Dear game designers,
If you want me to get excited to play and review your game, just give it one of two themes: giant robots/monsters or professional wrestling. Thanks.
-Randy from Gaming With Sidekicks
Let me pull back the curtain for you a bit. I believe that my best (in terms of passion and quality of writing) game reviews are the ones for games I’m legitimately excited to play. Many of the reviews I write are from games in my own collection. However, when something new catches my eye, I will reach out to the publisher or designer, and request a review copy. This is especially true when I hear about games that are coming to Kickstarter. While most Kickstarter games only have prototypes available to review that must be sent back, it’s still fun and exciting to be on the front line of a new game. While we don’t charge money for our reviews (we have a couple of reasons why) I will request that if the Kickstarter game successfully funds, I receive a base copy of the game. I’m also a punk. Like, a rebellious, counter-culture, stick it to the man type punk. I love the D.I.Y. approach to… well… everything. Music, art, game design, you name it. I encourage and appreciate anyone who is so moved by an idea that they desire to make it a reality through any means possible. So, for these reasons, I will seek out Kickstarter games that excite me from new or unknown designers.
This is what brought me to Titano Machino from Octopodi Games. If your game can give me the feeling of a giant robot or monster fighting through a city, and it’s coming to Kickstarter from a widely unknown publisher and designer, I am 100% ready to play and review it. Please keep in mind that these opinions are based on the prototype, which included hand-cut tokens and 3D printed miniatures. While the production value will obviously change between now and final production, the design itself is what I’m focusing on in this review.
Titano Machina
Publisher: Octopodi Games
Designer: Robert Wood
Theme:
Two giant robots fighting each other. Yadda, yadda, yadda. We’ve all been here before. But this one has a very interesting backstory. To paraphrase the backstory, long ago humans left the planet, Gaia, to explore the stars. Generations later, the humans realized they wanted to come home, but the planet was now nigh uninhabitable. The Titans were created. The Titans were giant robots that would go down to earth to terraform the abandoned planet and make it acceptable for human life again. Each Titan shepherded a city as humans returned to inhabit it. The Titans grew accustomed to caring and leading humanity. Groups of people began worshiping their Titan caretakers as gods. As the cities continued to expand the Titans embraced their new “godhood” and would seek to keep their group of humans safe and prosperous. This lead to battles between Titans, fighting for the supremacy of their human followers, as cities expanded so that their borders reached each other. The Titans demanded that weapons and armor be crafted, so their wills could manifest through battle. The Titans walked the face of Gaia, searching for combat to establish their superiority.
Holy smokes. That’s a VERY unique and breathtaking story. It starts out with feelings of love and protection as a mother takes care of her children. Then the Titans are corrupted by lies and acts of humans and turn the world they just crafted for life in to a warzone where only the strongest will survive.
It kind of reminds me of the Weapons from Final Fantasy VII. The Weapons are these great robotic beings who slumber beneath the planet’s surface. When they feel the planet is in danger, they rise to stop whatever threat they find. The main difference here is that the Weapons are to protect the planet, even if that puts them in conflict with the humans who live here. The Titans prioritize protecting their human followers.
The Titan minis look identical, just cast in a different color. I do wish the Titans had some unique features or characteristics about them. I understand that the Titans take their cues from the people who worship and admire them, so I think that should be reflected in the design of the armored bodies of the Titans themselves. It’s a small complaint. And one that might be worked away in the final production of the game. But if these Titans are beginning to label themselves as gods, then they no longer share the same ideas and concepts of what is most efficient in battle. We don’t need crazy Megazord-esque designs, but just as architecture looks different between cultures, I’d think the designs of Titans would be different as well.
One interesting theme is that each Titan can have a personality. These personalities are used when determining end game victory points. You can:
- Gain an extra point for each of your own systems still in tact.
- Gain an extra point for each opposing system you damage.
- Gain an extra point for each of your own buildings still standing.
- Gain an extra point for each opposing building you destroyed.
The Titans are concerned with one thing: taking care of their own humans. This manifests in the safety of the people’s building, the status of the Titan itself, the status of opposing Titans, and eliminating opposing humans’ buildings. It all make sense, in a very basic, twisted way.
I like the setting for this game, and would love to see just a little more definition making the groups of people and their Titan unique.
Gameplay:
Before you can start playing, you need to build your deck. You spend HR points to buy System and Crew cards. You also spend HR points on starting initiative and what buildings you will have access to build during gameplay. As you buy System and Crew cards to your deck, you also place their tokens on your Titan Dashboard. The rulebook recommends to use 65 points to build your Titan.
The biggest issue with this game is the learning curve. It’s very hard to teach as you go. After you purchase all of your cards, you choose the order of the cards in the deck. Let me repeat that. You select the order of all of the cards in your deck. Each round you will draw the top 5 cards and only have those actions or abilities to choose from for that round. So, when you are setting up your deck, you can ultimately plan your exact hand of cards, each round for the entire game. This is incredibly daunting. I don’t know what I might want on the 4th or 5th round.
