Hands-On Preview – Colossi
I’ve spent years reviewing video and board games and have been fortunate enough to have explored a wealth of titles from every imaginable genre. I’ve met and befriended game designers and made some incredible friends in the hobby. But for the first time ever, I have the pleasure of writing about a game designed and published by a friend I’d made before connecting with them over a review copy. With that said, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m biased about John’s work, and have personal investment and wanting to see my friend succeed. But I’m also happy to report that Colossi is a genuinely good game.
Designed by John Rudolph Drexler and self-published by his company, Catacombian, Colossi is a hand management and deck building card game for two to four players. Players each take on the role of a Colossus competing for control over various territories called Environments. Each turn players summon Acolytes, Beasts, or Fire, Water, and Electrical cards to one of the Environments in play. When enough cards have been played to a given location, it triggers a Skirmish, activating all the cards played to an Environment. Whichever player wins the Skirmish wins control of the Environment, gaining the first point of three that they need to win. The first Colossus to control three Environments wins.
“Like Smash Up and Marvel Snap!, each Environment has a modifying ability that has the potential to completely alter how played cards interact with one another. Some of these Environments, like Desert, prevent certain element cards from being played during Skirmishes, forcing players to think on their toes and adapt their strategies. Other Environments, like Badlands give a Colossus the ability to force their opponents to discard whenever a beast card is played to the Environment.
The real strength of the game design comes from the card interactions. Colossi has seven different suits of cards: water, fire, electric, beasts, acolytes, divine gifts, and colossus. Each suit has an ability that directly impacts what can be played to an Environment and how much its worth. Tactical use of these cards suits are what give players advantage over one another when contesting for control of an Environment.
Acolytes: acolytes gain three power whenever the Colossus that played them has more than their opponent.
Beasts: The three Beasts, Abduct, Pillage, and Rampage have separate abilities, all of their effects are centered around removing cards from your opponents’ hands.
Colossus: Each of the Colossi have their own abilities, all centered around score modification and playing additional cards.
Divine Gifts: Divine gift cards allow players to modify their own hand by drawing new cards form their deck or discarding unwanted ones.
Electric: Electric cards force anyone who plays a divine gift to discard either from their hand or an existing card in play before triggering the effects of the divine gift.
Fire: Fire is an excellent defensive card that blocks Beasts from being played, preventing players from being forced to discard.
Water: Water is an excellent support suit that grants additional strength to electric cards and decreases the strength of fire cards in the same location.
What I really enjoy about Colossi is that each player starts with identical decks. Unlike games that share some similar territory mechanics like Smash Up or Omen: Reign of War, Colossi‘s equal decks significantly reduce the element of luck and present a balanced game that provides tactical depth and an easy set of rules that allows players at any skill level to enjoy.
Colossi card back
Colossi is currently raising money on Kickstarter for its first production run and is just shy of its funding goal. Even better, Colossi is a completely designed game including artwork and is ready to be sent to manufacturing. Once funded, backers can expect to receive their copies this coming March. At just $30 for the core game, it’s an easy add to the WTMG Collection and I’m eager to see what the future has in store for Catacombian.