2016 English First Edition (*Review/Demo copy provided)
Published by: Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG)
# of Players: 2 to 5
Published by: Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG)
# of Players: 2 to 5
Fantahzee brings you into a world where monsters are trying to take over a town. Waves of hordes will be fighting their way into town, demolishing everything in their way and it is up to you and the other players to stop them. Each player will assemble a team to battle these evil forces. The player who is the most successful at wiping out this scourge will be declared the town's hero and win the game. Do you have the skill to assemble an elite team that will work together and be strong enough to wipe out this evil horde? If you think you can assemble and utilize your team to their potential, then you may be ready for Fantahzee: Hordes & Heroes. Before you go off and start bringing the pain to evil, I invite you to read along as I give you my take on Fantahzee by AEG.
Components
AEG has a great track record with great visuals in their games. Fantahzee shows that reputation is still fully intact. I really enjoyed the cartoon fantasy style of the game. Every thing is very colorful, but also easy to read and understand. The rule book is very well constructed and provides details on how to play and shows colorful examples. The cards are thick and have a glossy coating which will handle lots of playing. The box is very thick and colorful, but what is inside makes the difference. Inside contains an excellent insert that provides space for everything in the game and an area for future expansions. The game also comes with a dice bag to hold the dice. The dice themselves are the one component that is a disappointment. The dice are lightweight plastic and feel cheap. Though disappointing, the quality of the dice is a minor issue and does not detract from an otherwise well put together game.
AEG has a great track record with great visuals in their games. Fantahzee shows that reputation is still fully intact. I really enjoyed the cartoon fantasy style of the game. Every thing is very colorful, but also easy to read and understand. The rule book is very well constructed and provides details on how to play and shows colorful examples. The cards are thick and have a glossy coating which will handle lots of playing. The box is very thick and colorful, but what is inside makes the difference. Inside contains an excellent insert that provides space for everything in the game and an area for future expansions. The game also comes with a dice bag to hold the dice. The dice themselves are the one component that is a disappointment. The dice are lightweight plastic and feel cheap. Though disappointing, the quality of the dice is a minor issue and does not detract from an otherwise well put together game.
Gameplay
Fantahzee is mix of many mechanics. The main essence of Fantahzee is that you assembling a team of up to 5 heroes and rolling dice to activate them. Once activated they will combine their strength to defeat monsters in the 5 horde stacks. Monsters will have a chance to counterattack you and also ambush you for damage. Defeating monsters awards experience points and treasure. After 3 boss monsters have been defeated, the game will be over and whoever has the most experience points wins the game.
At the start of the game, 5 stacks of hordes will be placed in the center of the table. To the left of the stacks will be the hero deck and to the right of the stacks will be the town cards. The horde stack that is closest to the town cards is called the Vanguard. If left undefeated after a player takes their turn, that player must take a town card that may have a negative impact and also symbolizes part of the town being destroyed. Monster cards come in 3 forms. Level 1 monsters, Level 2 monsters, and boss monsters. Each stack will have 1 boss monster mixed with the level 2 monsters. 6 level 1 monsters will be placed on top of each of the stacks to form 12 cards in each stack. A monster card shows it's strength to defeat it in the upper left corner. A player must meet or exceed the strength to defeat that monster. In the upper hand corner is an icon that shows the level of the monster. A 1 or 2 treasure icons may be shown in the bottom left corner to show a reward for defeating a monster. The bottom right corner shows how much experience you get from defeating the monster. Under the picture is the name of the monster and any abilities that it may have. I will explain those later on.
Fantahzee is mix of many mechanics. The main essence of Fantahzee is that you assembling a team of up to 5 heroes and rolling dice to activate them. Once activated they will combine their strength to defeat monsters in the 5 horde stacks. Monsters will have a chance to counterattack you and also ambush you for damage. Defeating monsters awards experience points and treasure. After 3 boss monsters have been defeated, the game will be over and whoever has the most experience points wins the game.
