Summonology - Game Design Articles

Greff is a powerful and formidable opponent in Epic Roll: Kingdom in Peril. His character die is unique in the game, as it has the highest chance for a critical hit. This can be a huge advantage in battles, as a critical hit does double damage to monsters and can often mean the difference between victory and defeat. However, Greff's die also has the greatest chance for missing the enemy during combat. This means that players who choose to play as Greff will need to be careful and strategic in their gameplay, relying on their abilities and the cards in...

    Have your actions ever come back to haunt you? Ever have it happen immediately? Yeah, that probably sucked. But now you can visit the horrors of the recent past on others, and point and laugh while doing it. The Mirror of Echoes enables its wielder to traumatize their opponents again and again. And again. (Oh man, classic echo joke. Nailed it.)     The Mirror of Echoes is activated to play the top card from the discard pile as though it was in your hand. Thus, whenever any player uses or discards a reward card, it’s fair game until another...

Door Kickers.     Perhaps you know one. You wisely hide behind their hulking, steel-shod  frame while studying maps, preparing ointments, or engaging in other adventuring tasks that don’t involve cramming a broadsword through a monster's eye socket.      Or, perhaps you are one. You lead your party into torch-lit rooms amidst a shower of splinters and obscenities. Monsters identify you by your battle cry and the sole of your High Hard Boot. You are a living battering ram, and it is your blood-soaked moxie that keeps the party flush with gold.      The two preceding paragraphs aren’t just my way...

   In part two of our Relic Card preview, we look at the one relic everybody saw coming - The Tome of Prophecy.     Now here's an item for the discerning adventurer. Why activate your relic and unleash a barrage of fireworks once per round, when instead you can gain a discrete yet undeniable advantage each time you draw a reward card? It might not dazzle onlookers  like the Shield of Vigilance or Wicked Scepter, but the Tome of Prophecy is a “sleeper” with plenty of power under the hood. Err…cover. The Tome of Prophecy entitles you to draw an...

      Welcome to the first article for Summonology – our new blog featuring thoughts on Summon’s games, future projects, and game design in general. In this inaugural post we'll take a look at some of the powerful new cards arriving with Epic Roll: Eclipse.     We're all familiar with Epic Roll's Reward Cards ("treasure cards" in the first printing) - those lovable Hits, Heals, and Blocks that keep our champions battling onward, despite the violent appetites of ghouls and zombies. And who can forget the trusty Counter, with its endearing ability to drain all hope from your opponent's eyes?...