Cinematic Fights via Marker in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

October 7, 2022 | Sessions | 0 comments

Race through the boss’s den to fight enemies and piece together the best dice combinations in Vengeance: Roll and Fight.

So many interesting games out there, and so little time! Although it was entirely outside of my usual comfort zone, I found myself drawn to Vengeance: Roll and Fight. Real-time dice rolls, all-out brawls, and movie-like violence weren’t at all my favorites. Yet I still saw something intriguing in the system, and brought this new arrival to my table!

Game Overview

Game Name: Vengeance: Roll and Fight
Publication Year:
2022
Designers:
Gordon Calleja, Noralie Lubbers & Dávid Turczi
Artist:
Axel Torvenius
Publisher: Mighty Boards
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game

A variety of characters, bosses, and den locations provide a fast-paced action sequence! Dice are rolled against a timer to create combinations to activate abilities. Training can add new abilities, and items provide special bonuses. It all happens in just 4 quick rounds of fighting!

Preparing to Play as Shadowman in Vengeance: Roll and Fight
R

First Play

October 3, 2022

Complexity

3

Latest Play

October 3, 2022

Expansions

2

Setup Time

Almost None

Lifetime Plays

2

Play Time

30 Minutes

:

High Score

21

1

Game Area

24" x 18"

;

Low Score

13

Monkeying Around

I had a lot of choices, all of which provided different combinations. Shadowman seemed like an interesting character, and I decided that Don Zemun was up first.

While characters come with their own traits, which are usually challenging, the boss provides another restriction.

Don Zemun forced any shoot action to target a grunt. Ah, but paired with Shadowman’s ability, this meant that a grunt would be evaded. And that could be interesting…

After all, the erasable maps simply used visual indicators for the enemies. No standees or miniatures to deal with!

The Terrible Don Zemun and Enemy References in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

Sneaking About

A little rabbit ninja was the closest one to Shadowman! She may have stood out just a little more, but look away quickly… You’ll never see her blending into the map!

Actually, these maps are pretty nice. These dens are all double-sided with unique areas and puzzles.

For despite the focus on action-packed fighting, the core mechanics are about solving the puzzle. Rooms can be moved through, but how to deal with the enemies?

Special objectives and loot can also be found along the way. I was ready to rock and roll! Or… Roll and fight!

Finding a Suitable Costume to Act as Shadowman in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

Flashback Montages

Just like the multiplayer game, the solo mode only takes place over 4 total rounds. Everything is pretty quick!

First is the flashback phase. These special dice provide a variety of actions that might apply to training, healing wounds, reserving an action, or readying an item.

And it felt pretty robust! Even at the start, the heart icon could open up another slot to absorb a later wound.

This part of each round was integral to prepping for the chaos of using dice in real-time. That’s right: I had 45 seconds to roll and use as many dice as I could. Go, go, go!

Starting Out with Various Dice Actions in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

Dice Actions

For context, I typically steer clear of timers of any sort. I’m not a fan of the tension and feeling like I have to do a lot in a limited span of time. But enter another exception…

That time limit was actually a lot of fun! I felt like I was the character, making split-second decisions about what to do in a matter of minutes in this den.

I took wounds along the way to re-roll some dice when things didn’t go my way. After all, it was just 4 at once.

This combination gave me a total of 2 moves, 2 hits, and 1 chained move then hit. Not too shabby for a roll phase.

Rolling Dice and Frantically Using Abilities in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

The Challenge of Making Real-Time Games Work

Once again, I’ll reiterate that there was something about this game that intrigued me, despite a lot of the elements that would normally make me run away from it. The only other game I’ve played with a timer is Millennium Blades. In that case, it limits the time for building a deck over the course of several rounds. It makes sense, with minimal stress.

Here, the easy difficulty level calls for 45 seconds to roll the dice. That time limit only gets shorter with higher difficulty levels! However, it does state that there are ways to mix and match some options to reach the desired difficulty level. Maybe I’ll stick with 45 seconds, but believe me when I say it goes by super quickly and often leads to only 3-6 actions.

Granted, I’m sure there’s a way to slow things down and treat the roll phase as more of a puzzle. Yet I actually do recommend the timer. It certainly adds tension, and that goes along with the theme. Poor decisions might be part of the story… Like the first round when Shadowman literally ran through almost every room, then went back to the start!

Ah, but what a cinematic moment. Nearly everyone saw him running around and doing nothing… Just somebody going for a time record in the boss’s den? Skip ahead to the next roll phase when Shadowman came charging out, armed with some items and fully prepared to deliver some punches. Caught everyone off-guard… Including myself. Ha ha!

