Hi all,
I am excited about getting the game and trying it out with my daughter and wife.
Does anyone have a suggestion for a good hero for a kid to play?
I know that my daughter will want to play a girl.
I see that Wraith is the only female complexity one character. Do people think she is the best choice? Other ideas?
Thanks!
My gf likes to play Tempest he can do almost everything(healing,damage, destroy, on-going cards) and is pretty simple to learn.
Also since Tempest's gender isn't set your daughter can still play it.
Wraith is still a pretty good choice, throws down 1-2 equipment cards to start dealing damage. Most of the cards are straightforward for her.
Would avoid Abosolute Zero and Vissionary for first time as they are more complex IMO.
I think Wraith is the best choice for a first-time playing child who wants to play as a girl.
After she gets the hang of it, I'd recommend Tachyon or Expatriette.
After that, it's all choice.
I agree, I have played with a couple of younger girls (whoa… that sounds creepy) and they both enjoy Wraith. She is pretty badass and still girly (dresses up for social events, uses a hair dryer as a weapon, etc.) and pretty straight forward to play.
My 13-year-old daughter loves playing Unity best. She's pink, she has cute pets. It's a natural.
Among the female heroes, I think Tachyon edges out Wraith for easiest to play.
Wraith ends up with lots of gear in front of her, which can be really fun and her strategy is straightforward. It might be frustrating if you pick an environment or villain with lots of equipment destruction. And her "search your deck" cards and deck scouting require an understanding of the different decks. You can kind of avoid those, but they're some of Wraith's best cards.
Tachyon's complexity comes from mechanics that refer to cards in her trash. She's mostly got one-shots and a couple straightforward ongoings. She's fun because she plays a lot of cards and can perform some really impressive moves with big damage late in the game. The only other thing is her base power lets her look at the top card of her deck, and either discard it or leave it there so you have to be able to make quick judgements about what cards you want.
Yeah I'll second Tachyon. All you really need to know with her is "bursts in trash = good" and you're off.
Yeah, personally I would give a young girl Tachyon... kids can have shorter attention spans and Tachyon gets to do a lot more than other heroes. Also her trash mechanic is really simple... overal one of the best characters.
Also as said Tempest can pass for male or female but gives a new player an insane toolbox of damage, healing, prevention, control, etc.
Have fun!
I simply said Wraith because she's a level 1 hero.
Otherwise yes, I'm totally in favor of Tachyon, but that might just be because she's my favorite.
1st- Young Legacy.
Then Tachyon or Expatriette :)
I'm going to vote for The Wraith. She's more consistent than Tachyon, who is heavily dependent on not having a damage penalty. Also, there are fewer decisions about what cards to discard and the like with her.
I think Wraith is also a good choice for your daughters first play. And then if she enjoys the deck control aspect of wraith more than dealing damage, maybe try Visionairy next. If not then go to Ex-Pat or Tachyon.
I totally agree with Young Legacy. If you don't have the actual promo, print it off from BGG. When my daughter is ready (she's only 4, but LOVES daddy's board games, so soon… soon), she'll play Young Legacy first.
Something tells me a kiddo who wants to play a lady would: 1. Not classify Tempest as a feminine character (regardless of the genderless status of Tempest) 2. Not wanna play Young Legacy if all of her cards had her big, beefy dad on them. Just a guess, though. They're actually two of my favorites (but I'm a 22 year-old guy, so that really doesn't help you much), but in my experience kids want to play characters in games that are their own gender.
The point is that Wraith or Tachyon would probably be up her alley. I think Tachyon is a bit easier to grasp than The Wraith, but they're both awesome. They're great role models, too! A business person and a super scientist (and they both wear comfortable shoes and don't show off an excessive amount of skin) who fight for truth, justice, and fun times around the table!
Visionary is a support character, Unity has to break her own cards to play more cards (don't know if that would appeal to a kiddo, but the Golems are awesome!), Expatriette fires off Guns (she might like it, you might not. Depends on your attitude about kids with guns.), Nightmist is very complicated and uses her HP as a weapon (I don't know your daughter, but I think I would be a bit upset if my character had to hurt themselves to do stuff if I played this when I was younger).
In order, from first to last, I'd go with: Tachyon, The Wraith, Expatriette, Visionary, Unity, Nightmist.
