Nature of the Beast

Reviewed By: Pugilist

Publisher: Eye-Level Entertainment
Game Type: Card Game, non collectible
Number of Players: 2
Solo Play Ability: None
Playing Time: 60 minutes
Ages: 12
Game Cost: $17.95 (per 2-player deck)
Game Score: 94.3% / 100%

When we first received the Nature of the Beast game I took a look and said: "Another bloody CCG?" Obviously I have some reading comprehension issues. Nature of the Beast is a card game, not a collectible card game. There's nothing wrong with collectible card games, I'm just old and so it take some time for me to get over my whining and complaining before I'll actually try a game. I'd like to say it's Alzheimer’s but the truth is; I'm just an asshole.

So, if Nature of the Beast is not another CCG, what the hell is it?

Let's start by going over what it is not.

It's not simplistic. It's not derivative. It's not tame or pandering. Most importantly, it's not your run of the mill card game. All of those things are positive. Not only because we are tired of "Hey, ours is different, IT'S RED!" games but because while we don't mind a game that's falling off a rock simple to play, we really enjoy games that can be played on different levels of skill depending on the participants.

Nature of the Beast is that kind of game. It's deceptive in play style and mechanics. At first you think "Hell, this will be a snap." And then you look at the support cards, the Humans to help you out, the locations, the Fury restrictions, the Favor scale, the Dark Nature component, and you start to realize the depth of thought and imagination that has gone into this game.

That's when I sat back with a smile and said: "Damn!" That was my unofficial review we'd posted in our recap of our conversation with Mark.

Mark Anticole has mentioned, and rightly so, that you need to think of chess when you think of Nature of the Beast. Try as we might we can't come up with a better analogy. It hurts to admit that, after all, we believe we're clever, all evidence to the contrary, but, in this case, we must admit defeat.

So, we've adjectivized to hell and back, but what about the game? What made this game so intriguing and separated it from just another "tap and go" card game? Let's review, shall we?

What's the Same

You try to develop your deck with attack and support cards and achieve victory conditions before your opponent(s).
Information required to play/manipulate each card is included on the card
Some cards are used as currency to bring other cards into play

What's Different

Everything else.

But let's look at that in detail:

The Rules

The rules are not to be taken lightly. They are well planned and executed and there are sufficient illustrations to serve as examples but you must actually read the rules and follow the game because, if we didn't make this clear to date, this game is involved. Now, if you believe in magic and think that doing the same thing over and over again will yield different results, well, you will get crushed and, no doubt, walk away from the game in disgust.

If, on the other hand, you decide to read the rules, preferably with cards in hand and play them out, well then, all of the sudden you understand that the game is complex but consistent. There are no wild gyrations, no horrendously over-powered cards, and no "heart of the deck" crap to turn a carefully planned strategy to a bitter defeat. The only thing that will turn your carefully planned strategy to a bitter defeat is a better strategy.

Remember folks, professional card players work the rules and the game and the percentages. Since there is an element of chance in the game, card order to be specific, your job is to maximize your options. If someone draws the equivalent of a royal flush, move on. If they do it twice, call for seconds.

The Decks

The decks are illustrated well and, more importantly, consistently with the deck theme. Currently there are four (4) decks available in two (2) sets. The sets are City vs. Suburb and Farm vs. Forest. Each deck has a specific theme to it and reflects an overall play strategy. The City deck makes use of humans well, the Suburb deck relies a lot on subterfuge, the Forest deck is extremely strong and the Farm deck is, well, evil. Of course, I chose the Farm deck.

OK, it's not evil; it goes by the name of Dark Nature and reflects some unsettling actions you can take to achieve an advantage. But you have to be careful, too many uses of Dark Nature and your fury (more on that later) rises to the point where folks notice and you become, well, toast. Not the good kind, y'know, with butter and a nice raspberry jam. Nope, you become the burnt and blacked kind that is crushed into crumbs and tossed in the rubbish.

That means you lose. We're still trying to be clever enough to make up for losing the whole thing we've come to refer to as the "Analogy War."

The Cards

Everything you need to know about a card is on the card. You must have read the rules by now or the card will look like so much Sanskrit, unless you read Sanskrit and then pick some other written word you do not read and is completely incomprehensible to you. There are two (2) types of cards, Troops and Tricks. Troops are you animals, Tricks are everything else. There are some sub-categories involved so I'm just going to give a quick rundown on all of them.

