*Disclaimer: This is an unpaid
review of a Kickstarter Project. This review is of a prototype copy of
the game. Please be aware that any components or gameplay may be subject
to change in a final copy.*
This past month at GenCon, one of the highlights of my and my
husband’s time there was encountering game designer Mark Hanny and
playing a total of
five of his games over the course of that
insane weekend. His games are full of interesting ideas and his mind as a
designer seems to be in overdrive. His games often combine themes and
game styles that would be considered strange at the surface, but in
practice proved to be incredibly engaging. My husband’s favorite game of
the entire convention, stacked up against the major releases from the
likes of Asmodee, Iello, AEG, and Fantasy Flight was one of Mr. Hanny’s
games.
We got to be such regulars at his demo table that when he told us
about his game he was testing for an upcoming Kickstarter, I offered to
review it for IGG.
Now,
with the project officially launched on Kickstarter,
I can tell you all about Giant, an innovative and tactile game that
entertained us more and more with each progressive play and even sparked
delight from our 4 year-old daughter.
Title: Giant
Geeky Specs
Designer: Mark Hanny Published by: Joe Magic Games
Players: 3-5 Suggested Ages: 12+ (with an adult’s help under 12)
Type: Card/Token Drafting, Light Tableau Building
What’s the Story, Morning Glory?
The Giants of the North, long absent in the civilized kingdoms, have
returned! They do not come in peace. And thus the kingdoms rally their
armies and hope beyond hope they can end the Giant threat before a trail
of devastation is left in their wake.
What’s in the Box?
- 6 Giant Stand-ups
- 6 Giant holders
- 32 Troop Cards
- 60 Victory Tokens
- 75 Combat Tokens (15 of each color: red, blue, green, yellow, orange)
- 7 Dice
- 5 Flag Cards
- 5 Card Holders
- 1 Draw Bag
- Needed (not in t he box): 1 cup to shake tokens
How To Play or Not to Play, That is the Question
- Prepare the Giant Standees and set them up in the middle of the table.
- Each player selects a colored flag card. The Combat Tokens for the colors being played are then added to the Draw Bag
- Shuffle the Troop Deck and deal each player 6 cards from it
- Each player selects one Troop Card from their hand, keeps it, and
passes the rest of the hand to the player on the right. Continue this
until all Troop Cards have been drafted. These will be the potential
armies each player has available to them.
- Shake the Token Bag well, draw 3 tokens for each player, and place
those tokens in the cup. The starting player then shakes the cup and
either tosses the tokens out onto the table with flair or slams the cup
down dramatically (whatever makes you happy). Then, starting with the
first player, each player drafts one token from the newly created token
pool and you are now ready to begin play. (See token types below.)
- On your turn you have three actions you may take.
- First, for each numbered token of your color in the token pool you
may draft any token other than a numbered token of another player’s
color from the pool. You are always allowed to draft one token (even if
you have no tokens of your color showing) and can never draft more than
3.
- If you have NO tokens you can legally draft, a re-roll occurs. Add 2
tokens per player from the bag to the cup, shake, and add to the token
pool.
- Second, you may EITHER play a Troop Card to the field, paying any
gold cost it has OR draw one random token from the Token Bag. Spent gold
is returned to the Token Bag.
- Third, you may EITHER initiate an attack on a Giant of your choice,
paying the necessary activation costs of any Troop Card you wish to
bring to battle, OR draw one random token from the Token Bag. Spent
Activation and Bonus Tokens are returned to the Token Bag.
- When attacking, select the Giant you wish to attack as well as the
specific Body Part Token on the Giant you are targeting your attack on.
Add up the Attack Ratings on all your activated Troop Cards, as well as
any Bonus Tokens spent, and if the number is greater than or equal to
the white number on that Body Part Token, your attack is successful. Pop
the token out of the Giant and claim it as your prize! This method of
combat is purely deterministic, so you should never fail an initiated
attack (unless of course you did your math wrong!)
