Gudnak

This month we are playing yet another card game and yet another game we picked up from Pax East. This is a card game, but it is unlike most other card games when you look at it. It still has a game board, so it could also be considered a board game. There is a deck building aspect to it, so should we be calling it a deck building game? This game is a lot of things, but most importantly, the game is fun.

You pick from a few different factions and build a deck based on the faction you chose. Then you set up your stronghold and place your perfectly crafted deck on top of the stronghold in order to protect it. From there you draw your armies and spells from the deck and attempt to take down your opponent’s Stronghold! Pretty easy right? Well as you can imagine there is a lot of nuances and strategy nestled in between putting down your deck and ultimately taking down the enemy base. For a more detailed look on what those nuances and strategies could be, hit that play button on the top of this post.

Now we will get into my opinion on this game. The biggest hurdle in it is the Setup and learning curve. This game is fun to build a deck, but you also have to do it every time. You could put the decks into the example decks that the instructions have listed, but I say that does sort of take out an aspect of this game. This game introduces a stacking strategy for your cards. This is probably the biggest part to learn and hopefully master a good strategy for it. You need to remember though that the cards can only stack if they have the same symbol on it. Like soldiers with the sword icon. I would say once you get past those two parts of the game, you’ll be smooth sailing. The basics aren’t bad after you get a hang on what I just mentioned, but the gameplay is deep, and it’ll take some time to master. Which must be said… Is absolutely not a bad thing.

We’ve purchased a lot of new games lately and I have to say, that this one is one that keeps me coming back for more. The only thing we didn’t mention in the podcast is that Gudnak does have two expansions out. They are a little pricey for expansions ($25), but they are going to make this game that much bigger and more replay able. “Out” was a strong word to use as you can only pre-order the game currently. Check it all out at Gudnak.com