DC Deck Building Game: Crossover Pack 7 – New Gods is an expansion for The DC Deck Building Game by Matt Hyra and Nathaniel Yamaguchi, published by Cryptozoic Entertainment. It is for 2-5 players. This expansion adds 6 new New Gods characters – 3 Heroes and 3 Villains to play with, 6 Homeworlds and a stack of new cards to add to the main deck.
For more information on the many different box sets that this product can be used with, please check out the link below.
For those unfamiliar with the DC Deck Building game, let me give you a quick overview of how it’s played. Player will begin with a starting deck of 10 cards that include 7 punch cards and 3 vulnerabilities. They’ll also choose a starting Super Hero to begin the game with. They will place their Super Hero in front of themself and shuffle their starting deck of cards. Once shuffled they will draw 5 cards to create their starting hand. On a player’s turn, they will play the cards from their hand in any order they choose, making it possible to buy a card or cards from the lineup using the power generated by their cards. They can also use their power to defeat the current super villain. Each time they gain cards they will be beefing up their deck and making it more powerful so that they can create more power and earn more points to be able to defeat even more powerful villains and buy even stronger cards. Of course, their Super Hero card will also provide them with a special ability that will help them during their turn. The game will continue until one the very last Super Villain in the Super Villain deck is defeated. Once that happens, players will add up their victory points and the one with the most points is the winner. Of course some box sets will change things up just a bit, especially the Forever Evil set, as it uses Villains as the main characters and heroes as the antagonists.
So, now that you at least have a basic understanding of how the game works, what does this expansion add as far as content goes? First off let’s look at the new oversized Super Hero cards. Anyone familiar with DC comics may recognize the names of Orion, Mister Miracle and Big Barda. These are the character cards that player will choose if they plan to go the hero route. Of course that’s not all, unlike previous Crossover Packs, this one also contains Super Villain character cards. There’s Granny Goodness, Kalibak and Darkseid. When setting up the game, you’ll choose one of these to play as. Of course the rules suggest a 50/50 split between heroes and villains. There are also 26 new cards for shuffling into the main deck of one of the main games, as well as an updated replacement card for the Birds of Prey expansion card, Roulette. The rules say that you’re supposed to choose a DC set, I suggest the Confrontations boxed set, and shuffle it’s main deck. You then split the deck in half and shuffle the main deck cards from this expansion into one of the piles. That shuffled stack is then placed on top of the other one. The rest of the setup is pretty much the same.
Of course, character cards and main deck cards aren’t all that is new. What’s really new are the Homeworld cards, and some new keywords that appear on the cards in this pack. Homeworlds take the place of the Super Villains or Super Heroes stack of cards that players must try and defeat. Instead these Homeworlds take the place of them. Heroes will try to conquer Apokolips while the Villains will try and conquer New Genesis. Here’s how they work. First off, they’re placed into 2 stacks; one for New Genesis and one for Apokolips. Each stack is placed in order with the level 1 on the top and level 3 on the bottom. The instructions for each are card are read carefully before playing. In terms of conquering one of these, they are treated the same as a Super Villain or Super Hero. The player uses the Power that they collected on their turn to pay it’s cost. However when beaten, the card is placed nearby instead of going into the conquering player’s deck. These will be added to their deck at the end of the game for some major victory points. As soon as either of the level 3 Homeworlds have been conquered, the game ends. Players will then count up their Victory Points to see who is the winner.
There are also 2 new Keywords on the cards in this pack; Protector and Retaliation. First let’s discuss the Protector keyword. These are used when a player attempts to conquer a Homeworld. Once the player makes the attempt, other players are then allowed to reveal cards from their hand with this keyword, in a clockwise order from the attacking player. Each revealed card reduces the Power of the conqueror’s attempt by the number listed after the Protector keyword. If the player no longer has the Power to conquer the Homeworld, they are then able to use their remaining Power to spend on other things, but may not make another attempt to conquer a Homeworld on that turn.
The other new Keyword is Retaliation. In many ways, this keyword functions a lot like a Last Appearance Attack. When a player conquers a Homeworld, a Retaliation is made immediately afterwards, against both the player and each player in their faction. Thus if a player’s character is a Super Hero, then all the players that are using a Super Hero as their character will be Retaliated against. This Retaliation may be defended against like any other normal attack. At the end of the player’s turn, the next level Homeworld card on that particular stack is then revealed.
