Build your power, transform into your Shadow Form, and eliminate your opponents!
Hey, it’s been a while since I’ve done a review; life, am I right? I want to kick things off with a few games I tried out during PAX. Often, I find myself playing MTG or walking the halls, but this year, I decided to finally explore the tabletop area and spend a lot of time trying out new games! It was a great idea to help determine which games to keep on my Amazon wish list and which to pass on.
First up is Casting Shadows, another adorable adventure by Unstable Games with vibrant art and deceivingly cute animals and beasts. In the game, you will take on one of these creatures and fight until the end. Collect shadow points and evolve into your shadow form for more power! Take turns exploring the land, collecting resources and powerful spells to attack your opponents. Whoever is the last creature standing wins!
Mechanics & Categories: Area Control, Animal, Grid Movement, Dice Rolling, Player Elimination
CUTENESS OVERLOAD
The art is a massive buy-in for any Unstable game. It’s always vibrant, fun, cute, and often witty. In some deluxe editions of Casting Shadows, you can even get mini models of the creatures; how cool is that?!
If for no other reason, I can see a lot of people wanting to add these games to their collection just to have all the cuteness. They will also appeal to kids, which is a great way to get them into your favorite hobby.
DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE
At first glance, this game may seem to have many rules, but the tiny actions reference card is all you need to play it. It is a great feeling when you can boil down the rules into something so small. Nothing excites me more than not having to trudge through a ton of rules just to try something new.
You are given four actions to use in whatever order you wish. The actions are travel, collect, refresh, reroll, cast, and protect. All you have to do is move to a hex that could provide you a benefit, try to buy spell cards with resources, and cast those spells on enemies. If you have some extra actions, make sure to remove the cursed crystals you incidentally collect so you don’t have to take damage at the end of your turn. Looks and sounds like a lot, but it’s not much when given so few options on the game board. A perfect intro game for newer players and kids alike!
TACTILE COMPONENTS
The resource dice are shimmering white, which contrasts nicely with the “shadow” theme. Each resource is vibrantly engraved on each face. There are also cardboard chits for the resources you earn during the game. The large and thick hex tiles make it easy to see the beautiful artwork and move around with four players. The cards you draw are also durable with a pin cushion finish.
The player’s creature board is also pretty cool compared to what you would expect. The life and shadow totals are spinners embedded into the cardboard. So, not only do you get a nice, large, dual-sided art piece, but you have an easy way to spin your totals up or down without having to hold onto a resource or move a tracker along a board.
Final Comments
Casting Shadows is a fantastic game for board game rookies and younger children trying their hand at more competitive PvP games with easy-to-digest rules. The theme is excellent, the components are of nice quality, and the artwork is adorable, as always.
However, playing this with only two players felt less balanced than it should have been. Dice rolling can be a lot of fun, but when dueling it out, whoever happens to roll better will inevitably have the advantage. If there are more opponents to attack, possibly one person wouldn’t feel totally left in the dust.
It feels awful when you can set your creature up with some great spells only to roll poorly and not be able to cast them. I would like to try this again with four players, but as a two-player game, there are much better options out there.
The gameplay felt fun if the odds were in your favor, but no action was taken that felt overly exciting. Even if you could do a lot of damage in one turn, it didn’t feel as powerful as other games when you can have an epic turn. Even when you transform into your shadow form, the ability you earn doesn’t seem to be as relevant as you would like. It appears to be part of the theme and artwork more than anything.
If you like luck-based games and want to have a bit of fun, or if you have some kids at home, this game is for you! But for competitive Magic the Gathering players, Casting Shadows might not be your best fit.
Similar To: Lagoon, Dice Throne
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Publisher: Unstable Games
Game(s) Pictured: Casting Shadows
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