10 x 10 Challenge #13: 100 Swords - Game #7

Following on from my previous 10 x 10 Challenge posting, it was now the turn of The Glowing Plasmapede's Dungeon Builder Set (DBS) to be combined with The Blue Mammoth's Dungeon. I wasn't too sure what to expect based upon this expansions previous outing, as it didn't really seem to do much of anything in the way of changing gameplay.

This could be for a number of reasons though. It could have been so close to the style of The Red Dragon's Dungeon that it was indistinguishable when combined with that dungeon deck. It could be that whatever it does, just didn't happen; either because of the way the cards fell or because the cards that would have otherwise shone through got buried under the boss. The A.I could have taken the cards that otherwise would have changed the flow of the game.. These and many more possible scenarios besides could account for why the addition of this DBS just didn't seem to add anything to that game.

So when I shuffled this DBS into a deck I had only played once, so little was known about what might happen next that it was as if I had never played a game of 100 Swords before. It's not often you get that out of a game you've been playing on and off for months! In fact, I don't think it has happened since playing Dominion years ago; when we first introduced the Seaside expansion. That's how rare of an event it is!

Without further ado though, let's take a look at how the game went..

Turn 1: The first card revealed was a Ding Beetle, which in turn revealed another card; the Pink Eye. This was both a good and a bad thing, as whilst it gave me a view of the dungeon as a whole; it was a little early to be revealing such a powerful monster, which I had no way of defeating at this point - whatever I drew from my deck.

Turn 2: Not being able to slay the Pink Eye, I rented the Monster Scents Bag so that I could at least pass it and pick up some of the other items in the dungeon to give myself a fighting chance of killing something. I didn't make a lot of progress with this plan, but I did acquire a Torch Sword with which to improve my deck.

Turn 3: I had to rely on the Monster Scents Bag again this turn, and again didn't achieve much as a result; thankfully I was able to steer the Pink Eye into the A.I's path, and the A.I was only more than happy to take it. Normally letting the A.I take a 6 Gold value monster would be a bad thing, but when it's hampering you turn after turn, you just have to let it go and hope that you can claw back the points with the freedom getting rid of it grants you.

Turn 4: Not a lot to report for this turn, other than the A.I taking the Dungeon Yeti as it's trophy for 5 Gold. It's only early days, but two successive turns like this is going to be hard to come back from; and I know it!

Turn 5: This was a really good turn for me. I got hold of a Tempo Sword, which I used to retire my Awkward Sword; optimising my deck, if only slightly. I'd also picked up a couple of other decent swords in previous turns (a Combo Sword, and a Key Sword), whilst the A.I was busy killing stuff.

Now all I needed to do was get the Tempo Sword out a couple of more times, and my deck would start chewing up the dungeon. I could start to close the gap. The A.I taking the Ogre Brute for 5 Gold at the end of the turn however meant the gap I wanted to close was only getting more and more vast with every passing turn.

Turn 6: This turn was pretty standard, with the whole dungeon being revealed. Other than picking up another Tempo Sword, there isn't much more to say about it.

Turn 7: My engine started to churn out trophies this turn, taking out both the Tall Grass and the Siren; helping me close the gap. The A.I did take another good sized trophy also however, in the Space Guardian (worth 4 Gold).

Turn 8: I started this turn by playing a Tempo Sword (which I'm fast becoming a fan of), to retire a Crappy Sword from my deck. I then revealed a Rat Man which in turn revealed a Single-Use Sword. I hadn't seen this card before, and had previously thought that one-shot items where a new thing introduced by The Darkness Dungeon Builder Set.. Guess I was wrong! Although the concept of "bane items" does still seem to have been introduced by that DBS.

Not that I was going to get my hands on this sword just yet either way, as a Boring Door blocked my progress and ended my turn. Before consolidating the dungeon however, the A.I took its prize. A Shiny sword, for another 4 Gold.

Turn 9: Not drawing my Key Sword I rented the General Purpose Key, and dealt with the Boring Door; moving beyond it into the next chamber and claiming the Single-Use Sword. This left only one card unrevealed in the dungeon, which was found to be another Rat Man by the A.I; which it also claimed as its trophy for this turn.

Turn 10: I got to start my turn off using another brand new item, the Launch Boots; which took me straight to the third chamber where I revealed a Laser Obelisk. Something that I had no hopes of beating with my current hand. So I pressed on into the next chamber, revealing a Shadow Door; which hid the Laser Obelisk. Luckily I had drawn my Key Sword this turn, so short work was made of the door and, I even had enough cards left in hand to move into the final chamber; where I encountered a Sticky Man. I slew this without difficulty, and retired a Crappy Sword into the bargain; but in hindsight it was a mistake to do this, as it left the Laser Obelisk as the card to the far right of the Dungeon - which the A.I claimed as its prize. Essentially I handed it 6 Gold. Bugger!

Turn 11: This was another turn I started off by playing a Tempo Sword to thin out my deck a little; in this case retiring a Crappy Sword. Next up I acquired a Sniffer Hound which I used to move to the center of the dungeon, where I encountered a Bat Man. This was easily taken out, before I used the last of my cards to move into the next chamber where I found a Puzzle Sword. It was bat men all around when the A.I took its action and revealed another Bat Man at one extreme of the dungeon, which it took as its prize for this turn.

Turn 12: After shuffling my deck, I found myself drawing my newly acquired Sniffer Hound, which I used to move to the center of the dungeon again, where I revealed a Locked Sword. Another lock and no key, but at least one I could pass. Moving into the next chamber I took the Puzzle Sword which had been revealed the previous turn, and ended this one. The A.I took a Corrosive Slime this turn, which was fine by me; not being either useful to me or valuable to them.

Turn 13: I started this turn by renting out the General Purpose Key, with a goal of snatching the Locked Sword. I did have a Key Sword somewhere in the little that was left of my deck to go through, and means to draw a card; but as there was no guarantee it'd be the card I needed, and seeing how thin the Dungeon Deck was getting I didn't want to take the risk. Key in hand the next thing I did was to play a Tempo Sword to get rid of a Crappy Sword from my deck. Whilst I couldn't be sure of the card I'd draw from my play of the Combo Sword I had in hand, I could at least stack the odds of it being something good in my favor! Moving into the second chamber of the dungeon, I encountered a Horn Warrior; and played my Combo Sword for both strength and the draw.. Which drew the Key Sword. Bugger!

Still, whilst I no longer needed its ability, its strength added to that of the Combo Sword was enough to take out the Horn Warrior; so I at least got a trophy out of it. Next I continued on to the Locked Sword, and took that into my hand by using the General Purpose Key. Lastly I used my newly acquired sword to slay the Tall Grass in the next chamber, leaving very little of the dungeon for the A.I to pick at; who had to settle for a pair of Launch Boots. Another low value trophy.

Turn 14: On the last turn I kicked things off by playing my own pair of Launch Boots to leap straight into the third chamber, where I found another Tempo Sword. Not a lot of use this late in the game. More of a hindrance in fact, but I took it none the less; if only for the Gold. It's ability for me to draw a card also helped, pulling a Decent Sword to my hand. The only problem was at this point that I didn't have much more that I could do with it, and the only card still in my path was the last one in the dungeon; and unless it was a very low value card I didn't have the resources to both get to it, and take it.

So, for no reason other than I could, I used the Torch Sword I had to reveal it.. And found it was the boss.. At the end of the dungeon. With nothing more I could do, I had to accept that the A.I was going to take it, and that would be the end of the game. Had I done enough to catch up?

Win, lose, or draw?

In a word. No. The A.I beat me 54 Gold to 49.. But what a come back! Given how lucky the A.I got so early in the game I think I can say without any hint of being prideful or arrogant that I played a damn good game. One that again was swung by whoever could claim the boss.

Afterthoughts

This was another tight game, which I feel just goes to show how well balanced this game really is. So far I have been able to combine any dungeon deck, with any DBS and still play a well matched game. One thing I did notice however was that this was a longer than usual game. Maybe that's what this DBS' gimmick is? It would make sense, as The Magic Computer's Dungeon Builder Set seems to speed play up; and there is a certain affinity in the design of the DBS' that I own for mirroring. Light (The Chroma Dragon's Dungeon Builder Set) and Dark (The Darkness Dungeon Builder Set), so why not fast and slow?