Spartacus, by GaleForceNine, is far and away my favourite game.
They introduce three unique mechanics, all of which blend together seamlessly, to make an incredibly thematic and enjoyable experience.
In April, the game is launching a second edition and I could not be more thrilled. The game became a hot commodity on the secondary market because the license on the Spartacus TV images lapsed and weren't renewed by GF9. Of course they still have a wonderful game, so how do they fix this?
NEW ART. Hand drawn characters, cards, and box art give Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery a new lease on life.
The second edition will launch give language editions simultaneously including English, Spanish, German, French, and Polish, broadening the game's reach immeasurably.
It is a fairly language-dependent game, so a full translation makes a much better experience for non-English, or non-native English speakers.
The art is different yes, but the press release gives no indication if there have been any rules refinements to the game.
X-Men: Mutant Revolution, based on Spartacus, changed a rule during the card playing phase that made a real difference in gameplay. In Spartacus, a player will play all their cards, and then pass their turn to the next player. The next player in turn will play all the cards they wish to play, and so on.
Toward the end of the game this gave extra power to the last player in the round as they could play all their cards and potentially win unchallenged as there were fewer resources to stop them.
In X-Men, each player would play one card, until every played passed. It was a slight refinement, but a positive one.
Also, during the Area Phase (the stabbity stab phase), particularly in 2v2 battles, there was little incentive for the partner of the leading player to actually fight. We actually house-ruled that if an opponent mini-was base to base with your gladiator, that your gladiator must fight back...ordering them to run away is one thing, but they'll try to fight for their lives if someone is actively trying to kill them.
We won't know until April 17th what fate awaits us in the sand...but until then, here's a taste of what we can look forward to:
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Images courtesy of GaleForceNine and used with permission.
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