Arena: The Contest Review
ΠΡΡΠ°Π²ΠΊΠ°
- ΠΠΏΡΠ±Π»ΡΠΊΠΎΠ²Π°Π½ΠΎ 27 ΡΡΡ 2020
- "The best campaign I've ever played" - Seriously you have to check this one out. A sleeper hit is back on Kickstarter improving the base game and adding all new content.
And the game is great! Not perfect, but really good in spite of it's few missteps.
Tanars Adventures Kickstarter bit.ly/ArenaTanaresKS
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This was one of the breakout unexpected hits of 2019 for me. I wasn't expecting much when I got it from KS but the campaign blew me away just like it did for you (it reminded me of a good version of D&D 4th ed). I can understand the lower quality minis - the company prioritised other things which probably allowed them to create the game cheaper and faster (I totally would prefer a great game and bad minis over the reverse). And now that the game has more hype I'm keen for the 2nd KS where they go back and work on the minis with the extra funding :)
Well put William and completely agreed on all counts! Now that they are up and running I'm beyond excited to see what they have in store for us.
One of my good gaming friends fell in love with this first and foremost because of how "D&D" like it is :D
@@TheKingofAverage will there be player progression with items and skills during the 2nd campaign KS like in Gloomhaven but easier to set up and play then Gloomhaven? I play only 2 characters cant imagine trying to do 4 in Gloomhaven 2 is enough to chew on. Kind of wanting a board game with multiple characters and a nice story line. Multiple different characters and items and skills like Diablo the video game. Thoughts?
Great review :) I'm waiting for wave1 from the Atanares Adventure campaign and this is a great introduction to Arena the Contest.
I once asked on a channel what Descent would look like if it had been offered through Kickstarter in 2019. I guess I have my answer! ^_^ I'll definitely be on board with Tanares and get this core box (plus Hardcover in the PM if they offer it) to get the maximum lore of the world of Arena! Thanks for showing it!
Thanks for the video!
I was really looking forward to that review! Wich is a little ironic since I never played my all-in copy because reasons (wich makes me so sad...). But I know that I will invest a massive amount of time when I will finally be able to play.
Next campaign is 3 days away and I'm going all-in again for everything I dont have yet. I know I will love this game because this is my kind of game from every angle (better minis would be nice but its covered in the next one! Thanks in part to you!) and Dragori is a company worth backing because they are so much backer-oriented!
Thanks again for your hard work!
Totally agreed! They are one of 3 companies to ever reach out to me without asking after a review to see how they can improve things. Great group of guys running that one (and a great game helps too) :D
The King of Average who were the other 3 out of wonder :)?
@@ChazTyldsley Dragori, Archon and Shadowborne Games.
Hi there! How manageable is it to play solo? Do you need to play the campaign with 4 characters?
What are your thoughts on how well the pre-painted Dragons will look regarding the quality of the paint job? They're obviously putting the best foot forward on their page, but how do you think they will really look? If I paint my own they would look like those funny pinterest fail pictures.
Yeah not sure what the final quality will be. To see some factory painted miniatures on the higher end of things you can check out the latest update to Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game by Jasco/Angry Joe as he shows off some final quality ones there.
Love your content and the Shirt!!
Haha thanks a ton Trent! :D
I second this. Where did you get that awesome shirt?
Wow I had my eye on this for a while and BAM it comes out of nowhere. Is there any chance you'll be able to test out the new expansions being offered in the kickstarter and get us some feedback before the 29 day campaign ends? Thanks for the info!
I actually like the mini's. They aren't amazing, but they paint and wash very well. I'm almost finished painting all of the enemies and have started on a few of the heroes. Plus, I'll get two sets of them for being a returning backer.
haha yes two sets is a nice bonus :D
How would you say the Skirmish PvP of Arena compares to Mythic Battles: Pantheon?
They are both games in a similar price range for the all-in pledge.
Damn you King! I thought I was going to have a cheap first quarter to the year...
Lol! So sorry :D
King you did it again... my wallet filed divorce papers...
