I was browsing around my local game store in mid-April, looking at all the nifty new shininess and debating what to buy, if anything, with my extremely limited budget.
On the shelf, next to Red Dragon Inn (a banner favorite in my household), was a colorful little box with Sentinels of the Multiverse in big awesome letters.
It was a superhero game. I was on a superhero kick at the moment (given the imminent release of High Lord Whedon's The Avengers), and had unconsicously decided that the world (and my game shelf) needed more superhero games. No, strike that; the world needs more good superhero games. Very few seem to measure up.
It was fixed-deck (no collecting!), which immediately boosted my opinion of the game. I refuse to buy any more games with "collectible" in the description unless I'm really into the theme; the last one I bought was the Battlestar Galacitca CCG; a fun, solid game, but I had horrible luck on card pulls, and it just couldn't compete with other CCGs. There was MechWarrior: Dark Age years ago, but I stopped playing because everyone at the tournaments could afford to spend more than I could on the game, therefore able to field the rare, extremely powerful pieces, and I had no people to play casually with. In a collectible game, tactics only take you so far. Plus, fixed deck allows for distinctive characters with their own personalities, strengths, and weakness. Deck-building games are fun and all, but I really only get into them if the theme grabs me (my wife loves the Resident Evil DBG, so that sees a lot of play in my household).
It was cooperative! Of course it should be cooperative, it's about a superhero team! Plus, the world needs more well-designed cooperative games. The big cooperative games in my house are Arkham Horror (sheer scale means it doesn't get a lot of play), Elder Sign (scratches the Arkham Horror itch while being more accessible), Pandemic (the gold standard for cooperative games?) and Yggdrasil (extremely challenging and Norse mythology FTW!). Considering my game collection takes up two whole bookshelves, more cooperative or semi-cooperative games are always appreciated, as it allows me to get people into more advanced boardgames without the "I will murder all of you and then poop in the wound!" sentiments, or having to hold back/hold hands so new players don't get absolutely destroyed.
So, with those criteria and a minor recommendation from teh store owner (whom I've done business with since his store opened), I bought SotM and Rook City, opened them, marveled at how cool everything looked, sorted, bagged, read the rules, and played that night.
Holy crap, this game is amazing. It suddenly became my goal to make sure everyone I know, gamer or not, plays SotM at least once. It soon became the staple of gaming in my household, getting more play than RDI (which, believe me, is saying something). Also, SotM is the first game I started sleeving, because we were wearing out the cards at a ridiculous pace. Seriously, one of Fanatic's cards looks like somebody chewed on it.
Then, I joined the forum. this is unusual for me; I've never been much of a forum-goer. For one, I tend to novelize when I don't need to (this post is a perfect example). Less than a week later, the announcement for the EE/IR Kickstarter went up on the old forum. I was rather frustrated; I had just bought this awesome game, and now they're funding an even better version of it! But, I got over it, and told my wife to quit shopping so bloody much because I was putting out money to get more of this awesome new game!
Not really; my exact words were: "Honey, you know that Father's Day is coming up. Could I throw in on the Kickstarter for the new Sentinels expansion? I can get the fixed version of the core game, the new expansion, and the two out-of-print promo cards!" No, my wife doesn't rule the relationship; we're an equal partnership. But a loving tone and a carefully-timed shoulder rub does wonders for my negotiating position.
So far, everyone I've introduced the game to has loved it (with one exception). It sees a lot of play; I'm not huge on solitaire Sentinels, but my wife and I often play two-heroes-each, as do any random friend that stops by. I actually had a minor bidding war when I offered my copy of the 1st ed core game up for grabs. In the end, my cousin called dibs on it, on the grounds that he's family and he was going into the Air Force. He and his wife were never really board gamers until they spent some time with us; now they own their own copy of RDI and will have a copy of SotM to play over Skype with us.
TL;DR: I bought Sentinels of the Multiverse on a complete whim (I buy a lot of my games that way), loved the hell out of it, made everyone I know play it, and told (read: begged) my wife I was putting money in on the EE/IR Kickstarter.
-CSR
and also by introducing myself.
