 2023 Language: German Cost: 49,99 Euro |
Conclusion
Unfortunately, platformer didn't quite turn out to be the game I was hoping for. I was hoping for fast action with a lot of interaction that still leaves some room for tactics. I mean, the game is still from Awaken Realms and they have proven that their Lite series can also bring games to the market that require some thought. However, platforming plays quite dull. Basically, we roll the dice and try to make the best of our outcome. If we're unlucky, we can barely prepare for the fight against the final boss; if we're lucky, even more so.
There is a lot of interaction here from 3 people onwards, but somehow the game doesn't quite work for us. During our test games, we never had the feeling that we had achieved something great when the boss was finally defeated. You just have the feeling that you don't have that much influence on the game. Of course it's not easy to defeat him, but luck also plays a big role here. If you are fully prepared for the boss and an opponent is less well prepared and with a lot of luck you can defeat the boss, this can leave you frustrated.
In platformers you actually just play along and let everything come to you. This can be too boring for those who play a lot, but it can be interesting for those who play casually. With its pop culture references, there is a lot of potential for laughter and encouraging each other. The game is easy to learn and play thanks to its dice actions and the luck factor. In addition, the game principle, which is reminiscent of platforming, is a nice incentive for people who are otherwise only interested in video games.
Platformer is exactly the kind of game that you can play on a relaxed evening, with or without alcohol. I can also imagine Platformer as a game for a board game bar. Overall, platformer isn't really a bad game. But we're probably not the target group for it and therefore didn't really enjoy it.
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