Luckily I've managed to steal enough $ from it to back the game, so it's fine, I'll find another one
You tell that wallet it's nothing without you and has no where to go and it knows it! The audacity of some wallets I swear...
:D
@@TheKingofAverage I'm already dating a new one, it thinks that considering the 309$ option is a great idea, so it's a keeper :D
I am tempted... Quick questions please: 1) When playing solo you have to play with 2 characters minimum? Any issues controlling more than one? 2) Have you played Middara? I was wondering how it would compare. Thanks!!!
They are revamping solo mode to allow AI controlled heroes, and not yet but if it's as good as Arena then it must be great!
How is it compared with Oathsworn for 2 players?
thanks,
@The King: I need to ask How's the value? I don't have Arena and I'm watching the Tanares KS, but it would be a big buy-in. We have Tainted Grail and Gloomhaven on deck, my son brought in Cthulhu DMD which has been frantic fun. I lucked into a very lightly used copy of KD:M 1.5 too. Oathsworn, Arkeis, Trudvang, Etherfields and Aeon Trespass all coming down the road (My wife is prepping an intervention). I'm on the fence with this one, is it good enough too deserve table time amidst all that?
I second this question!
I have quite many skirmish games. This certainly has unique feeling comparing to other skirmish games. At first it feels light but if you use all stuff and want to be a good player then suddenly its not that light anymore :)
Great Question. I'm in the same boat. I'm not interested in the skirmish side or even the combat but the quality of the story and how that integrates with the game.
I think it fits in there very well, better than some of those other ones actually as it plays far differently from the rest of them. PvP mode is fantastic if you like skirmish modes. Really it's great. You can also do one off quests or the campaign, which is the best I feel. To answer Heath's question here the story is directly tied and integrated into the story (as in, it's not a wall of text you read separate from the gameplay but instead told through game events while still having a page or two of story between quests with decisions to be made and such.
As for value: There's a ton of game here between all of the modes and while I don't think the core box alone has some of the high lofty hours worth of content, it's far more replayable than several that you listed. I've not tried the harder difficulty, tried other party compositions, finished all of the side quests (that lead to more story bits I've not seen), you don't do all of the quests in one go, you have to make story decisions that sometimes has you play a different quest, etc.
With the upgraded minis of the next campaign there's very little here form me to complain about and it all oozes premium from the storage to the cardboard quality to (soon) the minis. This was a HUGE hit for me this year and one of the very few games that didn't just live up to the hype I had for it, it exceeded it.
I agree with KOA, I'm very happy that I kick-started this and it will always have a place on my shelf and table among many of the games you listed above
I passed on this the first time around but based n your video I will back the upcoming campaign.
47:47 Mother .....I was just waiting for Mike to lead into "Tell your children not to walk my way". Mike sings Danzig!
"Tell your children not to hear my words. What they mean, what they say..."
Great, now it's in my head :D
@@TheKingofAverage now you can just edit the video and add it in. :)
I leave that sort of humiliation to the community to make π
thoughts on this in comparison to Oathsworn or Gloomhaven for solo play? also, how do the setup times compare? Really wondering about this before backing. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
It is difficult to compare this game to gloomhaven. As others have pointed out, each scenario in gloomhaven is pretty much a puzzle that has to be solved. Arena is more of a Dungeon Crawler and the campaign story drives the play. Arena setup is about half as complicated as gloomhaven. The storage trays really help
Thanks Webb! To finalize the answer for Oathsworn (since I've played it): Oathsworn wins as far as solo play goes thanks to their streamlined solo hero cards. That and the riddles/puzzles will be even harder than they already will alone while Oathsworn doesn't have very many of these (but does have them).
@@TheKingofAverage I played Oathswarn at GENCON19, but it was only 1 turn in a battle. Ha, not much to provide a comment with. I've signed up with Shadowborne to help them playtest it and hope to hear back from them. Cheers
@@TheKingofAverage seems like the author did say that they will provide a simpler version of hero for solo play in the upcoming expansion. boardgamegeek.com/thread/2354296/article/33859319#33859319
The King of Average Iβve backed Oathsworn and Arena. Mostly will solo with maybe some multi-player games. I wonder if I should stick with Oathsworn and let my Arena pledge (new backer) go. Hmm!
