Introduction
As a kid, I absolutely loved the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, or more specifically, the “Give Yourself Goosebumps” game book series, which were billed as a ‘choose your own horror adventure’ novel series by R. L. Stine. If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing these books, the basic premise is that you read a few pages, then you’re presented with a choice. Each choice will take you down the path of a branching narrative, and eventually, reach a conclusion. The Goosebumps books featured around 20 endings per book, and part of the fun was holding your fingers in your last place like a save point, only to flip back if your choice ended up with the protagonist’s untimely demise.
I spent hours flipping through every Give Yourself Goosebumps book that my local library would get in. luckily, I was on good terms with the librarian, and she seemed to always make there were one or two new books for me each semester.
Spires End, authored by Greg Favro and published by Favro Ventures through a highly successful crowdfunding campaign in 2019, presents an intriguing card game experience wherein players are able to shape their own destinies amidst a setting of intense suspense and horror. Boasting captivating artwork by Benjamin Wiesman, an array of six playable characters, and fifteen unique endings spread across seven chapters, Spires End aims to captivate and immerse players within its intricate and suspenseful narrative.
How to Play
Spires End starts with a deck of cards outlining all the rules, then, and eases you into your first combat. Every card will tell you how to engage with your encounter, but the core of the game comes from combat. In combat, you need to risk your life to be successful. Each character has a certain number of hit points, and armour points. On your turn, you can spend a number of hit points to preform an attack. Each character’s attacks are different, like Millicent’s level 2 attack hits on a roll of 4 and up. A 4 or a 5 will yield 3 damage, a 6-7 will deal 4, and an 8 will deal 4 damage and stun your enemy. Once you’ve cast your attack, you have the opportunity to recoup. Roll another dice, apply the effects (generally healing between 0 and 3 hit points), then the opponents have an opportunity to hit you back.
Each enemy have their own attacks and challenges to overcome. From a pair of twins who hit you twice, to a blob that splits, to a horde of angry mushroom men, every enemy offers a unique challenge.
After a combat encounter, you’ll be directed to flip cards and read more story. Sometimes, you’ll find yourself thrust back into combat, and other times, you’ll have simple choices. If you’re holding a specific item, go to this card, otherwise, go to this other card. Choose to follow the light to the left, or descend a dark stairwell. Either way, your fate is in your own hands.
Review
There’s a lot to love in Spires End, especially if you have an affinity for the dark and brooding theme. The art is absolutely stellar, with its rough lines and black and white and red colour scheme. Having the bright red on the black and white images is great, from highlighting a plaid shirt, to blood splattered against a shield, it draws your eyes in and highlights the danger.
Every card in Spires End is huge, and features gorgeous artwork. I cannot overstate how much I enjoy the style, and how that helped pull me into the experience. The large format Black cards with mysterious red glyphs are imposing and yet, intriguing. I’m excited every time I flip over a card.
The combat mechanism at the core of the game is all about sacrifice and playing with fire. To preform an attack, you need to sacrifice some of your life. You’ll constantly be tempted to go all in and blast the monsters into next week, but also, whittling their health down point by point feels like the safe and reasonable thing to do.
It’s absolutely brutal when you commit 4 of your 5 hit points, then miss the attack entirely, whiff the recoup roll, then get murdered by the opponent. But that’s what you get when a combat mechanism is entirely based on dice. The result is a combat that feels tactical and dangerous. You’ll lose a war of attrition, but a well-timed hit or a lucky miss will sing the pendulum of fate and create exciting moments that will have you fist pumping with elation, or mourning as Rulf succumbs to his injuries. The luck can be really frustrating at times; if you already don’t like rolling dice, Spires End isn’t going to change your mind.
Each character has a unique flavour to them, like Leofrick who can pierce enemies and will hit on a 2 or higher, or Hildegard, who can heal her partner, allowing them to be more risky in their attacks. How you approach each encounter will change depending on what character combination you have, as you’ll always and only have 2 characters in play at any time. Should one of them die, they’ll unleash a final effect, then be replaced by the next character from the deck. Spires End is a dangerous place, be prepared to lose some friends.
The narrative is well crafted, better than most narrative board games that I’ve experienced. The ebb and flow of story between encounters gives flavour and context to the world, and forcing the player to make choices gives a great feeling of agency. I particularly enjoyed the moments where I had to choose a branching path, then had to skip several cards, getting only glimpses of what adventures I could have taken. It’s tantalizing, making me want to return to Spires End again and again to specifically seek out the paths I missed.
Spires End is advertised as a 1 or 2 player game, but really, this is a solo experience. Having full control over both characters isn’t onerous, and having the freedom to pick the choices you want without another player pulling you in a different direction is pretty important. Even if you’re ‘not a solo gamer’, I would highly recommend playing Spires End on your own. The asymmetry in the characters and the branching narrative are the hooks that keep dragging you back for more. Spires End is full of character and style, and if you’re into these kinds of narrative solo games that demand multiple plays, then Spire End is sure to be a home run.
