In 20 Strong Tanglewoods, one takes on the role of their favorite fairytale protagonist in this solo dice-rolling game of adventure. Gamers looking for a card-based, solo, lightweight dungeon crawling experience should check it out. 20 Strong is a series of games from Chip Theory that use the same set of twenty dice of several different colors. These dice are then used to play any number of different games, which are purchased as additional decks of cards. Thus one only has to purchase a new deck to have a new game to play. At present, every game in the 20 Strong line revolves around rolling dice to damage and defeat a deck filled with antagonist cards. Only some of the rolled dice are recovered to be used again so a primary focus in the game is managing one’s dice use. After wading through various minions, defeat the final boss to win the game. The recent Tanglewoods series (red, white, gold, rose – I leave the reader to figure out which fairy tale is which) all tend to involve a strong movement component, whereby the player moves from location to location, triggering an event (battling something or recovering) on their way to the final showdown location. While there are many similarities between versions, a player that enjoys one deck of cards may appreciate the variety offered by another. On the flip side, all the games use a similar dice mechanic. If that is not your cup of tea, changing decks is unlikely to change your mind. Of note, there is a special Tanglewoods deck that combines three of the other Tanglewoods decks to make a linked campaign (even with a “secret boss reveal” if you don’t research reviews too closely.) If the 20 Strong line of games sounds interesting, there is a soon-ending crowdfunding campaign going on for three new decks based on the popular boardgames: Tainted Grail, Nemesis, and Etherfields. Going on limited information, they sound like they will lead the 20 Strong series another step or two in a new direction of gameplay.
20 Strong – Tanglewoods
Designer: Josh J. Carlson (also Logan Giannini & Ryan Howard)
Publisher: Chip Theory Games
Players: 1 (solo only)
Ages: 14+
Time: 30-40 min
(review copy provided by publisher)
