Review: DC Deck-Building Game
It’s Aquaman’s time to shine!
“Fuck you, Green Arrow.”
Not gonna lie; I uttered this phrase more than once on a recent game night, where I was introduced to DC Deck-Building Game. “No, you want Green Arrow,” one of our friends said. “He’s really good.” And he is, in his own way, giving his controller 5 victory points if said controller also has five other heroes. Yet when a villain was played forcing me to return a card of my choice back to the line-up, I sacrificed Green Arrow. On my first play-through of DC Deck-Building Game, I was more interested in the villains.
This hero got no love from me.
DC Deck-Building Game has one of the most generic titles I’ve ever seen in a board game (eclipsed, perhaps, only by Life.) Yet that is the worst thing about the game, and its game mechanics and high replay value make me forgive everything about the title. Although first released in 2012, I only recently played the game for the first time. Although I was up against three friends who had all played the game before and ended up in last place, I’m eager for a rematch.
DC Deck-Building Game plays similar to Dominion or Legendary, its Marvel counterpart. Each player starts off with a small deck of cards and control of a random DC hero. The object of the game is to score the most victory points. At the start of your turn you draw 5 cards. Each card gives you a certain number of power points, which are used to buy cards from the line-up, five cards drawn from a communal deck. Card types include heroes, villains, superpowers, locations, and equipment, all DC-universe related. Each card you buy goes into your discard pile, along with all the cards you’ve used that turn. When you run out of cards in your deck, you shuffle your discard pile and draw five new cards. As the game progresses your deck increases in size while you fight and defeat super villains, sic your own villains on your opponents, and refine your deck to score the greatest number of points by the time either all the super villains are defeated or the communal deck runs out of cards.
Buy a trident and you too can be just like Aquaman!
During my first game, I randomly drew Aquaman, while my friends controlled Superman, Green Lantern, and Batman. Each superhero comes with his or her own special power, which can be useful or not depending on what’s in your hand. While cards you buy normally go into your discard pile, Aquaman’s special ability allows you to place cards you’ve bought onto the top of your draw pile instead, ensuring their appearance on your next turn. Green Lantern’s power didn’t seem super helpful at the beginning of the game: getting extra power for having three different card types in your hand doesn’t work when you only have 1 card type in your hand at the start of the game. My friend (and eventual game-winner) was able to use Superman to better advantage. Superman gives you more power the more superpower cards you have in your hand. My friend kept buying superpowers, which meant after a few turns he had plenty of power points to spend. With no idea what I was doing, I mostly played spoiler, enjoying it when my villains caused headaches for my opponents.
While DC Deck-Building Game does have a few expansions, they aren’t necessary to enjoy the game as it is. The expansions introduce new characters and game mechanisms, but there’s more than enough variation in the core set to keep gamers occupied their first few games. All in all, DC Deck-Building Game is an entertaining romp through the DC universe and perfect for large crowds who are tired of Cards Against Humanity. (Hey! It could happen.)
tl;drs
Blank is a blanker version of blank: DC Deck-Building Game is a more social version of the hours I used to spend in my parents’ basement, crafting deck after deck of Magic cards.
Recommended if you like: Fluxx, Anything DC related
Better than I expected: The rules are simple and the multiple random elements offer a great deal of replay ability.
Worse than I hoped: Some of the cards don’t seem to be very useful on first play, and would need more scrutiny in order to take full advantage of their powers.
Verdict: If you have a board-game collection, this is a great addition and a good party game for multiple players.
