There’s something down here, it’s carnivorous.
Don your black leather and grab your Grimcoven rules and reference!
Awaken Realms are now a decade old as of this writing, and their astonishing success and huge creative output has not only made them one of the best publishers in the business, but the flag bearers for huge, over-the-top productions absolutely drenched in theme and atmosphere. A gaming style I’ve had a soft spot for since I bought my first big box Games Workshop games back in the late 80s.
Grimcoven continues the tradition of wonderful excess, but there are some interesting things here that break the mould a little and tell us that the company isn’t just resting on its laurels. First, it’s a boss battler in which you play one-off games – no overarching campaign here (though you can add a little bit of character development with the Personal Stories expansion). Next, there’s something about this game system that, as I was playing, made me think of that much-used word ‘elegant’ – and I can assure you that’s not a word I use often when it comes to Awaken Realms. Unlike their usual style of dense, many-step phases that you can never remember without a reference sheet close to hand, Grimcoven actually flows smoothly and cleverly from step to step (and where it does get a bit complicated, nice little standees remind you of the sequence of steps).
I’m very happy to see Awaken step back from the long campaigns which demand a commitment of months (and often seem end up in solo play mode as a result), and move more into one-off games and more manageable campaign structures (see Lands of Evershade). Not all of us want to leave a game set up for months, or wish to devote that much extended gaming time to a single game.
Grimcoven is packed with content – there are 6 unique hunters, and each of the 6 ‘big bad’ Griefbounds have 5 scenarios of increasing difficulty (plus combinations of elite enemies and minions), plus expansions give you 2 more hunters and 2 more Griefbounds. Then, if the hunters get corrupted enough, they unlock ‘Pretenders’ – semi-Griefbounds that you can also hunt. The game plays out on modular hexagonal tiles with various terrain setups, and special cards give the terrain even more personality. The dice allocation system that powers the hunters’ actions is nothing revolutionary, but it works smoothly and efficiently here, without all the dice modifier jiggery-pokery that slowed down ISS Vanguard.
And you want the system to be smooth, because this game does not go easy on you, and you have to fully concentrate on your tactics to beat your Griefbound of choice. The game demands careful cooperation between players for success, so this is one of the most engaging cooperative combat experiences I’ve had. Also, as your hunters collect lament (the power currency of the game), you can customise your suite of abilities and gain more dice as you simultaneously become more corrupted, which gives the game a lot of forward momentum. While the difficulty can be frustrating at times, there’s a great sense of wanting to come back and try again if you lose, and there are enough interesting choices to keep you planning what you’ll try next time.
I’m highly impressed by Grimcoven so far, but I have a few more games to play yet before my full review. In the meantime, download my rules & reference (also available on Tabletop Codex) and check out my full ‘boss pledge’ unboxing video, released tomorrow!
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