At the start of the game, 5 stacks of hordes will be placed in the center of the table. To the left of the stacks will be the hero deck and to the right of the stacks will be the town cards. The horde stack that is closest to the town cards is called the Vanguard. If left undefeated after a player takes their turn, that player must take a town card that may have a negative impact and also symbolizes part of the town being destroyed. Monster cards come in 3 forms. Level 1 monsters, Level 2 monsters, and boss monsters. Each stack will have 1 boss monster mixed with the level 2 monsters. 6 level 1 monsters will be placed on top of each of the stacks to form 12 cards in each stack. A monster card shows it's strength to defeat it in the upper left corner. A player must meet or exceed the strength to defeat that monster. In the upper hand corner is an icon that shows the level of the monster. A 1 or 2 treasure icons may be shown in the bottom left corner to show a reward for defeating a monster. The bottom right corner shows how much experience you get from defeating the monster. Under the picture is the name of the monster and any abilities that it may have. I will explain those later on.
A player will have up to 5 cards in their hand at the start of their turn. These cards are from the hero deck and contain hero and action cards. Action cards are one time use cards that provide a bonus for that player's turn. Hero cards are different characters that can be added to your team to help fight the evil horde. Your team can only have 5 heroes at any given time. The hero's strength is in the upper left corner and their hero type is in the upper right hand corner of the card. Warriors, Mages, and Artificers are currently the only 3 types of heroes in the game. The bottom of each hero card shows what dice are required to activate the hero. Some heroes have abilities and will the text will explain how that ability works.
Each player takes separate turns going clockwise. This will keep going till 3 boss monsters have been defeated and each player has had an equal number of turns. Each turn consists of 4 phases. The first phase is the action phase. During this phase, you will be able to recruit up to 2 heroes to your party. This is done by playing a hero card from your hand and adding it your team in front of you. If your party already has 5 heroes, you must first discard a hero before adding the new one. During the action phase you can also play up to 2 action cards to help during this turn. After the turn is over they will go to the discard pile. The next phase is the dice phase. During this phase you will take 5 dice and roll them. You will have the option to reroll any number of dice up to 2 times like in Yahtzee. You will use the dice to activate the heroes in your party and activate any abilities they may have. Each hero has different dice requirements and some can be activated from steam. Steam is earned from the abilities of other activated heroes. The goal for your party is to build an engine that requires the least amount of dice rolling luck, the ability to activate all 5 members, and have a lot of strength. Once you have activated your heroes, you will total up their strength and choose which monsters to defeat. Each horde stack has one face up monster on top. If you defeat the top monster on a stack, you have the option to reveal the next one and attack it, but it must be your next target and if you can not defeat it, you will stop for the turn. After you have finished defeating monsters, you will total up the counterattack from the monsters you have defeated this turn. You will take damage equal to their strength. Characters may have shield values which lower the enemy's strength. You must discard heroes based on the cards strength till you meet or exceed the strength of counterattack. After that has been resolved you will claim any treasure from monsters you defeated. Each treasure card has a level 1 ability and level 2 ability. Which level you get to attach to an activated hero is based on the treasure icon from the defeated monster. Each hero can only have 1 treasure card attached.
Each player takes separate turns going clockwise. This will keep going till 3 boss monsters have been defeated and each player has had an equal number of turns. Each turn consists of 4 phases. The first phase is the action phase. During this phase, you will be able to recruit up to 2 heroes to your party. This is done by playing a hero card from your hand and adding it your team in front of you. If your party already has 5 heroes, you must first discard a hero before adding the new one. During the action phase you can also play up to 2 action cards to help during this turn. After the turn is over they will go to the discard pile. The next phase is the dice phase. During this phase you will take 5 dice and roll them. You will have the option to reroll any number of dice up to 2 times like in Yahtzee. You will use the dice to activate the heroes in your party and activate any abilities they may have. Each hero has different dice requirements and some can be activated from steam. Steam is earned from the abilities of other activated heroes. The goal for your party is to build an engine that requires the least amount of dice rolling luck, the ability to activate all 5 members, and have a lot of strength. Once you have activated your heroes, you will total up their strength and choose which monsters to defeat. Each horde stack has one face up monster on top. If you defeat the top monster on a stack, you have the option to reveal the next one and attack it, but it must be your next target and if you can not defeat it, you will stop for the turn. After you have finished defeating monsters, you will total up the counterattack from the monsters you have defeated this turn. You will take damage equal to their strength. Characters may have shield values which lower the enemy's strength. You must discard heroes based on the cards strength till you meet or exceed the strength of counterattack. After that has been resolved you will claim any treasure from monsters you defeated. Each treasure card has a level 1 ability and level 2 ability. Which level you get to attach to an activated hero is based on the treasure icon from the defeated monster. Each hero can only have 1 treasure card attached.
