Quarriors!

Contents
Events Played
Box Contents
How to Play
Scores
My review
Expansions

Events Played
3rd February 2014
10th March 2014
19th May 2014

Box Contents
Gazillions of d6 dice (130 actually)
53 Cards (3 Basic, 20 Spell and 30 Creature
Score track
Rulebook
4 Score cubes
4 cloth dice bags
Dice rack for storage in box

How to play
The object of the game is to win.
Winning is achieved by being the first player to get the target amount of Glory points (20 for 2 players, 15 for 3 players and 12 for 4 players).
This dice-building game is comprised of dice and related cards that fall into 3 categories:
– Quiddity: spendable stuff that allows a player to do things
– Spells: A helping hand in times of need. Can be Immediate, Reaction, Attach or Standard- Creatures: ‘Summoned’ at a cost of Quiddity and can destroy other players’ Creatures. If you still have Creatures at the beginning of your next turn, you score Glory for them.
All dice have at least one side dedicated to Quiddity.

Players start with 12 dice – 8 Basic Quiddity (all six sides are Quiddity)
and 4 Assistant Dice (A mixed dice with Quiddity, Creature and Spell sides).
Each player chooses a coloured bag, fills it with their dice, and places the matching-coloured cube next to the scoring tracker.
Players may choose to use a play mat provided with the instruction booklet which needs to be photocopied. The play mat clearly denotes a player’s playing area:
Starting Pool: Freshly rolled dice are placed here and await an action by the player
Ready Area: Spells (for free) and Summoned Creatures go here (at a cost of Quiddity)
Spent Area: Cast Spells and Spent Quiddity go here (Spending Quiddity is the act of moving Quiddity dice from the Starting Pool to the Spent Area)
Used Area: At the end of a player’s turn, all dice on their board not in the Ready Area are moved here
A turn is:
Score Creatures, if any still standing from the previous turn (obviously skip this bit if you have no Creatures yet). If a player has any dice in their Used Area they may choose to Cull (discard) up to the number of Creatures scored.
Draw 6 dice at random from the bag (if the bag becomes empty then it is refilled from the Used Pile)
Roll the dice and put them in the Starting Pool. Immediate Spells can be cast and other players may at any time use their Reaction Spells.
Creatures can be Summoned to the Ready Area at cost of Quiddity as shown on the Creature dice – as long as there is the Quiddity to pay for it.
Summoned Creatures attack all other players’ Creatures. Any destroyed Creature is moved to the Used Area.
If the player has any Quiddity left after Summoning, they can spend it to Capture an extra die from the Wilds.
The Wilds is the area in the middle of the table in which 13 cards have been placed:
3 Basic Cards – These cards are always the same: Basic Quiddity (where culled Basic Quiddity die go); Assistant (where culled Assistant die go, also holds 2 extra Assistant dice for Capturing); Portal (An Immediate Spell that allows a player to draw extra dice out of their bag, holds 5 Portal dice)
3 Spell Cards – Each card holds 5 dice to be Captured. There are 5 distinctive Spells each with 4 levels of strength, when dealt at the beginning of the game only the first to appear level of three distinctive Spell cards are used (so there will not be two or 3 levels of the same spell on the table at any one time). With 20 cards to choose from, the combination of Spells is varied (and cost too – from 3 to 9 Quiddity).
7 Creature Cards – Like with the Spells, 5 dice are held by each card. The cards are dealt in the same way as the Spell cards, there are 10 Creatures with three levels each making 30 Creature cards to choose from. Each Creature at each level will have a unique ability that comes into effect at a particular time and an a specific way (and cost from 2 to 9 Quiddity). Each card also show what that Creature’s Glory is if scored.
All cards have all six sides of their respective dice displayed for added clarity – do you really want to spend all that Quiddity on a Spell that only comes one time in six?
At the end of a player’s turn, all dice not in the Ready Area are moved to the Used Area.
Play continues until the target Glory score is reached and the winner is the one who reached it first. If it’s a draw then it’s the player with the most Creatures in the Ready Area. Target Glory score is 20 for 2 players, 15 for 3 players and 12 for 4 players. Basically if there are more people playing, there are more chances of a player’s Creatures getting destroyed. Scoring is therefore less likely.
One game variation for more experience players forces them to cull Creatures when they score.
Scores

