Unexpected Help in a Battle of Many Faces with Warp’s Edge
Follow the lone Achilles on its face-to-face-to-face encounter against the Duo mothership in Warp’s Edge.
A very Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone! My attention continued to stay focused on Warp’s Edge and the next mothership. Or, I should say, pair of motherships present with the Duo. I was starting to feel like I wanted to move onto another game, though I couldn’t turn down a new challenge. Off to the distant stars!
Game Overview
Game Name: Warp’s Edge
Publication Year: 2020
Designer: Scott Almes
Artist: Tyler Johnson
Publisher: Renegade Game Studios
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Talk about a deathly sort of stare! As usual, the goal was to destroy the mothership before the end of the final warp. With a cooperative pair acting as the Duo, enemy ships worked a little differently, and there would be turns when stunning enemies might be difficult or impossible.
First Play
December 17, 2020
Complexity
3
Latest Play
December 21, 2020
Expansions
0
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
6
Play Time
25 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
20" x 24"
Low Score
N/A
Two-Faced Trouble
Each side of the Duo posed its own challenge. However, it was clever how each face helped protect its twin every few rounds. I was going to have to think about this carefully.
Perhaps the most important element involved the enemy decks. I needed to work my way through and pick up new tokens, yet I also didn’t want to activate the mothership!
So I began to piece my way through the delicate balance between defeating enemy ships and simply surviving.
The Duo certainly didn’t make it easy! I took damage pretty consistently when the enemy ships were protected.
Managing the Hull
The difference between the ship’s hull and shield is vital, yet the icons don’t do a great job of differentiating between them. Shields on the right… That’s all I knew!
When shields are up, damage slowly wears them down. A discarded token must also be removed from the game with this damage, so it’s important to manage it well.
The Achilles has a single hull, though its power means that it moves to the next warp rather than losing.
I’m just lucky I was paying attention because these trackers were very easy to accidentally dislodge.
A Complete Success
My collection of tokens slowly accumulated as the enemy ships went down. The damage I endured was helpful as I thinned out the lower-value tokens. It was working!
In true fashion, it came down to the final warp. I had just 4 tokens in the bag and only part of the Duo to face. Hmm…
A warp ends immediately when 5 tokens can not be drawn, so it looked like I was about to lose. I looked over the tokens I had. There wasn’t enough for the mothership.
Something told me that I had a path forward. But how? I needed to clear my head and learn a little something…
Calico Critters in Space
A-ha! A tiny group of my beloved Calico Critters stopped by to share their knowledge of the stars. They watched my progress and even decided to do some mathematics!
With nothing more than a protractor, astronomy book, and globe, they were ready to launch their own space expedition. Note the makeshift ramp in the background.
I thought about this for a little bit, and it dawned on me that I would be the one responsible for the cleanup. Ha ha!
And there it was… An unexpected path forward that gave me the answer. Always pays to have tiny animal friends!
Session Overview
Play Number: 6
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Play Details: Achilles vs. the Duo
Outcome: Win
How did I forget about Steve?! My upgrades were off to the side and they seemed out of play. But with this activation, I loaded up the bag with the exact tokens I needed. Only a couple were needed, in fact, and with a total of 7 to draw from, I picked the right ones. Never underestimate the power of an on-board cleaner bot. Ha ha! This was another exciting ending to a rather tricky puzzle.
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
9
+ Pros (Positives)
- Figuring out combinations and synergies between the tokens and upgrades makes for a very fun puzzle.
- Different ships and motherships set the foundation for different challenges that require unique strategies.
- The tokens are brightly colored and make for a fun bit of suspense as each one is drawn from the bag.
- It may have its flaws, yet the included storage solution offers a place for everything to cut down on setup time.
- Choosing the best way to defeat the enemy ships takes careful planning and is rarely straightforward.
- Each warp is progressively more difficult and random with the way the enemies are shuffled back together.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Some of the iconography is very similar or doesn’t quite match up, such as with the hull and shields or energy.
- Although all of the components fit back together nicely in the box, the top trays can be finicky to get in or out.
- Each play presents different situations and challenges, although the overall variety sometimes feels limited.
- The small text can cause eyestrain and frustration, especially on the motherships that have a lot of information.
Victory Conditions
Defeat the Mothership Before the Last Warp Ends
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game against the Dread.
Win at least 1 game against the Duo.
Win at least 1 game against the Hydra.
Win at least 1 game with the Achilles ship.
Continue the Conversation
How far have you progressed in Warp’s Edge? The scalable difficulty level with the different motherships certainly seems to be interesting and challenging. Is there a certain upgrade or ship you enjoy the most? I’m about ready to try something else now that I feel confident in my ability to win… But I imagine I’ll need the Calico Critters’ help again!
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