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Board Game Terminus: Let's Become Legendary In The Marvel Universe

By Etienne Dubuc

In need of some more Marvel Universe? You've read every comics issue possible, seen every movie, played every video game? There is still some material you might like: board games! Even though Legendary might not sound like a game set in the world of Spider-Man, it will absolutely fit your style.

Published by Upper Deck, a company mostly known for its hockey trading cards, at least here in Quebec, Legendary is a deck building game that can be played with one to five players. You read that right, no need to be social to play this one if you don't want to be. As there are quite a few cards and text to read and understand, the game is suggested for players from fourteen years old and up by the manufacturer, but you can probably pull that down a few years if you're ready to explain the cards and effects to a younger one.

The mechanics are on a co-operative basis, meaning that every player is playing against the game and not the other players. In the case of a loss, everybody is on the bad side, but if the situation actually ends up with a win, then the game includes victory points granting a single person the status of winner. Although, it is easily possible to just skip that last part and make it an entirely co-operative game.

In Legendary, you and your friends will be facing a mastermind, either Magneto, Red Skull, Dr. Doom or Loki in the base game, and more are added in the expansions. This villain will have a scheme, each one varying in its effect on the game and the way to win. Under the orders of your enemy, there will be some henchman and organizations to help him bring chaos to the world.

As for you, you're a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that as to recruit the best team of superheroes possible to stop evil from taking over. This is where the deck building aspect kicks in. At all times during the game there will be five heroes card on the board, and each player has to recruit those heroes by playing cards with recruit points. With multiple powers for every hero, you will have to carefully build your deck to pull some combos and gather the attacking forces necessary to hit the mastermind.

The mechanics and rules of the game are pretty easy to learn as each card has its effect written on it. That effect being straightforward most of the time, you don't have to question yourself too much. As it is common in the deck building genre, experienced players will be able to roll through a game pretty fast, not having to read each card and already knowing the best combos possible. For the first couple of games players must stay pretty focused on every aspect of the game so as not to forget any effects of any card, which can be slightly frustrating at times. You should expect a game to last around 40 to 60 minutes.

The most tiresome part is actually the setup of the game. Building the villain and the hero decks will take you at least 10 minutes on your first game. Time spent will eventually go down with experience but it is still the most annoying part.

The huge number of possibilities with the pairings of mastermind, schemes and villain groups makes every experience a new one, meaning you will not be tired of playing after only a couple games, since the game keeps itself fresh for a pretty long time. With three expansions already out on the market, you are sure to have a lot more play time available to you if you want it.

Having played Legendary with some people only slightly interested in the Marvel universe, I can assure that this theme will not interfere with their entertainment in playing a well constructed board game. It actually might even help you convert some non fanatics to the fabulous world of comics.

Etienne Dubuc is the host of a French radioshow called « Les geeks ont raison » and program director for CISM 89,3FM in Montreal. You can follow him @geeksontraison

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