It’s been a while since I have done a dedicated blog post, I have mostly been focused on getting videos to the YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4uU81it43KIbeI_B1kAZCw?view_as=subscriber, but I had so much fun the other day learning how to play Godtear that inspiration struck and I decided to write about it.
If you are interested in reading about my lofty ideas of how I want to write these reviews, you can check out this older article https://decisiveoperations.blog/2019/05/10/spectre-operations-second-edition-rulebook-review/. Using that rating scheme, I rate this game as a game I Will Play and a Side Game, again click the previous link for a break down on what these ratings mean, it’s relatively intuitive. Now that all the caveats are covered, let’s talk about Godtear!
Godtear is the highly anticipated kick-started game by Steamforged Games. Creators of other great games like Guild Ball and Dark Souls the Card Game and Board Game, just to name a few. I am going to break this review down into the following subjects: Miniatures, Game Play, and Replay Value.
Miniatures: These are out of the box ready to go like A Song of Ice and Fire and probably better quality than the first run on minis for ASOIF. I love love love that the champions are larger than the followers, for the most part, and as a side note you can use the boxes they come in to store the minis and their associated cards. I’m genuinely excited to paint these minis, but also, there is no rush because the colored plastics look good. The sculpting is very heroic but not over the top like most of the GW releases that have been coming out.
Game Play: Godtear is an arena smash-em style game with two phases. Plot and Combat. Both phases are critical, and the plot phase is I go you go, which is good because it speeds it up, and the combat phase is alternating activation. This is when the mind games and counter plays come into play. Combat and the entire game is really simple, but there is depth in the combos, synergy, and situational play. The dice mechanic is sum based, so your just counting success and comparing them to your target number.
We play two games in around two hours, one game with 2 champions each and another with 3 and we got to pick out our heroes in the second game. The first game was clunky but rewarding because you could feel the combos and synergy but just needed to figure it out. The second game was absolutely amazing. Without getting into the game too much, I will say I love the fact that your hero can die, and they just comes back with one action. Granted, you give up major victory points for losing a hero, but you don’t lose the game. So go out there and try to beat people up, take risks, your not necessarily going to lose the game from it.
In regards to scoring, each game turn is worth a certain amount of points. A player can only win the turn to earn victory points and you need 5 VPs to win. So one time, I destroyed my opponent turn one, but I only got 1VP for winning the turn. He was able to crawl back into the game turn 2, where a typical game would have been practically over. Scoring is Turn 1 1VP, Turn 2 2VP, Turn 3 3VP, Turn 4 2VP, and Turn 5 is 1VP. The ladder scoring system is brilliant; I don’t know why more games adopt this concept.
Replay Value: Going into the game this was the aspect I was most concerned about. There is no real list building. You decide on how many heroes you want to have to a side, usually between 1-3, and you pick your heroes. They come with followers, and you start your game. I changed one hero out after game 1, and it absolutely 100% change the synergy of my team. While arena games, in general, can get repetitive, I really think this style of list building keeps the game super fresh. You can even do champion drafts. Have X amount of heroes available to pick. Roll-off and pick your team one at a time like a pickup basketball game. Also, we didn’t touch the campaign system, but the fact that there is one keeps me excited about the possibilities and growth of this game.
Finally, the starter is $50, and for that price point, if this game even seems interesting to you, its practically to cheep not to try. If you are looking for a kitchen table arena game, Godtear is the game for you. Personally I’m excited to learn/teach this game and watch it grow.
