Up until now, the Spider-Man universe hasn’t been well represented in Legendary and its expansions. In particular, this has proven to be problematic for Peter Parker in the main game. Since he’s been the only playable hero from that universe, he hasn’t been able to trigger any specific Spider-Man alliance bonuses. Paint the Town Red is the answer to that dilemma. As a “small box” expansion, you’ll get five new Spider-Man heroes to battle against Mysterio, Carnage and their cronies.
Marvel’s deck-building game is one of my favourites. Together with Upper Deck, they’ve done a great job of supporting Legendary with a steady flow of quality expansions. Most recently, they revealed the latest addition to the family, which is Legendary: Marvel Villains Deck Building Game. This time, you and your friends assume the role of the villains as they try and defeat the superheroes. At a base level, this is simply a role reversal, but it actually opens up the game in interesting thematic ways.
Board games and card games to me have mainly been a social pursuit. I never really put much thought into playing these games alone, nor did I really have much desire to do so. Of late though, I’ve had a desire to play Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game without anyone to play with. After doing some snooping around in the Board Game Geek forums, it turns out that playing it alone is a popular way to go. Within that community, they even make challenges for everyone to try out and players report back on their results. Curious, I set up all of the cards for a solo battle with Marvel’s most devious supervillains.
We’ve been taught since the dawn of time (or at least since the dawn of books) to not judge a book by its cover. Well, when it comes to board games, cover-judging has been a huge part of my decision-making process. Before making inroads with the scene a few years ago, I’d be immediately off-put just by looking at any visual material for games like Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer or Magic: The Gathering. I dislike pretty much everything medieval fantasy across all forms of media, which acts as a deal-breaker for these and many other designer board games long before I could judge it on its merits.
Having played a lot of Dominion and DC Comics Deck-Building Game, my chief complaint between them is that they squander an opportunity to create a story that comes to life as it’s played. I love them both for their wildly addictive gameplay mechanics, but I never feel like I’m doing anything beyond managing the numbers. In particular, DC’s game has the opportunity to leverage its great cast of characters to tell a cool in-game story, but they’re mostly just used as art over top of the standard deck-building formula. Worse yet, its moment-to-moment story beats don’t fully make sense within the overall premise of the game. For instance, why can players use villains to take out super villains? From a strictly mechanical point of view, it doesn’t matter. However, it does break the immersion and take away from what could have been a more authentic DC Comics experience.
With a slew of unique mechanics specifically designed to convey the struggle between good and evil, Legendary: A Marvel Deck-Building Game aims to bring the Marvel universe to life in a way that its deck-building counterparts don’t. This added context however comes at a cost of a steeper learning curve. Is the trade worth it?
The Bosscast dive deep into Grand Theft Auto V while trying their best to avoid spoilers. Mat kept his eyes on the prize and powered straight through the main story. Jett on the other hand, is busy enjoying the company of Nikki, Sapphire, and Chastity.
Games Mentioned: Grand Theft Auto V, Project X Zone, Game & Wario, Rayman Legends, Legendary: A Marvel Deck-Building Game
Jett – In Third Person
Jason – Downstab
Mat – Biff Bam Pop
In Third Person 