In the Shadow of the Colossus: A Skulk Hollow Board Game Review

But let's not get ahead of ourselves: Skulk Hollow is...

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San Il Defanso had a discussion about OGRE in his recent why do I own this column that reminds me of your review, and especially its discussion of the giant's role. My recollection is that the OGRE also has a really good chance to win the game too but I don't remember well.

ubarose wrote: Well that is a shame. This game looked like such a promising (and really pretty) two player game.

If you approach it as an adventure that you are going to play a half dozen times, it is a success. I just don't know think it is balanced enough to return to over and over outside of the adventure context. It is a gorgeous game, the guardian meeples are top notch!

I really like it.

Josh Look wrote: I really like it.

Do tell! Did you find the foxen overpowered?

We found it relatively balanced (Grak feels weak though). My biggest complaint is that it's a bit repetitive and moves tend to be a bit obvious.

Yeah, balance wasn't our concern as much as it being attrition-focused and spending half your time drawing cards. Was a real disappointment for us in that regard.

What Charlie said. Mind you, I only played twice and I saw a win on each side. Both games were close. There are a lot of obvious moves, but I still think it’s a solid time waster for 2 players.

I've also played this: might review it at some points. Some of the match-ups do feel quite unbalanced, although others seem better. The worst is Grak, which is touted as the learning scenario.

If you go on BGG the designer is in a few of the balance threads explaining how to play Grak "properly". No-one's had much luck with his advice and neither have I. The fact he's defending it, and that it's set as the introductory match-up, sets alarm bells ringing about how well this game was playtested and developed.

That said, I have to admit that it's still good fun to play. It's got that puzzle-y feeling with each matchup where you're both trying to work out how to leverage what you've got to win. That, and the fun of figuring out how to best use your hand of cards, make it a bit addictive. Even if each matchup is only good for a couple of play, that's still more play time than a lot of modern titles see.