Designer here. Thank you for the great, honest review! Really appreciate you looking into my game, and giving your two cents. Yes, it does seem similar to FI in that there are tiles that are being threatened/destroyed along with the set collection. Wasn't the original intent to be similar to FI, but ended up evolving there over the year of development. It actually started off with dice rolling, but Action Points ended up being way more smooth and intuitive. I agree with a few of your Cons; the stars for AP cost isn't intuitive to everyone at first brush, and the Hero Cards may seem like they have a lot of info (we combined the Player Aid on there to cut down items on the table). However, as far as the Pixel/Retro feel goes, we have a lot of players that gravitated towards the game purely for the aesthetic. The original theme actually was Greek Mythos, and the original illustration was pen and ink. The publisher figured that a switch to the retro pixel would be awesome, and it turned out to be the right move! Thanks again for the review, glad it got your hammer of approval!
I personally love the Pixel-Art theme to this game, and the playability of the game is awesome. I have introduced my wife to this game, and even though she has never played much of any kind of board game before, she really gets a thrill out of this one. The tension is palpable when you can see chambers disappearing and you know the chance of a critical card coming out is super high. Never having played Forbidden Island, I couldn't say if it is anything like it. But I can say that the feel of this game is unique, and the game mechanics are tight. As for disliking the theme of the game? The game was specifically designed to emulate retro gaming, which it does admirably well, so I feel the game is successful in regards to what it aimed to achieve. It's fine to not like the theme that this game has, however I think that Tom's dislike of the theme coloured the review, and there was more time spent on griping about his personal distaste for the retro-gaming theme than was necessary. I also feel that his distaste of the theme caused Tom to gloss over the positive aspects which this game has to offer, which he does note, but downplays. Personally, I love the theme, playability, and mechanics (thanks for taking out the dice element!). It is also super easy to pick up and have a quick round, and does not require dedicating an entire evening to play. Fire of Eidolon is an essential for my collection. :)
(Wife of the designer here) If you haven't received your copy yet, please toss us a note on the kickstarter. The mail may have eaten your copy, because we have sent them all out at this point. We want to make sure you get your game asap! Thanks!
When i tried this, it was instantly a buy for me. Every complaint tom has about this is why i like it that much more. It took me a few turns to realize i was playing forbidden island. But once i did, i was blown away. Forbidden island to me is a puzzle that is easily solvable, and some cases with harder difficulty (which i only play at at this point) you can look at the board and tell the objectives and order you need to get them and already have a plan that you have to execute. Or in many cases, just straight up know your chances are in the lower 10% of completing it successfully. With the modules and range of characters, i feel like this is a lot more expandable and exciting. Building the dungeon adds to a randomness and a planning aspect that is a lot more fun than drawing cards from a deck. The powers really are powerful and feel unique to your character, on top of the different stats for picking up the relics. The character cards are quite nice as a reference sheet. And tom YES IT DOES SHOW THE CHARACTER STANDEES. Look in the upper right hand corner. Having the center artwork more detailed is reminiscent of classic video games as well, much like a stats screen in most JRPGs. The whole package works quite well, with all the little bits and chits. Your dislike of the nostalgic video game aesthetic is noted. But ill bring up you also are "over" the Cthulhu theme and since then many a publishers are making quite a mint off that theme. This wont go away. I for one am drawn to that art style. It baffles me how "wild west cowboys" are a theme, but i don't bring it up every time someone wants to play a game with it.
Maybe it's because I was a backer that I have some rose colored glasses here, but every negative Tom pulled out I feel like I have a counter. "OMG There's too much information on these cards!" No, not really, it just has a built in player aid on every card. You really are only ever look for the 2 character abilities after a while. On that, "OMG I can't get how many AP to spend for a particular skill in a room!" Uhhhh... other than it being 4 - skill (stars), it also tells you on your card how many AP to spend. Read 'player aid' in previous. "OMG It's 8-bit, it's a Nintendo rip-off" Ok I'll let you slide here, because to all their own. I think the art style suits the game. But there's the wonderful word, Homage, you're forgetting. "OMG It doesn't bring anything new to the table!" Huh, ok. So this is the same argument I get into with people that crap on Steve Jobs during his time at Apple. There's 2 different worlds here, the world of Invention (making new things) and Innovation (the using of creating things in a different way). Just as Jobs was an Innovator and didn't make a damn thing on his own, so too is Fire of Eidolon an Innovated game. It's the result of a hot, steamy 3-way between Forbidden Island (sinking/disappearing tiles via a deck pull) and his brother Forbidden Desert (hidden end goal locations) double teaming Betrayal at the House on the Hill (building out the map from a stack of available tiles) on top of an SNES. AND I LOVE IT!!!
