YORKTON - There are games reviews which are super simple to write – those games you love, or the rare one that are flops – the two ends of the spectrum being contusive to appropriate verbiage.
Then there are games that when it comes to writing a review you stare at the computer screen and struggle for just where to go.
Welcome to Genesis: Battle of Champions a game with something of a checkered history.
According to Board Game Geek the collectible card game was created in 2017.
“When Assad successfully managed to launch his game in a few select stores in Ontario during 2017, he had ambitious goals. He wanted Genesis: Battle of Champions to offer fans of collectible card games the same satisfying experience of collecting cards and building unique decks to play with, while also incorporating the physical and tactical board experience found in Chess,” explained Jason Malott President at Edge of Exile Entertainment Inc, the new manufacturer of Genesis
In April of 2023 a sudden and unexpected announcement that Haunted Castle Gaming - the original manufacturers of Genesis: Battle of Champions - were immediately shutting down operations, and would be ceasing to produce products for Genesis: Battle of Champions, seemed like it would be the death of the game.
In the end, in May 2023, the people behind a brand new company that would effectively resurrect Genesis: Battle of Champions
The game’s rebirth is now among a wave of CCG/TCG games trying to woo players, and there are reasons this game – Canadian created as a bonus is worth a long look . . . but.
And the but here is a big one, so we’ll get back to that in a bit.
Malott noted a taste of chess here, and I suppose you can make that leap. It is likely more comparable in terms of mechanics – the placement of cards to a 5x6 grid, and their movement on that grid to the fine Onitama, or The Duke/Centurion from Catalyst Games.
You also get the feel of a miniature game – think Aisteia from Corvus Belli, which is a definite positive.
In a game reminding of a mini battle -- you have a champion and it summons allies to its side -- you can imagine creatures are a must, and since you draw a single card per turn run short on them and you are likely in trouble.
“Our unique element of summoning creatures onto a grid is undeniably the best element of our game. We constantly hear feedback from our players that Genesis: Battle of Champions is the game that they had wished other games could have been in the past. Several companies have tried to introduce tactical game play into their other games, but we believe that our game's design will always remain steps above any of our competition thanks to the unique game play our system offers player,” said Malott.
Interestingly, you start with a finite pool of ‘aura’ the resource used so summon creatures or play spells. Initially it was expected that it being finite mean a core need to manage the pool well, but games seem to end before you need to ration the resource.
Malott also noted, “our game employs a unique points based system in which every card in the game has been rated on a power scale, and that rating is printed on every single card. Build your 50 card deck while using up to a maximum of 250 "Chi" (the name used for the points in our power ranking system) without any limits on how many copies of your favorite cards that you can include in your deck! Most of our competitors in the industry utilize a rule that restricts players to only including a maximum of four copies of any card in their deck, so with Genesis, the deck-building options are far more diverse.”
Onto the art here – with the caveat art is very much subjective to individual tastes – is excellent fantasy style with Genesis.
At this point it seems like a winner – and certainly the foundation of a CCG about that average exists with Genesis.
The ‘but’ arises when you go online to learn to play -- there’s no rule book in a starter deck just a little ‘cheat card’.
The very basic game rules are nicely encapsulated in videos at genesisbattleofchampions.com but there are key words not on the cheat card ‘decay’ for example and then it’s onto the cellphone to try and find what it does.
Creatures and spells are effective only in some squares of a 3x3 grid around the creature of caster, easily seen on the card – but wait at least one card in a starter sheet –Dhuma Ejitr -- where the grid is missing. Back online trying to find the answer.
Then the champion Suttir card has it doing one point damage on one line and three on another. More confusion. More online searching and mounting frustration.
And therein lies the problem here, a game with so much going for it in terms of foundational game ideas, ends up creating a sour taste because of the glitches we had to go searching answers to.
We are carrying on with the original vision and goals for the game that Assad began with.
To offer a game that provides a more fun play experience than our competitors, while remaining at a more affordable financial point of entry for new players. It is our objective to provide an extremely fun collectible card game that everyone can afford to play and enjoy for years to come.
It is difficult not to recommend at least a couple of pre-constructed starter decks to try this one, but beware, you will face some frustrating moments in learning this one.