Is there a reason Fanatic is not included?
Also I am guessing since he just got the game, I am going to assume he only has the core.
So I am guessing he only has Tachyon, Wraith, Fanatic and Visionary.
Snap! I completely forgot about her! I feel foolish now...
Fanatic is awesome. She's got wings, a big sword, and some awesome plays that aren't too complex. Let me revise that list...
Tachyon, The Wraith, Fanatic, Expatriette, Visionary, Unity, Nightmist.
Thanks for the heads up! My bad.
I'll say no to Wraith. I've had new players completely paralysed because they don't know which equipment to play.
Tachyon gets my vote for first time player.
I played Wraith in my first game and thought she was really cool, so I played her in the next few games too. Once I actually got hold of the game myself, a few months later, I started playing other characters and have now played as everyone at least once or twice. I think Tachyon, while easy to play, can have trouble if any kind of damage soak comes in, unless her own damage is buffed to prevent it. Still, you get to play a zillion cards most turns, and can do the multi-Lightspeed Barrage combo to either finish off or severely wound the villain :). On the other hand, Wraith can pretty much always do something useful - deal damage, remove an annoying ongoing/environment card, heal herself, mess up the villain by deciding which card they get to play next, etc. She's a bit like a female Tempest, really, but with a bit less constant damage.
You didn't say how old your daughter is or what kind of level she's on in terms of finding stuff complicated, etc. So maybe try her on one of those two (or even a different one, if you prefer ;)) first and if she doesn't like it, just switch to a different one in the next game :D.
Hi all,
Thanks for all the great responses. My daughter is 7, so a bit on the young side, but she is a good reader and plays a lot of games with Dad. But easy is defiantly best at least at first.
I currently have the two expansions and I have Enhanced Edition preordered. No Unity yet, but I did the Kickstarter so I should get that in March. My current plan is to start with the base game and Infernal Relics. I will add some of Rook City later.
I will probably give her the choice of Wraith or Tachyon, and maybe Young Legacy and/or Fanatic.
While we are at it any suggestions for my wife? She will also want to play a girl, but she would be more willing to buy Tempest is unisex then my daughter would be.
That's a good point. It would be cool if >G put out a promo deck that was the exact same as Legacy's, but with alternate images for Pauline.
That would be amazing.
Fanatic can sometimes fall in teh same range as Nightmist, because a lot of her power comes from Sacrificing her own Hp. if your stingy with your Hp you loose a lot of power with her, which can be difficult for younger ones to realize. but she is a blast too.
If your wife is anything like mine she'll head straight for Fanatic and never look back. Although Tempest is also a good choice.
Maybe they have Young Legacy in Vengeance who knows. Since I doubt they will introduce the Vengeful Five and not have the matching nemesis Heroes. (I mean they could create another Legacy Deck or just make a more mature Young Legacy deck) 
Edit: Vengeful Five not Vengeance Five.
Fanatic is definitely a popular hero amongst the girls in my group, though they're around 19-21. Still, I'd offer her Fanatic and/or Nightmist (the other popular one).
Nightmist is pure Caviar, a good choice for the wife. Basically she can do anything, but needs a little luck/skill to be effective. That said she has a tendency to outlive other heroes, despite the idea that she harms herself a lot.
Maybe "dad" should play a female character too, because there are plenty of cool female characters to go around.
Tachyon is easily one of my absolute favorites. And we're both blondes that like pretty ladies. It's a match made in Heaven.
Tempest is a great character with a beautiful backstory, so I recommend him/her regardless of gender. I think I could say that about any of the heroes in this game, to be honest.
Is your wife into stories? I suggest you do with her what we do in our group when new people get into the game: Hand her the rulebook and point her to the bios. If she's curious about how the character plays, there is plenty of info here. I just know that a lot of the fun I had was understanding the characters on a thematic level and seeing how their mechanics reflected that.
March is possible, but in case you don't know, May is the announced date. Don't want anyone to be dissappointed if we don't get things in March, just pleasantly surprised if we do.
