varingblaarSunderfolk
Spoiler warning: If you haven't played Sunderfolk, I suggest you do so before going any further. If this spoils it for you, it's not my fault.You have been warned.
"Card-based tactics game" is a phrase that's been popping up lately. Build a deck of cards, then play a level where you're limited to the actions you selected. If you fail, revise or re-evaluate.
Sunderfolk does a few unique things with this concept. Firstly, it's co-operative. Each player controls their character and you must work together. They setup their feck of cards and that's what they have available for that scenario. This basically sounds like Gloomhaven, but much less Grimdark and more family friendly. Also, to my knowledge Sundelfolk doesn't exist in physical form like Gloomhaven, which gives a bit more freedom of design.
The intended way to play Sunderfolk is with the game running on a big screen and each player's controls on their phone, similar to the Jackbox Party Pack games. We've successfully played over Discord, because as long as we share the game's screen everyone can join from their phone. It's a somewhat novel concept and works very well.
The devs did add single player mode where you controls all characters with their cards on screen, similar to Slay the Spire or Marvel's Midnight Suns, but that's not how it was intended to be played.
Looks Great, Plays Great
The theme and art style is very cute and friendly, but serious enough that you feel the weight of the story. Everything is beautiful. The story is told in a visual novel style with voice-over. All the voices in this game are performed by a single person, Anjali Bhimani. I didn't believe it when I was told, I had to look it up to make sure. It gives the feeling of a beautiful children's storybook. She's absolutely amazing.
Gameplay is solid with engaging decisions. Picking the wrong cards can make or break a level. Many levels have a turn limit, so there's a penalty for taking too long (can be turned off). When cards activate, the presentation of what they do is clear. More powerful abilities trigger a short dramatic scene to add gravity to the decision. Because these cards are digital not real cards on a table, they and (and often do) include random effects.
Once a level is done. There's a metagame of players visit different townsfolk to progress relationships, get items, pick up side quests and prepare for the next level. When leveling up new cards are unlocked, but equipped items also combine with abilities and cards so these need to be checked and adapted. The town develops over the course of the campaign and there's a real sense of investment and achievement.
Co-operation and Communication
This is the biggest lesson of the game. There has to be communication between players. Player classes must work together. You can switch classes reasonably easily during the campaign, but it makes most sense to pick a class and get used to its play style.
Once characters are chosen, the specific builds need to work together as the campaign progresses and becomes more difficult. The first few levels are mostly tutorial stuff so actions are limited, but very quickly there are more cards than you're allowed to take into battle so a decision must be made whether to go stealthy or hardcore (or something to that effect). Sometimes it's necessary to switch items and cards for a specific level, which also requires planning.
Then there's the turn-by-turn communication. Players can take their turn in any order but once a card is played it must be completed before someone else can go. More powerful cards take several turns to "cooldown" before they can be used again. And of course positioning on the board is very important. If you're not constantly talking through your actions, you're doing it wrong.
Must Play
Over several sessions of three or four hours each, we finished the main campaign in 20 hours or so. There's also a few one-shots for a quick game or to show someone how it works. Sunderfolk is free on Epic regularly. So there's really no reason not to try it.