When a review starts with "or however you pronounce it"you know the review is not that good. You could have checked with the manufacturer/designer beforehand. Eidolon. "EYE-doh-lohn" (well that's how this Australian pronounces it". Not that hard.
Its a respectful homage to classic NES game appearance. I don't see the need for all the negativity. There are a couple of kickstartrs coming up that try and emulate the low res graphics styles, one is Power up I think (and really emulates the old arcade styles)and I can't recall the other one. The later i cant recall is a top down one board labyrinth dungeon collecting treasures and the maker is using a gameboy-esque box design. The whole design isn't even that interesting looking,its pretty blah and dull colored. I can't wait to see what Tom says about these new games that are in the similar graphics style as the one he was accusing of RIPPING-OFF video games and "not bringing anything new to the table". It will be hypocrisy if he does glowing reviews of these new ones Dice Tower already did a compensated review of the latter game making it sound soooooo amazing,even though it looked so rudimentary. Seemed to suit children better than adults. The fire of eidolon seems like it at least has a bit more complex gameplay and story.
Designer here.
Thank you for the great, honest review! Really appreciate you looking into my game, and giving your two cents.
Yes, it does seem similar to FI in that there are tiles that are being threatened/destroyed along with the set collection. Wasn't the original intent to be similar to FI, but ended up evolving there over the year of development. It actually started off with dice rolling, but Action Points ended up being way more smooth and intuitive.
I agree with a few of your Cons; the stars for AP cost isn't intuitive to everyone at first brush, and the Hero Cards may seem like they have a lot of info (we combined the Player Aid on there to cut down items on the table).
However, as far as the Pixel/Retro feel goes, we have a lot of players that gravitated towards the game purely for the aesthetic. The original theme actually was Greek Mythos, and the original illustration was pen and ink. The publisher figured that a switch to the retro pixel would be awesome, and it turned out to be the right move!
Thanks again for the review, glad it got your hammer of approval!
Carpicous Tenacity Backer here. Love the game in the one play I’ve gotten so far.
Love the artwork and theme.
Tom, you should really put a Dice Tower logo or something like that an that brick wall backdrop.
I personally love the Pixel-Art theme to this game, and the playability of the game is awesome. I have introduced my wife to this game, and even though she has never played much of any kind of board game before, she really gets a thrill out of this one. The tension is palpable when you can see chambers disappearing and you know the chance of a critical card coming out is super high. Never having played Forbidden Island, I couldn't say if it is anything like it. But I can say that the feel of this game is unique, and the game mechanics are tight. As for disliking the theme of the game? The game was specifically designed to emulate retro gaming, which it does admirably well, so I feel the game is successful in regards to what it aimed to achieve. It's fine to not like the theme that this game has, however I think that Tom's dislike of the theme coloured the review, and there was more time spent on griping about his personal distaste for the retro-gaming theme than was necessary. I also feel that his distaste of the theme caused Tom to gloss over the positive aspects which this game has to offer, which he does note, but downplays. Personally, I love the theme, playability, and mechanics (thanks for taking out the dice element!). It is also super easy to pick up and have a quick round, and does not require dedicating an entire evening to play. Fire of Eidolon is an essential for my collection. :)
So it's Forbidden Island, but with an 16-bit era RPG aesthetic?
I backed this because of the video game aesthetic! Looking forward to getting mine.
(Wife of the designer here) If you haven't received your copy yet, please toss us a note on the kickstarter. The mail may have eaten your copy, because we have sent them all out at this point. We want to make sure you get your game asap! Thanks!
