The backstory to this one is tremendous.
A single mispronounced word by the mage Ziramat unleashed today chaos. 'At last!' he cried. 'I have the spell to summon an army of invincible warriors! Tremble, world. Horcus Por...cus?' The spell spiralled out of control, and its surge spread until reaching a nearby farm, which it turned into a living dungeon. The walls twisted. Roots burst from the ground, the animals began to mutate into monsters...
But! Something else also rose from the mud: a company of heroes...
So, in this card based game, you will take on the role of a group of pig adventurers (did you expect anything else when you woke up this morning?) and you will band together to take on the mutated enemies of the dungeon, and grab some loot while you're at it. The thing is, teamwork ain't your crew's strong point. Only the porkiest will prevail - which in this instance means, the greedy pig with the most gold is the winner. Clever pigs let others do all the work for them.
It's a snappy game for 2-5 players which should run no more than 20 minutes. The classes are distinct, and there's plenty of powerful items to find, ensuring fresh playthroughs every time. The modular dungeons give you interchangeable factions and dungeon setups to give that additional longevity. (And let's take a moment to appreciate the fantastic artwork from Zaiisey, who you should search out on social media for more every single pig is packed with character, and they all stand out from one another.)
So, my little piggies, how do we play? Once you've decided whether to play basic mode, advanced mode, or solo, you choose a pig deck, each of which is made of eight attack cards, all with different strengths and rewards you can claim if you win the combat. On a count of three, all players reveal their attack card. Low strength attacks can earn a ton of victory points, but high ones won't. How well can you bluff? You then play treasures to claim the best rewards and score more than the others, force penalties onto your opponents, or even make everyone lose the battle.
Porcus should be a lot of fun with a raucous group who have no qualms about stabbing each other in the back (my family, then), with artwork that makes it stand out from the crowd. There are expansions available in the crowdfunding campaign as well, so go here to have a good snuffle around.
About the author:
Steve is currently a freelance board game blogger, but often dreams of life as a pirate, or as a ghost herder in the Lake District, or as an evil estate agent who sells haunted houses for his own dark pleasure. Instead of figuring out how to do these jobs in real life like a normal lunatic, he tries to write about them instead, and releases the resultant books upon the unsuspecting world via famous digital bookstores. More books are bound to follow. Find this peculiar entity here: www.instagram.com/positively.board
