Monday, November 28, 2022

First steps into...Lands of Galzyr

High tension...?

Crash, bang, crunch - slaves against the charge!
Warhammer Fantasy Battles

I realised the other day that lots of the games I like (boardgames, computer games, and tabletop) are (in one way or another) focused on tension, excitement and conflict - the picture of Warhammer Fantasy Battles above being a good example. Nothing wrong with that! Many a memorable moment has been had under those circumstances...

...acts of daring do, skin-of-the-teeth escapes, high-tension searches through warrens and dark tunnels, victory (and calamity!) against overwhelming odds, and more.

However, sometimes, don't we all want a more relaxing game experience?

...or a hot cup of tea?

Credit: Shreya13jain, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Personally, I sometimes want a relaxing experience - a short experience - without conflict, to just enjoy over the course of an hour or so. Almost like a stress-free walk in the countryside.

Sound good? Then consider a stroll through the beautiful and engaging Lands of Galzyr, a new adventure board game from Sami Laakso and Seppo Kuukasjarvi at Snowdale Design.

Welcome to Galzyr

I recently managed to get my hands on a copy of Lands of Galzyr via a lucky catch on Mercari in Japan, but what is it? How do you play it? Let me share some first impressions after a few hours of gameplay.

Lands of Galzyr. Not quite so blurry in real life.

The creators explain:

'Lands of Galzyr is an adventure board game set in an open, story rich world. Acquire prestige as a cunning and ambitious adventurer by exploring the lands and by taking on challenging quests. Your actions have long-lasting consequences in the evolving and persistent game world. Your decisions affect not only the current game, but the following games as well.'

What you have then, is an overland adventure for one to four players across the countryside, towns, and cities of a beautifully-realised fantasy world. Almost best of all, this world is inhabited by anthropomorphic animals of every type, whose daily lives you will explore as a wandering animal yourself.

Speaking of adventurers, let's meet Keridai, the intellectual Northern Banded Newt whom I have chosen to explore as:

Keridai's player board.

Keridai's player board shows us he has 10 gold, which is adjusted via a wheel, three slots (bottom) for equipment, and 4 skills on his skill wheel (at right). These are indicated by these lovely solid semi-circular 'skill marks' which you slot into the board.

Keridai has skills in:

Knowledge (green x2)
Communication (light blue x1)
Perception (dark blue x1)

These skills allow you to adjust your standard dice pool (5 black dice) when you roll for skill checks. You simply swap in dice with higher-probabilities for success if you have a skill mark in the relevant skill.

You can see the custom dice that come with the game in the image below. If Keridai had to make a 'Knowledge' skill check with his two skill marks (green markers on the player board), he can swap in the two green dice (and actually an adjacent light blue dice) to replace the black standard dice. This increases your chance for success.

Lands of Galzyr custom dice

You might also notice just underneath Keridai's name two blue words - 'Scholar' and 'Swim'. These tags (and others on cards you accrue, including certain verbs) will influence your options as you adventure.

All of these variables come into play as you explore the world. Each player turn is divided into the Adventure and Calendar phases. In the former you move across the board, and then play out a 'scene'. The scene can come from a variety of situations - a quest you have in your hand, a location on the map, etc. You read and play through the scene by making choices in the 'Book of Adventures' web-app, which you can use on any internet connected device, or download to your home screen for offline use.

A land of appventure...

Uh-oh, I think I just heard some of you react (probably negatively) to the very mention of the words 'device' and 'app' (not to mention the terrible pun). However although the digital Book of Adventures is required to play don't let that put you off. It brings a lot to the (gaming) table.

A huge amount of content that just couldn't fit into a 'storybook'. Over 600,000 words?
The convenience of searching for any of the numbered scenes by just entering the number. NOT flipping backwards and forwards through a giant spiral-bound tome is a big plus IMHO.
An immersive soundtrack (really thematic!) built in...
...and, once downloaded you don't need to be connected to the internet. You can add the web app to your homescreen. You don't need to install if from an app store.

