After reviewing the co-op strategy game Ghosts of the Island, I have for you another expansive game for fans of intense games, containing a fair amount of strategy, randomness, and some maps. Today we will look at the asymmetric strategy of the Grim Region, which differs from its competitors in many ways. The following lines will tell you what it is, what it excels at, and whether it’s hard to hit.
- Number of players: 14
- Game time: 45 – 90 minutes
- Price: 1749 CZK (Game Planet)
- Age: 14+
At the beginning, Bleak Land is a two-player battle.
We’ve probably all had the opportunity to complete a tutorial that received decent grades while playing a regular game. For board games, the entry point is usually pretty boring. The reason for this is that the rules are poorly written, and sometimes even something is missing or contains errors. It is very rare to find a truly good guide.
However, the gloomy region has it. It offers the player five chapters, within which he actually has the opportunity to grasp what is happening in this game. At the very beginning, this is a work for two. Here you only have two playable factions, two heroes and a piece of content that shapes the gameplay.
In short, the creators do not want to overload anyone, so they present individual elements to players quite gradually. The narrative here revolves around revenge, where on the one hand there is good, represented by the Defenders, and on the other hand, the vendetta-seeking Family, bringing destruction among peaceful neighbors. Both sides then use mysterious demons for their fight, which are spirits and demons willing to bend to the will of their masters.
As already mentioned, the starting cast of characters consists of a couple with different abilities. However, this pair is only part of the entire offer, which is gradually revealed to you. I must admit that the following legends are framed in a very interesting way in the Gloomy Land. For example, such a representative of the Family, fat Cain, can activate a tree and, if his efforts are crowned with success, remove one entity from the same area on which he himself stands. Among the Defenders there are Skinless Boys who can move residents and spirits.
The difference is the strength of all the players here.
As you progress through new chapters, not only the range of legends (characters) expands, but also factions. Over time, three more uniquely detailed players will appear on the scene, whose gameplay will be breathtaking in a positive sense due to its diversity. Once you understand how to play as the Protector and the Family, the evil Kami enters into her own power struggle with her goblins and her desire to find the doll that will restore her lost power. Her arrival is necessary, but she only replaces one of the main factions. That’s why the witch Hester, who represents the fourth group, really stunned me.
He comes into play the moment you decide to use him for three players and represents the other side fighting for their interests. While in the case of the others, one tries to destroy and the other to protect, this beauty wants the blood of all the legends so that she can regain her power and use it against the world. Unlike the others, he has no rage of his own. Instead, he “spreads” roots across the map from the start to generate resources, flames, and blight among demons, which he can then control on his turn. What’s interesting is that if you want to infect a Legend, you can choose any Berserker on the map instead. I found the game behind it to be quite brutal and fun.
The final characters in the story are the fairies, who were originally an add-on, but thanks to the work of Fox in the Box, the Grim Region now includes them in the base box. You can use fairies in a game with three or four players. A special option gives you the opportunity to gather them together in a group of two. Unlike Esther, this faction cannot be called overtly aggressive. Quite the opposite, which is primarily due to a different goal. Others fight and search for fairies. Yes, you read that right. Combat is foreign to these gentle creatures, instead they can use their cards and sockets to help or harm others in their quest to find their queen, which will only be revealed after discovering a couple of other magical items.
The gameplay itself is revealed here, as is the set of factions, quite gradually. In short, at the start we have an asymmetrical strategy, in which you, along with your forces (monsters) and heroes, try to complete a given task, gain ability tokens, and ideally destroy enemies in the process. Once you’ve completed the first chapter, cards are revealed to form the next form of gameplay, and it doesn’t end there. It’s safe to say that this play heats up pretty well over the course of the first three chapters.
For myself, I must say that I liked the evolution as part of the discovery of new mechanics, but I loved the Gloomy Land even more for its factions. The range of different factions you can play as is incredibly varied in terms of detail, so you can really recognize the transition from Guardians to Fairies. Just like your experience playing as Esther will be different than when you marry Kami. In my opinion, competitors have a lot to learn from these creators.
Thanks to its processing, The Gloomy Edge will not overwhelm you.
I know it sounds counterintuitive, but while Gloomy Land is definitely not a simple game, it didn’t blow me away. The format for handling the introductory scenarios takes you along a path that teaches you how to play on the fly, so that after one chapter you can happily play through another and don’t mind at all that there is something new in it, because it’s the fresh mechanics that advance the gameplay well. Due to the fact that it is not a very difficult activity, I was able to attract younger players to it as part of a club and they had a lot of fun with the game.
The game is especially pleased with the chosen theme, the constant presence of clashes and a diverse set of factions with unique capabilities, which is not at all found in the currently crowded board game market. Honestly, I’m glad I was able to present this play to them and look forward to performing with them again. Personally, I would recommend the Grim Region to anyone who doesn’t mind a certain level of difficulty. If you can pull this off, you’ll end up with the perfect item that can playfully defend its price.
We would like to thank Czech distributor Fox in the Box for providing us with a copy of Gloomy Region.
Source :Indian TV
