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Most publishers come from humble beginnings. Some start off making science equipment for children, some start as a one- or two-person operation with a Kickstarter and a dream. Others still start off publishing something completely different, and that is what this month’s spotlighted publisher did. Fantasy Flight Games started out as a publisher of European comics in the US. According to their blurb on BGG, they weren't successful until they published the first edition of Twilight Imperium. From there, they have since grown to be the 5th largest publisher of boardgames in the world, publishing their own titles, but also working as the US publisher for a huge variety of outside designs. We have a great variety of games to explore thanks to them, and we’ve narrowed it down to just five.
Legacy Of Dragonholt – Camille Hindsgaul
Legacy of Dragonholt is a wonderful mix between a choose-your-own-adventure novel and a dungeon crawler role playing game. At the beginning of a campaign, you make characters whose skills and personalities will determine what you do and choose as you progress through the game’s up to six quest books.
To start off the story, you have received a mysterious letter from an old friend asking you to come to the town of Dragonholt where some sort of conspiracy may be afoot. Once you get there, you have seven in-game days you can spend going on quests, learning skills, helping and getting to know Dragonholt’s citizens, and of course investigating what is going on.
I was blown away by how branching the narrative is with events depending on which skills you have, which characters you know, what items you have found, and even which time of which day it is. The quests can be completed in a variety of ways, and though you may not always have the ideal skill set, you will still usually move the scene forward in interesting ways.
The game is also incredibly easy to get into. Character creation is done in four easy steps, and the first quest teaches you the rules as you are playing through it. If you are sometimes hesitant to start new games because of the learning curve, Dragonholt has got you covered.
My one gripe with the game is that some of the possible endings are pretty dire and it can be hard to recognize you are steering towards them, even harder to steer away. That said, in my opinion, the journey more than makes up for it, and if you don’t agree, there is no shame in backtracking a little to get a different ending.
Arkham Horror The Card Game - Sophie Jones
Arkham Horror has to be one of the best card games I own. Spanning 10 campaigns there is plenty of story content to enjoy and fill your cupboards with. Arkham also has 10 standalone adventures to pick up and a plethora of investigators to collect. This means players can craft and explore this Lovecraftian universe any way they choose.
Arkham can be played with 1-2 players but if you have extra tokens, you can stretch it to 4. Players choose an investigator and then set up the campaign. They will have to travel to locations, find clues, battle horrifying monsters and uncover the secrets which lay hidden. The writing for each campaign is gloomy and creates a tense atmosphere. It’s easy to be sucked into this world and roleplay your investigator. As each chapter draws to a close you will find yourself low on health, suffering mental fatigue and about to fight the biggest boss ever. Even on easy mode this game can be punishing, and you will find yourself making questionable decisions in order to survive
The variety of investigators means there is a playstyle for everyone. Each character has different stats and will use one or more of the 5 classes in the game – guardian, seeker, mystic, survivor and rogue. Each way you play offers something new and each investigator has a unique playstyle to keep things fresh. There is also an abundance of neutral cards which players can add to their decks that add skill check boosts.
Fantasy Flight have published an ever-growing universe with Arkham Horror. Friends can travel it together and upgrade their investigators or you can try and tackle it alone. If you love storytelling, a challenge and a rewarding experience look no further then Arkham Horror The Card Game.
Unfathomable – Luke Pickles
If you’ve ever wanted to be a traitor at sea, working for a cult of ancient Eldritch horrors, or possibly trying to prevent them from taking over the world, you might be interested in our next offering.
The game, Unfathomable, is a hidden traitor game set in the Arkham Horror universe and based on magnificent boat from the early 20th century. In it, players are dealing with Mother Kraken, Father Dagon and their minions, the Deep Ones, all depicted by beautiful minis. Each turn, players will be taking actions to try and save the boat by attacking the Deep Ones, mending damaged rooms on the ship, fuelling the progress of the ship and completing rites in the chapel to dispel the demons. At the end of each turn, a Mythos card creates a scenario for the players to solve by way of a skill check, generally to the level of a crisis. These skill checks are driven by cards the players secretly add to a stack, each depicting a number and one of six symbols, indicating a strength to in a particular skill. It’s not that simple though, because each player generally will only receive 5 cards at the start of their turn and for a maximum of three skills. This means players have to manage their hands whilst ensuring they pass the skill checks but being careful of the hidden traitors.
Like any good cooperative game, there are a number of ways to lose. Run out of any one of the four resources or take too much damage to the ship and that’s game over. There’s a huge amount of variability too, with ten different characters, a cultist role to add in and a big stack of Mythos cards. This was a huge hit, despite the play time, and I can’t wait to give it another go. For anyone who thinks all of this sounds a bit familiar, the game is a retheme and update to Battlestar Galactica, released in 2008. Frankly, I prefer this theme to the Battlestar Galactica, so this will hit the table much more frequently.
Marvel Champions – Jacob Dunkley
I found it particularly difficult to pick my favourite Fantasy Flight Living Card Game, with both Lord of the Rings LCG and Arkham Horror LCG being excellent but for me Marvel Champions is just ahead of them.
If you’re not familiar with a Living Card Game, these are Fantasy Flight games where you purchase a core box and after that you’re free to purchase expansion boxes as you choose fully knowing the contents of what you’re buying and unlike trading card games, there are no hidden booster packs here!
Marvel Champions is a thematic co-operative card game in which you and up to three other friends will choose a hero each and a modular villain scenario to test yourself against trying to get the different stages of the villain's health to zero before they defeat you or the threat on their scheme hits its threshold. On your turn, you will play cards from your hand, paying their resource cost using other cards in your hand from cards in play, building up supports, allies and upgrades to help you to defeat the villain or their minions in front of you. Once your turn is over, it’s the villain's turn and they will attack or scheme against you before dealing you an encounter card which will bring another challenge for you to face alongside the villain.
All your heroes decks, other than their core cards are fully customisable from your collection, choosing whether they want to play in aggression, justice, leadership or protection as well as customising each villain deck with modular encounters for high replayability. Although you can play with others I’ve found this to be a perfect solo game, quick and easy to set up and plays well with just one hero as everything in the game scales depending on the number of players. Of all the games in my collection, Marvel Champions is my most played and I own everything released for it so far!
Lord Of The Rings Journeys In Middle Earth – Pete Bartlam
“It’s a dangerous business going out of your door there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
“The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the Company is true.”
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Thanks to Gandalf and Galadriel for those words of wisdom as they neatly sum up what Journeys in Middle Earth is all about. With Fantasy Flight Games’ clever combination of card play, miniatures and app driven adventure paths you are led through an ever-changing world of Tolkienesque lore, fellowship and foes.
The free to download app is the beating heart of LOTR – JIME. Acting as GameMaster it sets the scene with evocative text and haunting music and places your party on one of the many double-sided terrain tiles. Exploring deeper it opens new areas, search locations, NPCs and foes to fight. Combat is card controlled from your deck that it is possible to manipulate in advance, a key element of gameplay. The app records defeated foes and deals damage in return. It also keeps track of everything: equipment, items possessed, titles earned and experience gained.
Each game is one adventure of a larger campaign. Up to four can play co-operatively but solo play, controlling several characters is best. The artwork is great, redolent of Middle-Earth. The miniatures are well made, and plentiful and reward painting and the stories are well crafted. There are many add-ons and expansions you can get and the app will weave them into your existing campaign with new paths and foes. Indeed even if you just replay the basic scenario you’re given different terrain to travel.
Thanks for reading our piece on Fantasy Flight Games top 5. If there's any Fantasy Flight Games we missed from this list, let us know on socials @zatugames!