Obsidia

Obsidia feels like the kind of strange indie production that would hardly ever have seen the light of day without Kickstarter. And here KS did something good: it made room for a game with a minimalist, dark aesthetic and a pleasingly grim table presence as the underworld necropolis unfolds.

At its core, it is a mix of tile-laying and Mage Wars. The necropolis gradually spreads out, while we try to conquer its cities. It is strongly thematic and fairly quick, without losing the sense that things are escalating as the world expands in front of us.

Interaction is pure, shovel-sized violence, mainly through the spells being played. That is also where the biggest laughs come from: a humble skeleton can get completely out of control and turn into Freddy Krueger, slaughtering ten or fifteen of your little people. Do not take it too seriously; the more crude the situation becomes, the better it works.

It has plenty of replayability, especially with the drafting variant. Honestly, if CMON had dressed it up in a 200-dollar production, I think people would be raving about it. As things stand, it is simply Saturday, and I have a hard time seeing it reach retail—but that does not make it any less worthwhile.