Running Like the Wind

I didn’t use the dice as well as I needed to, and ended up falling well short of the victory threshold. However, Shadowman lived to the end and defeated the boss!

My first play also gave me a taste of the different abilities and items. Such a neat system, since every character features their own set of 8 abilities and 4 items.

Everything was erasable, so it was a pretty simple matter to reset and think about what I could do a little differently.

Actually, all that erasing felt like a slight waste. I brought out some extra cubes to help me out and reduce the ink!

Falling Short of the Victory Threshold in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

Crossing Out Enemies

There was something positive to be said for using a marker, though! This was the state of the den at the end.

Anyone circled had been evaded, and defeated enemies were crossed out. I also marked the rooms that I entered. Definitely missed out on a lot, yet it was a success.

Note, too, that this is only a single den. There were a lot of possibilities with the same setup. Not a dull puzzle here!

I really missed out on the objectives, though. Shadowman needed to calm down and not run around so much. Ha! So with a few swipes, this den was prepped and ready again.

Running and Fighting in a Dash to the End in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

Sudden Magic?

Thank my husband for noticing this! He stopped over to see how things were going, and saw one of the items.

Cantrips. Wait… Like the magical ones often found in RPGs? Either Shadowman was secretly a magic user, or these cantrips might have been mistaken for caltrops. Ha!

Either way, I didn’t make use of them during my first play. Those flashback options are powerful, yet it’s impossible to use everything. So I needed to plan a little bit better.

Or maybe Shadowman needed to make better use of that hidden magic potential. I needed all the help I could get!

Sudden Magic Against Evaded Enemies in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

A Smarter Path

How nicely things turned out! I still circled any evaded enemies, but placed a cube next to anyone who was defeated. Like I said, less ink for me to erase.

I was a single move shy of being able to complete every objective! Guess what came into play? Those cantrips!

Shadowman used more of his unique abilities to evade a lot more, and then the cantrips took out a bunch of evaded enemies. That’s exactly how you do everything, indeed.

This was even more cinematic as I pictured him making certain that the boss would never bother anyone again.

Limiting the Number of Marks with Cubes in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

Session Overview

Play Number: 1 and 2
Expansion: Vengeance: Overkill Promo Pack
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level
Outcome: 13 and 21 (1 Win and 1 Loss)

Take that, Don Zemun! With a little luck during the flashback phase, this play was all about prepping and using items. I had an unexpectedly fun time with this one! It mirrored cinematic action sequences, yet still presented a puzzle that needed some thought to solve. With so much variety, I can see many more exciting fights ahead!

A Successful Combination of Items in Vengeance: Roll and Fight

%

1 Play

Affordability

Price & Value

9

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

10

Originality

Design & Theme

7

Quality

Components & Rules

6

Reusability

Achievement & Enjoyment

8

Variability

Distinctness & Randomness

8

+ Pros (Positives)

  • With so many possible combinations in this box and the second episode, there is plenty of content to explore.
  • The flashback phase is excellent at slowing down the pace so that important decisions can be made.
  • Erasable boards means that there are limited components, yet the quality is excellent and nothing is lacking.
  • Deciding how to use dice in a timed environment adds to the chaos of feeling like the action is happening.
  • Every den presents a unique sort of puzzle with different objectives and layouts for plenty of careful planning.
  • Play time flies by with just 4 rounds, yet leaves the feeling that playing again could lead to a better outcome.

– Cons (Negatives)

  • There are a lot of areas to erase, and the use of erasable markers for everything feels like a little too much.
  • Although the rulebook is very short, there aren’t any examples and some sections are confusing to read through.
  • It’s nice to have a spot for the character front and center, yet the card is often dislodged when marking the sheet.
  • Timed dice rolls can feel extra frantic when poor luck snowballs into continuous wounds or bad choices.

More Vengeance: Roll and Fight

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Victory Conditions

Score 18+ Points

  • Overall Goal Progress 67% 67%

Goals and Milestones

R

Score at least 20 points at the easy difficulty level.

R

Win at least 1 game as Shadowman.

Q

Complete every objective at the easy difficulty level.

Continue the Conversation

What do you think of Vengeance: Roll and Fight? I’m happy I picked it up, especially since it’s so different from a lot of my other solo games. Do you have anything in your collection that’s outside your usual tastes, but is still fun? This is why I still branch out from time to time… You never know what sorts of fun you’ll find with cantrips or caltrops!

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