I’m not terribly familiar with Dan Hundycz’s body of work. While he’s designed several titles, the only release of his I’ve previously played is an odd one called AFFLICTION: Salem 1692. Unfortunately, that was not about the clothing brand of the same name, but instead focused on the hysteria of the Salem witch trials. It did have a few interesting flourishes for a worker placement style game about retribution and exerting power. I can still recall my plays several years later.
Rising Storm: The Starborne is a different thing. This is a relatively straightforward card game of competing for dominance across three subsequent conflicts. It’s an experience defined by the interaction of special powers and seizing the right moment to make a move. While the game loop is easy enough to grasp, it can get a little messy when timing certain interactions and assessing outcomes. This is a game that occasionally provokes interesting interactions and considerations, I just wish those occurrences were more frequent.
The central conceit of Rising Storm is that it’s intended as an introductory card battler. Up to four players alternate placing a card to the central play area, each possessing a strength, cost, and special ability, as well as being defined as either military or civilian. Most abilities fire immediately, such as Infantry which destroys a drone card in play, or an assassin which kills a civilian. Some are volatile, aggressive, and immediately shake up the conflict. Others are passive and more strategic in nature, offering a discount to future cards you play or protecting your characters from specific effects.
Your goal is to have the highest strength card on the table at round end. First and second place receive points, and this dominance is a primary path to victory. Subtlety is pursued through a monetary track. Cards will add or subtract currency, and you will lose or gain end-game score depending on your position on this track. This offers an economic vector to play that is worthwhile to fiddle with. Finally, assassination rewards a bevy of points and is an effective way of scrubbing salt all over your opponent’s wounds.
The most interesting quality is the tension around when to play cards. There’s this constant lure of hanging on to your best play as your hand rolls over into the next round. Tossing out a Mech early only to have it be negated seriously hurts. Sometimes you wait until the very last moment in the current conflict to spring your surprise. This is when plans can fail or come together spectacularly.
Experience also lends interest to the draft phase. Players will start plucking cards specifically to counter other’s choices and a level of depth is attained. This is also the slowest portion of play for newcomers and where things can go awry if you’re not aware of what options are possible or what cards some may start with due to their faction.
There is a core struggle here in that the design wants to break out and be wild, yet it also wants to maintain a low complexity and appeal to a wider range of participants. While it’s reasonably successful at times, at others it fails to satisfy both ends.
You can really subvert plans and totally upend an opponent by killing or capturing their cards. This is shocking and dramatic and comprises the best moments. For my tastes, I wish there were more complex interactions and powerful moves beyond the few that exist. They only occur a couple of times in play and the tactical breadth is somewhat limiting. But for someone who is perhaps less familiar with card games, there are quite a few abilities to read and understand. It’s sort of a tweener in this regard.
I do think there is an audience. I can find the joy when playing this with the type of player who’s dabbled in Magic: The Gathering or another CCG. A person who’s willing to sit down for 30 minutes and bang out a game with a few memorable moments and enticing collisions of effects. There’s no need for a long-term commitment or deck construction, so the barrier to entry is minimal. Setup is quick and the rules explanation is not burdensome if you’re willing to internalize the various effects through play.
One of the reasons why I’m not committing to larger praise is Rising Storm’s competition. This isn’t a lane battler, but there are numerous titles in that genre which offer either a more satisfying core gameplay loop, or novel twists that establish identity. I just recently reviewed the Gears of War card game, for instance. That game offers a comparable quality of card interaction and maneuvering, yet it’s elevated due to thoughtful hand management in tandem with unlocking content over the course of a campaign.
An even more direction comparison is warranted to Grant Rodiek’s Imperius. Rising Storm reminds me of that Kolossal Games title in so many ways. It boasts a similar aesthetic, similar competition for highest strength, and even parallels the game by offering a relatively narrow pool of card effects that are repeated. Yet, Imperius has the killer feature of allowing the placing of your opponent’s cards to the table and not just your own. That curveball is the type of element Rising Storm needs to propel it beyond satisfactory. Without a similarly pivotal trait, it doesn’t leave me a whole lot to chew on and reflect over between plays. It’s not the type of experience that gets stuck in my skull. It fails to demand thought or rumination beyond basic contentment.
I’ve played sessions of Rising Storm and fought hard with military cards, leaning into the usage of mechs and drones. I’ve also found success with economic play or heavily drafting assassins. There are legitimate strategic options here and some opportunity for clever play. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and never leaves me feeling cold. This game absolutely works, and I’ve enjoyed each play of it.
But it’s not particularly noteworthy or deserving of effusive praise. This is the type of analysis that is difficult to provide but is arguably the most crucial work a critic can undertake. Rising Storm: The Starborne indeed does its job. It also clocks out at exactly 5PM.
A review copy of the game was provided by the publisher.
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Player Elimination 