Preview: Leverage Clever Combinations to Win Favor in Misfit Heroes

AEG returns to the card crafting system with the help of renowned game designer Phil Walker Harding for this rousing tableau builder.

How Misfit Heroes is Familiar

Fans of recent hobby tableau games such as Earth, Everdell, and Wingspan will take to a game like Misfit Heroes. The game begins by shuffling the 80 attributes and combining each of them with one of the 80 transparent character cards. These will create factions from which players will draw the titular misfits (as well as beasts and humans) to form their 4x4 tableau.

And just like any solid tableau game, the goal is to combo these hero cards off each other to gain various influence tokens (there are three kinds: raindrops, mountains, and leaves). These are used to claim regions worth points at the end of the game, starting with as many as 12 points down to 7 points depending on player count.

In this regard, Misfit Heroes won’t feel novel to experienced tableau players. However, as we’ll explain shortly, don’t mistake this ease of learning as a lack of depth or diversity.

Players will add to their tableau using the Recruit a Hero action, which means paying the sum cost of coins displayed by the character and attribute cards. The first hero played will represent the bottom left of a player’s tableau. As more heroes are recruited, they can be played orthogonally to any previously played hero cards.

When hero cards are played will determine if they are actually viable to be played (some factors may include having a certain number of a faction already in your tableau to legally play the card, others must be placed next to specific faction types) or the benefits you can receive in the form of additional actions or gaining influence and/or money.

Other actions during one’s turn can be one of the following: Recruit a card, draw a card, gain one influence, or gain money (irrespective of what is already in one’s tableau). After one of these actions are conducted, players can spend the requisite influence to gain a regional tile and then play moves to the next player.

Once a player finishes their 4x4 grid, the end of the game is activated. If the last player in turn order does this, the round ends. Otherwise, everyone gets one last action before scoring regions, influence (1 point per leftover influence tokens), and hero cards in your tableau (both from individual card scoring plus any hero cards that provide further end-of-game scoring conditions). The person with the most points is the winner.

Image provided by the publisher.

What Sets Misfit Heroes Apart

At this point, you must be asking: what does Misfit Heroes do that makes it a worthwhile addition to my collection? Well, funny you should ask.

First off, the card crafting system. While Misfit Heroes has a bit of 3,000 Scoundrels and AEG classic Mystic Vale in its DNA, mixing and matching characters and attributes, this makes for new combinations from game to game. Unlike tableau games where the cards are static, and players have a good handle of which cards do what after a couple of plays, Misfit Heroes can drastically change from game to game in how cards activate and the rewards therein. While Character cards will always have the same Recruitment boxes (the one-time reward earned upon placing them in your tableau) and Attribute cards will do the same with the Activation boxes, how they mix together to form new combos from game to game will make some more powerful, influential, and useful.

The term “variability” is thrown around a lot in games, often to a degree in which no one experiences those variables because they find a set up that favors their play style. In Misfit Heroes, variability is encouraging because it’s vital to the essence of the game. Sure, you could always keep the same character and attribute cards together (if you’re in a rush), but it’s not a smart decision or a fun one.

The tableau itself is also but one part of the game’s whole. Rather than just maximizing the tableau for end-game scoring, it’s about utilizing those Recruit and Attribute box rewards to continually gain more influence, coins, and victory conditions by acquiring regions and powerful end-of-game scoring hero cards (that will differ from game to game).

Final Thoughts

Misfit Heroes won’t break new ground in the genre, but a good game isn’t always trying to reinvent but reinterpret. Phil Walker-Harding is masterful at doing this, and Misfit Heroes is no different. Combining a game that is easy to get to the table and play but always has the chance of presenting something new to you when you mix up attribute and character cards, is great.

While no one should eyeball a game, especially one on Kickstarter, and think about future expansion opportunities, Misfit Heroes is a game that doesn’t need more factions, regions, or influence to make it a better game. However, future combinations of any or all will make a game that’s cracking quick fun just a bit more fun. There’s no way players are going to experience all 6,000-plus combinations currently in the game and potential future combos, but that’s okay as well.

In a world where less can be more, just a couple of decks and a few tokens are all it takes to make you feel like you’re in Absurdia next to these Wuzzles.

Misfit Heroes is currently on Kickstarter

Disclosure: we received a complimentary prototype copy of this game for this preview.