New games for April 9, 2021 - Ronin Motu Monsters

It's New Game Friday! David Wiley (Cardboard Clash) is here to tell us about the new games.

Here’s what is new this week:

• Four Against Darkness: Monster Deck
• MOTU
• Ronin

This week's new games are all available at https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/new-games

MOTU

According to legend, the goddess Pau Motu used her nets to bring to the surface of the ocean the islands that had been swallowed up by the god Yno Tahu. You will help him bring these islands back to life while taking care to preserve the fragile balance between nature and the people who inhabit them. Perhaps you will know how to create the most harmonious of the islands of the archipelago?

Do you enjoy games that have each player building their own region? How about if it features a nice, calm, island theme? Solo mode? Intermediate scoring rounds? If any of those check the right boxes for you, then you will not want to miss out on MOTU. Designed by Scott Almes and using cards, you’ll be building island territories by laying a card from the center onto part of your own island. Three times during the game you’ll score some points, meaning you’ll want to be able to adjust your plans based upon the upcoming scoring conditions.

Ronin

This game is a journey around the world. Your character goes from town to town with no destination. You will roll in the Route table to determine what happened on the road and then on the Location table to find out what kind of town it is and if anything has happened. The result in the tables will tell you what happened and what you can do, giving you options to develop your story. The game is basically that in cycles. Roll a Route, Roll a Location, Roll a Route, Roll a Location, etc. During the game you will encounter enemies and allies, you will earn Reputation (which indicates how much people are talking about you) and with that, eventually, you will meet the villains. There are three villains in total that you will encounter and the game ends after you find, face and defeat the third villain, the Final Villain.

If you are going to play a solo RPG, why not be a Ronin? It’s kind of like the saying about always be yourself unless you can be a dragon/Batman/unicorn. If you’re going at it solo, why not play around in Feudal Japan, right? This one looks like a lot of fun, with the addition of a yin and yang mechanic through using a black and a white die for rolls. There’s a lot of storytelling you can do, although it will require a lot of dice rolling (which is pretty standard for these sorts of games anyway). I know that I plan to tinker around in this world for a bit, and I would love to hear the stories of your encounters, too!

Four Against Darkness: Monsters Deck

Monsters Deck is a collection of 24 tarot-sized cards, each with a monster for Four Against Darkness. You may use these whenever you would roll on a table to determine which Vermin, Minion, Boss or Weird Monster you encounter. Instead of rolling, draw a card from the appropriate deck, play it and then reshuffle it into the deck. You can combine monsters decks together, expanding the variation of encounters with every new set released.

One of my favorite additions to the Four Against Darkness system comes from the integration of cards. While the tables can provide so much variety for replay value, being able to bring in a set of cards that get shuffled and drawn from can definitely speed things up gameplay-wise. Beyond that, there is just some stellar artwork on these cards, which will help you immerse yourself into the danger presented by these ferocious creatures. This deck includes vermin, minions, bosses, and weird monsters to integrate nicely into your campaign.

Check out all of the new games here: https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/new-games

Game of the Week: Antinomy - Only $1!)

As a Sorcerer, you have long sought ancient relics, imbued with magic. What unspeakable power can you unleash when you collect relics from anywhere in the spacetime continuum?

Antinomy is a noun that means a contradiction between two beliefs or conclusions that are in themselves reasonable; a paradox. That namesake sets the stage for the tense 2-player interactions as players vie to seek the power of the Paradox Crystals, and the first person to secure five Paradox Crystals will be declared the winner. This clever little game is such a thinker, and it surprised me back when I first played it and continues to delight every time it hits the table. If you like games where part of the puzzle is how to move to where you need to go - and to make sure you can adapt to the changing of colors that are off-limits, than this is perfect for you. It provides plenty of sharp elbows for those who crave player interaction, whether intentional or unintentional. Inevitably, your opponent will take that card you needed.

Check out Game of the Week here: https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/game-of-the-week

See you next week with more information on our newest print and play games!