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Review: Sentinels of The Multiverse

July 4th, 2014 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

Ever wanted to be a Superhero? Sentinels of the Multiverse allows players to take on the roles of Superheroes and team up to take on a super villain in a dangerous place. 

Sentinels of the Multiverse from Greater Than Games  is a co-operative game of the players against the board variety, players take on the roles of various Superheroes endowed with powers  like super speed or strength and do battle with one of host of villains in one of many dangerous locations, like a volcano.

Each of the 10 Heroes has a unique i.d. card which shows their hit points and built in basic power. They also get a deck of cards, which they will draw from during their turns. These cards can give the hero a one shot power boost, additional ways of using their powers, equipment or temporary allies. You start with four and then get to draw one a turn.

The four villains have a similar unique id card, detailing hit points and how to set their game up, a player should be picked to look after his hit points and turn.

An Environment card is also picked from a set of four which also has its own deck; it will have an ongoing effect on the game. The combination of the environment s effects and the villain’s turns can cause serious headaches for players.

Once everyone has their hands sorted, their decks shuffled and hit point arrayed, the villain opens proceedings, then the players each have their turns, they can do three things,

Play a card,

Use a power: either the built in one or one on a card you have played

Draw a card.

Once all the players are done, the environment card kicks in. Turns continue like this until the villain or all the players are knocked out.

This is a proper co-op board game; you really do have to coordinate what you’re doing on your turns with the rest of the team or the vile villain will be victorious! Not only do you have to contend with the villain but you also have to watch the environment cards and delegate someone to try to deal with them when needed.

The cards are all themed and my table tend to start telling the story of the fight as we progress, which is made easy as each character has their own story, written by game designer Christopher Badell.

There actually is an ongoing story being told through the various game expansions and the comic  inked by artist Adam Rebottaro which adds to the feel of being a Justice league (Boo Urns to Avengers!) involved in an ongoing struggle.

The game is reliant on the players’ ability to agree a strategy and there is an element of randomness in the card draw that means despite a valiant effort there is still a chance you could lose.

This doesn’t sit well with some hardcore Eurogame players but different strokes etc.

There is a bit of a learning curve, a set up time is minimal, the random elements can lead to a less than fair challenge but the mechanics are solid, the writing is good (Which is a rare thing to have to comment on in a tabletop game!) the art matches the theme perfectly.

Ultimately peoples opinion on this game will depend on taste, whether or not you like comic book heroes and cooperating with other players as opposed to smashing them.

If it is to your taste, then with 10 heroes, four villains and four environments there’s a plethora of combinations to experience from the base set alone and plenty of expansions to play with.

4.5 nerds

I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.