Imagine a world where big hulking monsters loom over the land and a small band of character live among, trying to establish a community. Who is the “bad guy” here, the large creature of nature who wants things back to the pristine balance it once was, or the band of Smallclans who just want to live in this creation in peace? What if you could take the battle to the land and decide once and for all who looms largest and in control?
In Skulk Hollow, 2 players will face each other in an epic battle where one will play the Guardian and one will play the Smallclans, each trying to protect what they love. The Guardians win the game be eliminating the Foxen leader or by completing their unique win condition. The Foxen Hero wins if they eliminate the Guardian. The game is designed by Keith Matejka, Produced by Eduardo Baraf and Pencil First Games with Illustration by Dustin Foust. It is currently on Kickstarter.
Components:
1 Skulk Hollow Map
20 Wound tokens
15 Power cubes
3 Handicap tokens
1 Foxen Player Map
25 Foxen Deck of cards
10 Foxen Figures
4 Different Guardians:
Grak with a Board, Player Mat, Deck, Tokens and Figure
Raptra with a Board, Player Mat, Deck, Tokens and Figure
Tanthos with a Board, Player Mat, Deck, Tokens and Figure
Apoda with a Board, Player Mat, Deck, Tokens and Figure
Gameplay:
The gameplay is simple: you begin with setting the Guardian on his spot on the board and setting up the Guardian board and components. The Foxen player takes their components and makes the choice of which noble they will use. The Noble and Sentinel card are placed with the player mat and the meeples for these characters are placed on the Keep on the map board.
Each player shuffles their deck, draws cards and the Foxen controller will be the first player.
During the main phase of the game an active player can take turns up to the amount of their action limit which is on the player mat. Each action will allow you to either Play a Card, Prepare or Spend Power. These actions are taken in any order of gameplay.
Play a Card: The player plays one card from their hand. Each card has either a single or double action listed, either way you may only pick one of the options. Once played the card is discarded.
During the play Card action, players will play one card from their hand which will allow for the Foxen to either recruit more units which will add them to the Keep or towns on the board. They may also play order cards that will allow your units to perform an action.
The Units join in the farm it Keep and the corresponding care goes in front of the Hero. Once removed by the Guardian Unit cards are discarded.
The Foxen Hero has the option with different action cards to do one of the following:
Leap. Leap allows a Unit to jump onto the Guardian board and move around the Guardian, traversing the different locations on the body of the Guardian along the white dotted pathways. Each location can hold so many Foxen Heroes to be able to do damage on one of the spots.
Melee Attack:Melee allows a Unit on a location on the Guardian to deal one damage to the spot it is on if that Foxen Hero has that attack ability. Damage is dealt as one hit on and shown with one wound token. Once an area of the Guardian is completely wounded that attack is no longer available until it heals.
Missile Attack: Similar to the Melee attack it will allow a Unit on a location on the Guardian to deal one damage to the spot it is on if that Foxen Hero has that attack ability.
Gain Power: Power cubes can be gained and placed in the Pool on the Player card. During the Cleanup phase they are placed on Units that have open spaces. These can be used during the “Spend Power” Phase.
Prepare: The player discards one card from their hand, then draws two from the deck.
Spend Power: The active player removes one power cube from the guardian player mat or any hero unit card in order to take an additional action. The specific unit that the power cube is on is the one that performs the action. Any action may be used including movements or attacks without the use of a card to activate it.
Cleanup Phase: Once the active player has taken all of the actions that they wish to take, or they no longer have any more actions available, they move to the Cleanup Phase of their turn. During this phase, they will allocate power and refill their hand. To refill your hand you draw up to your hand size or if you are already at your hand size or over it you draw one more.
The Guardian Player will control one of 4 different Guardians each with their own unique play abilities, attacks and cards. Each has a set amount of turns and hand size along with cards that also can be played to use on of the listed actions. Movement cards are similar, as are Gain Power cards.
Wounds are tracked with wound markers on both the Foxen Heroes and the Guardian character.
The Game ends once The Hero has eliminated the Guardian by covering every one of their Wound spaces with Wound Tokens. The Guardian wins by either eliminating the Leader by covering every Wound space on their card or completing the unique win condition for that Guardian.
Impressions:
What I liked:
Design. This game is beautiful. Like legit gorgeous. There are few games that are hitting the Kickstarter world that could be held on the same level as this one. Art and design play such a huge part in the success of a boardgame today, you can’t get away with subpar quality anymore. This one has the kind of art I want to see more of in a comic or cartoon sense. Just getting this on the table will draw the eyes of players into the world it sets up.
Gameplay. A good two player game has to hit a very specific niche. You have to able to balance good gameplay that allows two people to feel like they have a chance to win throughout the game while not just taking a normal game and deciding to add a dummy NPC to make it work. This game felt like both players had a chance to win through the whole thing, which is so important in an exclusive two player game. Playing it through with my son he never felt completely out of it and when you can have that in this style game you are definitely going to have a much better time playing it out.
Asymmetry. I love that this game is a two player game but also a one verses many game. The combat feels very different on both sides of the board allowing for players to have a very rich experience that can be different the next time they play if they change sides. The game is balanced while creating an asymmetrical mechanic that will give this game a lot of replay-ability. When there are lots of games
Theme. The theme on this game is fun and fits the design very well. I really like the art and the characters and the text on the components to add flavor to the story. I hope we see more characters and more Guardians in the future that would continue to flesh this out.
Overall:
I really enjoyed playing this fame with my friends and family. From school age kids to adults, this game was a hit and enjoyable for all. The art and design shines, making it a visual draw to those who see it. It draws in players into an immense world that really shows off what a good two-player game should look like. I cannot wait to get a finally copy of this game after the completion of their Kickstarter campaign-I think it is going to be a favorite for a long time in our household. If you enjoy thematic, beautiful two player games, this is definitely one you want to check out!
