Dark Gothic "unboxing" (pre-play/production value) mini-review

[mqstout]

So here are my thoughts on Dark Gothic, before playing it. I've just finished reading the rule book and unboxing it, etc.

Dark Gothic Base Game
* Starting cards: There are 30 of each of the three starting cards. However, the distribution amongst all of the characters is 30 combat, 33 cunning, 26 spirit. This is a missed opportunity -- it makes it impossible to have the starting decks all "premade" and ready to go, since there aren't enough cunning cards. Also, while the game is listed to support 2-6 players, including just three more cunning cards (or, altering the characters so cunning and spirit are used evenly amongst them) would have allowed fans to attempt an 8-player game using all the heroes at once. [Note: The main deck is an odd number, 134 cards. The overflow could have come from there.]
* Card quality: The cards all seem to be of lower quality than FFP's usual products. In particular, the cuts of the cards are rough (especially on, but not limited to, the larger hero/villain cards). The face edges of many of the cards look as though they've already been played/worn.
* Common minion: They missed an opportunity of making the Common Minion have two different sides for a slight difference in games. Both sides are the same. I'm also not sure how I feel about Hungry Dead being the common minion for the ATOE setting.
* Rulebook: The rulebook is more roughly written compared to what we're used to. For instance, it never gives a "parts of the card" breakdown. If I weren't already familiar with 'Frog games and other DBGs, I would have had to look things up. For instance, that the "cost" of a card to buy or defeat it is the row of orbs in the left of the image area is buried in the text of the rules, rather than called out overtly. It also NEVER defines that the Investigation value of a card is the number in the bottom right in a little circle. It's only by process of elimination that one can reach that conclusion.
* Rulebook Easter egg: "The Lost Colony is not forgotten!"
* The game rules themselves: if you know how to play Ascension [GaryGames/Stoneblade], you know how to play Dark Gothic. They basically use the same rules engine as that game. Having the common minion's ability being the game's basic "eliminate useless cards" engine is an interesting take.
* Shadows: I'm not sure how I feel about a non-cooperative game having a condition in which all players lose and the game wins. I already feel as though I'll house rule this as an alternate game-end condition and the player with the most points at that time wins.
* Optional rules: One of these is appurtenant (every group will have its own method for choosing heroes). The fully cooperative rules sound fun.
* FAQ: Reasonable questions to come up and answer.
* Main deck cards: I did not read through these; I like surprises while I play the game and the joy of encountering them for the first time.
* Art: A lot of people have complained about the game recycling the existing ATOE art. I have no problem with this. A lot of the cards in ATOE are rarely seen due to the nature of the various decks and how often you move about, and how the cards are resolved and discarded right away. (This also let the game come out without larger production costs.)
* Box: The box insert has plenty of room to store an expansion of equal size to the base game. It has some "serrations" in the base of the box that makes the cards slide around less. The bottom box sides advertises ATOE, COPE, LNOE, IFOS. The box compartments only barely fit cards sleeved with penny sleeves. They could have been a hair wider to hold sleeved cards properly.
* Cost: The game costs too much. It has 322 standard-size cards, 17 "large" cards (normal card stock thickness, normal width, about 25% longer), a meager 8-page rulebook, and a custom d6 [numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, skull, skull] for $40 MSRP ($27 on CoolStuffInc). Considering the card quality I mentioned above, as well as the fact that the art of the cards is recycled, it should be a good 15% or more lower.

Forgotten Island mini-expansion:
* Contents: 15 cards for the main deck. Eight are one card (which gives you VP for each of that same card you have at the end of the game), 3 a low-level card, and the other four are unique.
* Rules: No rules are included. No new rules are introduced.
* Icons: The Writhing Tentacles icon seems to be weird due to font sizes. Other cards in the base game main deck might have this come up, but I haven't looked at them. It might be for color blindness issues.
* Packaging: It came in an easily-opened blister case with a generic (not unique) Dark Gothic insert behind the cards. The name of the expansion was stickered on with a plain text paper sticker. It did not include the "expansion title card" as FFP's mini expansions have been including lately.
* Price: $10 for 15 cards.

Dryad bonus expansion:
* Contents: One large villain card and 10 identical special minions used by its mystery ability. You can compare this easily to Ascension's Rat King promo.
* Packaging: There was none. It was just handed out loose.
* Acquisition: This is only acquirable if you purchase Dark Gothic from FFP. If you are a fan like I am, that's a problem. We all know that shipping prices from the FFP web store are pretty high for actual boxed games, so I wanted to purchase it through another vendor. [I'll never get free shipping from FFP, since I already own everything they've released!] I emailed FFP/asked at their GenCon booth about buying it separately, and they refused. In the end, I bought Dark Gothic for MSRP at the GenCon booth (effectively making the bonus cost around $13).

Promo numbering:
* Promo-V001: The Dryad of Harper's Wood (Dryad bonus)
* Promo-001: Living Tree (Dryad)
* Promo-009: Lost Journal Pages (Forgotten Island)
* Promo-010: Writhing Tentacles (FI)
* Promo-011: Fiend from the Deep (FI)
* Promo-012: Shadows Below (FI)
* Promo-013: Familiar Cat (FI)
* Promo-014: Hatchet (FI)
* So we know we're going to get at least 7 more unique promo cards (002 through 008).