With the cooperative sci-fi horror game Sanctorvm, Gravita Games has already managed a successful crowdfunding campaign, the game of which was very well received by the supporters. With Crystal Age, the game publisher based on the Spanish island of Ibiza brings am February 15 his second game on Kickstarter at the start. We chatted with game designers Antoni Bonet and Francisco García about and tested the beautiful game. You can find out how the game is received in this crowdfunding preview.
Years ago, a colossal crystal fell from the sky into the center of Ansel's lands, forming a huge crater. The surrounding kingdoms succumbed to a strange corruption - a disease that made the creatures of the land ever more dangerous. To stem the spread of corruption, the kingdoms created four guardians equipped with powerful magic and built a huge wall around the crater. Four brave heroes now want to confront corruption and put an end to it for good... or rule it.
fight against corruption
Crystal Age is a cooperative, competitive and solo fantasy strategy game in which 1-4 endings take control of a powerful hero who must embark on a challenging journey to the center of the crater to destroy the corruption (Co-op, Solo ) or dominating them (Competitive). Along the way, they encounter corrupted creatures that they must defeat to gain their abilities. With the help of these, they can overcome the guards and oppose the corruption.
The Guardians have so far protected the world from corruption. Now they are blocking our way to the crater so that we can face it. Image: Gravita Games
With Crystal Age, Gravita Games wants to launch a game that is suitable for all types of players. Players can choose their own confrontations and thus develop their own strategies in order to be able to go to those following with an advantage. Each time a player defeats a creature, they gain its abilities and can use them in any combat. The guards or the four bosses included in the game called "Lords of Corruption" each have different abilities that can be used after completing the guard task or defeating the bosses.
Fast entry
The rules of Crystal Age are quickly explained and easy to understand. So after a few minutes you are already fully in the game. During a game we move across the game board and want to reach the crater in the middle. Creatures that are becoming ever more powerful stand in our way. A turn consists of two phases: the movement phase and the action phase.
During the movement phase, we can decide whether we want to move our character one (walk), two (jog) or three (run) squares further. Depending on what we choose, our hero will be more or less exhausted, which affects our action phase.
In the action phase, we can choose one of four different actions. We can fight against the corruption and its creatures, fight an enemy hero, master the task of the guardian or enter the crater and thus dominate or destroy the corruption. If our hero ran in the movement phase, he can only enter the crater or fight opposing heroes in the crater area.
Until death!
We spend most of the game fighting against the creatures affected by the corruption. This is where movement comes into play: if we have taken a step, we can draw two creatures before the fight and decide which ones we want to fight. If we've jogged two steps, we have to draw the top creature of the stack and compete against it. If we ran, we are too exhausted to fight the creatures. Here we find an important decision in the fight to win the game, because when we defeat a creature we get its abilities as an advantage in subsequent battles. The further we move towards the core, the more powerful the creatures and thus the abilities we get. So there is always a situation in which you ask yourself whether you want to go to a certain place quickly or whether you would rather strengthen your character in the current area.
On our way to the crater we encounter numerous creatures obsessed with corruption. If we defeat them, we will get their special abilities for future confrontations. Image: Gravita Games
Battles in Crystal Age are decided using dice and special abilities. Depending on the type of skills you have, you roll 3 or more dice. The goal is to hit or even surpass your opponent's defensive value per die. For example, if an opponent has a Defense Rating of 2, the die must show a 2 or higher for it to generate damage. If the opponent still has life points after the attack, it is their turn. This goes on until one of the two combatants has lost.
The dice can also be upgraded by defeating creatures. There are three types of dice in total. While the blue die you get at the start only has a 50% chance of rolling a 2 or higher, the chance increases to 70% with the orange and even 80% with the pink.
The battle for the crater
At the end of the game, however, it's all about one thing: controlling the crater and thus corruption. In competitive mode, if one player chooses to dominate the corruption, the opposing players have three rounds to defeat the player in the middle. Because only those who manage to stay in the middle for three rounds win the game.
At the end of a game it's a matter of life and death for us. Only those who survive three rounds in the crater (middle) win Crystal Age. Image: Gravita Games
In the cooperative or solo mode of the game, however, the players try to destroy the corruption together. To do this, they must defeat a certain number of bosses. If you can do this, the country is safe and the game is won.
A nice game for short rounds
Because Crystal Age is quick to learn and play, the game is perfect for starting or ending a game night. It is also ideal as a game for in between, as it can be played competitively, cooperatively and solo as the mood takes you. It's also not a game where you have to think forever about your next move. Crystal Age is kept pretty simple and is suitable for every type of player.
The game is also just beautiful. From the world, to the creatures, to the guardian miniatures. This was made possible by a team of more than 10 artists who collaborated with the game designers to make Crystal Age so special.
Am Crystal Age goes on Kickstarter on February 15th at the start and will be in three different pledges be available. The core box will be in the Low Corruption Pledge cost 39 euros. the Mid Corruption Pledge comes with additional premium tokens and an extension for 49 euros, while the High Corruption Pledge adds additional card sleeves, a dice tray, a cloth bag and a collectors box for 69 euros. The game will also come with more surprises in the form of stretch goals, and if all goes well, Crystal Age will reach its supporters by the end of October.
Information about Crystal Age
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Number of players: 1 – 4 Author: Antoni Bonet, Francisco Garcia |
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
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Pegasus Games 59057G Swindler (Playground Edition) Board Games * | 27,99 EUR | Buy |
Last updated on 8.03.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX / Affiliate Links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. * = Affiliate links. Images from Amazon PA API
