Vindication: A Promising Adventure without a Storyline
Go on a journey of redemption after surviving death and washing ashore on a mysterious, magical island with Vindication.
Lots of new arrivals continue to get shuffled to the back of the queue, yet I was curious about how the solo mode for Vindication would work! With all of the content, I had some fun playing it multiplayer in the past. The idea of exploring an island and redeeming oneself certainly seems interesting, and I was ready to dive in… Or dive out of the sea. Ha!
Game Overview
Game Name: Vindication
Publication Year: 2018
Designer: Marc Neidlinger
Artists: Many (5 Credited)
Publisher: Orange Nebula, LLC
Solo Mode: Included in Vindication: Leaders & Alliances
By exploring the island, carefully using influence, and gaining attributes, honor slowly builds to make up for past mistakes. There are all sorts of choices to make in terms of how to restore honor. Collecting relics, building traits, and battling monsters offer many paths to redemption!
First Play
August 28, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 23, 2023
Expansions
13
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
35 Minutes
High Score
79
Game Area
34" x 34"
Low Score
77
Limited Solo Content
Part of this play involved me unboxing and sleeving all of the content… All of it! I spent hours seeing all of the neat modules, including pets of all sorts of animal species.
When I got to the solo mode setup, I was met with one of the most disappointing notes. Expansions and promos aren’t compatible. This is for the base game content only.
Goodness! I noticed that the solo mode included 2 separate scenarios that deviated from usual gameplay.
Not the best way to get started. To say my excitement was crushed would be accurate, yet I still wanted to play!
Across the Island
Randomized tiles provide different areas across the island. Movement takes place in the triangle spaces between hexes, so there will always be 2-3 adjacent options.
The metal player pieces are quite nice, yet they’re too loose for the standee holders. My character technically slid off and fell down many times. A gravity phenomenon? Ha!
Right away, I was concerned about how this scenario might hamper exploration and limit the adventure.
Scenario-based solo modes can be excellent, though, so I held my final judgement until things played out.
Tik-Tik and Influence
For this scenario, defilement spread across the island based on the hexes I didn’t visit during a turn. My buddy, Tik-Tik, was there to help clear it out so I didn’t lose.
One of the biggest elements of play are the multi-purpose cubes. Those in the influence sphere are used for nearly every action, while potential must be unlocked.
There are also conviction cubes, which can provide better options when drawing cards or even prevent death.
I enjoyed my title: “You, the Wretched.” It would take some work, but I was going to gain back my honor!
Cards and Stats
Our copy included an art book with some lore about the world, which made me excited to tell stories and see my character go on a journey with lots of interesting chapters.
However, gameplay quickly turned into a numbers game. Relics and traits provided the most reliable options in terms of honor. So I paired these up for victory points.
Never did I feel like there were exciting story moments, loathe as I am to admit that. It felt very mechanical.
This was a shame with so many unique cards, but I didn’t feel like my character was doing anything meaningful.
The Power of Lore and Storytelling in Games
I think one of the big reasons why I didn’t enjoy this one that much was the disconnect between the interesting world I was presented with and how little that translated into a story. Solo games don’t need to be all about storytelling for me to enjoy them. There are plenty of puzzles I love, while farming and gardening tell no sweeping tales. Ha ha!
But nothing came through thematically. Say I wanted to get a relic card… Mainly due to it offering the most victory points. I had to put cubes in the red and blue attributes, then combine them to have the purple attribute and visit the space on the map where I could purchase a relic. I followed similar reasoning for the orange and green attributes.
Looking back at these pictures, the traits of devotion and expertise didn’t make my character any more memorable. I just got rewarded if I could convert into the purple attribute a lot, or use conviction whenever I could. Battling Oya, Carnivorous Blossom was purely there so I could earn a lot of honor. That was it. No stories to tell of these adventures.
This is a far cry from some of my favorite storytelling solo games, some of which only give hints of the lore and allow the rest to build during the course of play. I appreciate world building and making a game’s setting more unique, but I felt like a lot was missing. And I’m going to say it again: Limiting the compatible solo content is still disappointing!
Limited Variability
Exploring the island was also rather anti-climactic. With many sets of duplicate tiles, it was just a question of where everything would end up instead of strategically moving.
Managing defilement also didn’t feel like much of a challenge, and certainly didn’t have a thematic element.
When Tik-Tik was close to having the maximum number of cubes, I simply used the rest action. Again, mechanical.
I read through the rules many times, and didn’t see anything that prevented me from using the spaces on the coastline. So… I minimized defilement by going there.
Companion Woes
A big part of gameplay is hiring companions, all of whom are unique. During a turn, one of these may be activated, but the cost is an influence cube to keep them loyal.
Tik-Tik may only be activated if your own character is used… But even on the wretched side, there is still something to gain. Here I am, finally vindicated!
Additionally, certain triggers result in dice being rolled, and the outcome can be the loss of more influence cubes.
So it made little sense to pick up more than 1-2 companions, lest I tied up my resources and Tik-Tik.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 and 2
Expansion 1: Vindication: Leaders & Alliances
Expansion 2: Vindication: World Box Odyssey Bundle
Solo Mode: Included in Vindication: Leaders & Alliances
Play Details: Solo Scenario 1
Outcome: 77-57, 79-55 (2 Wins)
I even played again and focused on more companions, which slowed me down considerably. Luckily, I eventually ignored them and moved to better options. As much as I wanted to find an interesting story here, the experience fell flat for me and I don’t expect to play solo again.
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
1
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
7
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
4
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
3
+ Pros (Positives)
- The artwork is very nice with plenty of unique illustrations across all of the different deck types and cards.
- Converting influence cubes is a neat mechanic that allows them to turn into attributes and much more.
- Unlocking potential takes a little time, and is a clever way to slowly build up a character until they are vindicated.
- Mixing attributes is a way to convert them into the more valuable attributes, which are used for better cards.
- All of the components are excellent and high quality, making the play area very colorful and interesting to look at.
- Gameplay moves quickly with limited rules questions, as the iconography and text are all very clear.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Solo excludes all expansions and promos, which cuts down on the usable content by a considerable amount.
- The theme doesn’t come through, particularly since the journey doesn’t really tie into redeeming oneself.
- Companions aren’t useful with the solo mode, so gameplay will only focus on monsters, relics, and traits.
- Over half of the base game box is filled with a few giant miniatures that don’t actually contribute to gameplay.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 70 points.
Win at least 1 game with solo scenario 1.
Continue the Conversation
What are your thoughts about Vindication? Have you enjoyed any scenario-based solo games recently? I really wanted to enjoy this one! Sadly, it’s simply not much more than an exercise in finding ways to maximize victory points without an intriguing theme. Such a disappointment for me! Still, at least I tried it out and can move onto other solo games.
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