This is a preview copy sent to us for our early opinions. No money exchanged hands. Some art, rules or components may change in the final game. You can follow the game here and check out the crowdfunding page here.
Companion Quest comes from first time designer Mark McIntyre who seems to be living the dream from seeing his first game design come to life. I sense a real passion and joy from this project. And the results are pretty good too. If you enjoy dice placement games, this could be an interesting one to follow when it comes to crowdfunding soon. The art is gorgeous, the production quality is right up there, and the rules simple. But the process you go through as you place the dice, complete the card challenges, and slowly make your way to victory is incredibly addictive. Let's talk about why.
Well, in short, because this game is pretty tricky! It took me five games to win or easy mode! But each loss just made me want to come back for more and more. It's the sort of game you don't mind losing. The process is still fun, but you really do want to find a way to tweak your strategy and beat the game. This is an addictive game.
The setup is simple, and you can also adjust the difficulty with minimal changes. Take12 challenge cards, including one, two, or more monsters to fight along the way, depending on how hard you want to make the game. One was enough for me to start! Set these up in three groups of four at the bottom of the board, along with your chosen four quests at the top, one of each level. Each player will choose one of the six Gnomes to play as, along with their associated companion. You can now take two snack tokens for an easier game, one for a harder one. On the main board you will place your Gnome meeple on the first space and the cheeky little Gu'Gu one space ahead.
Players will now take turns to choose dice from the six different types, roll them, and then place them on the challenges or quests. When you choose your dice, the three types on the left cost one energy point each, and the three on the right cost two each. You have three energy points to spend in the first phase of the game.
However, one of the level one quests will reset all dice, both on the left and right, to all cost one energy point. You will choose dice based on the current quests and challenges. They will need certain dice based on both colour and pip value. Once you have spent your dice, you will then be forced to move forward the pesky Gu'Gu. If Gu'Gu moves four spaces to the final portal, it's game over. But if you complete a challenge, then Gu'Gu does not move this round. And if you can complete two challenges on the same turn, you can move him back one space. To win the game, you need to have your Gnome meeple on the same space as Gu'Gu. You can move your Gnome meeple forward only when you complete the quest cards, which is easier said than done.
So, you will need to decide what you prioritise. The quests, to move your Gnome meeple forward, or the challenges to stop Gu'Gu from racing too far ahead, or maybe even pulling him back a space or two. Finding the right balance between these two challenges is the way to win the game, and it certainly took me a few tries to figure this out. The process of trying to understanding this is very challenging. But getting it right feels great!
The challenges vary, offering a mix of requirements from laying four dice in ascending order, or specific dice being placed in specific spaces, even two dice of a certain colour being next to each other, but the first being a low pip value then the next. If you do not finish a challenge, then the dice already added on any unfinished cards are left for the next player to add to, in order to try and complete the challenge. Setting up multiple challenges to be completed on the same later turn is crucial to finding success in this game. But of course, you cannot neglect the quests.
The quest cards also need specific coloured dice with certain pip counts, and you can move the Gnome hat meeple along the spaces on the quest path for each dice you fulfil. When you reach the final space, you can move your Gnome meeple one space closer to Gu'Gu, and if you catch him, win the game. If not, flip over the quest you just completed and gain the shown benefits on the back based on your player count. Extra snacks, new companion cards (more on them soon), and most importantly, an increased amount of energy to spend on dice each time. Now, in phase two, four energy. Enough for four dice from the left, or two from the right, or any combination of the two.
Getting more dice is crucial to your progression in the game. You will find you are chasing the game and your own tale if you don't get more dice to start making quicker progress with the Quests and Challenges. I found that you will need to get to Quest three at the very least to win the game. The extra energy for dice is very important, but so too are those Companion cards we mentioned before.
Remember during setup the Companion card you added to your chosen Gnome; well, each one has a special power. And you can buy more cards using your Snacks. There are always four Companions available for purchase; they cost one Snack each, and you will gain more Snacks for each Quest you complete. Building an army of Companions is the only way you will win this game.
Finding the right combination of powers to manipulate the dice in the right way is the only chance you have at victory. Each Companion card offers a different power. Increasing or decreasing dice. Re-rolling. Flipping dice upside down. You get the drift. The problem is each time you use a Companion you must exhaust them. But then, later, when you use a specific coloured dice, you can refresh them again. Finding the right combo of dice and Companion to constantly use, refresh, and use again your Companion will mean you will start to really fly through the game. And this engine building part of the game is a hidden gem within the mechanics you may not first spot in the rules, but as the game goes on, and you get better at it, quickly becomes the most satisfying part.
The game is a cooperative experience, and the discussion between players as each turn is taken can be a lot of fun. There is obviously an opportunity for one player to take over, but each player has final say on their own turn. But of course, you are always working together for the collective good. Working as a team is important to winning. In fact, if you do not want to, or cannot use a specific dice on your turn, instead of wasting it, you can give one dice to the next player each turn. This gives them the chance to roll an extra dice, and perhaps make some important progress of completing extra Challenges of Quests.
As you start to get the hang of the strategy for this game and winning becomes a little more common, you can very easily ramp up the difficulty as we talked about in the setup. I am currently still trying to find a victory on medium mode, and as yet, have fallen short each time. My desire to win at this level is still high, and a number of games in, it hasn't quite happened yet, but I am very keen to try and make it happen.
This desire to win is what is making me come back to the game time and time again. I say all this, as that is not always the case with me. First, generally, games are not as hard as this to win, especially family-friendly lighter co-ops. But second, I tend to not care this much about winning. I think because the losses are always close, and you feel fully in control of your own destiny. So the losses are down to your own bad choices, and you want to get better so you make better ones next time!
If that sounds your kind of thing, then check out the Kickstarter page and watch out for when this one goes live soon.