Shiny Boxes and Card Packs with Millennium Blades

March 31, 2020 | Sessions | 2 comments

Jump into the exciting and quirky world of a collectible card game simulation with Millennium Blades.

Cards, cards everywhere! The sheer amount of variety in Millennium Blades is simply amazing. When I get around to writing a proper review, I’ll count exactly how many cards there are. But in general, the goal is to end up creating a tournament deck of merely 8 cards from possible combinations of hundreds of cards. It’s simply awesome!

Game Overview

Game Name: Millennium Blades
Publication Year:
 2016
Designer:
 D. Brad Talton, Jr.
Artist:
 Fábio Fontes
Solo Mode: Included in Millennium Blades: Set Rotation

Ooo, shiny! This large expansion comes in a fairly standard box, which is actually a clever box sleeve. Hidden inside is this masterpiece that looks so pretty!

I’ve been playing pretty consistently lately, so I increased the difficulty level. Back to the CCG tournament scene!

R

First Play

March 27, 2020

Complexity

4

Latest Play

November 7, 2021

Expansions

7

Setup Time

10 Minutes

Lifetime Plays

12

Play Time

40 Minutes

:

High Score

204

1

Game Area

32" x 26"

;

Low Score

76

Morrey Caardman

With Millennium Device, I easily randomized my starting character and starter deck. Morrey Caardman looked pretty awesome, especially with that sharp beard!

His fancy cane reminded me of one John Hammond from the infamous Jurassic Park. Good fashion choice, Morrey.

On the subject of the randomizer, it appears to be officially endorsed by Level 99 Games. However, the link on the site doesn’t seem to be working for me as of March 2020.

That’s a minor quibble, though! Technology is always so much fun. Just give it a Caardman stare to fix it. Ha ha!

Sell Tokens and the Difficulty Levels

One aspect of gameplay centers around sell tokens. Buying new card packs is simple, but generating cash or fusing cards for promos is much more difficult. Selling is limited by the number of selling tokens collected at the start. The multiplayer rules spell out the starting amount clearly, but the solo mode is a little ambiguous.

After searching in vain for an official response, I decided to use the following amounts:

  • Easy Difficulty Level: Start with 6 sell tokens.
  • Standard Difficulty Level: Start with 4 sell tokens.
  • Hard Difficulty Level: Start with 3 sell tokens.

This might not be the ideal way to play, but it seems to scale well enough! If it’s ever too difficult, it’s also simple to just change those values. Morrey Caardman was pretty nifty in this regard… He offered up an extra sell token as his ability!

The Tableau to Victory

Take that, They Game from Space! Actually, I’m not entirely sure what to call the boss from each deck… Maybe I’ll settle on Constellation Man or Yodo eventually. Ha!

There were many more considerations as I built up this deck. Additionally, Morrey Caardman filled up the aftermarket at the start of the deckbuilding phase.

In effect, I had 12 faceup cards to potentially purchase. This made it less risky and more targeted.

I even ended up skipping the final 6-minute round to jump right into the tournament. Now that’s how to play!

Hilarity Ensues

Not every card has flavor text, but it’s always worth taking a moment to read through my tableau at the end.

Grand Inquisitor Melchior? Please look at that closely. I cracked up, even if it might not be the funniest thing in the world. I like to laugh! And I like prizes…

Then there was Charon the Boatman. “He’s moving down in the world.” A simple statement, filled with more humor than some lengthy movies I’ve seen. Brilliant!

I feel like when the world seems scary, it’s nice to have games like this around that are so very lighthearted.

Double Boss Trouble

Another major difference in the difficulty level has to do with the boss. I was previously playing with a single accessory revealed before I even started deckbuilding.

At the standard difficulty level, I had to contend with a pair of accessories! The first was revealed at the start.

However, the second one only came into play partway through the deckbuilding phase. This caused me to change my decisions and almost rebuild part of my deck.

Clever, clever! Giving away ranking points is a bad idea, but it can make sense if the reward is worth it.

Sticking with the Same Boss

If you’ve followed along with my recent session reports, you’ll likely notice that I’m still using the same boss. There are 4 to choose from, so why not switch them up? I haven’t yet tired of this one, which is a good sign! The sets are all different, and I like savoring the surprises that come with playing for the first time.

My next session will likely see a new boss, but it’s been awesome to enjoy all of the variability with this single deck! I still haven’t seen one of the accessories, and having 6 of the 8 singles in play still makes for unexpected twists.

Let’s not even get into the one mini-expansion that adds more cards to each boss’s deck! So even though 4 bosses might seem minimal on the surface, this is a game about doing a lot with a set of cards. I haven’t even gotten into the exciting solo mode where all 4 bosses are faced one after another in an epic tournament battle!

Session Overview

Play Number: 4 and 5
Expansion: Millennium Blades: Set Rotation
Solo Mode: Included in Millennium Blades: Set Rotation
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level
Required Play Space: 32″ x 26″
Setup Time: 10 Minutes
Play Time: 25-30 Minutes per Play
Outcome: 169-138 and 92-107 (1 Win and 1 Loss)

Since I cut the deckbuilding phase, I had time for a rematch! Morrey Caardman was amazing, and then faltered with a deck that didn’t exactly synergize.

%

10 Plays

Affordability

Price & Value

10

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

10

Originality

Design & Theme

10

Quality

Components & Rules

7

Reusability

Achievement & Enjoyment

9

Variability

Distinctness & Randomness

10

More Millennium Blades

Explore related posts about Millennium Blades!

Victory Conditions

Defeat the Boss

  • Overall Goal Progress 62.5% 62.5%

Goals and Milestones

R

Win at least 1 game against They Game from Space.

R

Win at least 1 game as Deques Applenti.

R

Win at least 1 game as Fulton Suitcase.

R

Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.

R

Win at least 1 game at the standard difficulty level.

Q

Win at least 1 game against EEG.

Q

Win at least 1 game as Greline Alcartone.

Q

Win at least 1 game as Shur Wen Na.

Continue the Conversation

Are you getting a few laughs out of these cards? Millennium Blades is surprisingly hilarious, yet it also packs a wonderful challenge into its mechanics. What other solo games meld humor and gameplay? I’m definitely improving with time, though I can see a ton of other options. I still need to reset the store deck one of these days. So many options!

2 Comments

  1. Another good one! Morrey’s really fun because he can get through a lot of cards FAST.

    Once you get to the other bosses, you’ll see some cooler stuff. May I suggest trying for the CCG Illuminati (or even EEG). They have some neato card game references.

    Reply
    • Thanks, Marco! I enjoyed having more choices with Morrey. He definitely added on a new layer and changed how the deckbuilding phase progressed a lot.

      Do my sell token values sound about right for the solo mode? They seem about right, but I couldn’t find an official ruling anywhere about what’s considered correct.

      I’m excited for the other bosses, too! I’ll see who I end up with next… Either way, I’m sure I’ll have another great time seeing the new cards for the first time!

      Reply

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