He has returned!
Sorry it took so long!
There was kinda an art book in the first campaign, it was definitely lore focused but had art in it
Ah yes I have it on display and forgot about it :P
Hey cool you're a software dev. As a cloud/network/sysadmin we're all on the way to joining you soon. Software Defined Networking, Automation etc. It's a good place to be. I've just started Python as of today (personal goal)
Nice! Still happy in C# land here :D
There is a very high percentage of us technical folk in the hobby I find :)
Wish I hear about this. Is it KS exclusive or KS only content?
Currently it's kickstarter only. However the creator will not rule out the possibility of retail as at now.
And you haven't missed it either :) Next campaign launches February 4th - I'll have a video out that day to give all the details.
The miniatures are not very good, but you dont think about that when you play the game. In that regard it doesnt matter.
i paint my miniatures. so miniature quality is important for me!
Andi Hilde i paint sometimes. I dont like painting, but sometimes i have mood for it. I wouldnt bother to paint these miniatures because i dont paint well. I want to paint a bit larger miniatures with better details. These kind of miniatures (small with not a good details) are too hard for me to paint.
@@ProfOfHifi I don't paint mine at all, but I view the miniatures in Arena as being made for handling and having the game played more than for painting. We've played several games and I don't think we've ever stopped during a match and noted how the figures looked, so I agree with you on that; the game is just damn good fun.
They do offer new improved quality miniature for previous owners of Arena the Contest in the upcoming kickstarter for FREE if you back the new expansion
@@chenchen_9999 they do, but you only get the replacements for core heroes unless you back the full pledge with dragon expansion, then you get the expansion hero minis too. I believe they will also offer the expansion hero minis as an add on if you don't want the dragon expansion.
for the next Kickstarter campaign is it worth the cost to buy the already painted dragon
Hard to say without seeing the final real result. As a painter myself I'd actively not want this so probably not the best at answering haha
Sleeved cards fit in nicely or they will fall out from their place?
There's plenty extra room for sleeved cards :)
Warlord is so versatile that now in the new campaign, he will become a playable hero kkk . I laughed a lot when I saw the SG that he was going to be playable, and I remembered his video.
LOL I thought of the same thing! haha - You couldn't pick him for PVE since he'd be playing both sides lol :D
That being said, smart move for them since they only need to add the cards, already have the mini :)
Have you played Middara and Tainted Grail? Just wondering how the campaign compared to those.
Vascariz this game is in its core a skirmish game. I dont own Tainted Grail, because i lost intrest in AW games, but i think its more a story game than a skirmish game.
@@ProfOfHifi so more like Gloomhaven? Or still a stronger story than Gloomhaven?
I was enquiring less about mechanics and more about the depth of story.
Middara and Gloomhaven are both dungeon crawlers but Middara has a much richer story.
@@Vascariz I'd be curious to know how these all compare as far as story depth and skill of writing.
Vascariz somebody said that this game has a bit similar feeling like if you are playing Dungeons & Dragons fight parts with miniatures. I guess it could be a good explanation.
@@ProfOfHifi oh cool so there's a story then you break out into fights using the board. Gloomhaven always felt more like here's a dungeon crawl puzzle and a little bit of story for context
I recommend Dungeon Alliance, its the most in-depth arena skirmish game/dungeon crawler :)
In depth? Itβs good but itβs definitely not deep
Do you know if they'll be selling the updated minatures for those that own the original kickstarter game? I went all in so have tons of content but the minature quality really take me out of the game. The art book is also very nice
I've mentioned it to them so hopefully :)
They will give all the heroes miniatures for free when backing the second campaign.
Thanks for the info guys! I may back the expansion then
Where can you still buy this?