Number of players	2-4
End game conditions	Target number of Glory Points (dependent on the number of players)
Victory condition	1st player gets the target number of Glory Points
Replayability	Oh, yes please!	20 different Spell cards and 30 different Creature cards, coupled with the randomness of the dice rolls makes this a very different game every time.
Reading Requirements	Oh yeah! I forgot it did that!	No too much text on the cards, but players who pick the dice based on the pretty pictures may suffer.
Rules Comprehension	I only read through the rules three times	Not overly complicated. Much easier if you go to the trouble of photocopying the play mats.
Game-Breakability	Someone please roll a double!	So you managed to get 3 Quake Dragons, but just can’t roll their Creature side! Yay! 16 Quiddity, another Dragon…
Durability	Use as directed	The dice are good and solid, cards are fine, if kept dry.
Box Size	Under Arm	The dice storing tray does necessitate a bigger box, but reduces set-up time.
Play Area	Coffee Table	The Wilds takes up most of the space, but not too much.
Component Stability	Indoors or no wind	Cards can get blown about, dice don’t fall over very easily.
Storage Layout	Organised	The dice tray, as previously mentioned is great. Also decent spaces for the cards and bags.
Aesthetics	Photogenic	The cards themselves look great. The dice are lots of wonderful colours, shame the detailing print is a little shoddy making some of the tiny engraved numbers hard to read.
Turn Time/Involvement	Continuous	Provided you have a Creature in play, you’re making sure it’s surviving the gauntlet of the other players’ turns. If not, the wait isn’t that long either.
Game Length	We’ll get a couple of games in before bedtime	The number of Glory Points required is reduced with more players keeping it about the same regardless how many are playing.
Setup Time	Minutes	Shuffle two decks, lay out the cards, find the matching dice, give 12 dice to each player. Done.

My Review
Fans of Dominion may take exception to this game in that the dice they Capture in the same way they buy cards in Dominion, don’t always (or ever) roll what you purchased them for. For players who do seem to suffer the rolling curse, this game can be infuriating, I’ve known games end where a player has yet to score a single Glory Point. However, due to the random nature of the game, and the fact that each game has a different assortment of Spells and Creatures, there’s always hope for next time. Seasoned players may have a better idea as to which dice to Capture first, but are still at the mercy of their rolling.
The look of the game is great, the cloth bags are a very nice touch and there’s something satisfying about handling fistfuls of dice. The big disappointment as with the printing on the dice, which have the symbols engraved and then painted, but not always into the engraving which can make it difficult sometimes to read the small numbers.
A game can be short enough to allow a number of rounds, but long enough to feel like there’s enough meat to it for a single play.
The rules are fairly straightforward, so new players should be able to pick it up pretty quickly.
Final Verdict:
Add this to your collection!

Expansions

Quartifacts
This is the fourth expansion and this time, as well as some extra spells and creatures, introduces a new game aspect: Quests.
A game will have 1, 2 or 3 quests for 2, 3 or 4 players. Once summoned, a player may choose to send a Creature on a Quest. A Creature’s level must equal or exceed the Quest level (multiple Creatures may be sent to cumulatively add to the Creature level). In doing so, questing Creatures forfeit any Glory they would normally get in the scoring phase and do not battle (unless there’s another Creature on that Quest). Upon completing a Quest (a player still has Creatures whose levels match or exceed the Quest level), a player scores Glory for the quest and brings back a larger Quartifact die. This is rolled along with the usual dice for that turn and will provide either a one-shot instant bonus of some sort or a usable (normally attachable) Quartifact that will enhance a Creature. Players may only hold one Quartifact at a time, and if there are no Quartifacts available when completing a Quest (only two dice per quest), they can help themselves to one from another player.
Quartifacts also has a new Basic card complete with 5 dice, the Squire. A Creature of sorts, with little to no offensive abilities but with a 1 Glory point in normal scoring and a reasonable defence makes them handy on Quests. Also handy with only a cost of 1 Quiddity and the right to Capture 1 extra Quarry when Captured.
There is also one extra method of gaining Glory where a Creature that destroys Questing Creatures gets one Glory for every Creature destroyed. Defending Creatures do not get Glory if they repel any attack.
With all these extra ways of gaining Glory, an extended Glory tracker is provided: 25, 20 or 15 for 2, 3 or 4 players.
This is an expansion that really adds an extra element to the game. The only shortcoming is that some of the Quartifact rewards refer to aspects of previous expansions, without which are totally useless.