Animal Cards

Your animal cards will have a variety of attributes:

Rank: This indicates how hard it is to recruit an animal. It translates into the cost of a card
Combat: Pretty simple. Higher = more damage. If this is a mystery to you, please stop reading now before your brain explodes
Clout: Ah clout. Clout is used to recruit an animal. You must have clout equal or exceeding an animals Rank to recruit it. This moves your animals from the potential area (The Pen) to the "ready to kick butt" or “ready to sacrifice my life for victory" area
Cunning: Cunning is the intelligence and strategic vision of an animal. Its use is more card dependant.
Vectors: Oh those tricksey vectors. Vectors control both where an animal can move on the field and how it can lend its support; both Rank and Clout. There are eight (8) vectors, one for each corner, one for the top and bottom, one for each side. Not watching you vectors can result in watching your winning game go down the tubes as you scramble to re-arrange animals so you can play that winning card.
Unique Power: Cards may have a unique power. These powers over-ride the normal rules.

Some of your animals can use enhancements to turn your ordinary animals into Leaders. Leaders can be vicious and extraordinary in their abilities.

Location Cards

Location cards are a very interesting concept. As we'll discuss later you are trying to fill a 3x3 grid with your animals in order to win the game. Each spot in this grid can host a location card. Location cards have benefits. Some are general in nature, some are specific, and some are tailored towards individual cards. You never have to play location cards but they are worth your time; if you have the resources and the time and have made the right decisions to keep the right cards.

Equipment

Sometimes, in Nature of the Beast, a fish DOES need a bicycle. The equipment may look unlikely, but don't just think outside the box, think under the box. Think twisted, be devious, and most of all, be careful. Don't get so caught up in the cool factor you waste resources that can be used to win. Sure you can pimp your animals but be careful your opponent has not positioned his cards for the win while you’re handing your pig an ax.

Human Allies

Humans are available to aid you in your goal of conquest. Each one has a cost, of course and the cost is not in Clout. No, you have to meet the prerequisites. These are different for each Human so read the cards carefully.

Events

Events are what they sound like. Things might happen, they might help you. You can choose to use them, or not. Some cost, some don't. Some can be played anytime, some only at specific times.

Tilting, Rank, etc.

Isn't tilting just another way to say "tapping?" OK, kinda. But the application becomes interesting once you get past that. Tilting a card allows you to use its Clout score or its Combat rank. Use of Rank, however, is different and requires no tilting of the card

Immediate Use

Anything you bring into play can be used immediately. Unless, of course, the text of the card itself indicates otherwise. Get used to this or you'll find yourself crushed the first few games.

By now you should have some questions. Basically you should be wondering about how the game play works and why you might not just event yourself to victory or some other such easy strategy. You can't because the Mark and his brothers thought out the game pace.

So let's walk through the game:

Building your Deck

Although this is a non-collectable card game, you still get to make decisions as to your deck. Each of the four (4) decks comes with specific deck cards (Forest, Farm, etc) and then you can pick and choose from other cards. You sort them out by Troops and Tricks and then you choose up to 70 cards. Of these you can have up to 30 animals/troops with no more than 3 leaders and no more than three (3) of any individual card. You now have your deck. How do I feel about this? I like it. It adds another level of complexity to the game without pissing me off because player X has spent $12,956.24 to buy the perfect deck.

Starting the Game

Setup

Arrange your Cards

So, you've built your deck. You've chosen your troops and human allies and locations and events and now you are ready to kick butt, take names, and leave your opponent(s) at the curb with no cab fare. Let'em walk, the bastards. Remember to shuffle your troops and tricks, separately please. If you forget this step you'll notice since the backs of the cards are different and your friends will be laughing at you and tagging you with names that make "moron" a love note.

The Field

It's all about the Field. As I mentioned before, you have a goal to fill your field before your opponents fills theirs. The field is a 3x3 square. Each spot in the square represents a place you can put one of your troops. How, oh how can you get them there? Is it as simple as bringing them into play and putting them where you want?

No.

This is where Nature of the Beast shows some very interesting twist on the standard card battle game. And though it is all about the field, it does not start there. It starts with your second major decision, the first being "What cards will I choose to crush my opponent?" The second decision is about your Favor and Fury.