Not a game for me, but thanks again for doing a review. I will check out the Tanares Adventures KS though :)
Just looked at the Tanares page. I really like the minis. Perhaps I will just go for the expansions box and get those 40+ minis :)
Or ... also take those gorgeous dragons ...
Do you think I should backed even that I would probably only play the PVP?
There is a core box only pledge level in the next KS. If you only play PVP I would suggest to back for core box only
Yes it works very well as a skirmish game and my "build" comments were in reference to the PVP part of it.
I'd actually suggest the dungeon and heroes expansion as well, as it adds many new people to choose from and really adds to the variety.
What worries me the most is the miniature quality. I am definetely spoiled. But the all in would be well over 400 USD with shipping. That is a lot of money. Would be my most expensive kickstarter so far. 50 USD more and I would have enough to afford all three chapters of stormsunder with minis from archon studios. I need a higher paygrade :D
They've been talking to me about miniatures and if they go with my recommendation then these will be top tier minis which would be fantastic :D
Also just an FYI but Stormsunder is by Lazy Squire Games. They had Archon Studios manufacture Wild Assent, but aren't under contract to do so again with Stormsunder :)
They said in their next kickstarter that they have learned a lot about miniature casting and the next game will have much better figures.
TBH after Mythic Battles, I expect too much from other games.
As Christopher Walken said "i've got a fever, and the only cure is higher detail."
Better than Kingdom Death?
You and your wife need to play TG! Awesome storyπ
Already on it sir :D
How BIG should the table be to contain this MASSIVE game? would a table 120cm x 120cm do the trick?
Hmm, that would probably work. I have a 4 foot wide by 7 foot long table I game on, though typically use just half of it and it fit find. One nice thing is the player board isn't very large and the gear/ability cards don't take up very much room :)
I am confused, the first KS did have a 200 page art book. Where you talking about something else? For $19 you could get alternate board with different terrain elements and the campaign mode would allow you to create your own 3D environments using exits DnD terrain. All in all it was very good. I am backing the new KS as well.
Not sure where this comment keeps coming from, I must have said something incorrectly :) I have the artbook displayed on my game shelf actually! :)
Is this the adventure game or just strictly the contest arena?
It's both. :) Tanares adds campaign stuff but also new heroes (a whole new combat role) that can be used for PvP as well. Dragons as well.
@@TheKingofAverage Do you happen to know how long the campaign will be?
This man storing Mythic Battles: Pantheon on his shelf.
Savage.
(mine is in trays with magnets)
Oooh Mr Fancy :D
@@TheKingofAverage I saw the number of boxes and how much space they take and I said nnnnahhh. I can send you a pic of what i've got going if you're interested.
06:39 - "No Index"
Unfortunately,
Your video also has no content index
Nonetheless,
Thank you for the effort and the execution.
Thanks, glad you liked it! :)
By content index do you mean timestamps? It's really just be two, intro and review since I mix pros and cons throughout and the review starts within 5 minutes so I didn't feel it was necessary :)
49:40 please STOP! XD
haha :D Right before "I'm not going to read them all, that's just obnoxious" :D
Damn it, I honestly thought I was going to make it through February Kickstarter 2020 completely unscathed!
Now this campaign and Vampire: The Masquerade Chapters launched on the same day. Woe to my poor wallet π
LOL yeah we're all in the same boat I feel :D
Just watched this and now I've backed the 2nd Kickstarter campaign. I think my wife will love the PvP mode, but the story mode has me hooked.
I was surprised that I enjoyed both so much. It's a great skirmish game in PvP with a lot of team build/strategy opportunities and then the campaign section has a more dungeon crawl feel while maintaining a unique gameplay loop that doesn't involve a lot of dice chucking which helps it stand out.
As someone who played skirmish games with his wife as well, I think it'll be a hit for you guys too :)
Thanks sharing your thoughts about this. I think this could have been 30mins though.
Heh, yeah my reviews tend to be a bit in depth with lots of examples >.
