This is the sixth in a seven part series on superhero games. In this entry I’ll discuss Sentinels of the Multiverse plus expansions.
Sentinels is another favorite of ours, and once again we have a lot of expansions:
- Rook City
- Infernal Relics
- Shattered Timelines
- Wrath of the Cosmos
- Vengeance
- Villains of the Multiverse
We also have several mini-expansions: Celestial Tribunal, Final Wasteland, Omnitron IV, Silver Gulch, Guise, Scholar, Unity, Ambuscade, Checkpoint, Miss Information, and Wager Master.
In this card game you choose a Hero and you’ll play with that deck throughout the game. We usually play a two player game, so we each choose two decks. You also choose a Villain Deck and Environment Deck. The Villain goes first, then the Heroes, and finally the Environment. As you turn over or play cards, you follow the instructions on the card.
The complexity of the game depends on the Heroes, Villain, and Environment. There’s a handy chart in each rule book that tells the complexity of each Hero and Villain. For a heroic example, Legacy is a 1 (easy) and Nightmist is a 3. On the villainous side, Baron Blade is a 1 and The Matriarch is a 4. The chart also tells you who the Nemesis is for each Hero/Villain. When you play with a Hero’s Nemesis, your Hero deals more damage to the Villain, but the Villain also deals more damage to your Hero. Also, some Environment cards can actually help Heroes during the game.
If your Hero loses all his HP during the game, you’re not done playing. You flip your Hero card over and each turn you can perform one of the actions listed there. I think this is awesome. Sometimes you get unlucky and get knocked out of a game, and then there really isn’t anything for you to do but watch. I like that in this game you can still do something to help defeat the Villain.
Another cool element to this game is that even though it isn’t based on comic books, it pretends it is. Each Hero and Villain has a bio/backstory, and the Hero cards have quotes at the bottom from comics that don’t exist. It’s fun.
I always play as Wraith. I can’t help it. I love her. She’s basically a female Batman. She has cards like Utility Belt, Micro Targeting Computer, Smoke Bombs, and Trust Fund. Though my favorite is Impromptu Invention. Her deck is mostly Equipment and Ongoing cards. Even when it’s a bad idea, I play as Wraith. There are Environment and Villain cards that destroy Equipment and Ongoing cards, and it’s such a setback when that happens. I feel like using Wraith in those instances ups her complexity a bit (she’s a 1).
We like trying out different combinations of the different decks. Sometimes we get good combos and sometimes we don’t. The last time we played the Villain was just destroying us. We called the game because there were so many Villain cards out that we had no hope of destroying them all.
So like Legendary, the games can really vary, and I think that’s what we really like about both Legendary and Sentinels. That plus the co-op aspect are what keep bringing them back to our table.
In the final entry, I’ll discuss X-Men Under Siege.