The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Vortex is, perhaps, the next step in Collectible Card Games. This fascinating and compelling game from Fantasy Flight Games (http://fantasyflightgames.com) adds a whole new level to game play and strategy: movement and positioning.

Played with hexagon tiles instead of cards, the game draws its name from the central tile, the Vortex. Players compete to control the vortex by having tiles on more sides adjacent to it than your opponent, and if you end your turn with less than your opponent, you lose a point of essence. Lose three points and you’re out of the game.

The basic mechanics are straightforward; creatures, soldiers and vehicles (collectively called “minions”) have an attack score that is applied to a target’s defense when attacking. If it surpasses the defense the target takes wounds. If a target has as many wounds as it has health it is destroyed. And of course, tiles can have any number of special powers to change things, such as “overpower” and “counterstrike” which allows a tile to attack before its opponent on either the attack or defense respectively, or “attack mastery” which permits a tile to take multiple attacks a turn. And then there are the special modifiers for less common situations, like gaining attack bonuses for participating in an attack with a minion of a certain type. Each player has access to “strongholds” which can be used to summon other strongholds and minions, can be attacked and destroyed, and many of which have additional powers. Add to that event tiles which are played directly from one’s hand, and artifacts that remain in play for the duration of the game, and you have all the traditional elements of Magic or other CCGs.

But minions have another statistics listed on them, one that changes the tone of the game considerably: movement.

Each minion and stronghold tile played becomes part of the “Vortex Mass,” and all tiles must touch to the Vortex either directly or through other tiles. But within this mass, tiles can move along the edges of adjacent hexes or, for those that fly, over certain hexes. This allows players to maneuver their tiles around one another, position guards and defenses, even build walls and pin an opponent’s tile, keeping it from moving.

Combining the moving tiles with the battle for control of the Vortex and you have a fascinating game play. It is not enough to merely destroy all of your opponent’s forces (although that’s a viable strategy) you also have to be able to take and hold the six edges of the Vortex hex, maintain your supply of energy from strongholds and make use of the wonderfully and painfully limited number of actions you get each turn. Each game I’ve played in or seen played has been wildly different, as forces spread, spin and contract around the Vortex. Sometimes a game becomes a huge war of attrition with tiles spread across the table battling one another. Other games have been smaller affairs as one or two hex edges along the Vortex switch between players’ control. (And yet most all games take up little playing space as they are focused around the center hex.)

This additional level of play makes this the most interesting, most compelling collectible game I’ve played since that first glorious month of Magic. It’s the first game where I’ve wanted to just go out and own as many tiles as I can.

The most common criticism raised against the game, and the only one I share, lies in the method the game has been released. There are eight factions in Vortex, four good and four evil. Four starter sets are available, one each for the Host and Arcanae (good) and the Brood and Draconis (evil). In each starter you get 10 fixed tiles, and four flats of three random tiles. Three of the flats have common tiles, and one is a rare flat. What this means, however, is that with one starter pack, nearly half the tiles you get will be useless. The game makes it possible, but not easy, for a player to include multiple factions in a stack, and half of the random tiles a player receives will be factions that don’t even have starter packs. In fact, even a player who spends a significant amount of money buying multiple boosters will have difficulty fielding a competitive stack for the secondary factions.

Further, the rare tiles are, by and large, more powerful than the common tiles. While this makes sense from a collecting point of view (“Cool, I just got the Draconis Battlemaster!”) playability suffers. Among a small pool of tiles, poor luck may give an advantage to a certain player. For instance, among the four starter packs and one booster pack I was sent to review, there were nine random Draconis tiles, and only one random Host tile. Assuming a small pool of four players, the one who purchased the Host starter pack will be at a disadvantage.

In a similar vein, the rules state that a player can have a stack of any number of tiles, so long as both players have an equal number. For official FFG tournaments, this number is 25. A starter pack yields 10-14 tiles of the selected faction. This may be a personal peeve, but it bothers me that a “starter pack” does not have enough pieces to play an official game.

That being said, I found that a game played with only 15 titles drawn from the limited pool provided as interesting and as challenging a game as I’ve played with 30 tiles against opponents with hundreds to choose from.

Vortex provides a delightful amount of depth, a suitable number of strategies to play with and an intriguing enough setting to make it worth returning. The tiles are clear and easy to read. There has been a pleasantly limited amount of errata and Frequently Asked Questions on the company’s website. Despite raging debates among on-line communities, the primary factions are fairly balanced and competitive with one another, and the secondary factions can make a strong showing provided enough tiles to draw from. The production values are excellent with art that ranges from decent to excellent, and the look and feel of the counters are delightful. To anyone with an interest in CCGs or abstract strategy games, I heartily recommend it.

