Hoplomachus: Victorum

I’ve always been a little dubious of solo only titles. Why not just play a cheaper computer game? Why so expensive? I assumed it was a great way to learn a game and an even better way to get people to buy over priced kickstarters thinking they’d at least play the game once.

Having tried the amazing Ricky Royal produced solo for Pax Pamir I started to change my mind. Victorum has completed that process!

Hoplo Victorum is an amazing package for anyone who likes a well produced game with a hint of X-COM style squad management and tight tactical decisions. The game perfectly blends a shallow strategic layer - where do I want to go and when - with focused quick tactical combat.

The ‘over-production’ that Chip Theory Games is well known for is clever and thought out. The use of poker chips and neoprene mats makes the game fun, quick and engaging. The ‘stadium seating’ and chip holders mean that I can play a quick game of Hoplo faster than pretty much any other game in my collection. It really is crazy how fast this game sets up and saves. The massive heft of the box matters less when you aren’t carting it to other peoples houses.

On the negatives, I’m only one full campaign in (about 10 hours) and I’m not sure how much variance there is when fighting different bosses. Having said that, I’m very keen to try new characters and have only seen a fraction of all the character types and abilities, I’m sure I’ve got a few more campaigns in me at least!

Overall I’m very impressed and…