Sentinels of the Multiverse

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Zurai
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Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Zurai »

This game, it is awesome.

It's a card game with pre-built, non-collectible decks. Each player (from one to as many hero decks as you have) chooses a hero, who each have their own deck. Heroes are based on amalgamations of comic book heroes. For example, Haka is a caveman Hulk/Sabretooth hybrid, while Tempest is Aquaman + Storm. Then you pick a villain, which again have their own deck; each villain is based on comic book trope villains (the four default villains are a mad scientist trying to crash the moon into the earth, an alien invader warlord, a sentient robot factory, and commy cultist mastermind). Finally, you pick an environment to fight the villain in (massive city, savage land ie dinosaurs and volcanoes, ruins of atlantis, or a mars base), which again has its own deck.

Gameplay is pretty much "do what the cards tell you to do". The villain has special rules printed on a separate card and plays the top card of his deck each turn. The heroes play one card, use one Power printed on one of their cards in play, and draw one card each turn. The Environment plays the top card of its deck each turn. It obviously gets more complicated than this, with some heroes having tons of card draw, some villains having minions, environments fucking everything up for everyone, etc.

The end result is that the gameplay feels very much like you're playing a comic book, or perhaps playing World of Warcraft Raid Boss: The Cardgame: Comic Book Edition (which I mean in a good way). The villains are all much more than simple sacks of hit points, as each villain card has two sides with different abilities, plus their own deck with their own entirely unique set of cards to really give them flavor and make one villain fight completely different from the rest. Then there's the environments, which really again are all completely unique and do a good job of ruining everybody's plans (although some environments are more player-friendly and some are more villain-friendly; in particular, Megalopolis has a couple cards which are 100% beneficial to the players, while Atlantis tends to accelerate the villain's plans).

The basic set is only $40 and the three expansions are $20 each (each expansion has 2 heroes, 4 villains, and 2 environments). This is an absolute steal for how awesomely fun this game is. I cannot recommend it enough. We only planned to play once tonight, then watch a replay of the most recent UFC match, but we ended up playing 4 games.

Oh yeah, did I mention that gameplay time is 20-60 minutes (depending on number of heroes and which villain you pick)?
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by MythicalMino »

yes...this is one game that I put off for so long, missing out on all their kickstarters...but never again. Actually, today, my copy of thier latest expansion (Shattered Timelines), along with all their mini-expansions, will be arriving.

This is a great game, even playing it solo (you gotta control at least 3 heroes yourself, though).

Lots of fun.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by hepcat »

I love Sentinels...well, now I do, that is. When it first came out the Calvin and Hobbes looking artwork put me off. I kind of wanted more from a superhero game. I know that most folks actually saw the crude graphics as a strong point, but I was being picky. However, the last few expansions have seen them up their game and find their niche with the artwork and I'm really diggin' it now. The newer heroes and villains are MUCH more fun (for me) than the starters, too.

I backed the Shattered Timelines kickstarter and just received it yesterday. I also added in all the promos they offered during this kickstarter, as well as the oversized villain cards and what not.

If you're playing, I HIGHLY recommend the oversized villain cards! It's a LOT easier to see what to do during the villain turn now. I believe they're all available on store shelves.

Also, there's a handy app in the appstore for the iOS that can help you track stats and stuff during a game. I've only used it once and it proved a little more confusing that I thought it would, but that might have been just because I was unfamiliar with the interface.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by MythicalMino »

my stuff came in today...but I have only one complaint...no dividers for the mini-expansions (except for Unity & Ambuscade, which their dividers actually came in the enhanced edition box). So, Miss Information, The Scholar, The Gultch, and Final Wasteland are all without dividers....
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by hepcat »

Odd, all of those had dividers in my set. I will say that the dividers were loose in the box and not tucked into the manila envelope that held the actual cards. Did you toss the box yet? It not, you may want to double check.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by MythicalMino »

perhaps they are kickstarter only? I got the decks...but no dividers for them. I got dividers for the stuff that actually came in the Shattered Timelines, but not the mini-expansions...
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by hepcat »

Ah, sorry...I thought you had the kickstarter copy. My mistake. Not sure whether or not you were supposed to get them then.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by MythicalMino »

Greater Than Games just replied to an email from me about it. They said that the can send me the dividers, but asked that I contact miniaturemarket first. They said that miniaturemarket should have them...so, I will contact them first, then see what happens there. At least I know that I will get them, just depends on from who.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by hepcat »

I remember when miniaturemarket used to be my favored online retailer. :(
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by MythicalMino »

sent them a message yesterday about the missing dividers (miniaturemarket, that is)...still waiting on a response from them. I hope they don't wait too long...because if you choose not to send them, the guys that made the game said that they can and will. It seems that any other places I send an email to, I get a reply back quickly...
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by hepcat »

I wonder what's going on over there? :?
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by MythicalMino »

Got a reply from miniaturemarket...they said that they will get the dividers sent out immediately. It appears that they have shipped, but under the same order number as before. Kinda confused, as I am hoping that they do not resend the entire order...

