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Heldentaufe is a game that I came across when I was working on an article for the game DIG. Marketed as a Heldentaufe, the adventure board game for the whole family, I just had to get a copy to try it with my daughter.
She said the artwork was really nice and I have to agree it’s one of its main draws. FUNDING REACHED £38,000 - well above the £26,000 target and four stretch goals were added to the game.
Heldentaufe - Game and Components
The first thing I noticed when Heldentaufe arrived was the fact the box did not shut properly and until I opened the it this confused me, there are so many punch-boards that it makes the lid sit proud until all of the pieces are stored into the insert (more on that later).
The cards are of awesome quality (SG upgrade) and the punch-boards all release pieces with little or no jagged edges left on them. The art I mentioned for being good on the box carries its way through the entire game. The game art and pieces remind me of Super Nintendo games like Zelda and Secret of Mana.
The game's premise is that you are a group of heroes’ in a world all on an adventure, moving around and discovering areas in the upper world while working your way towards the Netherworld and the secrets it hides.
You can collect ingredients, brew potions and upgrade your weapons. You win the game by collecting monster teeth and depending on player count the first person to collect a set amount is declared the winner.
The Upper-World
This is a modular board that is made up of tiles. You shuffle these and draw one when moving to an unknown area - a space off a tile already discovered. There are several different types of areas from forest, campfire, and ponds. Special areas allow you to upgrade your equipment and trade items.
At some point, you will uncover a portal that transfers you to the Netherworld, a place when victory points are aplenty but so are monsters.
Netherworld
This is a board separate from the modular one and a place where there are three monsters, traps and treasure there for the taking of anyone brave enough to enter (or lucky enough to find a portal tile). The clever thing here is that whichever player is left in the upper world takes control of the monsters thus making it more difficult for the players to just run away with the victory.
Monsters are controlled in the same way as your hero and have set Action Points in the same way as well.
Combat is resolved simply by rolling dice and adding any additional points that your equipment gives you and then doing the same for the enemy and highest number wins. You carry on doing the above until one player gets the set amount of monster teeth by completing quests or defeating monsters triggering the end of the game.
Final Thoughts
Me and my daughter really enjoyed Heldentaufe and the art was a major factor in both our views, me for the nostalgia and for Chloe the fact it was colourful and ‘cute’. The gameplay was easy to get to grips with and the rule book was very well laid out. The gameplay is on the light side and may not appeal to all but as it is a game I will play with a child then that is great.
The two-world mechanic was very well designed and suited the game giving you the ‘adventure feel’ right of the bat. The components are all very good quality as is the box. I mentioned above that the insert was good and the way it holds everything in place and makes set up easier is great and really speeds up the set-up time, its probably the best insert I have seen.
This is definitely a game we will play as a family again.