Review: Battle With Elemental Layers In RIFTFORCE
Card games usually use a mana system and have some type of health or point system akin to Magic: The Gathering. However, Riftforce simplifies the battle system and turns its cards from creatures attacking a singular point to Chess-like pieces. I was genuinely surprised at how the level of strategy of placement of cards and drafting affected each game and made the experience far more challenging and rewarding than other card games.
Riftforce begins with a draft of four elements for each player. Players then take the elemental cards matching their four drafted elements and shuffle them to make their personal deck for the game. Then they will take one of three actions: place elementals, activate elementals or draw cards/check points. The game ends when a player has reached 12 points which is normally achieved through killing enemies. The game is very simple to learn, but as soon as you realize that each of your four elementals has a unique way of attacking and your opponent’s elementals do too, it becomes very apparent how complex each turn and move can be.
Like Chess, the game can be taught and played by anyone over the age of 7 or 8. But also like Chess, a player who has a lot more experience will have a significant advantage over other players because of the basic understanding of each element, its strengths and usages. This doesn’t mean that the game is unplayable when there is a large gap in experience, but it is something to be aware of when teaching newer players. I found the game to be best taught to two people, letting them play together and explore the deeper mechanics as they knock out a few rounds against each other.
The only complaints I have about the game are the slight feel of imbalance of one or two elementals and slight problems with bad luck draws. There is one element that seems particularly strong, even though it gives an opponent a bonus. There is also one element that seems a bit weak unless you are perfectly strategic and a bit lucky. As for bad luck, it will always happen in games. Riftforce gives players a lot to do with the cards you have, but sometimes it doesn’t feel great to see an opponent's card line up really well while you are struggling to do something significant for a few turns. As bad as these things might seem, neither the bad luck of the draw or the slightly imbalanced elements broke the game or made it un-fun, they just put a small damper on one or two matches.
Even considering my complaints, Riftforce is an awesome game that offers crazy amounts of replayability and variation even though there are relatively few components. It is a game that demands planning and strategy, but can still be well enjoyed by novice players. For anyone who wants a solid two-player game that is easy to pick up and hard to master, Riftforce is an easy recommendation.