The next phase is the Horde phase. If there is a monster face up in the vanguard stack, you will receive a town card. You will then flip up a card from each stack that currently does not have a face up card. You will then add up all Ambush values from each monster displayed and take damage like you would during the counterattack. Your shield value is still used to lower the damage. After that has been resolved you will move on to the end phase. You will draw 4 cards and discard cards if you have more than 5 in your hand. Remove all dice from your heroes and the next player starts their turn. Once 3 boss monsters have been defeated, you will total up the amount of experience points you received from the monster cards and the player with the most is the winner.
Final Thoughts
When I received Fantahzee in the mail, I thought it was going to be another generic fantasy card game. I was wrong, the game played very different than a lot of the fantasy theme games out on the market today. Fantahzee was a blend of Machi Koro/Dominion with Yahtzee wrapped around it. The engine building with your team came off very smooth and had various types of strategies you could go for. The art is great to look at and will attract people to the table. The quality of the dice is disappointing but I have been told that it is being looked into. The game plays pretty quickly and is very easy to teach to everyone. Most players will understand how to play after 1 or 2 turns. The game offers simplicity to those who are younger or haven't played many games, but also provides enough different strategies to entertain gamers. Right now there is lots of variety in heroes, but not in the monsters you will face. Players also have to deal with the luck of what monsters are face up or revealed. The dice randomness is kept to a minimum due to the different abilities and engines that mitigate a lot of the issue. i had a blast playing Fantahzee and would lump it in with Machi Koro, Dice City and other similar weight games. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys the fantasy theme and/or enjoys engine building games. This is staying in my collection and look forward to seeing more added to it.
When I received Fantahzee in the mail, I thought it was going to be another generic fantasy card game. I was wrong, the game played very different than a lot of the fantasy theme games out on the market today. Fantahzee was a blend of Machi Koro/Dominion with Yahtzee wrapped around it. The engine building with your team came off very smooth and had various types of strategies you could go for. The art is great to look at and will attract people to the table. The quality of the dice is disappointing but I have been told that it is being looked into. The game plays pretty quickly and is very easy to teach to everyone. Most players will understand how to play after 1 or 2 turns. The game offers simplicity to those who are younger or haven't played many games, but also provides enough different strategies to entertain gamers. Right now there is lots of variety in heroes, but not in the monsters you will face. Players also have to deal with the luck of what monsters are face up or revealed. The dice randomness is kept to a minimum due to the different abilities and engines that mitigate a lot of the issue. i had a blast playing Fantahzee and would lump it in with Machi Koro, Dice City and other similar weight games. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys the fantasy theme and/or enjoys engine building games. This is staying in my collection and look forward to seeing more added to it.
Taco gives Fantahzee: Hordes & Heroes a rating of...
8.25 out of 10
Pros:
+ Colorful, eye catching art
+ Unique blend of Dice City and Yahtzee
+ Easy to teach and play
+A good amount of different engines to build
+Great insert!
Cons:
-Dice Quality
- Limited variety of monsters
- Some will dislike generic fantasy theme
Disclaimer: I am part of the AEG Vanguard Demo Team. Being part of this team did not impact my opinion of the game in any way. The views and opinions in this review are my own.
Pros:
+ Colorful, eye catching art
+ Unique blend of Dice City and Yahtzee
+ Easy to teach and play
+A good amount of different engines to build
+Great insert!
Cons:
-Dice Quality
- Limited variety of monsters
- Some will dislike generic fantasy theme
Disclaimer: I am part of the AEG Vanguard Demo Team. Being part of this team did not impact my opinion of the game in any way. The views and opinions in this review are my own.
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