I feel like I would have to play this game consistently, week in and week out, before I started to get the hang out what cards are good at what point in the game. The bright side is that no one I play this game with are masters at it either. When 2 players have equal footing when it comes to experience with this game, it is fun. But if a veteran player tried to teach someone new, I feel the game could become unbalanced VERY quickly.
So, once you draw your 5 cards, the player with highest Initiative goes first. Each card’s cost to play is paid in the number of other cards you discard from your hand. Various card effects include moving, attacking, repairing, placing buildings, increasing your initiative, or even drawing more cards. Players continue trading turns as long as they want to keep playing cards from their hands. Once both players have ‘passed’ the round is over. Players draw 5 cards and a new round begins. I really like this mechanic for playing cards. You have to definitively choose which cards will be played for effects, and wich will be played to pay that effect’s cost. I know I mentioned above about the steep learning curve and not knowing what cards are best at which point in the game, however I applaud games that make players make hard choices. This game doesn’t place a hard limit on the number of cards you can play each turn, but instead lets the players decide how they will afford to play all of the cards they want. It gives the player enough restriction that they want to do just a little bit more. “I wish I could play BOTH of these cards this turn.” I am a big fan of games that make players make these choices.
The game lasts 18 rounds, then Victory Points are added up. Victory Points are awarded for the status of your Titan, number of buildings you have, the damaged systems on your opponent’s Titan, and number of their buildings you’ve destroyed. I feel that in most cases the winner is determined before the 18 rounds are complete. By round 12 or 13, it’s become pretty obvious which Titan is in control, and should cruise to a clear path to victory. Since there is no way to eliminate to opposing player, turns just continue with attacking, moving, repairing, building, etc. In 2 player games, I think you could modify the number of rounds played, and still get a similar, enjoyable experience and have the game end before it feels like it’s starting to drag.
Multi-player games could feel quite different, however I can only imagine how those might play out because I had enough components for a 2 player game with this prototype. 18 rounds may be the perfect length for a 4 player rumble.
One thing I absolutely LOVED was the Titan mini’s many modular weapons that are physically attached to the mini during set up. It was really cool to see the mini have its weapons attached. After multiple playthroughs, it would become easy to recognize the various weapons, knowing what attacks the opposing Titan is capable of. While most of these weapons would be a gunmetal gray, I could still see painting small details to really make them pop to the eye.
Speaking of the weapons, the rulebook just says to “Spend HR to buy a Titan’s Weapon systems & Crew, an Initiative, and Buildings” during setup. I feel the only fair way to do this is through drafting with the other player. I think creating two random stacks of equal cards, and drafting the Weapons and Crew creates an interesting dynamic not spelled out in the rulebook. But, like I said, I don’t see a different fair way of each player choosing their Weapons and Crew.
For Parents:
Plain and simple, this isn’t one for kids. Not that it tries to be, but I always address this in my reviews. Many small tokens, small weapon attachments, lots of strategy, and spur of the moment tactical choices.
I will say that my kids thought it looked awesome set up on the table. The Titans with their weapons, surrounded by buildings looks really cool. I’ve said before that often times kids will surprise you, and find a way to play games that are seemingly above their skill level if they WANT to play the game. Honestly, maybe I could help with the setup, only selecting certain cards with certain effects to make it more accessible for my children, but I wasn’t going to let them handle the prototype minis.
“Just tell them to no touch the minis while they play, and you do all the movement for them.”
“Okay, I’ll tell the 5 and 6 year old boys not to play with the awesome robots that they are controlling and commanding in battle. That rule will last.”
Come on. I don’t set myself up for failure.
Final Thoughts:
I saw pictures of this game online and immediately reached out to offer a review. I was very excited to play it. Upon setting up the game, I felt disappointed, daunted by the set up. I felt very unprepared to have any sort of future sight that strategy requires on my first playthrough. When I played the game, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the tough choices I was forced to make each turn. I really like how it looks on the table, and absolutely commend the designer, Robert Wood, on his fresh take on a backstory to get to the point where robots are battling each other.
Gameplay can feel drawn out, however, that might just be in 2 player games. I could see multiplayer games needing the 18 rounds to reach a definitive conclusion. If I’m nitpicking, I wish the visual design of the Titans were different. They feel very generic. With how rich the backstory is, I think there’s some potential to have Titans designed to enhance the story and feel of the game.
I didn’t mention the Titan Dashboards above. It has been explained that those will be getting a massive quality upgrade for final production, so that the System tokens actually fit in to place on the Dashboard. While the quality of the Titan Dashboard and System tokens would be a huge criticism, it is not something that will be seen in the final production. Great job on the designer and publisher to recognize that is a must.
Also, I’d like to see some custom Initiative, Damage, and Repair dice as stretch goals. A basic d6 gets the job done, but this is the kind of game where gameplay is enhanced by visual representation on the board. Heck, the Titan minis don’t NEED the modular weapon attachments, but it really enhances the feel of the game.
Knowing some of the changes that are coming in the final production, I would love to see this game successfully fund. I think it offers a unique gameplay experience that isn’t really seen anywhere else on the market. A rich story, gameplay that requires both strategic foresight and tactical choices, and a beautiful table presence make Titano Machina a hit. Visit the game’s Facebook page HERE to follow along and be notified when the Kickstarter campaign launches.
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