My wife likes tachyon (her favorite) and is not particularly fond of Fanatic from what I can tell. Which is weird I guess, cause I love Fanatic and am not particularly fond of Tachyon.... In Fanatic's case, you don't *have* to sacrifice her HP to be effective. I don't (or do it only in rare instances) and I feel she plays pretty well. Even though it seems almost "suggested" that you play her that way, in my experience she plays better if you ignore the self-mutilation aspect.
Personal preferences aside, I would reccommend almost any hero.. Maybe not Absolute Zero to a child, but other than that, they should have fun playing any of them. Different people have different preferences, so I'm a fan of the "pick the hero that you feel looks the coolest" approach. Looks matter a lot to a kid, heck they matter a lot to *me* (gosh I'm so shallow when it comes to games). Chances are that if your daughter likes what she sees in the pictures, she's going to like the character, no matter how their deck plays.
Case in point: my first game I picked Tempest on the basis of "he looks awesome" and many games and 2 expansions later he's still probably my favorite. My other favorite is Fanatic, who, incidentally, was my second choice of hero in the first game (in case somebody else wanted Tempest).
My wife's favorite character is Haka :)
LoL you are correct May. I knew that. No worries.
I almost suggested Haka for his daughter if she wants to play a guy… he is just a big fun bull in a china shop.
Of the core set characters, I think Tachyon would be my bet for female character for a 7 year old to play. Her complexity is turn based, and doesn't require set up over multiple turns (like the Wraith). While Fanatic is awesome, she reuqires you to use your HP and that's hard for a lot of adults, let alone kids. Visionary is clearly awesome, but pretty complex for a kid. Young Legacy is also a good choice, but the point was made that all of her cards have "Dad" Legacy on them which would less fun for a kid.
If we're not confined to the core set, I think Unity is a good second choice thematically (pink, pets, etc) but not being able to play golems and needing to remember a lot of strat of turn/end of turn effects is a little complicated for a 7 year old.
As for your wife, all of the female characters are BA. I guess it just depends on her prefered play style. Not knowing her, I would recommend The Wraith - very versatile character (does a lot of damage, control, some healing, etc), she feels like Batman which is a very well known and comfortable pop culture trope, and, though there is strategy involved, she's simple enough to get sucked in and start reading her flavor text, etc.
I say that in that game, you should play Fanatic or Expatriette and then fight Citizen Dawn. I get a feeling your 7 year old will like Citizen Summer et al.
Hi all,
Just thought I would give an update. First of all this game is awesome. I have greatly enjoyed playing solo and with my daughter.
My wife has played a few times, but she says the game is not for her.
The first try with my daughter, wife, and I was a disaster. To many distractions, my wife not likening it, my daughter wandering around, I was afraid it was a bust.
But after that it has been great. Usually my daughter plays one character and I play two.
Charecters she likes: All of the girls, but Visionary is her favorite.
She is always asking to play, and she likes picking the heroes, the villain, and the environment.
Some observations:
I can't handle 4 heroes solo. I have tried, but it is to difficult for me. When, my daughter plays I need to keep the entire game state going, so we still play with just 3 heroes.
Omnitorn is tough. My record against him is like 3-4. Perhaps I have been unlucky, but he is a lot harder then Baron Blade for me. We are like 5-0 against Baron Blade.
We have beaten every Villan at least once except the Matriarch and the Ennead.
The game works well for stoping in the middle. When it is bedtime or dinner we just leave it out and continue latter.
Thanks to all. We have had a blast!
So happy to hear that you like it! I'm glad your daughter likes it, too. The Matriarch and The Ennead are mighty opponents, so it's definitely understandable that you're having trouble. Visionary is great against Omnitron (Wrest the Mind on an Electropulse Explosive is VERY satisfying), and deck manipulation can GREATLY improve your chances against it.
If you're having trouble soloing four heroes, I recommend downloading Mezike's spreadsheet. If you have a laptop, you can keep track of HP for the heroes and the villain on it, and have less stuff overall to fuss with.
My girlfriend's favorite characters to play are Wraith and Fanatic, in that order. I don't know about you, but she hates it when she feels like she's not contributing to the damage total. Those two have been her go-to good gals.
I have also played with a friend's younger sister(s), and they seemed to favor Fanatic and Tachyon. Nothing too fancy, but able to really do some damage and fun to work with. Hope this helps! :)
I think Tachyon can mechanically be confusing for a child, but I could see a child loving her personality and sense of humor.