In previous posts, I've deconstructed the Dungeoneer set Realm of the Ice Witch to study its setting and characters. In this post, I'm looking at its game play.
In theory, it doesn't take much to establish a setting in a tilebased tabletop game. If the game takes place in a frozen wasteland, you make sure there's a lot of ice and snow in the artwork of every tile, and your job is done. To some degree, that's the extent of the theme of the desert in Dragons of the Forsaken Desert. That set leans heavily into the magically scorched earth theme more than it does the idea of oppressive heat and sunlight. But Ice Witch is as much about winter as it is the magical villain that's causing it.
In Realm of the Ice Witch, there's a roll at the start of each turn (not each round, but every single player's turn), which has a 50-50 chance of freezing a tile on the map. And of course the monsters and traps and weather events are usually more powerful on a frozen tile. You're immediately and painfully aware that this deck takes place in winter.
In a unique reversal of fortune, the Ice Witch deck reinforces the threat of winter by providing players with a lot of Glory cards. This is a stark contrast to the tactic of Vault of Fiends, which deprives you of treasure and boons while also hounding you with monsters and traps. In Ice Witch, there are actually a lot of Glory cards, and many of them emphasize the setting by counteracting it. When you get an Arctic Squash or Warmth card, or a PPotion of Heroism (with a flagon of warm mead depicted on it), you almost feel the relief from Cholizar's magical frost.
That does more than just reinforce the setting though, it's a major mechanic of this deck. What the land gives, the Ice Witch and her demons do their very best to take away. This deck lets your character level up, and then adds the level to attacks. The deck lets you explore, with relatively few blocked passages, and then tries to ensnare you with curses, traps, or bonuses to the demons that attack you. The whole game feels like an arms race, and a push against Cholizar's ceaseless winter spell. Even when a player character manages to complete a Quest that allows the removal of winter from a tile, the winter spell is almost sure to come back around and re-freeze the tile once that character has moved away.
It's a little bit of a rollercoaster, in the best sense. You power up, you thaw a tile, you're feeling good. And then around the corner you're hit with an avalanche, or an ice demon, or Cholizar's nasty little pet. I don't even find it frustrating, I feel like Cholizar is a formdible opponent.
Unless you defeat Cholizar, her Winter Spell continues throughout the game. This means you`re very likely to feel her presence for most of your game. The Map card bearing her fortress is as terrifying as her, and of course she's constantly sending out demons and undead and other icy monsters to kill you. I don't think it's possible to play a game of Realm of the Ice Witch without coming to believe that Cholizar, not the Dungeonlord or your fellow players, is your true enemy. She's got personality, Cholizar has, and if you do manage to destroy her you'll feel more smug than you've ever felt in a game.
Photos Creative Commons cc0, but all photos contain products and artwork copyright by Atlas Games and Thomas Denmark.