Finally got the game downloaded and gave it a whirl. There are a series of video tutorials included to watch and help you learn to play (totaling 450 of the 580MB download....I'm not bitter), as well as the game rules in text form that you can access at just about any time.
If you have played Arkham Horror before then you sort of have a general idea of how this plays out. Kinda. It differs in that this game is less co-op oriented. Generally you are not going to coordinate moves with the other players. There is only one winner in a game so you don't really have much reason to help other players. At least that is the impression I got from my short play so far.
You have a map with a bunch of locations and paths between all these locations. Arriving at a location will give you clue tokens in 1 of 3 colors and sometimes you get to choose which color you get. You want to collect a bunch of these because you spend them to complete quests, which are the heart of the game.
At the start of the game you will select a quest card. On it you will have a Main quest, some Side quests, and a Support quest. Completing these quests earn you victory points and the person with the most victory points at the end of the game wins. The Main quest is the big important one and usually requires a bunch of clue tokens to complete and a fight. Winning the fight can earn you extra bonuses but even losing the fight the quest will still complete. You then have some stuff happen (as indicated on the card). Games are played until a player has completed 1, 3, or 5 Main quests.
Side quests are a little bit more simple. Pay some clue tokens to earn VP, or visit a specific location to earn VP. Not much to them but doing them can help you win games.
Support quests are different. You can not complete them yourself, only the other players can complete the Support quest on your card. They are usually simple things like the side quests but you have to be in the same space as the other player to complete them. If someone completes your Support quest you earn 3VP, but they earn 6VP. So sometimes it can be a good idea to complete a Support quest when you have the opportunity.
So you travel the map completing quests, fighting monsters (dice rolling and feels a lot like Arkham), dealing with Foul Fate cards, have wounds all over the place. Seriously, most games you're constantly going to have wounds or foul fate tokens over all your abilities. But again maybe Im just new and havent figure out the "proper" way to play. Unlike Arkham I dont think there is any way for you to "die", you can always rest and remove some wounds, since wounds just restrict what moves you can make.
Anyway, its pretty cool so far. Don't know what online play is like yet because I want to get some regular games in. Start with 1 quest matches. Even they can take a while to play out.
