
This makes the game reminiscent of Tristan Hall’s Gloom of Kilforth albeit on a smaller scale, and with the encounters reset for each of the three boss levels.

The hero with the most fame at the end triumphs – unless you’re playing the co-op (or solo) variation, in which case a mini ‘campaign’ is included for your group to attempt.Īustralian designer Michael ‘Barantas’ McIntyre combines these elements deftly, with encounter cards arranged facedown for miniatures to land on and turn to reveal events, both good and bad. They must explore and compete in a randomised, three-tiered mini-world to build their strength back up and defeat a trio of bosses: a Jack, a Queen and a fearsome King. Now we have the rather gloomily-titled Hand of Fate: Ordeals, a handsome-looking video game adaptation that combines deckbuilding with exploration-based adventure.Įach player chooses one of four characters, who have been magically sucked into a deadly metagame and stripped of all their memories, skills and equipment. Wizards of the Coast hybridised it with area control to pleasing effect for Tyrants of the Underdark, while last year Andrew Parks smartly bolted it onto dungeon-crawling and team skirmishing with Dungeon Alliance. Not that anyone should be trying to avoid it – it's a versatile and satisfying core mechanic that makes for great game escalation and tactical variation. Vaccarino invented the deckbuilder with Dominion, the genre’s become rather hard to avoid. Buy your copy of Hand of Fate: Ordeals here