COMPONENTS
This expansion contains plenty of new cards to be added to any of the DC Deck Building Game boxed sets. As I mentioned earlier, there are 6 new oversized playable characters. There are 3 new Super Heroes and 3 new Super Villains. There are 26 new main deck cards to be added to the game. All of these are based on the heroes and villains of the New Gods comics from the DC comics universe. I honestly wasn’t expecting to see Darkseid as a playable character, but I’m glad that he’s there. Of course the artwork on each of these, as well as on every card in this set, is truly fantastic. It looks like it’s been ripped right from the pages of a DC comic. The expansion also includes the new Homeworld cards that change up how the game is played into a totally new direction. Finally there is a replacement card for Roulette from the Birds of Prey expansion pack, as well a randomizer card to be used with the Multiverse set. There’s also a plastic divider with the same image as the one that’s on the box. This fits in well with the others found in the Multiverse box. The look and feel is very similar to that found in many of the other sets and packs. Thematically it feels like it fits more with the Confrontations boxed set than any of the others. Mainly because of the equal number of playable villain characters. Overall I really love the look and feel of this expansion. I think thematically the cards all work together quite well and they look great in the process. I’m really pleased with the overall designs of each one.
9 out of 10
RULEBOOK
The rulebook for this expansion pack consists of a simple double sided card that is about the same size as the oversized character cards. The card covers how to use the new cards with any of the boxed sets and also contains the rules for the new concepts and keywords that make a first appearance in this pack. The card also contains a list of clarifications for several of the cards included in the pack. Overall there’s not a lot of content as far as rules or gameplay. Most of that is expected to be found in the main boxed sets that a player must have at least one of to even be able to use this product. There’s also no pictures or examples on the card as there just isn’t room to include anything of that nature. Even so, I think the card does a great job of explaining all the new material. As it is, I think it does what it’s inteneded purpose is, to update the player with any new rules and adjustments to how the game is played at this point. For that reason, I’m pleased with it.
8 out of 10
GAMEPLAY
I’ve enjoyed playing the DC Deck Building Game and all it’s many expansions for quite some time now. I’ve had a lot of fun with each new expansion pack and every new boxed set that has come out so far. Honestly, I never thought that the New Gods and that section of the DC Universe would ever make it into this game or any other for that matter. Boy was I wrong! It’s great to see actual playable characters of Darkseid, Granny Goodness and Kalibak. Yea and I guess it’s nice to see the heroes too, although I really prefer the villains. I mean, who wouldn’t? They’re just so much cooler. Of course you need the heroes to balance things out too and Mister Miracle and Big Barda are pretty cool in their own right. Too bad I’m not much a fan of Orion though. Anyway, so this expansion changes up some gameplay mechanics by using the new Homeworld cards in the place of using the stack of heroes or villains to battle against. In the same way that you saved up your power to beat these characters, you’ll also be generating enough power to conquer a Homeworld. The thing is that your opponents can lessen your power by using cards with the new Protector keyword on them. Which I guess that makes sense as you’re trying to keep the other side from destroying your home planet while you try to take over theirs. Thematically it makes sense. Of course once you conquer a level on a Homeworld, then you have to deal with the Retaliation attack, which affects every other player that shares the same type of character that you do. For instance if I’m playing Darkseid and I conquer New Genesis, then if one of my opponents is playing Granny Goodness they’d also suffer the Retaliation along with me. However the player using Big Barda wouldn’t as she’s not a super villain, so she doesn’t share the same faction. Once again, thematically it makes sense. I have to say that I like this new way of playing quite a lot. It keeps certain players from gaining lots of powerful cards from beating the main baddies while you struggle to get any good cards at all. This way it puts players on a much more even playing field. It also helps give them a bit of incentive to work together as well. Needless to say, I really enjoy this new expansion. I think fans of the DC Deck Building Game will really enjoy this new way to play. I also think that fans of the New Gods will be thrilled with all the new cards in this pack. I would highly recommend this expansion. It’s a must have.
9 out of 10
OVERALL
DC Deck Building Game: Crossover Pack 7 – New Gods is an expansion for the DC Deck Building Game. It adds 6 new playable characters to the game; 3 Super Heroes and 3 Super Villains. It also adds 26 new cards that are added to the Main Deck, centered around the New Gods comics. It also adds a new way of playing by introducing Homeworlds, which are used in the place of Super Villains and/or Super Heroes to battle against. The game length is pretty much the same as before, with most game sessions lasting around 40 minutes or so. The cards is this pack are outrageously awesome looking. I really like Darkseid and the baddies from Apokolips so it’s nice to see them make their appearance in the game. Each image and design looks like it was ripped from the pages of the comics. The new mechanics that this expansion introduces create a new way of playing that I really enjoy. It fosters even more player interaction, in my opinion, and adds a lot of fun. Thematically everything fits together quite nicely and makes sense. I’m extremely happy with this expansion and I’m looking forward to what the future holds for the game. Fans of the DC Deck Building Game, as well as the New Gods comics, should really enjoy this pack. I highly recommend it. Just beware of those Omega Beams.
9 out of 10
For more information about this and other great games, please check out Cryptozoic Entertainment at their site.
GAMING BITS 