For all of those that would like to play out Moby Dick
Tabletop wargaming is still considered a niche area in gaming. There have been attempts to crack the mainstream gaming community lately, most notably X-Wing and Armada from Fantasy Flight Games. These games are all large affairs with a lot of pieces though. Leviathan from Past Go Games is trying to change that with a unique twist.
Leviathan has 18 cards, and you play within in a set flat area. The Kickstarter project does offer a vinyl mat which is attractive, but not strictly necessary, making this a very easy to transport and set up anywhere.
It is based on the story of Moby Dick, where one player is the titular whale and its pod. The other player plays as Ahab himself. The goals are simple – sink the Pequod, or catch the whale. Both sides have other ships or whales to help, as well as some tactical cards to play.
At its core, Leviathan is an asymmetrical two-player game, where the whales rely on mobility and hidden information and the ships have more actions to achieve their goal.
Leviathan is a surprisingly deep tactical game that uses its simplicity to great effect. Movement can be complicated in these sorts of games, usually with a dedicated flexible ruler and a set of rules. Here though you use a card, and set its base against the movement arc of your card. Combat is straightforward, and yet surprisingly deep. It’s hard to explain in a quick summary, but the quick play of the Print and Play had me comparing this too much bigger games that take much longer to play.
Check out the Kickstarter page here, and grab the print and play version to give it a try.
You can also check out the Board Game Geek page here.
Until next time,