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Cards of both types are clearly laid out, so once you understand the might and cunning system that enables heroes to complete quests, you’ll certainly recognise the iconography at a glance.

#Deus ex machina game free#

In any case, all of them are well drawn with lots of personality and I was pleased to see a nice selection of female heroes (and goddesses, for that matter) who are, for the most part, free of boob armour. The heroes are plentiful and diverse, with many you’ve probably heard of mixed in with several you won’t have. Anyone who read about Theseus and the Minotaur in school will instantly recognise the bull-headed antagonist, whilst Jason’s Golden Fleece (and the Hydra that protected it), Medusa and Cerberus, the three-headed dog, are all present and brought to life in rich detail. Undoubtedly, the most impressive feature is the artwork that adorns the quest and hero cards. One key thing to consider is that players are each dealt two secret quests at the beginning of the game, which must be placed into an empty slot on the quest track and immediately resolved - they cannot be completed directly from your hand.ĭeus Ex Machina is a small-box game that offers excellent value for money given the quality of the components. There are a few other minor rules - for example, heroes in certain slots on the track receive different bonuses to might or cunning, whilst completing quests in different slots might add bonus victory points or even reduce those of your opponent. Once each god has acted either two or three times (depending on player count), tokens are retrieved and the quests replenished. This, combined with the reducing number of available spaces, means that eventually you’ll be sending heroes to locations to increase the strength or cunning of your own god, or to draw Divine Intervention cards, rather than complete quests. As the gods take turns to draft heroes and use their might and cunning to complete quests, the hero board will be replenished, but the available quests will not. Quests can only be tackled in their designated location, but heroes can act anywhere - although they will receive a bonus for fighting on home turf. On that note, each quest (and each hero) is linked to a specific location on the left half of the board.

The aim of the game is to complete a number of secret objectives dealt to each player, which simply means taking a hero, choosing a quest from an open location and placing your token on that location to lock it down. From these decks, three heroes and four quests are drawn and laid face up on the board. A deck of quests is then shuffled and placed beside it. During setup, the favoured hero for each god is shuffled into a larger deck, which is then placed on the board. Each of these gods has their own unique player card to track their might and cunning levels and a special ability token that flips from a light side to a dark side when used.ĭespite a slightly convoluted initial setup, Deus Ex Machina is a fast-flowing and fairly straightforward game. The options include Hera, Athena, Zeus and Hermes, as well as Ares and Poseidon.

#Deus ex machina game plus#

There are six to choose from (four in the base game plus two from a bundled mini-expansion) and each brings their own favoured hero. In Deus Ex Machina, each player takes control of a deity from ancient Greek mythology. The gods competed against each other in a contest of wits and tactics, having the heroes of ancient Greece face mythical creatures and threats to gain glory in their name. They vied for supremacy among themselves, sometimes through brute force, but also by conspiring against each other through guile and intricate machinations.ĭeus Ex Machina is the game the gods were playing when they tried to consolidate their power by manipulating mortals to do their bidding - either showering them with promises of immortality and other divine gifts or bending them to their will with dreadful threats and curses. The original game would later be rereleased alongside a sequel/remake in 2015.The ancient Greek world was ruled by the Olympian gods: twelve beings of immense power, but also victims to their own feelings, passions and vices. The progression is loosely based on 'The Seven Ages of Man' from the Shakespeare play, As You Like It and includes many quotations and parodies of this. The game charts the life of a 'defect' which has formed in 'the machine', from conception, through growth, evolution and eventually death. Andrew Stagg coded the original Spectrum version, and Colin Jones (later known as author/publisher Colin Bradshaw-Jones) was the programmer of the Commodore 64 version.

Thompson, and Croucher (who also composed the music). The cast included Ian Dury, Jon Pertwee, Donna Bailey, Frankie Howerd, E.P. The game was the first to be accompanied by a fully synchronised soundtrack which featured narration, celebrity artists and music.