Sleeping Gods is a board game released in 2021 by Red Raven Games. It is designed by Ryan Laukat, who is also the artist for the game. The game falls under the categories of adventure, exploration, fantasy, fighting, and nautical themes. With a unique blend of narrative choices and hand management, Sleeping Gods offers players an immersive gaming experience.
Game Components of Sleeping Gods
Game Board: A spiral-bound world map split into regions, each containing numbered points of interest.Story Book: Hundreds of different story entries that guide the narrative.Event Deck: Cards that present challenges, choices, or effects.Ability Deck: Cards serving as a randomizer for tests and challenges.Character Boards: Representing nine characters with special abilities.Wooden Components: For health and command points.Map Pages: 10+ double-sided maps.Enemy Cards: A large deck representing various enemies with 3×3 grids for combat.Skill and Item Cards: Enhance character abilities and provide resources.
How To Setup Sleeping Gods
Setting up *Sleeping Gods* involves placing the world map, distributing character boards, and preparing the event and ability decks. Players start by reading through a Quick Start guide and walkthrough, which ease them into the game mechanics through an initial storyline. Each player selects their characters and receives starting equipment and abilities. The Manticore ship miniature is placed on the map, marking the beginning of the journey.
Gameplay Mechanics and Game Objective
Turn Structure: Each turn is divided into three parts: Ship Action, Event, and Player Actions.Ship Action: Move the ship action figure to one of the five rooms on the ship board and apply the effect.Event: Draw an event card from the event deck and resolve the effects.Player Actions: Choose two actions from traveling, exploring, visiting a port, going to the market, or taking an extra command token.Combat Mechanics: Combat involves drawing fate cards, combining natural abilities with equippable items, and aiming for enemy grid squares to deal damage.Narrative Progression: Players explore settlements and encounter tests, combat, riddles, and decision points, advancing the story and collecting Quest and Adventure cards.Objective: The ultimate goal is to find and collect magical items known as “totems” to wake the gods and return home.
Player Experience
Playing *Sleeping Gods* is an immersive experience that feels like a blend of board games and tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs). The game is highly narrative-driven, with choices and outcomes that significantly impact the story. It evokes the feeling of old Choose Your Own Adventure books but with deeper player involvement. The mechanics are fluid, allowing the narrative to take center stage without sacrificing gameplay complexity.
Pros
Immersive Storytelling: The game offers a highly engaging and well-crafted narrative.Deep Mechanics: Combines traditional stat-crunching with spatial-logistical puzzles.Player Agency: Players have significant control over their journey and decisions.Beautiful Artwork: Ryan Laukat’s artwork adds to the game’s aesthetic appeal.Solo and Cooperative Play: Suitable for both solo and cooperative play.
Cons
Complex Setup: Requires a significant amount of time to set up and learn the rules.Table Space: Takes up a lot of table space.Challenging Combat: Combat can be frustratingly hard and sometimes fatal.Rulebook Issues: The rulebook is not well-organized for quick reference.Limited Replayability: While offering 20-30+ hours of play, it does not have infinite replayability.
Personal Thoughts on Sleeping Gods
*Sleeping Gods* is a must-have for fans of narrative-driven board games and TRPGs. It is ideal for players who enjoy deep storytelling, complex mechanics, and player-driven experiences. However, it may not be the best fit for those seeking a quick, light-hearted game or infinite replayability. Despite some drawbacks, such as the challenging combat and rulebook issues, the game’s immersive world and engaging mechanics make it a standout in its genre.
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