Culdcept Revolt

Oh boy, it's Culdcept! Culdcept is a game that's been around for twenty years or so. I was introduced to it on PS2 ten years back, in a friend's basement. He called it "Magic: The Gathering meets Monopoly," which is really, really apt. Because that's what it is. You and your opponents loop around on a small board rolling dice and claiming different territories by placing creatures on them. When you land on an occupied space, you can either pay the toll or go to battle with a creature of your own for control of that space. Use your magic points (or "G") to summon creatures, equip items, or cast spells. It's a relatively simple game with a relatively steep learning curve - a pattern I tend to love!

What began as a goofy curiosity, which consisted largely of multiplayer sessions where we'd yell "King Tor-tai!" and "Wall of Nice!" at each other eventually revealed itself as an intricate strategy game. I eventually bought my own copy and plowed through the single-player story one summer.

Now, ten years later, Culdcept is back, baby! On the 3DS! (There was also a game on the Xbox 360, but I could never find it for a decent price point, even years after the fact.)

And folks, I have dumped - get ready for this - sixty-odd hours into this game. Sixty! It's already closing in on my all time highest playtime logged by my 3DS! And I'm probably not even done yet, as I've only played one multiplayer session. But I'm done with the main story, and even if the post-credits bonus quest appears to be almost as long as said main story, hey, that's good enough to call the game beaten and to post about it on the blog.

Not a lot left to say, except that this game, addicting as it is, can also be a total and utter crapshoot. There's plenty of luck involved, after all, in rolling dice and drawing cards. And the forty-minute length of so many of these matches made for some extremely frustrating nights. At a low point (both in this game and in real life) I stayed up until 1:00am on a work night just to beat a frustrating battle against two twin witches. Then when I lost I made it 1:45... and then 2:30... and then 3:15... and then I finally quit at 4:00am, but holy shit, the damage is already done when you're up until 4:00am on a work night.

But that one, awful night aside, I really have enjoyed my time with this game. It's a perfect dual-tasking game, too, just ripe for paying half attention to it while you watch TV or football or whatever.