#Hard west board game series#

About halfway through the game I was able to equip a royal flush onto my main party member, and its bonus was something akin to a measly +50 luck, +2 range. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the card bonuses are relatively pointless. I was excited at the prospect of really trying to figure out and weigh balances as I hand out cards to each member of my party to get the best I can. Give a player a pair of kings and they might have a slightly longer vision cone, but give that player a straight flush and they might have more health. Out in the world, you can collect playing cards that can grant you bonuses to characters that I loved the idea of. I like having persistent story, injuries or problems that can weave into the shooting aspect as another thing to think about. These are interesting gameplay mechanics that I think can open up the world of Hard West and future TBS (turn-Based strategy) games.

Perhaps you have enough money to pay for a map to some treasure, granting you new guns or equipment that might help you in the strategy portion, or you end up going down the wrong path and get injured leaving your character with less health for your next mission. Outside of all the shooty bits, is an overworld where you travel to different locales and interact with locals or the environment to piece through the story. You will take turns playing through chapters as either the father or son and seeing what each group is getting up to, until their stories cross again. Hard West tells the tale of a Father and Son who start off the game a duo beleaguered by bad luck and misfortune, but end the game at odds. A game I knew I was eventually going to play, once I got around to it, and one that I assured myself I would love, because its wild west XCOM. A game that mentally used to sit in my mind as wild west XCOM. However, this is not a review of XCOM, but rather of Hard West. Even if I haven't played them (or beaten them) I am a sucker for these games and can buy them usually sight unseen if I know it is going to be a turn based strategy game. Fire Emblem, Wargroove, Empire of Sin, the list goes on. Those games, while not perfect have spawned a love for the turn based strategy game that I have then carried elsewhere. I played that game to death (eventually getting all achievements), only to then be wowed by X-COM 2 war of the chosen. It combined both my love of board games and video games together, but it also allowed me to think through my actions before having anything happen. It quickly became one of my favorite games, and then spawned a love for a genre I foolishly ignored for most of my life. No where was that more clear when I first played the X-COM remake for the 360. Perhaps it is because I am a slow old man, but I like being able to take my time, plan what I am going to do and then execute. I learned that as I got older, I have found that my favorite genres are more cerebral instead of fast action. Check out previous blog entries for other games.

#Hard west board game series#

This is an ongoing series where I attempt to play and complete every game ever to determine where it ranks all time.