According to the Let's Plays videos around I cannot understand the praise about this game. The combat system seems to be nothing new at all. Big numbers are a big plus? Not convincing. In fact there is no difference between doing 3 damage from 9 total only that is less mathy. ;) The combat overall seems very repetitive as well as the same core system (the monster behaviour seems underdeveloped f.e. and it should become samey fast). I I really do not see why one should play this game over Sword & Sorcery, Dungeon Degenerates, Machina Arcana 2, Secret Unknown Stuff, Galaxy Defenders, Darklight Memento Mori or many many more.
Different tastes I imagine :) I do enjoy the numbers though and track all around the board. It's much more satisfying (to me) to move a health marker way around the board versus 3 small notches down.
I think what TKoA was getting at was that the physical and spacial element of how damage is tracked in a ring around the board changes the feel of large (and small) numbers. I agree. When you see that damage track shift wildly and a token moves all they way around the board in a big hit chain, it has a different feel than just a set of tokens stacked up or a mathematical number shift. The math might be the same, but it is tangibly visible in arena. It is sort of like a life bar in a video game where you can see chunks disappear (or appear) with the animation pausing just enough to see the damage change. Larger scale also opens up the range for smaller modifiers. More than this though, it is easy to digest the information for everyone at the table the way it is tracked. It is easy to see X has 52 life and Y has 12 life rather than having to ask token counts or peer across to someone's play area when planning. As to the praise and the combat system, I have many of the games you list and many others. To me, Arena is absolutely worth the praise. It may be hard to see as the system is very clean with seemingly simple elements, but when playing you suddenly have this pop of subtle choice and consequence that is almost too much. Arena is deep with oodles of hard choices and consequences. I have many super meaty games. When talking about Arena, I often say that I was playing it quickly, but even after many, many games, I am not sure if I am playing it well. All of that said, taste is taste.
@@robertharvey5904 Thanks you for your indepth response. :) Thinking about it. :)
Great explanation! I think the addition of having most attacks deal with Benefits and Effects coupled with passives is what really ups the strategy personally. It's not a matter of just picking the attack that deals the most damage.
As for Ray numbers, both the physical act and the ability to "be in the red" for several turns add to the enjoyment.
6:46 so summarizing, the game manual SUCKS.
15:00 the minis look like plastic toy soldiers from 1970.
greatest game ever? It looks lame.
Luckily they are redoing the minis for free now in the new KS and upgrading to a top tier miniature manufacturer :D
I think I must be one of the very few that absolutely hate the art style of the board. It's one of the main things that put me off from getting the game.
I can see that, it's very....digital art unlike their character art.
I am hesitating, this game gets little to no praise in Top Boardgames lists from well-known boardgame reviewers (Dice Tower, Meeple...). For a 200 + EUR investment, it is a bit steep asking price. Is it a niche type of Boardgame?
It's rated a 9.2 on BGG and made more it's first day than the entire previous campaign with 2/3rds of the backers of the first one returning for more in the second for a reason. People are really enjoying the game :)
And don't feel you need to go all in right away. Dragori Games is big on supporting the game so I am sure there will be future opportunities to get more if you wish. Core box at this point is only $69 which is crazy considering retail prices for games like this.
I really dislike how that board looks, but the insert looks great.
Thats fun. For me the board was the first thing which made me thinking of backing the game when campaign started. It made me thinking of Heroquest etc... old board games. I was thinking that its fun. Completely different kind of game experience but still a tribute for old games too.
Petteri Heino yeah, I donβt have any nostalgic preference for the older look. Which is probably why I dislike it so much.
Hmm, I actually didn't mind it but man, with the 3D walls expansion I find myself actively positioning the minis and taking pictures of them
Iβve made my own arena out of foam and itβs fantastic!!!!!!!
Elias Hartmark i understand you.
Anyhow... the boards looks much better when they are on the table. Especially the coloured ones. And yeah, 3D walls makes the board much better experience.
Everything personally I have watched on this game is just blah I don't personally see what it all good about it. The art I really don't like especially the game boards!!
Interesting! I suppose we just have different tastes :)