Is it just a way to further monetize HeroForge? HeroForge being one of the websites you can use to create your own gaming miniatures in full color, and then have them 3D print it for you in those same colors, download an STL file so that you can print it yourself, or export it as a “digital miniature” for use in games that can accept them, such as the popular Tabletop Simulator, Mirrorscape, Talespire and so on.
The minis look awesome; I’m a customer. I’ve used their printing service to make minis for tabletop play, and downloaded STL files so I could print and paint them myself.
Wildmagic Frontier is a tactical fantasy deck-building RPG built around battling with 3D digital miniatures on handcrafted dioramas. It’s meant to feel like playing a tabletop game. It sure won’t be the first game to try to simulate playing a miniatures game on a tabletop; there’s Terra Randoma, Dark Quest, Gloomhaven and Popup Dungeon, to mention some I have in my Steam library.
But what sets Wildmagic Frontier apart from those is the ability to import your digital miniatures from HeroForge, and play with them. If you want to make miniatures of your family in fantasy garb and actually play this game with your family, well, this is a thing that can happen, as Wildmagic is also multiplayer. One to three players can play simultaneously.
Deck building games are kind of a nebulous concept. Since your characters are just minis and don’t have any particular game powers attached to them, you have to build a deck for your characters that outline what they can do. If it follows standard deck building convention, everyone will start out with the same deck, but you will buy more cards or upgrade the cards you already have so that in the end, each deck defines a character in a unique way. There are hundreds of deck building games out there; Dominion, the game that defined the genre, has got to be one of the most copied games ever.
Monopoly, too.
This makes me wonder why there hasn’t been a Dominion Monopoly.
Hear me out.
So, you would have your Monopoly board, looking just like it does. Each of the 2-4 players would pick a railroad and put their token on it; this is where they arrive in Monopoly Town.
Each player starts with a deck of four “Move 1 Space” cards, one “Move Back 1 Space” card, and one “Collect $100” card. The Marketplace in the center of the board contains other move cards for greater distances, cards that let you combine two other cards together to form a new card (like, move greater distances or collect more money), money cards, deeds for houses, and so on. You have a certain number of kinds of cards you can play per turn, for example, you can play as many move cards as you like, but only one of a non-move card, OR you can choose to use the marketplace. One card you could buy would swap you with another player. You could buy cards that do nothing and put them in another player’s deck to clog them with useless cards. There’s all sorts of things you could do.
So why am I uneasy about Wildmagic Frontier?
Well, aside from the fact that I would feel compelled to buy my minis (they provide a selection for free; you don’t have to buy your own, but I guarantee most players will), it’s a videogame on Kickstarter. Backing a game on Kickstarter is essentially saying, “I want to play a game in three to five years or longer, so I’d better buy it now.” It just really does not make any sense not to just wait for it to release and play it then.
Secondly, these dioramas are beautiful, but small. Tactical battlers usually spread out a bit and allow some setting up before the battle truly begins, but it looks like these all start in media res — everyone’s already in each other’s faces.
I do imagine the Kickstarter will include several minis from HeroForge to start you off. And who knows what we’ll learn about it when it goes live? I’m just feeling it’s not much more than a way to sell more digital minis. Maybe I am cynical; hell, I know I am. It’s an easy world in which to be cynical.
Second to last day of Blaugust!