At least it seems to be taken care of.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by hepcat »

They did the same thing, shipping a replacement under the same order number, for me a few weeks ago. I'm betting you'll be okay.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by MythicalMino »

alright...cool, then.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by MythicalMino »

wow, I was destroyed in a 4 hero solo game tonight...Bunker was the first to fall, then Wraith, then Visionary, then finally Chrono-Ranger...long live Citizen Dawn, the citizens of Megalopolis shouted amongst the battle-torn city rubble...
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by RMC »

So I just got this game for my B-day this past weekend.

What are the must have expansions?

There seems to be a ton of expansions, and I usually like to get one or two of them for the initial play, so if we like it I can break out an expansion to expand the play.

So what is a good order to get the expansions in?
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Zurai »

There are three expansions: Rook City, Infernal Relics, and Shattered Timelines. Of the three, I think Shattered Timelines is the best, but they're all good. Each offers 2 new heroes, 4 new villains, and 2 new environments.

Rook City gives The Fixer (a martial arts-using janitor) and Ex-Patriette (think Punisher) for heroes,;The Organization (the mob, basically), Spite (Bane), Plague Rat (what it sounds like) and The Matriarch (Hitchcock's The Birds) as villains; and Pike Place Industrial Complex (full of vats of nasty chemicals) and Rook City (lots of dangerous stuff, basically Gotham) as environments.

Infernal Relics offers Nightmist (ghostly spellcasting private eye) and the Argent Adept (a bard with cool music mechanics) as heroes; the Ennead (a supervillain group based on Egyptian myth), Akash-Bhuta (the wrath of Gaia), Gloomweaver (a demon of despair), and Apostate (a fallen angel) as villains; and the Realm of Discord (a demonic realm) and the Tomb of Anubis (what it sounds like) as environments.

Shattered Timelines has Omnitron-X (a hero version of the original set's villain) and Chrono-Ranger (time travelling cowboy) as heroes; Iron Legacy (alternate timeline evil/autocractic Legacy), the Dreamer (Visionary's past/alternate universe self), La Capitan (time-travelling pirate), and Kismet (fan-designed fate/luck based villain) as villains; and the Time Cataclysm (a little bit of everything) and The Block (extra-dimensional prison) as environments.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by hepcat »

What he said. :wink:

But seriously, I think Shattered Timelines is my favorite.

Make sure you get the oversized villain cards, though. As I mentioned earlier, they're a huge step up when trying to read the villain card text.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Buatha »

I noticed no one mentioned anything about the mini-expansions What are those all about? I see about 5-6 of them on CoolStuffInc.com.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Zurai »

Buatha wrote:I noticed no one mentioned anything about the mini-expansions What are those all about? I see about 5-6 of them on CoolStuffInc.com.
Those are all single decks (hero, villain, or environment). They were promos for pre-ordering or kickstarting the base game and expansions, but they are sold separately.

Ambuscade is a trap-based villain, kind of a Predator/Punisher mix. I can't say much more about him because he's the only deck we don't have.
Miss Information is a non-traditional villain from one of the alternate timelines. She manipulates events from behind the scenes for a while before she's finally unmasked and the heroes are able to fight her.

The Scholar is a really cool alchemist tank/healer hero. He's extremely durable, and he can support the party pretty well, but his damage isn't the best. Really fun, though.
Unity is all about minions; she makes robots that do things for her. Unfortunately, in my experience her robots all tend to die too quickly to be useful (except Bee Bots which are designed to die).

Silver Gulch is a Wild West environment. It's where Chrono-Ranger is originally from. It's got a bunch of Western-themed objects and targets.
The Final Wasteland is a post-apocalyptic environment with a bunch of nasty cryptid monsters. Interestingly, it's actually one of the easier environments because the monsters are usually just as happy to munch on the villain as the heroes.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Buatha »

Thank you, sir, for the explanations. It's on my Buy List with BSG and Firefly.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by RMC »

Buatha wrote:Thank you, sir, for the explanations. It's on my Buy List with BSG and Firefly.
Battle Star Galactica rocks! We have a very fun time every time we play it when we have a large group.

And I have the Sentinels game, but it has not hit the table yet. I hope to get to play it this Saturday. But I have my eclipse players so we might just jump into a game of eclipse and then there goes the night. :)
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Buatha »

hepcat wrote:What he said. :wink:

But seriously, I think Shattered Timelines is my favorite.

Make sure you get the oversized villain cards, though. As I mentioned earlier, they're a huge step up when trying to read the villain card text.
Just an FYI, I finally hit the $100 threshold on games that other people would actually play with me (kids/family/neighbors), so I got the following:

Sentinels of the Multiverse Enhanced/Shattered Timelines/Over-Size Cards (based on Hepcat)
Neuroshima Hex 3.0 as it is packed an extra army and puzzle cards (and the iPad game is good trainer for everyone)
Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm (not really interested in the other ones)
Dead Panic since if it's even remotely like Castle Panic, I'm in!
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by $iljanus »

Puttering around BGG is really bad for your wallet since happened to be in the 1 Player Guild section and saw a recommendation of Sentinels. I should never have kept reading and now I have it arriving on Fri. But from what I've read it seems easy to set up and run a game which is a plus. The folks around here also seem to give it good marks.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Smoove_B »

