Elemental – (6.3/10)
Elemental is an indie game by Joseki that pits player against player in a magical war of elements.
To the Rubric, Batman!
Gameplay: 7/10
Style: 7/10
Pacing: 5/10
Thematic: 5/10
Easy to Learn: 6/10
Replayability: 7/10
Overall: 6.3/10
Game Genre: Card Game
Highlights:
- Abstract card game with some set collection
- Interesting primal artwork
- A bit more strategy than I expected
- A bit of luck to drawing the right cards, but a bit of strategy to know when to play them. Do I hear some Kenny Rogers?
How to Play
In Elemental, your task is to eliminate your fellow players through use of magical spells, powered by the 4 elements. Naturally, your opponent’s are trying to eliminate you as well.
Each player is given a hand of 4 cards to begin the game. On an active player’s turn they may combine two elements for an attack OR they may choose to focus, skip the attack phase, and discard a card and draw a card. When performing an attack, after the attacker has chosen their target and combined 2 cards, the defender may either attempt to neutralize the attack by playing the 2 elements not in the attack (e.g., if attacked with fire and earth, playing a water and wind would neutralize an attack) OR the defender can choose to reflect the attack by playing the identical match of the attack.
The person who lost the attack/defense then takes 1 point of damage. Damage is indicated by… whatever it is, it isn’t included in this box. Go grab some lifesavers or pennies!
Finally, the game concludes when there is one player left standing. Additional roles are available for team play (partners) or advanced rules for increasing damage.
Conclusion
Brian nor I love player elimination. It is a mechanic that is best loved for games that are either incredibly fast (so a player who drops out early can come back in quickly) OR games that are incredibly long and you only drop out towards the latter 25% of a game. This game fell in between, the zone where my worst feelings towards the mechanic lives. That’s not to say that it’s all bad, only that I wish it would either hurry up a la Loveletter or slow down a la Axis and Allies.
But as it was, it was a fun little romp of a filler through the elemental spell casting world. The art was a nice touch and the design was simple enough to understand.
This game is highly recommended and can be picked up here: