Euthia: Torment of Resurrection

Euthia is one of those games that seems to need a small forest’s worth of cardboard just to exist. I usually avoid Kickstarter behemoths like this, because I rarely feel I will play them enough to justify the space and investment; the first lockdown caught me at a weak moment, though, and I pressed the button. After roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes of unpunching, the first encounter was fortunately very positive: a huge box, cards and tokens for everything, and a table that looks ready to host a hunt for wealth and glory.

Each player takes control of a hero, explores the map, takes on quests, and fights monsters, while also trying to complete the scenario. Its overall logic recalls Mage Knight in terms of adventure and hero development, but without the demanding deck-building element. Instead, advancement comes through an MMO-like power tree, unlocking new abilities as the adventure progresses.

In most scenarios it is competitive, but mainly in the sense of multiplayer solitaire and a race: everyone is pursuing their own adventure and rushing toward the scenario objectives. The most substantial direct interference is that, with certain resources, you can boost the monsters another player is fighting. There are co-op and PvP scenarios as well, but the picture I have so far is of two or three heroes spreading across the map, each chasing their own glory.

This is not a game for occasional contact. It takes two or three plays before it starts flowing properly, before the group gets used to the artwork and understands what it is looking at, while the rules contain quite a few tiring micro-rules and exceptions. It requires a conscious decision that, for a while, it will be the group’s dungeon crawler, not something that comes out once in a blue moon. And, as with Mage Knight, I would not dare put it on the table with four players: the downtime sounds like pure self-punishment.

Despite setup and teardown, which are predictably a chore for such an abundant box, Euthia has given me particularly strong and satisfying experiences. It is a lifestyle game in both the good and demanding senses: when you give it space, time, and a regular group, it pays you back with a very rich sandbox. I have not yet dared try a medium scenario to see it fully open up, but so far the urge to open that enormous box again is entirely real.

Updated session

In the later sessions, the initial positive impression was confirmed: we have already played three times, and the game remains enjoyable and impressive on the table. My reservation has not changed—it still asks for familiarity with its rules, and it has not yet been tested in a medium scenario—but it did not lose steam; instead, it increasingly feels like a game worth returning to regularly.