Favor and Fury

Favor is what you use to make things happen that your animals might not be able to do themselves or to buy things, like equipment, like a chance to not get crushed or, better yet, to upset the plans of those who would wrongly seek to deny you world domination. Remember, it's not about winning or losing, it's about winning.

Fury now, that's different. Fury is a measure of how threatening you are. If your fury every reaches 10, you lose. You've become the rabid dog, the man-eating lion, or the killer rabbit. You're threat to humanity is so obvious that you've forced humanity to mobilize against you, to crush your plans, to wear your skin as a hat and to enjoy your carcass with a nice BBQ sauce. Preferably something with a solid flavor and a bit of a bite, not too sweet but not just chemical hot.

This is not to say that your Fury should be low, just that it should remain below 10. Once your Fury hits 5, you have access to DARK NATURE cards. These are things that the weak kneed, lily livered simpering sheep might view as beyond the pale. BAH! What if you hire a contract killer? What's the harm in that? You don't live to serve; you live to serve your enemies as dinner.

Setting Favor and Fury

Before the game starts you set your Fury and Favor levels. There's a catch. Fury and Favor must start at the same level. You do this once you've built your deck because you can use it, hopefully, to capitalize on your deck's strategy. If your strategy consists of "stumble blindly along until you lose" just close your eyes and jab at the card and don't waste the time of the other player(s).

Who goes First?

That's simple. Draw the top animal from your Troops deck. Determine who has the highest rank; resolve all ties in an orderly manner. Knife fights are discouraged. Shuffle your Troop deck again once play order has bee determined.

Deal your Tricks

Each player takes the top three (3) tricks from their Tricks deck. Look at these, whisper quite words and mutter ominous phrases as you silently cackle and try to make the other folks nervous.

Deal your Troops

Place three of your Troop cards FACE DOWN on the table. The starting position of these troop cards are behind the back row of your playing field.

Everybody manage to make it through these steps? What? No? Damn boy, wake up, stop complaining that this isn't Yu-Gi-Oh. Re-read, get it right, move on.

The Turn

Now, everything to this point is prep work and me rambling on trying to be clever. Now we get to run through a turn. Sure the rules explain it well enough and I could just have you refer to them but really, what then would I do with my spare time?

You'll need to pay attention to this next part, actually reading every 3rd word at least rather than just lightly skimming over it as you've done thus far. How do I know? I'm psychotic.

Phase I - Preparation

In this phase you have a decision to make. Do you turn your animals face up or do you leave them face down? Turning them face up gives you more Troop options. Leaving them face down gives you more Trick options. Of course, you'll need Troops to win. So, at one point, you'll need to actually turn over a Troop card. Each troop card your turn over reduces the number of Trick cards you can draw. This is not a simultaneous thing. First you decide how many Troop cards to reveal, and then you draw trick cards.

Phase 2 - Actions

Each turn you may take up to three (3) actions. What actions will these be?

Pass an action
Recruit an animal
Move an animal
Untilt an animal
Dismiss an animal
Defer a Recruit
Draw a Trick
Play an Event
BATTLE!

Ah great, there's a list of actions. But what do they mean? Glad I asked.

Passing an action means you choose to do nothing. If that's too difficult a concept to understand, run for elected office. If you win, doing nothing will become second nature.

Recruiting an animal is done through Clout. Clout can be gained by using animals on your field, Tilting them to accumulate enough Clout to match their Rank score. Clout can also be gained by trashing an animal in your Pen. These animals go to the trash heap, the knackers shed, the sleazy greasy spoon down the way, never to be seen again except as fill, glue, pet food, or covered in breadcrumbs and served up with a side of fries. Chips for you UKers.

The important thing to remember about recruiting is that all aspect of recruiting a single animal count as a single action. You need to tilt 8 animals and trash 2 others? Fine, have at it.

When you recruit an animal they go from your Pen to the back row of your field according to the vectors on the card. This is where things can get tricksey. Cue evil laugh. Only one animal can occupy a space on your field at a time.

Moving an animal is done through the vectors on the card. Only untilted animals can be moved.

Untilting an animal makes it available for use in another action. A tilted animal cannot do anything. Well I suppose they can look pretty or intimidating or pretty intimidating. But other than that, they can't do nuttin'! That’s a technical term.

