Hercules and the 12 Labors

This game is stunning, challenging, and I’m playing non stop! Def on my list of favourites!

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A dice manipulation game, each Labor has different criteria that needs to be met in order to damage and defeat. It could be a specific die, such as a 5 or a 6, adding dice to make a certain number, pairs of a certain number, etc. As you progress through the Labor cards, you add more Hercules die (what you as the player are rolling) and the Labor die (the ones you need to decrease in order to defeat).

Production value is great. Cards are thick and beautiful with gold embossing. The Labor cards have corresponding Lore cards that share the story of Hercules' journey. They are interesting but not necessary to read in order to complete the labor cards. Card size is nice, box is small, dice are nice colours - gold & teal.

I've rated this a 3/5 because it's a lot of 'luck of the dice', which is not my preferred game type (thought I'd try it in a solo game). Yes, you have cards that help you manipulate the dice rolled, but I've had multiple rolls where I was unable to manipulate any dice to what I needed. This resulted in reaching the skull icon (game end) on the labor card or the Spirit track. The mood cards can really make or break your progress and are randomly drawn at the beginning of a new Labor card. I will play again, but not sure how much longer I'll stay interested.