Vortex
Vortex Playtest Review by Robert A. Rodger on 05/02/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) Vortex is a fascinating and compelling game that adds a new depth to Collectible gaming. Product: Vortex Author: FFG Category: Card Game Company/Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Line: Vortex Cost: Page count: n/a Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: yes Playtest Review by Robert A. Rodger on 05/02/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Science Fiction	Vortex is, perhaps, the next step in Collectible Card Games. This fascinating and compelling game from Fantasy Flight Games (http://fantasyflightgames.com) adds a whole new level to game play and strategy: movement and positioning. Played with hexagon tiles instead of cards, the game draws its name from the central tile, the Vortex. Players compete to control the vortex by having tiles on more sides adjacent to it than your opponent, and if you end your turn with less than your opponent, you lose a point of essence. Lose three points and you’re out of the game. The basic mechanics are straightforward; creatures, soldiers and vehicles (collectively called “minions”) have an attack score that is applied to a target’s defense when attacking. If it surpasses the defense the target takes wounds. If a target has as many wounds as it has health it is destroyed. And of course, tiles can have any number of special powers to change things, such as “overpower” and “counterstrike” which allows a tile to attack before its opponent on either the attack or defense respectively, or “attack mastery” which permits a tile to take multiple attacks a turn. And then there are the special modifiers for less common situations, like gaining attack bonuses for participating in an attack with a minion of a certain type. Each player has access to “strongholds” which can be used to summon other strongholds and minions, can be attacked and destroyed, and many of which have additional powers. Add to that event tiles which are played directly from one’s hand, and artifacts that remain in play for the duration of the game, and you have all the traditional elements of Magic or other CCGs. But minions have another statistics listed on them, one that changes the tone of the game considerably: movement. Each minion and stronghold tile played becomes part of the “Vortex Mass,” and all tiles must touch to the Vortex either directly or through other tiles. But within this mass, tiles can move along the edges of adjacent hexes or, for those that fly, over certain hexes. This allows players to maneuver their tiles around one another, position guards and defenses, even build walls and pin an opponent’s tile, keeping it from moving. Combining the moving tiles with the battle for control of the Vortex and you have a fascinating game play. It is not enough to merely destroy all of your opponent’s forces (although that’s a viable strategy) you also have to be able to take and hold the six edges of the Vortex hex, maintain your supply of energy from strongholds and make use of the wonderfully and painfully limited number of actions you get each turn. Each game I’ve played in or seen played has been wildly different, as forces spread, spin and contract around the Vortex. Sometimes a game becomes a huge war of attrition with tiles spread across the table battling one another. Other games have been smaller affairs as one or two hex edges along the Vortex switch between players’ control. (And yet most all games take up little playing space as they are focused around the center hex.) This additional level of play makes this the most interesting, most compelling collectible game I’ve played since that first glorious month of Magic. It’s the first game where I’ve wanted to just go out and own as many tiles as I can. The most common criticism raised against the game, and the only one I share, lies in the method the game has been released. There are eight factions in Vortex, four good and four evil. Four starter sets are available, one each for the Host and Arcanae (good) and the Brood and Draconis (evil). In each starter you get 10 fixed tiles, and four flats of three random tiles. Three of the flats have common tiles, and one is a rare flat. What this means, however, is that with one starter pack, nearly half the tiles you get will be useless. The game makes it possible, but not easy, for a player to include multiple factions in a stack, and half of the random tiles a player receives will be factions that don’t even have starter packs. In fact, even a player who spends a significant amount of money buying multiple boosters will have difficulty fielding a competitive stack for the secondary factions. Further, the rare tiles are, by and large, more powerful than the common tiles. While this makes sense from a collecting point of view (“Cool, I just got the Draconis Battlemaster!”) playability suffers. Among a small pool of tiles, poor luck may give an advantage to a certain player. For instance, among the four starter packs and one booster pack I was sent to review, there were nine random Draconis tiles, and only one random Host tile. Assuming a small pool of four players, the one who purchased the Host starter pack will be at a disadvantage. In a similar vein, the rules state that a player can have a stack of any number of tiles, so long as both players have an equal number. For official FFG tournaments, this number is 25. A starter pack yields 10-14 tiles of the selected faction. This may be a personal peeve, but it bothers me that a “starter pack” does not have enough pieces to play an official game. That being said, I found that a game played with only 15 titles drawn from the limited pool provided as interesting and as challenging a game as I’ve played with 30 tiles against opponents with hundreds to choose from. Vortex provides a delightful amount of depth, a suitable number of strategies to play with and an intriguing enough setting to make it worth returning. The tiles are clear and easy to read. There has been a pleasantly limited amount of errata and Frequently Asked Questions on the company’s website. Despite raging debates among on-line communities, the primary factions are fairly balanced and competitive with one another, and the secondary factions can make a strong showing provided enough tiles to draw from. The production values are excellent with art that ranges from decent to excellent, and the look and feel of the counters are delightful. To anyone with an interest in CCGs or abstract strategy games, I heartily recommend it.