If you have an animal on the field that is just pissing you off because it's completely in the wrong position or is wearing blue or something, you can spend an action to send it to the trash heap. This is referred to as "Dismissing an animal."

Deferring a recruit can be interesting. Did you draw a strong card too early? You can't use it but you don't want to trash it. Deferring a recruit let's you spend an action to put if back in your deck and draw another Troop card to put in your pen. Of course, the animal comes onto the board face down.

Got actions you don't need or just need more options? Use an action to draw a trick.

Playing events is another way to use up an action. Some events have various costs associated with them. They might require you to discard cards or spend favor or stand on your head or smear yourself with mud and howl at the moon. OK, those last two are just our ideas for future expansions.

Battle. Got your eye on an opponent animal that threatens your just and equitable plans for world domination? A battle might be just the thing to turn it into lunch. Is that a bit callous? Dear God, I hope so.

Battles can get interesting. Other players might join as allies on one side or another. Animals on your field might be in position to aid. You might have event cards or location cards or human allies that can determine the outcome. After all is said and done, the attacker must have a higher battle total than the defender. Higher does not mean equal. We're not the US congress here; we're not using the NEW MATH. Higher means "greater than." If the totals are just equal, the defender wins. The loser leaves the field, crushed, defeated, to become part of the local all you can eat buffet. YUMMY!

Free Actions

When I head there were free actions my Scottish soul was all a-flutter. Free actions consist of the following:

Play an event
Claim a location
Equip an item
Call for a human ally

Nope, it's not a mistake. Some events count as an action, some are free. Furthermore, some can be played only during your turn, some only during your opponent's turn, and some any damn time you please. It's all on the card so pay attention.

Claiming a location will allow you to put a location into one of the nine spots on your field. Location cost is based off of Rank. Furthermore, any animal that has a vector into the field position can contribute rank to get the location. This does not Tilt the animal, but any tilted animal cannot contribute to securing a location.

Equipping an item consists of taking one of your tricks and paying the cost to give it to an animal. Animals can have more than one item. Furthermore, you can pass these items along to another animal, as long as the vector is right, by tilting the animal.

Calling for a Human ally is really just that. You have a Human Trick card, you meet whatever prerequisites that may exist, and you bring it into play. The caveat is that you can only have one (1) Human ally for each row of your field. For those bad at math, that means you can only have three (3) total Human allies.

Phase 3 - Wrap Up

All you actions complete? All your cards neatly arranged? Did you eat your vegetables or one of your opponent’s troops? Great. Now you need to review the number of Tricks you hold. Are there more than five (5)? If so, it's decision time. Look through your hand, decide what you love, you hate; you can't live without, and winnow it down until you have just five (5) trick cards. Don’t take all day about it either bub, folks don't like a dawdler!

Next Steps

As the saying goes: Lather, rinse, repeat until only one player remains on the field or has filled all nine (9) position on their field first. What happens if the person who went first fills their field first? They win and no whining allowed. This isn't Rummy and you are not 8 years old. Do better next time.

Conclusion

As I may have mentioned before, I approached Nature of the Beast with a bit of trepidation. It looked like just another CCG style game and I was not sure it would be worth my time. I buckled down and played it though and had a great time.

Our first game consisted of skimming the rules quickly and then playing the game as we checked up on points of order. At first we had some confusion over some aspects of the game but by the third turn we were flying. This is a game of tough decisions. Do you trash powerful animals early to bring out recruits? Do you tilt animals on the field and slow down your location and item and Human ally development? Do you blow through Trick cards using actions? Do you decide to risk a battle? Do you trash a great animal that is just in the wrong damn position either in the pen or on the field?

The interplay of these decisions is linked to your deck structure and your play style and to the actions of other players. It really is never the same game twice and breaks the rules for standard CCG type of play even while retaining enough elements to feel familiar.

I game it a 94.3% rating because it's complex enough to require strategy but plays fast enough to get several games in at a session. Add to that the fact that I can buy other versions or not, my choice. These versions are complete and separate games that can be combined, if you want. Deck specific cards are clearly labeled and the rest of the Tricks out there are all about building a strategy rather than booster packing your way to victory.

So, give the game a shot and let me know when you're ready to demoralize my troops through your superior vision and strategy. I'll bring the BBQ sauce.