Kolassal Games Ruination, Multi

Two big minuses with this one. First my biggest gameplay complaint with the game stems from the randomness of the action card draw. There are only three actions to perform, move, recruit or scavenge. BUT, on each card chosen there are different options as well as bonuses to either tracks along the top of the board…which give even more bonuses as you work your way up them. My problem is that you only see the top card of each stack so have no idea what will be revealed next and how helpful that will be for a player. Here’s an example: I notice that I am only two spaces away on the red track to gain another bastion (which are VERY valuable) so I take the only action available that gives me a red advance. The very next card gives two advances on the red track……which of course the other player takes giving them the bastion. Now, this could be construed as bad luck but in a single, two-player game, this happened multiple times and it left a really sour taste. It probably isn’t as bad with more players but when playing with only 2, it’s SUPER detrimental.My second gripe is that the vp tracker on the board is just too damn short, only going to 30 points. By the end of our first game I had lapped it once, which is expected I believe since the tracker token is meant to be flipped to keep track. BUT my wife lapped it FOUR TIMES! How do you keep track of that with a two sided token haha. Anyway, there is plenty of empty space on that board where they could have wrapped that vp tracker bar up and around both sides easily. The high score was due in large part to the Bastions and how many times you score them. Which is another aspect that I think is kind of lazy. Bastions should probably be the number ONE thing you focus on in the game. Forget battling to gain points since you score your bastions as you work your way up one of the two tracks. When end game is triggered you score bastions again THEN take another round and score bastions AGAIN. The big difference is that you gain 2 points per bastion for both end game scoring sections. Now that is totally fine except it really limits the variety of how you can win the game here. You want to win? Hold as many bastions as possible and try to get that extra scoring card that scores bastions AGAIN.Now, for the things I like about the game. I love the artwork and colors throughout. Everything looks amazing. I love the three simple actions and the depth those bring to the table especially with the extra actions on each card (just wish the track gains were a bit more balanced). I love how the battling works with each player taking a turn placing a die rolled. This creates an awesome back and forth and can change the outcome DURING the battle. Many a time I could see early on that I just wasn’t going to win the battle so instead of placing dice to try and get to that point, I instead focused my dice on ways to hinder the opponent in some way such as making them spend their blessing tokens or causing casualties. It’s alot of fun! The unique exile characters are a fun and variable inclusion as well.As for things that are neutral: the “advanced” side of each player board offers an asymmetrical playing option..BUT….it really never felt asymmetrical. The small difference between them was TOO small to make any real difference and certainly didn’t feel like I was any different, a wasted opportunity. The “Blessing” tokens, although are a nice dice mitigation tool, felt too overpowered. You basically get them for everything, you battle? Here’s a free token. You win the battle? another token. You rolled any blanks of your dice, have some more tokens. Players will build up a huge pile of these things EVEN when they are using them for mitigation. Again, this probably won’t be as big an issue in four player games as they will run out but in a two player game it felt….cheap.Bottom line, It’s alright. I WILL keep the game as I think it’s a nice alternative area control battling game to Blood Rage. They don’t have many game mechanics in common but it’s got the same weight and core mechanic. Because of this I would pull this one out when I get bored with Blood Rage. That said, I don’t like it at two players. Keen to try it out with four to see how much more I prefer it.