When i tried this, it was instantly a buy for me. Every complaint tom has about this is why i like it that much more.
It took me a few turns to realize i was playing forbidden island. But once i did, i was blown away. Forbidden island to me is a puzzle that is easily solvable, and some cases with harder difficulty (which i only play at at this point) you can look at the board and tell the objectives and order you need to get them and already have a plan that you have to execute. Or in many cases, just straight up know your chances are in the lower 10% of completing it successfully. With the modules and range of characters, i feel like this is a lot more expandable and exciting.
Building the dungeon adds to a randomness and a planning aspect that is a lot more fun than drawing cards from a deck. The powers really are powerful and feel unique to your character, on top of the different stats for picking up the relics. The character cards are quite nice as a reference sheet. And tom YES IT DOES SHOW THE CHARACTER STANDEES. Look in the upper right hand corner. Having the center artwork more detailed is reminiscent of classic video games as well, much like a stats screen in most JRPGs. The whole package works quite well, with all the little bits and chits.
Your dislike of the nostalgic video game aesthetic is noted. But ill bring up you also are "over" the Cthulhu theme and since then many a publishers are making quite a mint off that theme. This wont go away. I for one am drawn to that art style. It baffles me how "wild west cowboys" are a theme, but i don't bring it up every time someone wants to play a game with it.
Chrysie Beryl add “farming” and “economic” to the list of themes that people should be over, yet somehow continue to make money.
Chrysie Beryl Same here.
Probably add dice to stars attributes might help. For example, roll 3 dice for 3 stars.
Maybe it's because I was a backer that I have some rose colored glasses here, but every negative Tom pulled out I feel like I have a counter.
"OMG There's too much information on these cards!" No, not really, it just has a built in player aid on every card. You really are only ever look for the 2 character abilities after a while.
On that, "OMG I can't get how many AP to spend for a particular skill in a room!" Uhhhh... other than it being 4 - skill (stars), it also tells you on your card how many AP to spend. Read 'player aid' in previous.
"OMG It's 8-bit, it's a Nintendo rip-off" Ok I'll let you slide here, because to all their own. I think the art style suits the game. But there's the wonderful word, Homage, you're forgetting.
"OMG It doesn't bring anything new to the table!" Huh, ok. So this is the same argument I get into with people that crap on Steve Jobs during his time at Apple. There's 2 different worlds here, the world of Invention (making new things) and Innovation (the using of creating things in a different way). Just as Jobs was an Innovator and didn't make a damn thing on his own, so too is Fire of Eidolon an Innovated game. It's the result of a hot, steamy 3-way between Forbidden Island (sinking/disappearing tiles via a deck pull) and his brother Forbidden Desert (hidden end goal locations) double teaming Betrayal at the House on the Hill (building out the map from a stack of available tiles) on top of an SNES.
AND I LOVE IT!!!
When a review starts with "or however you pronounce it"you know the review is not that good. You could have checked with the manufacturer/designer beforehand.
Eidolon. "EYE-doh-lohn" (well that's how this Australian pronounces it". Not that hard.
I remember game like era of eidolon. :) i was nr1 respect of this game.
Its a respectful homage to classic NES game appearance. I don't see the need for all the negativity. There are a couple of kickstartrs coming up that try and emulate the low res graphics styles, one is Power up I think (and really emulates the old arcade styles)and I can't recall the other one.
The later i cant recall is a top down one board labyrinth dungeon collecting treasures and the maker is using a gameboy-esque box design. The whole design isn't even that interesting looking,its pretty blah and dull colored.
I can't wait to see what Tom says about these new games that are in the similar graphics style as the one he was accusing of RIPPING-OFF video games and "not bringing anything new to the table".
It will be hypocrisy if he does glowing reviews of these new ones
Dice Tower already did a compensated review of the latter game making it sound soooooo amazing,even though it looked so rudimentary. Seemed to suit children better than adults.
The fire of eidolon seems like it at least has a bit more complex gameplay and story.
I would rather play Decent. ;)
PIXLES!