After introducing The Elemental Tamers, I have something even bigger for you than last week. Let’s look at the board game Captured by the Omniverse. This is a conflict in which one player takes on the role of ruler of a city controlled by the all-powerful Omnistroy, while the other players represent the leader of the resistance. Their goal is to overthrow a tyrannical regime, while the tyrant tries to carry out his Great Plan and suppress the uprising. The following lines of this review will tell you how everything works in practice and whether the title might interest you.
- Number of players: 1–4
- Game time: 90 minutes
- Price: 1369 CZK (Tlama Games)
- Provided by: Mindok
- Age: 14+
The battle for the city in V captures the castles of Vsekhostroy.
The game takes place on a modular map consisting of different areas, the variability of which allows you to use different settings each time. The city consists of small and large areas connected by key points. These passages are a critical element of not only the heroes’ movement strategy, but also the actions that players can take. The game includes suggestions for possible city layouts, but players have complete freedom to change the map as they wish.
Not only heroes from the ranks of the resistance move through the streets of the metropolis, but also security and elite mechanical units serving the Omnibus. Each space hides citizens with different values, the discovery of which plays an important role in planning resistance. Identifying and activating these characters is the key to building support among people. Instead, the player, in the role of Omnibus, is tasked with managing the city, completing tasks assigned by event cards, hunting down resistance, and suppressing any signs of rebellion. He uses units under his control to intimidate citizens or hunt heroes. But each step is limited by the number of commands, the number of which depends on the current state of the disturbance. The more chaos the heroes create, the more opportunities the dictator gets.
There are always three fighters, with the number of players determining how many characters each player controls. Each hero has unique abilities and starting position, which increases the variability of the game. The goal of the resistance is to stir up civil outrage, obtain bail, and intensify the uprising. Collaterals are a key game resource: players use them to move and trigger various actions. The game wheel itself consists of several phases, during which the situation in the city changes dynamically. The stage begins with laying out an event card that determines the conditions of the current turn. After this, Omnistroy will receive their orders, and the rebels will receive their promises (resources).
The dictator begins his turn by moving mechanical units, which, as mentioned above, can perform various actions that work with the development of the city. Every movement and action requires commands, forcing the player to plan carefully. On the other hand, heroes begin their daily battle by using movement cards to move to designated locations. As they advance, they are forced to pay a deposit for every guard they encounter. If they don’t have resources, they have to use dice, which introduces an element of uncertainty into the game as a wrong roll could end their turn or power up an enemy.
After a successful turn, heroes can take one action. They have the ability to incite citizens to riot, fight guards, find out the identities of local residents, or evacuate. There is also the fomenting of revolts, which is the key to victory, but their implementation requires resources and courage to resist the pitfalls of a dictatorial regime that can suppress them. The game ends if the rebels manage to stage three successful rebellions or if the dictator completes his Grand Plan. This race between two rival sides creates tension until the last move. The variety of game plan, event cards, and character abilities ensures that no two games will be the same.
This will be a presentation of the format in which the players fight. Apart from this, this game also offers cooperation. Yes, that’s true. Players can play against a dark titan who determines the direction of the city’s development. The battle is not easy. However, no one is stopping you from calmly completing it in private mode.
Captive of the Omniverse is a game built on a solid foundation
I’ve played a few stealth games and I have to admit that Captive of the Omniverse is one of the best I’ve ever played. The theme chosen, the gameplay and the division of players into two groups with different gameplay are simply worthy of praise. I also really like the fact that there’s nothing stopping you from going it alone against the game itself if that’s what you want.
But, in my opinion, all this belongs to a more demanding category. So, if you are tired of most competing projects with their simplicity, V jajetě Všehostroje can be a very interesting alternative that I would not be afraid to turn to.
We would like to thank the Czech distributor Mindok for providing us with a copy of the game Captured by Všehostroj.
Source :Indian TV
