This will be the first official look at VoC:Superheroes! It is a fast paced game of tactical movement and strategic decisions that pit 2-4 players against each other as they lead their team of super heroes or dastardly villains in an epic clash of titans. With multiple characters, abilities, items, allies, citizens, terrain features, environmental effects, and a modular board design, the game will provide endless plays through and maximum customization options. A quick start game mode is also available to randomly setup the board and get players into the action quickly.
The game’s goal of defeating your opponent may seem simplistic at first, but between the player’s decisions and the luck of the dice you will find that VoC is a very deep game. With a setup time of 15-20 minutes and a play time of 60-75 minutes, it is perfect for a quick super powered beat down evening of fun. The game also utilizes alternating actions so no one is left sitting bored while everyone else is taking their turn. No one is left out of the action.
On a high note, we recently finished the prototype of the game and a small print run was created. Here is a first look at how it turned out. This picture shows the game at the end of the second turn of play.
As you can see in the image, there is a lot to this game. So without further ado, let me tell you quickly what exactly comes in the game.
The game board is created from four different boards that can be rotated and flipped over to provide alternate layout and positioning. Four smaller boards are then supported above these using stands and represent the rooftops of buildings. As a fun side note, the bottom of these four smaller boards represent rubble and can be placed directly on the main board by removing the four stands if a building ‘accidentally’ collapses.
The players also get to choose teams of three characters from a deck of 18. Each character comes with a unique stat line, one of six various affinities, and a listing of three abilities. Each character than also select from a deck of items to add even more options and toys to fight with. More advanced players may want to customize these character further by selecting their own abilities to assign to each character and with 54 unique abilities to choose from the possibilities are vast!
The characters each have a series of icons and numbers that represent how good they are at certain activities. These numbers represent Strength, Agility, Intellect, Dialog, and Toughness and are used by the characters when they perform certain actions. A strong character would have the ability to pick up and throw a car while a character with a high dialog rating might be able to sway citizens to join their cause with greater ease.
In addition to these various stats, a character also has an affinity clearly marked on their card. This affinity represents the type of ability cards that are most useful to this character. These affinity also represent a breakdown in the type of powers that the character can use most effectively. The affinity types included in the game are Weather, Temperature, Nature, Electro-Magnetic, Genetic Mutations, and Dimensional powers. As seen on Twilight Eagle’s card above, his affinity is with Weather and works best with powers concerning manipulating the atmosphere.
The problem is that by stopping at this point, teams of characters with various powers battling through the streets, the game would still be very simplistic. To alleviate this, there are additional rules for adding scenery to the streets, buildings, and even rooftops. Each piece can be interacted with and will provide various effects if used. Then you can throw in citizens that can be captured or recruited to your side, allies and henchmen that can be brought in for backup, and even environmental effects that change the way the game plays for a lot of added depth.
By including these Terrain Features and other extras, the city becomes more alive and the characters have more choices to interact with. Certain powers even play off of nearby Terrain Features. With various keywords like Electric, Fire, Radiation, Water, and others, characters can modify their strategies and even how they attack. These keywords can even affect the board if triggered by the Terrain Features. For instance, if a character like Night Eagle hits the Barrel with an attack that destroys it, it will leave behind a hazard on the board as the radioactive contents of the barrel leak out.
These hazards are added to the spaces on the board and represent further points of interaction. A character may not want to stand in fire as then they would start to burn and take damage. While a character that has been set on fire may want to jump in some water to put out the fire at the cost of then becoming soaked. A soaked player might then be more susceptible to an attack that utilizes Electrical damage as water conducts… and on and on.
The point of it all is that the game evolves in a fluid manner and every decision taken by the player has long lasting effects. The game becomes deeper than trying to target your opponent with your strongest attack when players start planning combos ahead by utilizing an ever changing landscape. The game simulates what would happen when super heroes battle through the streets of a city, an office building, or an industrial plant. Set a building on fire and you might damage an opponent, but it may just as likely cause the building to collapse from loss of structural integrity. Throw an automobile at an opponent and it may take out a fire hydrant, a wall of a building, and leave flames everywhere where it exploded.
To keep track of all these effects as they apply to the character, cards are also included to show when a character has been exposed to contamination, when they have caught fire, fell in water, and more. They act as quick reminders of how the battles have played out and add to the sense of unfolding story telling.
There is a lot in this box! While the base game goal of defeating your opponent is simplistic in nature, the game strives to add deep game play by providing endless potential with strategic movement and tactical decisions. The cards, tokens, and effects strive to bring a cinematic element of story that will truly let you live out those epic moments captured in comics. While there is a lot of tokens, cards, and markers included, the game play elements are designed with the idea of quickly being able to pick up the game and start playing without having to reference a technical manual to figure out what everything does.
The goal was to bring a quick game of less than 90 minutes (Setup and play time) to a table with a relatively small footprint (All laid out it only takes a 3′ x 3′ play area to play). The rules were written with a simplistic design of getting into the action quickly but ending with a sense of deeper game play and potential. The art work and actions attempt to evoke imagination and add a feeling of cinematic moments that could have been ripped straight out of any comic!
If this sounds like a game that might interest you, please check back frequently for more updates. In the meantime, we will continue our work to secure a manufacturer and bring this game to kickstarter. Join us on this adventure and we can bring the fun of comics to our game nights and beyond!