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For fans of Boss Monster, Tools of Hero Kind is the first mini-expansion and is compatible with both Boss Monster 1 and 2. As well as new spell cards and advanced room cards, it introduces the aforementioned tools to power up those intrepid heroes. So what do you get for your hard earned cash?
Content
So this mini expansion comprises of 26 new cards as follows:
- 1 Rule card (double sided)
- 2 Spell cards (both the same)
- 4 Advanced room cards (three different trap rooms and a monster room)
- 20 Item cards (four each for mage; thief; cleric; fighter and four universal for any hero)
Visually the graphics are the same sideways scrolling SNES style of the original game. It’s something that you will either love or hate depending on how visually impressive you like your cards to look. I love the retro quirkiness and this is a game that really doesn’t try to take itself too seriously.
Component wise the card quality is good, with a nice shine to the cards and easy to shuffle. The “rule book” is on a single, double sided card with clear instructions on how to integrate this expansion into Boss Monster.
So How Does This Play?
In Tools of Hero-Kind the new room and spell cards are shuffled into their appropriate decks with text effects used in conjunction with the new item cards.
These item cards are shuffled and kept as a separate deck that sits next to the hero deck. Each turn before Heroes are revealed, turn over the top item card which then attaches to the first hero either in town or subsequently revealed with a matching treasure item. Universal item cards attach to the first hero without an item.
Each hero can only have one item attached, increasing their strength. They either boost their health level or affect the rooms in the dungeon they enter eg: ignore card effects of the room or even destroy the room!
If the hero doesn’t survive your dungeon the item comes into your possession and the boss section of the card is used to combat those pesky invaders. Again these either allow you to increase a hero’s health in an opponent's dungeon or to manipulate rooms in either your own or an opponent’s dungeon. This can result in a pumped up hero causing mayhem against your opponent and adds a new level of competitiveness (read take that), to the game. All great fun.
Final Thoughts & Replayability
This is an essential purchase for fans of Boss Monster and adds so much more to the overall gaming experience. Yes it makes you think carefully about your strategy and which heroes to lure to your dungeon with their new weapons, but the joy of beating one and then gaining the boss advantage from the card is sheer joy. This mini expansion is now an integral part of all of my Boss Monster games and I wouldn’t consider playing without it. Bottom line - make that purchase now!.
