Doctor of mystery from
The Guinness Book of the world's oldest science fiction TV show, airing from 1963 to the present. For those who are not familiar with the show [I might say it is incredible!!] The Doctor of Mystery [or doctor] is a humanoid alien, a time lord whose planet has been destroyed and is using a name TARDIS's time machine travels through time and space. Explore the universe and help the helpless. TARDIS looks like a blue British police box that was common in the UK when it first appeared in the 1960s. It has been a trademark of the show for many years. Dr. Mystery encountered many enemies throughout the show. The oldest and most important is the Daleks, an alien race whose sole purpose is to destroy all creatures below them. Martin Wallace, a well-known independent board game designer from the UK, took on the challenging task of recreating the atmosphere in a fairly simple card game. Let's see how the game measures its theme and its appeal as a card game.
Game overview
Although I am a huge sci-fi fan, I have seen this famous program very few. However, when I sat down to play this game, I thought of the general concept of "doctor", his time travel machine and the atmosphere that the game should have. In my opinion, I am not a hardcore fan of the game but the fact that I don't know the subject at all makes me more capable of objectively commenting on the game. Let us first understand the basics of the game:
In "Mystery Dr.: Card Game", the player plays the role of the mysterious doctor and his companions, trying to protect the position of various enemies, but they also play the "bad" role by sending enemies to attack other players. During each turn, the player will have the opportunity to perform a series of actions involving playing cards. There are four different types of cards in the game:
- position. Players will have to fight to control their position and their opponents. At the end of the game, each position is worth some victory.
- Defenders. The defender will be used to defend the player's position. There are actually four defenders, all based on Doctor Who TV series, everyone has their own defense power: Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory and River Song
- enemy. Players send enemies to their opponents and try to control them. Enemies are known as races and monsters in the monster universe, such as Daleks, Cybemen, Sontarans and Davros. Each enemy has a different attack value.
- Support card. These are allies, special gear or events that will help the player or hinder his opponent.
At the beginning of the game, each player must select a color and get 10 counters of the appropriate color [5 DALEKS and 5 TARDIS]. Daleks are used to indicate that we have placed an attacking enemy on our opponent. Location, and TARDIS is used to indicate that we have successfully protected our own location. Each player also gets a randomly selected starting position. The player with the highest starting position becomes the first player. All cards are shuffled face down. Except for the player on the right side of the first player, each card is eliminated by 5 cards, and the first player can only get two cards. There are also thirty time markers in the game, which are set by the side of the tablet.
When it is his turn, each player can play as many moves as he wants, limited to the fact that he must give the player 3 cards to the right at the end of his turn. Additional cards can be purchased using the time counter during the player's rotation, which can be obtained in a number of ways. The actions a player can take when he is at his turn are:
- Make a location card in front of him. He received some time counters displayed on the card
- Play one or more defenders in the position he has. The defense card plays face down in one position, some of which are not covered, so the value of that position is not hidden. You cannot play two or more identical Defender cards in a given location
- Play enemy cards ' places on your opponent. Compared to defenders, in general, each opponent can only place one enemy. Location [exceptions exist]. The enemy card is placed face down near the attacked position, and the attacking player places the DALEK indicator in the attacked position.
- Play a support card
- Discard one or two cards to get the time counter for each card that is discarded
- Purchase a card by paying five time counters for each person
- Place one or more cards in the protected area. Players can place up to 2 cards [face down] in the protected area to use them in subsequent rounds. Using some support cards may increase the size of the reserve
Any card that plays the player owner and the player can perform any number of the above actions is free. An action can be executed multiple times. In any case, the active player must eventually get 3 cards. have to from
Give players on their right. At the end of the player's turn, he draws 2 cards from the supply and puts them in their hands. After the first player, continue the game clockwise as usual.
The most interesting thing in the game is the battle, as long as you play the defender and enemy cards in a given position. Then reveal all the cards of the defender and the enemy and compare their power. If the defender's overall strength is equal to or greater than the attacker, the defender wins. All attackers and defenders are discarded, and the defensive player places a TARDIS counter on the location card, indicating that it is under the control of the Doctor. If the enemy wins, all defenders are discarded and the attacker must discard one or more enemy cards with a total strength less than or equal to the total strength of the defender.
When all DALEK or TARDIS counters in the game are displayed in the game or at the end of the game [the game is initially placed on the last 20 cards of the draw], the game ends. In the first case, the game ends immediately, and in the second case, the "end game" period begins, during which the player continues to take turns, but has to take a single action, they will not smoke when they are their turn brand. Of course, they won't pass the cards to the players on the right. This period ends when the player is unable to perform the operation. All players then calculate the points of victory for their position, which are not attacked, plus their enemy position with DALEK counters. The player with the most winning points is the winner.
Component
The components of the game are cards and tokens. The token is a standard cardboard and nothing special is worth commenting. However, these cards are worth mentioning because they are very beautiful and very attention to detail. The colors used in the illustrations have a game feel and all the pictures are high in detail. All cards enhance the theme of the game, and the artwork is great, really eye-catching and creating a unique atmosphere, especially the location and monster cards. The design of the components is actually nothing to be desired. 9/10
game
Often, for this "small" game, people's expectations for gameplay are not high. When I say "small", I mean having very few components and a short duration, often called a "fill" game. When a game designer manages to make a game that is complex enough and deep enough, it's really a huge achievement, attracting so little material to attract hardcore gamers while keeping the mechanics simpler and more casual. In this respect, I found Doctor Who: The Card Game is a rare gem that describes a place in everyone's game library, whether he is a Doctor Who fan, or he is a casual or hardcore gamer. The game started actively from the beginning, when everyone put down his starting position. The concept of free playing cards means that you don't have to pay as much as most drafting games, providing a fresh tone for gameplay and allowing players to develop their strategies more freely.
Each round of selection is difficult because there are 5 cards in the player's hand in each round, but 3 cards must be played to the right player. This is the core of the gameplay and the mechanics and depth of the game, and you will appreciate it. Which card should you play? Which cards should you pass? The idea of having a reserved bit is also interesting and adds depth, giving you the opportunity to set up your game in the way you want in future turns. Another aspect of the game I like is the way to resolve conflicts. Enemies and defenders are placed blindly and only when both exist in a given location. Very clever ideas, keep a suspense because you never know if you won a position until the conflict is resolved. I feel that Martin Wallace hits the nail on the head and reminds us how talented he really is! 9/10
learning curve
Although there are many interesting mechanics in the game, the rules are still very simple, as they should be used for such games. This 12-page rule book can be read in about 10 minutes [actually the rule is only 9 pages, and there are many more pictures]. The mechanics of the game may seem a bit strange at first, but after the first game, you will find it all. 7/10
theme
All aspects of the game support the theme of the game. From intuitive TARDIS and DALEK counters to roles as defenders and enemies and support cards. These locations reflect the theme of the game, some on Earth and others on the outer planet. A recent episode of a famous TV series...
Orignal From: Doctor Who: Card Games, Card Game Reviews
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