Title: Crystallo Untold Fortunes and Den of Dragons
Designed By: Liberty Kifer
Art By: Liberty Kifer
Published By: Light Heart Games and Deep Water Games
Released: Coming to Kickstarter June 16, 2023
Player Count: 1
Time to Play: 30-45 Minutes
Ages: 8+
Overview:
Want a super portable solo game that you can bring with you anywhere to give your brain a workout? Meet Crystallo! I was first introduced to Crystallo back in it's original Kickstarter back in 2018 and since then it has become one of my favorite solo games. In Crystallo, you explore a cavern trying to free six magical creatures from the Black Dragon's clutches. You lay out cards trying to collect gemstones to free the critters. The game is played in two parts. If you don't beat the first part you lose and do not get to advance to part two. If you make it to part two, you must defeat the black dragon through a new set of card laying. The Kickstarter launching in 2023 introduces two new expansions. Each expansion focuses on adding a new challenge to half of the game. Untold Fortune focuses on the first half of the game where as you free the creatures, special cards are revealed that may help or hinder the explorer. Den of Dragons affects the second half of the game and introduces new dragons and a second tile-laying puzzle to the game. You can play with the expansions independently or use both of them for an added challenge.
What's purr-ty cool:
Complexity:
One of my favorite things about Crystallo is that it is hard. It is not a solo game where you are guaranteed a win every game and you are just trying to see how much you can win by each time. I have played many games where I did not make it to the second half of the game. But it is always tight, there is always the possibility that you can do it, sometimes you just need one or two more cards to make it work. I love that there is real pressure in a game where you are playing by yourself. One of the things I love most about the expansions is that they allow you to challenge yourself even more, but in a way that feels good for you. Untold Fortune has easy, medium, and hard modes so you can decide by how much you want to increase the difficulty of the game. Den of Dragons ups the complexity by adding a new dragon to defeat so you have to think about how to take on two dragons instead of one. It also has an easy and a hard mode. Between these many options, there are lots of different ways to modify the base game and add a new challenge for yourself.
Art:
I love it when I see a designer who does their own art for the game. Liberty recently shared a video of how she designs each piece and it was awesome to see her process from the initial sketch to the end. Being a game designer is a unique skill set, and being an artist is a whole other skillset, so it's awesome to find a game made by someone with both. I love the look of the new dragons in the Den of Dragons expansion. I also like the imagination of the creatures you are setting free. I am particularly fond of the Seahorse. During her first Kickstarter Liberty did a fun thing where people were encouraged to make fan art for the creatures. I enjoyed participating a lot back then and had some good fun with it.
Untold Fortune:
I want to briefly chat on my thoughts of each of the new expansions. For Untold Fortune, I like how it adds some randomness into the game. When you free a creature, you have to flip over an expansion card from below it. Some are helpful things that will aid you in your quest to free other creatures. Others are more sinister and hinder you from your path to victory. Knowing that there could be a cavern collapse coming, means that you have to plan your original exploration with that in mind. It makes for a new way to think about how the explore the cavern. This expansion is good for those who like responding to unforeseen events and working with things as they occur.
Den of Dragons:
The best way I can describe Den of Dragons is a puzzle within a puzzle. Now not only do you need to lay your very limited cards out to take down the Black Dragon, you also need to lay them out in a way that tiles can be placed properly on top of them defeat the other dragon as well. It's a super interesting way to think about how to place your cards since you are really trying to solve one puzzle and another puzzle on top of it. I highly recommend this expansion for those that love the puzzle aspect of Crystallo!
Crystallo Pocket Edition:
I also just want to mention that I adore the Crystallo Pocket Edition. Everything about it is so tiny and cute. The original game is easy to bring with you because of it's size, however it takes up a surprisingly large amount of table space. I love how the pocket edition uses little cards so it is easier to play in small spots!
The cat's meow:
"Mom says I am an extra monster hiding in the cavern because you never know when I am going to pop up and make the whole cavern collapse.!" - Solo the Spokescat
Disclosure: Pudgy Cat Games was provided a copy of this game in exchange for a review, however, this review reflects the honest thoughts of the author.