The scenarios that required you to gather a certain amount of resource by the time you reach the end were so infuriating.

Possibly the worst part about these unique scenarios is that they were often won or lost right at the end. Deck building may be an improved mechanic but in many instances I found myself having to stack the deck with certain cards (food cards in this example) rather than creating a balanced or personalised approach. And adding a crazy multiplier such as requiring double the amount of food as your typical game doesn’t add to the strategy, it takes away from it. Unlike the original game, a successful run didn’t feel like a well balanced and impressive victory that I could be proud of. Needless to say this wasn’t the most fun mission available. Another deck put you in an escort mission where your hapless companion would constantly get kidnapped and you’d need to chase him down, backtracking through previous areas. After multiple tries I was finally graced by the RNG gods with some increased life after the first battle, making the rest of the scenario a cake walk. I remember playing this scenario time and time again, avoiding any damage like the plague, playing super cautiously, often getting quite far, but usually failing. A scenario called strength begun you one hit away from death. Not to mention you were often at the whim of the RNG gods. Those who don’t want to engage in it can allow the game to make your deck for you but I think these people are missing out on a seriously interesting tactical element.ĭon’t get me wrong, some scenarios were fun, but they absolutely reached a point of tedium. Of course you have to balance these old and faithful cards with new cards that have currently unknown properties and cards that have the potential to reward you with a new token so that you have more to work with for future decks.ĭeck building in Hand of Fate 2 is great and yet another improvement over the first game. A smart deck builder will stack the deck with the best equipment they have found on their journey and with useful scenarios that have the potential to give great rewards. Whilst some cards will be permanently found within particular decks, you get to fill out the rest of the deck with cards of your own choice. It is with these cards that the game’s deck building element comes in. These tokens grant you more cards which range from new gear, new scenarios, starting bonuses and more. You will also gain tokens for beating a deck. The cards you reveal fall into the world appropriately and have considerably more depth than anything from the original Hand of Fate.Īs you reveal certain cards you will have the opportunity to obtain a token if you seized victory from the scenario laid out before you. No longer are you simply moving along a nondescript path, you’re instead moving through the twisted streets of an infected city, a dark woods with almost limitless pathways and hidden bandits, or a whole slew of other unique scenarios. Every card is a mini journey and you’ll have a lot more options when tackling certain situations. Sweeping changes have been made in Hand of Fate 2 to essentially every aspect of the game, bringing new life to old systems and advancing the game in some pretty drastic ways.ĭefiant have really doubled down on the whole D&D aspect of Hands of Fate 2. Experiencing it for the first time back in 2016 at PAX Australia was quite a wondrous moment, and seeing the game iterate and advance in cool new ways brings a big smile to my face. A mixture of strategic deck building, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), and third-person combat. The idea behind the game is truly unique and impressive. The cards you reveal along your path will each require different actions and have different consequences, the most dramatic of which is an encounter card that will fling your character into a third person combat situation which plays like a Batman Arkham fight. Your journey is narrated by the dealer which Dungeons & Dragons fans will instantly recognise as the Dungeon Master for your game. Each step you take reveals the next chapter in your history and you have to be able to adapt on the fly and deal with whatever semi-randomised scenario pops up. The game plays like a tabletop experience with your player token moving from one card to the next.

Hand of Fate 2 revisits the unique and captivating formula created in the original game.

Hand of fate game