You’d think by now I’d have learned not to judge a board game by its cover. Adorable games like Root are full of hidden brutality. Ark Nova is one of the most spreadsheet-looking games I’ve ever seen, but it’s also utterly enthralling. What you see is not necessarily what you get.
Despite this, I was taken in by the distinct visuals of Almighty, a recently crowdfunded board game from Keen Bean Studio. The publisher uses a similar art style across all its titles. The colors are bright, the characters are cartoony – and they’re also almost always a bean. Game designer and illustrator Malachi Ray Rempen crafts some whimsical-looking worlds.
It’s that whimsy that made me think Almighty would be tame, the sort of lightweight appetizer you use to break the ice with new friends, or welcome a beginner gamer into the fold.
Almighty still ticks some of those boxes, but it also has a hidden richness. There are cutthroat decisions to be made here, so get ready to sacrifice your friends on the altar of scoring points.
I demo’d Almighty at this year’s UK Games Expo. As my game begins, Rempen gives me the elevator pitch: “you play as a god that’s a bit of a dick”.
More specifically, you play one of four asymmetric gods, each vying to have the most Glory after three ages. The best way to gain Glory is through a god’s most precious resource: Belief.
Gods create belief in one of four regions by playing an action card from their hand there. Cards have a belief value, but they also offer powers unique to your god. The more potent cards require another resource to play: Power. Here, on the most granular level, we start to see the different play strategies of each god.
The Storm god can use thunderstorms as Power, but only when those clouds are in the right regions. The Sun god, meanwhile, has a less difficult time juggling Power – but they’ll need to chase their moving sun token across the map to maximize their Belief. Both need to plot their turns carefully – which can be difficult when the board state keeps changing.
Meanwhile, the Love god gains Power by making and breaking mortal relationships. The Death god gains Power by shepherding departed souls to the afterlife. Here we get to that ever-changing board state. Mortals will come and go from the regions you rule, offering abilities and adjusting the Glory value of that locale.
Your goal is to make sure you have the most belief in your preferred region, and it also has plenty of Glory – that’s your ticket to scoring points. This means constructing settlements and tempting worthy mortals (the kind that add glory) to that space.
It also means removing unworthy mortals at any cost. That might be by smiting them, tempting them to another location, or transforming them into worthy versions of themselves.
There’s a lot of personality in that last mechanic. Almighty has a pool of worthy and unworthy tokens that cover the card’s original, and they add a quirky new trait. That worthy Priest has been brought low for the sin of being filthy. We’ll forgive that Swindler, because the guy is just so damned funny.
Like I said, whimsical. But things quickly get tense, too. Each round, the players have a hidden Prophecy, one that gives them more Glory if they can make one region stronger than another. So begins a rapid game of push and pull, where mortals’ locations, alignments, and fates are completely altered from turn to turn.
Things start relatively easygoing, but after the first round, the board state does not reset. That means, when you get your next Prophecy, you might be facing an uphill battle to sabotage a region. It means everyone starts knowing where the most points are, and they’re going to fight tooth and nail to get them – or to quietly upend the status quo in their favor.
Your hand gets slightly bigger and stronger from round to round, and the points on the table grow more enticing. The ‘take that!’ moments come thick and fast. The decision points are never overwhelming, but there are enough to keep you switched on for the full hour-ish of play.
In the end, I emerged victorious from this clash of deities. Despite how few mortals were dying, my Death god was frugal with his Power and vigilant for opportunities to seize Glory from under his rivals’ noses.
It was a close race, though. My competitors rarely managed to shake my early lead, but a single round could clearly change the scoring landscape completely.
Almighty is as changeable as the fickle whims of the gods themselves. It’s also gloriously entertaining. A game that offers glory and power, but also charm in spades. It’s one to watch out for.
Want to talk more about the latest board games? Join the conversation in the Wargamer Discord.
Source: Wargamer