As you can see below, the interface is clean and easy to follow:

The scenes are listed at left, and the game randomizes the day.

No spoilers here! This is from the included demo story.
Notice the variety of options at the bottom.

The app is integral to the storytelling experience, and you will spend time in the app. However the quality and feel of the physical components has so far meant that I still feel engaged with the game laid out before me. I think this is due to the tactile, card-based system the game uses to represent the changing and evolving world before you, and the high quality components.

...and libraries

Like some other narrative games (e.g. 7th Continent) you will manage a large 'library' of numbered cards. These include locations, events, quests, statuses, equipment, seasons etc. As you work through the game, you are often drawing cards from the library to read, add to your character or the board, or otherwise interact with. This is not onerous, as the system is well thought out. The illustrations themselves are delightful and make each card fun to discover.

Cards: Seasons, quests (public side),
and the library.

The cards are stored in two sturdy boxes with numbered dividers, called 'The Library'. This makes it only a matter of moments to find the correct card. You'll also have cards before you on the table to be interacted with. These include public quests that form a 'notice board', an event deck that manages scenes you encounter as you travel, and of course equipment. Your character's status can also be impacted by your adventures, as 'status' cards may force you to be weakened for several days.

A piece of common equipment. Note the blue 'tag' words
and verbs (in brown) that can influence your skill checks.

Speaking of being weakened for several days, each game session plays out over the course of a week or more, depending on how many players you have. For solo, it is eight. At the end of each round you move the calendar one day forward in the app and on the board. This concept of advancing time is nicely interwoven into the game by having certain cards with timed effects. This can include the aforementioned statuses, but also companions (NPCs) who will show up in your adventures for a few days and then leave.

Land of Galzyr's in-game calendar.
Used in the application and on the gameboard.

When receiving a timed effect, you simply put a counter on the card itself and a corresponding token further along the calendar track. When the day token advances and meets the token on the calendar, that effect comes to an end. You no longer feel weakened, or the travelling companion who joined you for a few days decides to leave (along with any bonuses they brought to you while travelling together.) It makes the world feel alive yet is simple to track (and also helps reduce the clutter that some games have as you accumulate a mass of cards.)

Time - specifically the month of the year - can also affect what is happening in the world before you. Each time you play you enter a new month. On once occasion, I was instructed to replace one of the city cards with a slightly different one, which included a scene for a festival held in that city only in that month. Naturally, I made a beeline for it to join in the fun. Added to that, the board is double-sided with summer and winter designs.

The Lands of Galzyr in summer.

Keridai visits Arhin. (Not a spoiler - cities and towns are
placed on the board at the start of the game.) Notice the locations
with scene numbers.

There is a lot more that could be said, including about the excellent component quality, the simple save system allowing you to carry the world forward seamlessly from game to game, or the beautiful and evocative soundtrack. As you can tell, far too much to include in my initial impressions here.

In summary, I'm looking forward to exploring Lands of Galzyr further in a leisurely fashion and just enjoying the story and adventures that come before Keridai as he traverses the world. What will he find?

Congratulations to Sami Laakso and Seppo Kuukasjarvi at Snowdale Design, as well as everyone who has contributed to the game. A special shout out to the composer Joash Kari for the nearly 2 hours of accompanying music, which you can find in the game, on YouTube, and available for purchase via the composer.

Thanks for reading.

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Iron Helm - Dipping a toe into Print and Play

Just one more job

Iron Helm, a solo game by Grey Gnome games, has garnered a very good reputation among solo gamers as an enjoyable adventure. It has lovely retro art, a choice of older adventurers looking to pull off 'one more job' (as an older adventurer myself, there is obvious appeal!), and difficult choices to make at every junction...

...but new copies are basically only available from The Game Crafter, a print-on-demand website for games. Unfortunately, this doesn't work for me right now. I say this not because I have anything against that website or business choice. Put simply, with the current exchange rates and shipping (at of Nov. 2022), the base game (and add in an expansion or two) becomes a bit out of my reach.

