(Credit to Lowen Games)
Written by Ed Carter, Staff Writer
Deliverance: action movement, dice rolling, card playing, cooperative, tactical combat with miniatures or standees Christian themed
1-4 players
Published by Lowen Games
Welcome to Fallbrook. It’s a nice place on the surface but behind the veil, there is a growing darkness. But do not lose hope, for the angels of the Lord are there answering the call and protecting the saints; battling the demons that have come to wreak havoc in the lives of those who live there. It is the time for war, the time for Deliverance!
Deliverance is a 1-4 cooperative player game where players are the angels of God battling the forces of hell to guard and protect the saints and send these demons back to the pit they spawned from. This is a Christian game and biblical references and lore are fully on display. This is the first game of its kind made with a direct Christian theme of spiritual warfare.
Welcome to Fallbrook! Game setup
There is a skirmish and a campaign mode, but this review will focus on the skirmish mode. To start, place the darkness board and have each player pick an Angel to play. Give each player the player board, two activation tokens, two courage tokens, the talent cards, and a standee or miniature of their angel. Each player places their talents face down in their player area. Shuffle the prayer and heavenly treasure cards and place them in the designated spot on the heavenly gate board. Randomly select one tile per player and place them above the darkness board. Shuffle the darkness, battle cards and prince battle cards and place them face down on the matching areas on the darkness board. Draw one battle card per player and set up the demon standees and saint tokens as indicated. All saints enter the game on their oppressed side. Place one activation token on each battle card. Finally, draw and place one darkness card face down for each player and oppressed saint (except for the first turn). Determine who goes first and they take their first actions.
The power of the Lord, smite you! : The player actions
Players take two actions from the available actions on their player board; paying any cost required to take the action. Some actions will give courage and ask for a test. Roll 2 dice and follow the instructions if passed. Angels can move in an orthogonal direction and cannot cross the blue lines. Angels attack with their matching skill based on the chosen action.
- Each Angel has a pray action, allowing them to draw a prayer card. Some actions are free and indicated by the icon of the action.
- Angels use actions to fight the demons. Each demon has a number of life points and is killed if they take damage equal to or greater than their life points. When a demon is killed, it is removed from the board.
- Angels can also help saints by being adjacent to their token. When an oppressed saint is flipped, the angels gain 1XP.
Another important action Angels can do is cast down darkness cards. Darkness cards are added at the beginning of each round and if all of the cards are face down then the leftmost card is turned face up and the action indicated will activate immediately. If more cards need to be drawn and there is not enough space, then each Angel will take 1 damage for each card that cannot be placed.
- Managing the amount of darkness and its effects on the Angels is as important as battling the demons.
- Angels gain experience when they defeat demons. This experience can be used for talents, healing, or heavenly treasures
- An angel can gain a talent by drawing 2 cards from their lowest level cards, then keeping one and discarding the other.
- The same with heavenly treasure cards; draw 2 and keep one discarding the other.
The Darkness Spreads: The demon phase
After the first player has completed their turn, the first battle card will activate and all the demons of that type will activate based on the actions on their card. Roll a single die to determine what actions they take. After the demons have activated the next Angel takes their turn and play continues until all demons and Angels have activated. If a demon deals damage and defeats an Angel, that angel is removed from the board but can still take some actions including reviving themselves or another angel can revive them. If an angel is revived they are healed the stated amount of damage and return to the heavenly gate tile and can then take actions to return to the battle.
Its not Armageddon yet: The Final Battle
Once all battle cards are defeated, the final battle begins. Clear off all of the saints, demons, and face-down darkness cards, but leave the angels where they are. For each remaining action, each angel can gain 2 courage, cast down a face-up darkness card, heal 3 damage, or draw a prayer card.
Shuffle the prince battle cards and draw one; this is the prince that the angels will face in the final battle. Add one additional tile per angel and draw a battle card for each one and set it up as before. Place activation tokens and take the 5 prince darkness cards and draw one placed face up. You will draw prince darkness cards every round until all 5 have been played, then resume with regular darkness cards.
Each angel gains one level and can either gain a heavenly treasure or talent. Spend all remaining experience available to continue to level up. Place the prince and set up the tile as indicated. Place the prince battle card in the last space of the battle card queue. The game continues until all of the angels are either defeated or all demons and the prince are defeated and the angels win.
Final Thoughts
Component wise, the game is very well made. The angel miniatureFinals are fantastic if you have the deluxe game. This is one of the best-organized games ever. The inserts are made to fit everything; there is a token tray that holds all of them easily. The game’s lore is full of biblical references so the Christian theme is inescapable; it depicts the spiritual warfare in the spiritual realm between angels and demons for the souls of humans. The armies of God battling the forces of darkness.
Examples of game box versions:
I am very impressed with the game; it is designed by gamers for gamers, and that is a huge reason it is getting a lot of respect from the gaming community. In addition, it is the first game from Lowen Games and it is a great success. If you are looking for a unique theme with strategic decisions, Deliverance is one worth considering. With Cthulhu, fantasy, and zombie games flooding the market, a tactical game of angels and demons is a welcome change.
For more board game reviews and suggestions, check out Ed’s Movin’ Meeples.
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