In CoraQuest you take control of four adventurers exploring a dungeon, avoiding traps, finding treasure, fighting monsters,and sometimes rescuing gnomes called Kevin.

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Being a proactive fellow, I’ve been on the hunt for a dungeon crawler I can eventually play with my daughter. She’s only two at the moment, and I don’t fancy waiting another ten years, so I’d been Googling “dungeon crawlers for kids”. I’ll admit it was a somewhat half-hearted search, but it didn’t throw up anything that caught my attention.

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Anyway, it turns out that all I needed to do was attend this year’s Tabletop Scotland to find what I was after. I hadn’t been through the doors two minutes when I spotted a lovely wee game called CoraQuest. I had a chat with the nice chap from Bright Eye Games, got shown the basics, and did the old “take my money” routine.

When I got a look in the box that evening, I learned more about the game’s origins, and it turns out there’s a heartwarming tale of a Dad (Dan) and daughter (Cora) creating it as a lockdown-era project in 2020.

Anyway, the next natural step in this sequence of events was, of course, to have a chat about it on the podcast. In this episode, you’ll hear from CoraQuest co-creator Dan about the game’s background, how it plays, and the media frenzy that followed its release.

CoraQuest is a cooperative game with everything you need to start playing right out of the box. But it also lends itself to adaptation and homebrewing. There’s a booklet inside that helps you create your own characters, weapons, and items. The game is played with brilliantly drawn cardboard “standees”, but these can easily be substituted by miniatures from your collection. My old Monster in My Pocket horde are just screaming to be let loose on these dungeon tiles…

Links

• CoraQuest on Amazon (affiliate link)
• CoraQuest official website
• Bright Eye Games

Award-winning game designer Brent Spivey joins me to chat about two of his cult games, Mayhem and Rogue Planet.

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Both of these games are miniature agnostic systems with innovative designs and mechanics.

Rogue Planet is a sci-fantasy skirmish game ideally suited to folks seeking a bit of a 40k/Rogue Trader fix. Mayhem, on the other hand, works great as a mass-battle system for getting your 6mm or 10mm armies on the table. The book includes rules for sieges too, if you want to give your castle terrain a runout.

You can keep up with future updates from Brent by visiting his website Bombshell Games.

We make a return to playing Song of Blades & Heroes, one of the most simple and accessible skirmish games on the market. And, in this battle, we’re focusing on storytelling over points, fairness, and balance. The defenders can’t possibly win. But how well can they hold out against a huge Chaos force?

So why do many players prefer unbalanced, narrative scenarios over fair and competitive encounters?

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After all, isn’t tabletop wargaming all about strategy, skill, and balance? Isn’t the whole point to test our tactical abilities against our opponents?

Sure, that’s definitely a big part of it. But it’s not the only part.

Unbalanced scenarios add a layer of excitement and unpredictability to the game. You never know what you might be up against in these scenarios. It could be a massive army against a small group of elite units, or it could be a guerrilla-style ambush on a convoy of tanks. These types of scenarios offer a unique challenge that can’t be replicated in a balanced game.

At its heart, tabletop wargaming is about storytelling. We create armies, paint models, and build terrain because we want to immerse ourselves in epic battles and heroic struggles. We want to feel like we’re part of a grand, sweeping narrative, with all the twists and turns and emotional highs and lows that come with it.

In a fair and balanced game, both players have equal opportunities to win, which means the game’s outcome is largely determined by skill and strategy. While that’s great, it can also become predictable and monotonous after a while. Unbalanced scenarios, on the other hand, keep the game fresh and exciting by forcing players to come up with creative solutions to overcome their disadvantage.

When we play a game that’s heavily weighted in favour of one side or the other, we’re not just trying to win. We’re also trying to tell a story. Maybe we’re playing out the final battle of a long and bitter war, with one side hopelessly outnumbered but fighting with desperate courage. Or maybe we’re staging a daring raid on an enemy stronghold, with the attackers outnumbered but relying on cunning and surprise to carry the day. Whatever the situation, it’s the narrative that drives us, not just the desire to win.

In an unbalanced scenario, the narrative becomes the driving force behind the game. Players can get lost in the story and become more invested in their army’s fate, which adds to the overall gaming experience.

Of course, this kind of approach isn’t for everyone. Some players prefer the purity of a perfectly balanced, competitive encounter, where victory is determined solely by skill and strategy. And that’s totally fine! There’s nothing wrong with wanting a fair fight.

But for those of us who crave a bit more drama and excitement, unbalanced scenarios are where it’s at. We get to take risks, try crazy tactics, and see our armies perform feats of heroism and bravery that would be impossible in a strictly balanced game. We get to tell stories that are full of tension, surprise, and drama – stories that stick with us long after the game is over.

Finally, unbalanced scenarios can be a great leveller. They allow newer players to compete against more experienced players on a more level playing field. When a scenario is unbalanced, the outcome is not determined solely by the players’ skill level. Instead, it’s about how well they can adapt to the challenges presented by the scenario. This can give newer players a fighting chance and motivate them to keep playing.

Be sure to view the full gallery of photos from our game, as well as subscribe to our follow the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast on your listening app of choice.