- When a Giant has its fourth and final Body Part taken out, he is
defeated and it’s time for scoring. Any player who claimed a token from
that Giant makes a scoring roll for each of those tokens. Roll a number
of dice equal to the blue number on that token, take note of the target
roll as shown by the picture of the die on that token, and for each
success you earn one Victory Point Token.
- When a Giant dies, there is an automatic re-roll to add tokens to the token pool.
The End
The game ends immediately when all six Giants have been brought down
in glorious victory and the last Giant’s points have been claimed!
Whoever has the most Victory Points at the end of the game is the
winner! Ties are broken by the commander of the largest army. If there
is still a tie, the player with the most gold buys bragging rights.
Rules Weren’t Meant to Be Broken (Or Were They?)
There are 5 types of tokens in the game:
Gold (Used to put your Troop Cards onto the field of play).
Military Activation (Used to pay activation costs on Military Troop units).
Magic Activation (Used to pay activation costs on Magic Troop units).
Attack Bonuses (Used to give straightforward bonuses to your overall attack on any Giant).
Numbered Color Tokens
(These are the reverse side of the other tokens and, while in the token
pool, they determine the number of tokens a player can draft on their
turn as well as your fate when it comes time for Giants to SMASH puny
humans.)
Some Troop Cards have special abilities that take effect when they the unit’s activation cost is paid for an attack.
Watch out for the Re-Roll! The giants have a chance to attack you
back! Whenever there is a re-roll (either after a Giant dies or when a
player cannot draft a token) it is time for Giants to SMASH. After the
re-roll, if the sum of any color’s numbered tokens is 7 or greater that
player loses one of their Troop Cards. Ouch!
Best Played Under These Conditions
Giant works well with any of its player count. This is a game that
you can use the play with three or more aspect. You do, though, need at
least 3 players to play.
The game is lighter in weight with many random elements, but it
offers a fair bit of strategy in managing your resources to efficiently
get the best value Giant tokens and maximize your points so I think it
appeals to a wide audience. Whether you’re a novice or a veteran gamer,
it has a little something for everyone.
Though the recommended age is 12+, I think younger kids will have
great fun with it as well making it a nice family game. Our daughter,
who is 4-years-old, loved the giants and had fun poking out the pieces.
We had to do a great deal of guiding with her, but it was still fun for
everyone.
Spice Up Your Game
This game has so many fun ways to spice up your gaming night. There
are two bents you could take. . . You could get the giant or the food
could be giant food. Let’s start with you being the giant.
You’ve chosen to make yourself feel like a giant! Great! I highly recommend the awesome cookbook called
Tiny Food Party.
There are some seriously adorable recipes in the book to really help
make you feel like a giant in your own right. If you’re not into baking,
there are tons of mini-items to purchase at your local stores, like
mini-éclairs, mini-quiches, mini-candies. Get some baby carrots and use a
tiny bowl to put a little dip in. Even mini-rice cakes! Lay out the
spread and enjoy!
Let’s not forget the drinks! Pour your drinks into tiny glasses. Use
disposable and cheap shot glasses or just use shot glasses. Maybe you
have mini-little-kid glasses. Whatever floats your boat. Then use
appetizer utensils or tiny little forks to eat with. Use things that
continue to give you that giant feeling! Even use the smaller plates,
verses the larger dining plates.
So
eating tiny isn’t your thing? Well, then think big! I always love this
Giant Cupcake Cake dessert. I love cupcakes, so a Giant Cupcake. These
are always a fun treat and guests should always love cake. If they
don’t, though, you can make a
Giant Hershey Kiss Rice Krispies Treat.
Use a funnel to create the impression of the Hershey kiss and then wrap
it in foil. Instant giant deliciousness! Quite honestly, anything you
can make larger than life, will probably be a hit!
If you’re feeling creative enough, can talk in Giant Voices or stomp
around like giants. I know I enjoyed voicing the giants in the game
whenever they attacked back. It added to the fun of the game. For even
more ambiance, create
Giant Tissue Flowers to place around the table or on the backs of the chairs. These are adorable for parties, as well as games.
