Guards of Atlantis II by Wolff Designa is off to the races with the Gamefound crowdfunding campaign well on its way. The game has already been funded, beating its original goal of €30,000 ($32,000) in 10 minutes and 17 seconds.
Guards of Atlantis II Smashes Gamefound Funding Records
At the time of writing, the campaign has collected €357,726 ($359,000) from 2,056 backers, but don’t hope these numbers to be accurate in a moment. In any event, there are still 29 more days to go as of Wednesday, April 26, and Wolff Designa has plenty to be happy with.
The game itself is a card-driven team versus team battle arena, inspired by the online video game genre, Massive Online Battle Arena, games such as Dota 2 and League of Legends, which have adapted surprisingly well for the tabletop medium.
Guards of Atlantis II, though, is its own original creation happy to accommodate 2-6 players and suitable for players aged 14+. The game is touted as a zero-random, all-skill and 100% cutthroat competition that unfolds over 90-150 minutes of playtime. The gameplay can also be expanded to 7-10 players with a Hero Pack, and there is no solo mode.
The base game features tons of miniatures, heroes, and minions to give you the feeling that you are playing in an actual battle arena, weighing every decision, and leaning in heavily on your character’s strengths to deal a devastating blow to your opponents.
The gameplay is intricate, owing to the many components and characters you can throw into play, and new stratagems to try. There is also plenty of media coverage of Guards of Atlantis II already out there, with reviewers having had the opportunity to discuss the game at length. This begs the question…
Do You Want to Jump on the MOBA Wagon Yourself?
The MOBA genre is becoming incredibly successful in board games. Ascension: Miniatures Games is just one of the latest examples of how a game can be well-executed and build upon a successful franchise as well as embrace a new genre.
Guards of Atlantis II definitely has a lot of people hyped with the current BoardGameGeek rating of the game standing at the robust 8.6 with 600 ratings and 261 comments. This is something. Some of the core things we are interested in as players ourselves is whether Guards of Atlantis II would be replayable and strategic enough, and from what we have garnered the answer is – yes.
The game also touts itself as “easy to learn and play,” but the complexity is closer to 3.30/5, which puts it on par with Nemesis, Civilizations, and other more intricate titles. Designed by Artyom Nichipurov, who did the original game to a somewhat less-stoked reception, Guards of Atlantis II has used the lessons of the previous game and hopefully implemented them successfully into the new design.