A core set of components (base game and 4 add ons) on the Game Crafter would cost $86.95 before shipping of $21.15, for a total of $108.10. (Ebay is similar, often with more expensive shipping). Just to be clear, for that price you are getting an excellent game, with good production values, a very sturdy box, and a huge amount of replayability.

So, what to do?

Enter 'Print and play'. The idea is simple: pay a small amount, unlock and download a PDF file, and print locally, even on your home printer. Then cut out the components, and away you go - theoretically at a huge saving over the full game, while getting the same core experience (even if not professionally-made components.)

Fortunately Iron Helm is available in a pnp format. The creator, Jason Glover, has made the game available on the 'PnP Arcade' website: https://www.pnparcade.com/. There are 6 different PDF downloads available, each for a very reasonable price.

Iron Helm (base game.) $5
Loot & Lore Pack $2
Adventure Pack 1: Warren of Despair $2
Adventure Pack 2: Blackened Burrow $2
Adventure Pack 3: Crystal Caverns $2
Adventure Pack 4: Galnok's Labyrinth $2

Total: $15

Note that while this list does not equal the full amount of components on Gamecrafter (you'll find additional adventure packs there, although perhaps those will also be PnP in the future?). Mr. Glover has also posted some other free downloads on the Grey Gnome website (including the game mat files.)

Compare these two options (physical v. PnP), and that is a theoretical saving of about 93 USD, 'not including parts and labour'...read on to hear more about that.

Which door will you choose?

With this info in hand, I decided to take a first, hesitant step into the world of PnP. Was it really as easy as getting the files (saving a lot of money), busting out a pair of scissors, and enjoying a game?

Well...

...no!

However, that depends on how far you take the PnP experience.

Keep it really simple? Cut out the paper, stick front to back, and play?
A middle-ground? Print in black/ white, cut out the paper, insert into sleeves, with a single loose playing card in the middle to stiffen?
Bling it up a bit to get closer to the printed game experience? Print in colour, cut out, glue onto stiffeners, insert into sleeves.

I decided on the final option, and that meant a weekend of gathering materials, (struggling with) printing, cutting, and sticking!

After watching some videos to get some info (absolutely essential research!), I decided to avoid playing with just bits of paper, and shoot more for an actual playing card experience, with sleeved cards that have a bit of heft.

This involved:

Printing:

A4 label paper. (Purchased 2 packs, total = 2,240 Yen/ 16 USD today.)
Home inkjet printer (owned)

Cutting:

Craft knife, or roller-cutter (owned).
Metal ruler - to guide cuts (owned).
Cutting mat - tape cardboard together if you don't have one (owned).

Sticking:

1~2 old decks of old playing cards - which your family won't miss! (owned). I stuck a single playing card to each PnP card, sandwiching that between the front and back. Steady hands and patience are a must here...(I have neither.)
Optional: Spray glue (aerosol glue.) If not using label paper this is a great way to evenly stick paper together (Purchased x1 = 110 yen)

Sleeving:

I use 'penny sleeves'. You can get packs of 100 of these in most dollar stores ('100 Yen shops') in Japan. Larger stores will often have a wide range of sizes and style: loose fit/ tight fit, soft/ hard, matte on one side, etc. (owned)

Cost: (approx.)

PnP purchases: 980 JPY = 7 USD (Core game + Loot & Lore pack)
Colour copying: 750 JPY = 5.36 USD (x15 @ 50 yen each)
Glue spray: 110 JPY = 0.78 USD (70 ml x1)
A4 label paper: 2,240 JPY = 16 USD (x2 packs of 20, approx)

Total: 4,080 JPY (approx. 29.14 USD)

Not included:

Printer ink: I didn't finish mine, but a new set for my printer is about 35.00 USD. I'll certainly means I'll have to buy more soon.
My time: Researching, buying, printing (and experimenting), cutting, sticking, tidying up, collating etc. took multiple hours over a weekend.

