Thoughts on… Side Quest

Side Quest is up on Kickstarter until December 1st. Check it out here. Our preview copy was kindly sent to us by @TapToWin and as it is a preview copy, please bare in mind that component quality/quantity and artwork are likely to change.


 

The Warlock pushed hard against the werewolf’s furry abdomen with his foot, the extra force finally letting him work his sword out of its chest. “Do you have the key, Druid?”

“Yep!” Squeaked the druid, nimbly skipping toward the locked door.

“Open the door! Open the door!” Yelled the barbarian, charging into the room as though the hounds of hell were on his tail.

“Okay, I’m trying, the key’s stuck!”

“Wait, do you hear something?” the Warlord asked turning towards the entrance.

Cries, echoing, turned quiet by the distance: “No! Not the lava! Please! Help me!!!”

A collective groan passes through the party. “Another one? Seriously? How many maidens does this place have?”

“They’re not from any village I’ve been through, I promise you that!” Boasted the barbarian.

“Oh, please! You rea – “ the druid began, before an enormous crash interrupted her. Stone fell and the ground shock as the Daemon shouldered its way into the room, swinging an axe twice the size of our heroes.

“Ah, yeah, I meant to say he was following me,” the barbarian said, quietly.

“This is going to be a long level,” sighed the warlock.

 Side Quest Tight Spot

 

Side Quest is a simple to teach cooperative dungeon crawl game that requires nothing more than a pile of cards and a pair of dice. It’s small enough to fit in a pocket of a bag or coat, and plays quick enough to be squeezed in over lunch. And it can be utterly brutal! If this is a Side Quest I’m scared to see what the main quest is like…

You and your intrepid band of adventurers, featuring the usual fantasy tropes (including scantily clad females…), will run about the dungeon killing monsters, collecting items and saving maidens. There is a good variety of heroes, each with a unique ability that does make each of them satisfyingly different to play. The game also features the greatest item card ever made: Corky! Isn’t he cute!?!?!?

Side Quest Corky

Corky will hurl his tiny furry body between you and that knockout blow, nobly sacrificing himself so that you may fight on. Corky is the real hero of this game! Not you or I! *sniff* Damnit Corky we were almost out! I’m fine, it’s ok I just need to be alone for a while… COOOORRRRKYYYYYY WHY!?!?!?!

Side Quest setup

The game is built around a central row of location cards, which are initially hidden from view and need to be explored, into which, each round new monsters and items will appear from a deck you construct at the start of each level. This deck is engineered according to the instructions on a scenario card, tweaking the number of monsters and items to make the level easier/harder or shorter/longer. Giving you a nice spread of games to play, with plenty of potential for more. Once you get through the dungeon deck, the key will appear that let’s you unlock the door and complete the level. At the end of the third level is a boss to fight, defeat them to win the game! Simple right? Well…

The layout of location cards creates endless tactical problems for you. Generally you want to keep your characters bunched up to benefit from each other’s abilities, but you also want to split up to cover as much of the dungeon as you can, and the game does a very good job of making this decision as hard as possible. Items and monsters drop down wherever there isn’t already a monster (or damsel… we’ll get on to those in a minute!), and since monsters will charge towards the heroes whenever they can, that means items tend to drop far away from you (and this of course includes the exit key). Now, you can always try to loot the room you are in to get a random item from the item deck but you do not want to miss out on a good weapon because it’s on the other side of the dungeon.

Side Quest Items

Speaking of weapons, and items in general, they’ve done a very good job designing these cards. While the Great Axe is probably too useful compared to others, and the Blood Chalice is a waste of everyone’s time, all the other 20+ items are very useful. Items feel like a real boon to the party when obtained. It makes the rolls for gaining loot particularly rewarding.

Almost everything revolves around rolling dice in this game. Attacking, looting, activating spells, monster attacks all will require the clatter of those plastic random number generators. I know a lot of people dislike dice heavy games, but you’d be wrong to discount it here. The element of luck adds a delicious element of tension to proceedings that would be lacking without it. Yes, the game can be “swingey” because of them, but this can be mitigated to an extent and more importantly makes each game a roller coaster ride of emotion, from the incredible frustration when that damsel is rapidly sinking towards the lava and you just can’t roll a 4+, to the joy of pulling off that unlikely kill.

Side Quest Damsel

Ok, I’ve mentioned the damsels too much to not go into detail now. These cards are Side Quest’s ace in the hole! Slowly sinking into lava over the course of 3 turns, the damsels need to be rescued. It does raise the question of where all these ladies come from, as dungeons in this game seem crammed full of them, not to mention the monsters’ overwhelming desire to slowly lower them all into lava. Maybe it’s a trap? In game terms they really amp up the spatial element of the game I mentioned earlier. They force you to consider how you’re going to cross the dungeon quickly, which typically will require players to work together even more so than normal. Although my God! The amount of times they appear just as you’re about to complete the level is a nightmare!

When I first received the game, I missed the rule allowing monsters to attack as they move into range. Some might call that a mistake, but I prefer to call it discovering a variant. The game was still fun, but far too easy. With it, the game becomes hard as nails, which is exactly what you want from a co-op! I’ve still not managed to clear even the shorter dungeon with two heroes, though playing with 4 does make the game easier. In general, the difficulty can be a bit random (2 Demons in the first level!? Seriously!?), and unfortunately it does seem to get easier after a certain point, making the last level of a scenario a little anti-climactic.

Side Quest Monsters

The bosses, in particular, are disappointingly weak. There is a nice system whereby a set of “dungeon heart” cards are spread throughout the final level that must be destroyed before the boss can be killed. This creates a nice puzzle, again playing up to the spatial element that is the game’s strength. However, by this stage your party should have enough equipment that it’s not terribly challenging and you are generally prepared for when the boss appears at the end of the level, so that they are quickly dispatched. It is kind of rare for the boss to even get a chance to make an attack. And that’s a real shame! After the substantial challenge of surviving to this point, it ends on a bit of a whimper. I would much rather the bosses be harder to take down.

Overall, I really like Side Quest! The game is a huge challenge (particularly at lower player counts), even if the end is a little anti climatic. The core spatial puzzle is great, and the game is full of elements that make use of it, like the dungeon’s apparent damsel farm or the dungeon hearts. The selection of heroes is broad, and finding their strategies and synergies is enjoyable. On the subject of variety, there could be more types of monsters to fight, and the limited set of (admittedly characterful) location cards does make the dungeon feel like you’re fighting through an M.C. Escher sketch. But these are things that are easy to fix and the designer has told me the final game will have more than my review copy. It is very fun, very easy to teach and play, and holds enough challenge to keep you coming back for more! Now, what am I going to do with all these grateful damsels…?


Side Quest Corky closeup

Corky’s Rating: Woof!

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