At first it sounded a bit strange for me, as the games it looks like a classy miniature games in which you faces encounters with dices, but then I thought that it could be interesting depending on your own cards.

I like managed probability versus pure luck so I’m for it.

10 hours ago, Bullroarer Took said:

I like managed probability versus pure luck so I’m for it.

Well, in the end, you also depend on lucky on which cards you discover up.

Yes but you can manage the odds with deck manipulation. So it is an interesting mechanic.

but dice rolling is more fun haha

Yep. I Also like the card mechanics more. It is more predictable. That is why some players use cards in games like Setlers of Catan.

16 hours ago, Bullroarer Took said:

I like managed probability versus pure luck so I’m for it.

This is my feeling toward it too. Building a deck to increase my chances is far better than my luck at dice rolls. Too many games where I statistically should hit 50% of the time only to hit 0% all night. Not even Hyperbowl.

Seems like the success of Gloomhaven's card system has set a trend, Tainted Grail (the last really big kickstarter funded game) also went with a card based combat system.

FFG knows how to do card games well, all of their LCG's are great, command cards in IA skirmish etc.. so I have faith they will nail this system.

I was a little surprised though, FFG loves all of their different dice for all their games But I commend them for branching out in another direction.

This game really does feel like the culmination of learning from multiple games in multiple categories. Runebound, MoM, Descent, IA, LCG's, Fallout, etc..

Honestly, I'm gonna miss the dice. I know it seems like the cards will be less random, but dice are just more fun. Wish they would have come up with a system like Heroes of Terrinoth, where you still have dice, but can use success tokens to help mitigate the roll maybe. Still super pumped for this game, either way.

I rather have the dice. Once I play the game for some time, I am going to look and see how I can add dice if it is possible. Meaning, I would not need custom dice.

I am not excited for there being no dice.

For me a great game has the following:

• Dice
• Cards
• Miniatures
• Tokens
• Currency

I think this game will not have dice or currency. It still looks like a great game though. I can't wait for it to come out!

I don't know. When I think about this game, it feels like it should have the traditional D&D set of dice, but that is likely just me.

I am two minds of it, personally.

On the one hand, having a set of cards and abilities that you manage can arguably allow for your character to become distinct and work toward his/her strengths, allowing for greater coordination and team-play with your party members and allowing for a hero to truly shine. From what the preview has shown us, each character has skills that suit them better for different tests and scenarios, and it allows a chance for everyone to have a great moment that is in keeping with their character.

Conversely, while not everyone enjoys the random element that dice add, that uncertainty allows for greater communal investment as players around the table lean in to see if a players action was strong enough. While it can be crushing when the dice don't roll to your favor, the room absolutely erupts in cheers when you make the perfect roll against all odds. For games with this sort of system, the progression becomes one of ultimately mitigating the odds. It's a different mechanism, but both options result in the players to become more powerful so that they can take on tougher challenges.

It honestly boils down to how it is used. Since that this is a co-operative game against an AI Overlord, I would imagine that the designers wanted to afford the players more agency over their actions instead of having us contend with both the deviousness of the AI and random chance. I'm not a game designer by any means, merely an enthusiastic player, so take that analysis/speculation with a grain of salt.

On 2/4/2019 at 5:54 PM, Nanich said:

Agreed that dice are way more fun. That and also the app... I will think very hard before purchasing this game...

They could have used X wing dice

No dice more tactics!

Rolling dice == chance and chance == fun to me. I love that part of Arkham 3.0.

That card manipulation seems good to me!

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/3/4/explore-middle-earth/

On 1/27/2019 at 4:23 PM, FrogTrigger said:

Seems like the success of Gloomhaven's card system has set a trend, Tainted Grail (the last really big kickstarter funded game) also went with a card based combat system.

In light of today's article on the main page, I would actually observe the game looks a lot more like a polished version of FFG's Runebound over Gloomhaven, especially with the skill tests, interactive tokens on the map and the card system that they have revealed so far. Perhaps they are taking what worked from Runebound and combining it with concepts that worked in Gloomhaven?

I like dice for casual, fast-paced dungeon crawling and treasure looting action. But prefer card driven mechanics for more challenging, slower paced tactical games.

Not yet sure which one this is going to be. So far it looks like this would land somewhere in the middle of the two.

I'm expecting this to be similar to MoM and I really despise the dice in MoM - I like the game overall but the dice are just way too volatile for me. The card system in Journeys seems to allow you to set up a certain number of guaranteed successes as you load up the top of the deck and obtain the explore tokens (can't remember exactly what they're called). That diminishes as the round progresses before you rally again. However, you will also have the potential to better anticipate what's in your deck as it gets smaller throughout the round. I just really like the idea that a player will be able to better assure success in some cases and still have a good sense of what to expect as the round progresses. A player may draw several successes and know that there aren't too many left in their deck. That would cause them to take different actions - maybe there's some sort of rest action or taking actions with higher stats later in the round to increase the chances of drawing a success. I think it will really add some strategy and tactics to the game that you don't get with dice. It even feels a little thematic to me as characters tire over the course of a round before "rallying".

Well LOTR LCG is my current favourite game and there is no dice in that, just savage unknown encounter/shadow cards to mess you up. So I'm down with it. Also while I love dice in Fallout (best dice ever for a game!), X-Wing and the savage XCOM dice, I also really enjoy other games without dice as a major aspect like Star Trek Frontiers, Legendary and the aforementioned LOTR LCG.

I prefer deck building to dice so I am good with the design choice.

Personally, I love the design of the Attack Deck in Gloomhaven and the way that you can customize and improve it. It's better than dice any day, IMHO. So I'm a fan of this card system if it is similar to Gloomhaven's design.

It seems to be similar and different. In Gloomhaven you can thin the deck and add better cards by your choise. In this you can add cards by your choice, but not remove them. This Also combine fight deck and action deck by allowing player to prepare some cards.

I'm good. I have so many dice games anyway.

Also, i am curious about the system where you can alter the odds of drawing a success by adding/removing cards from your deck which you build along the campaign, a bit like Gloomhaven did. You fought better as you gained levels but not through something preset; instead, the player chose what combat ability to add in his deck. Journeys in Middle-Earth appears to be following the same path.

It makes the "draw a success" system more compelling since you have a form of control over it. You build your own odds! Cool.

I think the "deckbuilding" aspect of Journey's is simply adding more cards. (No apparent mechanism from removing as of yet).

The deck manipulations happens in the form of the Scout mechanism.