Hints for success

Here are some lessons from my first foray into PnP - learned the hard way:

1. Planning and gathering materials:

Buy more paper than you think you need. You'll want to print a test page or two for a dry run, and if you are like me, you'll print on the wrong side of the label paper at least once. Also, working out printer settings can be a chore (resulting in more lost paper as you try to get the size right.)
Use a 'dry run' to work out your process. With a bit of thought you can streamline the process to do multiple cards at once, or learn the best order in which to make you cuts etc.
Don't buy pre-formatted sticky label paper. This has different sizes/ cuts (e.g. for business cards, labels etc.). Just get the full A4 size sheets without perforations etc.
Cutting mats can be home-made. If you don't have one you can tape layers of cardboard together to make a thick cutting surface. This should survive making one PnP game, and can then be recycled. Make sure you make it really flat though...
Playing card colours. If you are going to sandwich these into your home-made cards, think about the colours and design of the playing cards. Will they show through? Think about what you are comfortable with and plan accordingly. Your grimdark card game doesn't feel quite so serious with the Little Mermaid peeking through at you...
Spray glue is your friend. Depending on where you live, this can be expensive and you need to plan for using it in a well-ventilated space. You don't want to get this stuff in your kitchen or office.
Compromise for peace of mind. In some games, tokens are an essential part of gameplay for tracking various statuses. Iron Helm has lots of them. For a print and play they can be really fiddly - small, time-consuming to cut and glue. Do you need them? Can alternatives be used? A trip to the dollar store can provide beads, dice or other items that can be used to track health, gold, encumbrance etc.

For 3 USD, these beads can be used for health, energy,
or anything where a cube is needed (use the letter cubes. e.g. 'G' for gold)

2. Printing:

Do a 'dry run' to check how things work before committing to a particular method.
Always print test pages and check the sizes. e.g. Many US PDFs are in 'Letter' size, and you may not have this kind of paper where you are. Don't print everything at once until you have this sorted out!
A home inkjet printer is fine but... don't expect perfectly deep blacks. Be realistic about the results. If you have a cheap inkjet printer, you might get 'banding' and not entirely uniform blacks. Are you OK with that?
Do expect to use a lot of ink. Depending on the amount of content in the PnP (in Iron helm, this is at least 30 sheets of cards and tokens.) you could really burn through your ink cartridges. This is one of the main 'hidden' costs of PnP, depending on what level of professionalism you are looking for.
Don't forget the convenience store. If you want a more professional look consider the excellent quality that industrial copy machines have. In Japan, almost every convenience store has one of these. The cost can be worth it for a more professional look, however x1 A4 colour page is 50 JPY. Not cheap! A compromise is to use this for some components or sheets only (e.g. that are mainly black, or that you will use a lot).

3. Cutting:

A paper cutter with guide rails is ideal for doing high-quality cuts for large numbers of cards. However, if you aren't going to do a lot of PnP it can be a comparatively large additional investment (12 ~30 USD) for one game. But, it is much faster, more convenient, and accurate than a craft knife. (Especially if cutting multiple sheets at once.) You can get really cheap ones, but they often don't have large guide rails to ensure accurate cuts, or lack some other useful feature.

4. Sticking:

Playing cards really up the game. I stuck a single playing card to each PnP card, sandwiching that between the front and back. This acts as a stiffener and makes the cards feel much better in the hand and easy to use and play with. Watch out though - steady hands and patience are a must here...(I have neither!) As above, do a 'dry run' to check how things work before committing to a particular method.

The adventure begins...

After a weekend cutting and sticking, I ended up with a final result that I am really happy with and excited to use. The cards are more than good enough to play with, and with the playing cards as a stiffener and the penny sleeves these should last me a good long time.

I hope you enjoy the photos below! Thanks for reading.