Finale
Having played several games from Mark Hanny, we were accustomed to
very meaty, thinky games from him. So we were surprised (pleasantly so)
to find out just how fast-paced, light, and easy to pick up Giant was.
It’s just smooth-flowing, easy-going fun. As mentioned above, it is also
delightfully tactile with the bag shaking, token drawing, cup slamming,
and Giant poking!
There are some who might be turned off by the randomness of a number
of elements in the game, but if the token pool isn’t cooperating with
you, it is somewhat mitigated by your ability to draw more tokens
instead of taking actions on your turn. And while the points gained per
Giant Token is random, it is very well balanced randomness in terms of
effort/reward and with the deterministic combat you at least know for
sure an attack won’t ever be wasted. We played eight games in
preparation for this review and we were very pleased with just how tight
each game wound up being at the end.
There are a lot of really interesting effects on the Troop Cards and
every game will play out differently depending on what types of armies
hit the battlefield. This interesting dynamic combined with fun and
simple mechanics is proof of a very neat concept.
As for the production quality of the game, I should make it clear
that Mr. Hanny self-publishes his games. But while you’re not going to
see the lavish production values you would find from a major company
like Asmodee, Mr. Hanny has been making games for a very long time and
has the equipment and materials to produce very nice looking games for a
one-man operation. The art on the Giant standees varies in style from
comically cartoonish to grimly intimidating. They provide excellent
table presence that will make passersby stop and watch as chaos ensues.
And Mr. Hanny’s pride and joy are his unique cards. They are treated
with a special laminate that protects them better than any sleeve,
provides a nice sturdy feel, and yet still shuffle very well. Purists
may be turned off by the slick feel and glossy sheen, but I find it a
nice change of pace. Plus, we hate sleeves in this house!
All in all, you’re probably not going to find anything out there that
gives quite the same feel as Giant and for a lightweight and
lighthearted game good for families or gaming groups, Giant is a welcome
addition to our collection.
Pledge Levels:
The
Giant Kickstarter
is offering discounts of Mr. Hanny’s previous successful Kickstarter
projects alongside your Giant reward at various pledge levels. That’s
five games Mr. Hanny has already delivered on (another point in his
favor) that might pique your interest and sweeten the pot and seal the
deal for you. While we have not played two of those available (Famous
Zombies and Bellwether), I can provide a little feedback on the other
three.
Argosy: On the surface, Argosy looked like any other
game of interstellar exploration, colonization, and conquest. It
revealed itself, however, to be a brain-burning abstract game in a 4x
space vessel. Abstract games are not my or my husband’s genre of choice,
but we were still fascinated by this game where you manipulate three
types of research tokens into triangular patterns to gain knowledge to
open up various powers to progress your quest to colonize your way to
the center of the galaxy. It’ll make smoke pour out of your ears, but it
is an elegant design.
Super Powers: This one was conceptually so out there that we were
telling people about it for days. A Euro Superhero game? Insanity! Yet,
extremely interesting. Super Powers is fundamentally a worker placement
game where the placement of your pieces earns your hero powers,
opportunities to fight villains, or other unique actions. This was the
first game of Mr. Hanny’s I played and I immediately knew how outside
the box his ideas were, but this was both clever and strangely charming.
UFO Hunter: This is the beefiest, most epic of the
games discussed here. UFO Hunter is a globetrotting game where players
seek out proof of extraterrestrial life. It features bidding, trading,
and exploration as players travel around a map of the world, starting
rumors, investigating rumors, gaining contacts and alien-finding
equipment, all in the hopes of being the one to collect the most
evidence that there is life out there in the stars and it has come to
visit us on Earth. There is a ton going on in this game, but it is has a
genuine cool factor and is another game that provides excellent table
presence with its dual game boards and lots of cards and tokens again.
So there you have it. If you like what you’ve read and seen here, head on over to
Mark’s Kickstarter page
and consider giving him your support. This is a very short run project
for a limited edition run of Giant so get it while you can, but keep an
eye out for his next, longer running Kickstarter for his game Demise of
Dr. Frankenstein (my husband’s favorite) coming out right on the heels
of this one.
