Rolling Realms has a new addition to its Stonemaier family – its bigger boxed brother, Rolling Realms Redux!
A while back, I was very lucky to review a whole batch of new realms for Jamey Stegmaier’s game, Rolling Realms. You can read it here, and I can safely say that I enjoyed every single one of them. To varying degrees, and unavoidably influenced by the combinations in which they were played. But I absolutely love Rolling Realms, and so more realms added into the mix simply meant more fun for me. Solo Mini Golf style or multiplayer, I could happily play Rolling Realms anytime, anyplace. And with a continuous release of more realms, I expected Rolling Reals to, well, keep rolling!
So when I heard that Rolling Realms Redux (“RRR”) was being released, I felt a mix of excitement, anticipation, but also a little confusion. If realms were still being released for the OG, what could Redux bring to the table that is different? And having been given the opportunity to receive a review copy I immediately said yes please!
Researching RRR, basic multiplayer mode sounded the same; each round, you roll two dice and allocate each dice to one of three realms in order to earn stars. Resources can be collected to manipulate the D6 results (or banked and converted into points). After 3 rounds (9 realms in total), players’ scores are totalled, and the winner is the player with the most stars. It also looked the same; dry-wipe realms, dry-wipe player cards, two chunky D6 (albeit purple this time), black pens, and small (but very effective) cloths.
Rolling Realms Retired?
So why Redux? The word means to restore or bring back. I hadn’t realised Rolling Realms had gone away. There was nothing to suggest that it was being retired or cast aside. And whilst I have completed the Mini Golf solo mode which used the original realms that came in the box, it was not a deal-breaker in terms of replayability for me. I’m still not sure if it is on its way out, or whether the two will run in parallel so that new players can still access those early realms and Mini Golf mode.
Regardless, here we are with a big box (and it is bigger than the OG as it is intended to house all the realms from that as well as this version) complete with 12 exclusive realms and a shiny new solo mode called RRR Ball! There’s also a handy travel tuck box that you can use to house some sets toplay RRR on the go.
Jamey has referred to this game as a new “core set” so I presume this can be your jumping off (or in?!) point if you haven’t played any Rolling Realms gameplay before. I believe all existing and future expansion realms will be compatible with either set, but the 12 bunded into RRR might only be available if you get RRR –I’m not 100% sure about that but I will try to find out and provide an update.
CoRRRe Realms
The 12 realms that come in RRR feel both familiar and different. Well known and loved games like Flamecraft, Tidal Blades, and Dog Park are in there. And, like nearly all the other published realms, they cleverly distil a major mechanism or essence of the games upon which they are based.
But there are also some unusual ones – Poker and Rock Paper Scissors were a surprise to me. I confess that I found Poker tricky to understand. I am not a Poker player and so building hands borrowing from the “flop” was something new for me to process. Likewise, I know how to play Rock Paper Scissors, but seeing it in realm form took some getting used to. Even though the directional arrow clearly shows the priority order, each time I selected that realm, I had to get my proposed battle checked by my husband just to make sure I had computed the symbol translation correctly.
Perfectly Puzzling!
Whilst there’s always the ability to gain 6 stars from each realm, I think scoring maximally is a puzzle that depends not only on the dice rolls, but also the combination of realms in play in any given round. Having resources available to manipulate D6 results is a mega bonus of course, but some realms do feel like they “feed” others, or at least produce stars without too much head scratching. The Guild of Merchant Explorers and Space Shipped are generous realms that balance out the more restrictive Flamecraft and Atiwa.
Overall, the core realms in RRR feel fresh. Some of them are more complicated than others for sure. I can’t pinpoint exactly why yet, and it is not because I am unfamiliar with the games upon which they are based. I have over half of them in my own collection, and the mechanisms they showcase feel true to the OGs. But quite a few took a number of reads, compendium checks, and a trip to YouTube to watch Jamey explain them. Now I have them in my head, however, they make sense. I don’t remember having to do that with the core realms in the OG, but that could just be my memory playing tricks on me.
RRR Ball!
The same goes for the RRR solo mode. Opening the contents and seeing the league cards and Bot Stats felt like it was going to be a more substantial experience. And having played my first 5 week league, it is a step up in complexity from the solo Mini Golf game I was used to playing. But, again, having dived into the rules and watched a great playthrough video from Mike at the One Stop CoOp Shop, I jumped into my first game against Bot C. And in truth I like it more. The three Bots and the risk/reward of advancing up the league or relegating down is exciting! Having fewer turns the higher up the league I go is also an added challenge that quickly deflates any solo-ego earned through gaining the most goals!
Although I will say that it is definitely not a quick 30 minute game for me like the OG. My first solo game was well over an hour and a half, and playing multiplayer has been consistently approaching the hour mark. I expect this will reduce a little the more we play, but deliberating which die result to use where in order to achieve placement optimisation is taking some time.
Is that a bad thing though? I would say not. If I am enjoying a game, then luxuriating in it a little longer after a hard day at work is lovely. If I need a game that is a quick hit full of snappy decisions, however, RRR might not be my go-to….yet!
Knocking it out of the park!
As with all Stonemaier Games, the production value is high. The RRR box has been made so that all realms (existing and future) will fit into it. Dividers help organise the cards by player colour and include ones for Risky Rewards and the Solo modes from both games. I dutifully emptied the contents of our OG into it even though it felt very strange to be mixing old and new. There’s also a travel box which at the moment is being used as a stop to prevent our own realms sliding down. I don’t think all four D6 will be needed but they fit in there too together with both sets of pens and cloths.
I’m really enjoying RRR – both multiplayer and solo. I haven’t combined any of the new realms with the old ones yet. I am still enjoying the foil freshness of these 12 exclusive offerings. But I can see how they will fit nicely into our growing collection of “odes to OGs” as I like to call them. And, just like Rolling Realms, this delightful dozen is already adding to my wish list of games by inspiring me to want to play (and probably buy!) the bigger boxed versions of those I haven’t yet tried – Legacy of Yu and Wonderlands War I am talking to you!
If I were a new player to the Rolling Realms universe, I think I could happily use either the OG or RRR as my starting off point. Both core sets include a mixture of generous and more demanding unique realms. I know Jamey could have just added these ones to the ongoing expansion roll out (including a pack for RRR Ball), but it would have cost substantially more to buy them piecemeal. Plus we now have a handy storage solution and a future-proofed system to take us forwards. And on that note, I am going to go and play my first game of mixed realms as a celebration of the two becoming one!
Please note that a copy of this game was kindly provided by the publishers for review. I am not paid for my comments, however, and all opinions are my own]. I am also not affiliated to or sponsored by any retail store.
