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general instructions rather than a string of overly-detailed rules.
The special features are limited to one per elemental, and they are similar, but still provide a lot of depth for skillful interplay as well as crafty defense. Yes, the luck component is maddening – I was skeptical at first. Loud groaning is not uncommon when the cards someone had hoped for are failing to materialize. If the cards in your hand do not go well together, you cannot lay out the optimum play; if the display is not acceptable, you only activate two or even just one card. A card you have been waiting for might not appear at all, while another one might come up when you do not need it. Or only sporadically, so you cannot use it as a combined force.
All the more satisfying if you can skill- fully initiate an attack, so that shadow or ice, for example, can deal a full blow with their special abilities. Your hand of cards restricts you and forces you to make compromises. Fortunately, the same ap- plies to your opponent. The uncertainty of not knowing whether the other side can launch an adequate counterattack is beneficial to the game, as is the ev- er-present dilemma of choice between expansion, attack, and replenishing.
Make sure you consider the first game as a test. It is very easy to get the scope of the abilities wrong in advance. But even experienced players are often surprised how it is possible to win with one set of four elementals and lose with anoth-
As often, the theme can be considered fabricated to non-existent. The clear de- sign is pleasing to the eye, but while the sometimes overly martial illustrations are in keeping with the confrontational na- ture of the game, they will not appeal to everyone. Minor weaknesses in handling are acceptable. For example, two crib sheets listing the properties of the ele- mentals would have been great, at least in the first few games, to better track what your opponent is capable of doing.
Before each game, the cards have to be sorted and then very thoroughly shuffled. Actually, four sets of cards with symbols or letters for each combatant would have been more practical, as these would then only have to be assigned to the elemen- tals, allowing each player to play with their own set of cards. This would even have saved on the number of cards, but then, such an idea could easily be per- ceived as a break in the theme – not to mention the loss of a marketing oppor- tunity for publishing more power card decks as expansions. Peanuts. Once you have caught fire, you will keep coming back to the elementals of Riftforce.
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The three-stage system – positioning cards, wounding opponents, recruiting cards again – is not new. Matthias Cra- mer‘s far more complex game Fight for Olympus, published by Lookout in 2016, shows a number of similarities. It also has these same three actions, but they are exe- cuted in a single turn, one after the other.
Title: Designer: Illustration: Publisher: Players: Age: Duration: Price:
Riftforce
Carlo Bortolini Miguel Coimbra
1 More Time Games 2
about 10+ years about 30 minutes about 25 Euros
Reviewer
Christwart Conrad
Manuel Fritsch
Playing appeal
8
8
Great tactical depth, in spite of the simple rules, make this two-player card game a long-running hit.
Wieland Herold 8
It takes two practice rounds to become familiar with the guilds. After which exciting duels ensue.
Stephan Kessler 7
Hard duel that can make your brain hurt. The good alternatives in com- bining the elementals create a great depth of play, despite of the simple basic rules.
Marie Poenisch 9
Awesome duel game with a high replay appeal. The guild drafting at the beginning of the game makes for a lot of variety.
Harald Schrapers 7
A nicely done two-player game that combines tactical depth with an adequate amount of luck.
spielbox 19
er. Clearly each power has its advantages and can make a dif-
ference at the decisive moment. Considering that a
hand can be com- bined in 210 differ- ent ways, and that each of these com-
bos can then en- counter 15 different ones on the opposing side, any advantage through experience
becomes relative anyway.
There are also some restrictions, but in different areas. A card
placed opposite an empty enemy territory gets a reward, likewise defeated enemies, whose dwin- dling combat power is also represented by damage tokens. Some abilities, such as the location changing one, are also
comparable. (cs)