Into the Fortress!

Between work, school starting back up, ever-present COVID, and California fires that continue to dump smoke into our valley, I think we all needed a bit of a pick-me-up. On a smokey Saturday afternoon, then, the boys and I made our first foray into the Blackstone Fortress of, well, Blackstone Fortress. We followed that up with a return trip on Sunday. 

How did it go? This is the game we wanted Gloomhaven to be. Granted, Blackstone Fortress can't top Gloomhaven's richly unfolding storyline or the players' ability to shape the world around them, but all that cool stuff doesn't matter if the game is lousy. Gloomhaven takes forever to set up and the mechanics are ridiculous, forcing players to abandon smart dungeon-crawler tactics due to the game's oppressive timer.  I've covered all this ground before. In contrast, Blackstone Fortress is rather lighter on story but the gameplay is slick and fun. There's a lot you can do on your own turn, and the generous overwatch rules keep you motivated to pay attention even when it's not your turn. The boys and I all found characters we liked, and so far our experience is that the characters play very differently; Matthew gets his mobile damage dealer, Nathaniel gets his tank, and I get my jack-of-all-trades. It's rare indeed that all three of us enjoy the same board game, so I think we've got a winner on our hands with Blackstone, and I'm pretty sure we'll stick with this game long enough to make it all the way to the hidden vault!