$iljanus wrote:Puttering around BGG is really bad for your wallet since happened to be in the 1 Player Guild section and saw a recommendation of Sentinels. I should never have kept reading and now I have it arriving on Fri. But from what I've read it seems easy to set up and run a game which is a plus. The folks around here also seem to give it good marks.
Did something change? I thought I remember reading it's an excellent game but that you need a minimum of three heroes to play it. So either someone solo all three, two players with one controlling two heroes or three actual people controlling one hero each.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by coopasonic »

We solo players are accustomed to playing co-op games that way. Without that, options are way more limited.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by $iljanus »

Smoove_B wrote:
$iljanus wrote:Puttering around BGG is really bad for your wallet since happened to be in the 1 Player Guild section and saw a recommendation of Sentinels. I should never have kept reading and now I have it arriving on Fri. But from what I've read it seems easy to set up and run a game which is a plus. The folks around here also seem to give it good marks.
Did something change? I thought I remember reading it's an excellent game but that you need a minimum of three heroes to play it. So either someone solo all three, two players with one controlling two heroes or three actual people controlling one hero each.
Yeah, folks soloing the game controlled 3 heroes which didn't look too bad. There's a nice app for game bookkeeping as well that probably helps keep things flowing smoothly.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by $iljanus »

coopasonic wrote:We solo players are accustomed to playing co-op games that way. Without that, options are way more limited.
Alas it is a heavy burden that we solo players must endure for the love of our hobby.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Smoove_B »

coopasonic wrote:We solo players are accustomed to playing co-op games that way. Without that, options are way more limited.
It's pretty much what killed Zombicide for me. If I need to play more than one character to have a viable strategy in the game, I'm not interested. It's also why I typically hate party-based computer RPGs.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by $iljanus »

Smoove_B wrote:
coopasonic wrote:We solo players are accustomed to playing co-op games that way. Without that, options are way more limited.
It's pretty much what killed Zombicide for me. If I need to play more than one character to have a viable strategy in the game, I'm not interested. It's also why I typically hate party-based computer RPGs.
Ahh, and I like party based RPGs so mentally I can still get into a co-op based game. What kills me though are wargames which I love but it's harder to split my brain between the two sides. That hasn't stopped me from buying some due to some unique activation rule like chit pulling that makes it more palatable to me but I much prefer some actual solo rules. Lucky for me (or unfortunately for me) there are some solo rules that have been designed with the help of the great John H. Butterfield (creator of Ambush) that will be part of an expansion to Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear. It was showcased at Gencon and should be released this year I believe. More exciting for me is that the Conflict of Heroes: Guadalcanal game will incorporate these solo rules and that game which has been in development for quite a while may actually be released in the near future (months instead of years).
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by coopasonic »

Smoove_B wrote:
coopasonic wrote:We solo players are accustomed to playing co-op games that way. Without that, options are way more limited.
It's pretty much what killed Zombicide for me. If I need to play more than one character to have a viable strategy in the game, I'm not interested. It's also why I typically hate party-based computer RPGs.
You can play Zombicide with one character. The games will tend to be pretty short though... and bloody.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Zurai »

You can play Sentinels solitaire without any trouble. It's a fully cooperative game which encourages sharing information anyway, so there's not that much different between one player controlling three characters and three players controlling one character each who communicate with each other.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by coopasonic »

Unless you are Smoove-like:
Smoove_B wrote:If I need to play more than one character to have a viable strategy in the game, I'm not interested. It's also why I typically hate party-based computer RPGs.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Smoove_B »

Yeah, I just have a hard time getting into the game. For example, I can play Lord of the Rings LCG solo because it's me controlling a deck made up of multiple characters. But I can't play the Pathfinder card game solo unless it's just me controlling a single character. Same for Elder Sign or Eldritch Horror. I'm sure that I'm in the minority there but if Sentinels requires a minimum of three heroes and I would then need to play two or three of them in a solo or two player game? Not going to happen. Which is nice, because the last thing I need right now is more games. :D
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Buatha »

In case anyone missed it, they've released an iPad version of Sentinels of the Multiverse:

http://sentinelsdigital.com/
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Fishbelly »

I'm eager to hear if anyone has bought the ipad version of Sentinels, and what they think. I was going to buy it until I saw the $9.99 price tag. Yes, I'm cheap. :oops:
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by freelunch »

I bought the app and I'm *very* pleased with it, easily the best table-to-tablet conversion I've played since Lords Of Waterdeep.

Since I have trouble finding people to play the tabletop version with (not tabletop games in general, just Sentinels in particular for some reason) I'm hoping it does well enough that we see all the tabletop expansions.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Buatha »

Well, that settles it. I'm going to purchase it when I get home.
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Re: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Fishbelly »

That's all I was waiting to hear. Sentinels is one of my all time faves, so this is great news indeed. Bought!
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Sentinels of the Multiverse

Post by Zarathud »

Aw, man. This is one of those games where I enjoyed my ignorance of the rules and made hepcat do all the bookkeeping work. That excuse won't fly after I have the app for awhile.
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