From the title, I had no idea what to expect from this game. As I read the instructions, it suddenly dawned on me that it sounded an awful lot like Monopoly. It is, but don't let that scare you away if you're one of the people who finds Monopoly to be a tedious snoozefest. This is a very cleverly designed game which takes elements of monopoly and combines it with gameplay elements of card games such as Magic the Gathering. The result is a fusion that is tremendously addicting and very satisfying.
The analogies between Monopoly and Culdcept are as follows: properties are "territories", rents are "tolls", currency is magic points, neighborhoods are territories of the same type (fire, water, forest, plains), and instead of building hotels, you "level up" the land you occupy. Instead of passing Go, you pass checkpoints and the castle to collect bonuses. These concepts will all feel very comfortable and familiar.
There's also an aspect which is reminiscent of a stock exchange. You can buy "magic symbols" corresponding to the four land elements. As that land becomes more valuable via leveling it up, the symbols gain in value as well, and provide extra bonuses.
When a player lands on an unoccupied territory, instead of purchasing it, as in Monopoly, the player must "summon" a creature card from his hand who becomes the guardian of that territory. From this point onward, the comparative niceties of Monopoly are over. An opponent who lands on this spot doesn't simply pay the owner. He can summon a creature from his own hand to do battle and try to claim the territory for his own. Each creature has attack and defense ratings that determine the outcome of the battle. The outcome isn't necessarily straight-forward, because there are many modifiers which come into play. Creatures receive bonuses if they are fighting on a compatible land type, there are bonuses if the land has been leveled up, there are "support" bonuses if the player owns an adjacent territory, and there are a multitude of item and spell cards which affect attack and defense ratings. Once all this is taken into account, the outcome is determined, and either the defender survives and collects the toll, or the defender is destroyed and ownership of the territory is transferred to the attacker.
That's pretty much the basics of the gameplay mechanics. The idea is to control as much property as possible, and to make it as valuable as possible. The game continues until one player accumulates a target amount of magic points (again, think of that in terms of currency). Just as in Monopoly, a game can hinge on some lucky or unlucky rolls of the dice, but unlike Monopoly, this is a very strategic game. Whereas Monopoly is pretty much "roll, buy, roll, buy, roll, pay rent, etc.", you can't play Culdcept on mental autopilot. There are constantly choices to be made. Proper usage of creatures, items and spells is critical. Not to mention deck construction before the match even starts.
Each player draws from a deck of 50 cards. There are hundreds of cards avaliable in the game, so there is a great deal of latitude available in designing your deck. As you progress through matches and unlock more cards, it becomes very difficult to decide which ones to use, particularly among the spells. They can achieve such a wide variety of effects, you'd love to be able to keep them all.
The game board itself offers choices as well. Each match offers a different layout, and there is usually one or two spots with branching paths. Choosing the best route isn't always a no-brainer, because in order to collect the castle bonus you need to complete a full lap of the map. Taking the path of least resistance could delay that bonus and leave you with a severe cash flow problem.
I really like the gameplay very much. It's a framework most people are comfortable with, but it's been given a total makeover that makes it an infinitely more interesting game. Unlocking cards as you go along is a strong motivation to keep plugging away, to see the next set of goodies you get.
Despite all the "good", there is still some "bad" here. With the gameplay itself, even though you have many cards to choose from, you're likely to find yourself developing a favorite strategy you're comfortable with, so matches start to feel familiar insofar as what you're attempting to achieve. The gameplay itself is always wildly different, but the goal you have in mind is still the same. So far the game hasn't done a good job of giving me a reason to build multiple decks and alter my approach. I would've expected to see gameboards with skewed territory distributions and/or opponents with peculiar decks, but so far that hasn't happened.
The presentation won't blow you away either. Although the artwork on the game cards is absolutely beautiful, the cutscenes with the backstory that links each match looks like a very old PS1 RPG game. And the backstory itself is silly, paper-thin and feels amateurish. Best to ignore it. The battles themselves could be considered disappointing as well. The creatures don't animate, and are only depicted via their cards. Don't expect to see any cool spell effects or the like. Expect a card game, and you won't be disappointed.
The only other complaint I would make is that each match can be very long. The two player matches might last an hour or a little longer, but those where you battle two opponents might last upwards of 3 hours. Although you can suspend a game in progress, you will lose the opportunity to gain certain rewards if you do so. This kind of time expenditure can be daunting... and if you end up losing a match after devoting 3 straight hours to it, it can be downright heartbreaking.
Bottom line: It's been a long time since a game grabbed me the way this one has. If you enjoy strategy games at all, you need to try it.
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