Destinies

Reviewing a game after only 0.2 hours of play? Sure, why not. Because I have played Destinies on an iPhone, iPad, and via Steam on a laptop (the latter only long enough to try out the camera functionality). The software works on all three platforms flawlessly from my own personal experience. The app is required to play Destinies as it acts as the in-game referee and storyteller (aka, the Dungeon Master) to a series of scenarios played out using physical components. I mean, that's what a companion app does, right? That said, playing on an iPhone works, but the type on the screen is really small and hard to read, also it's difficult to distinguish between the intelligence (blue) icon and the dexterity (green) icon at that size. It should further be noted that you will be sharing a phone if playing with others. Its Pass-and-Play. That might be an issue for some people. On a laptop the screen is much more visible and easier to see everything. The front facing camera on my CyberPower PC worked fine. Depending on your setup, this might make for the best cinematic option. Ultimately, my group settled on using an iPad to play the game. A big step up from using a phone, didn't take up much space on the table, and was more portable than the laptop to bring to game night. The app works identical on all three devices, so choose what works best for you. The GUI is polished and straightforward. There is no "back" button, but that's common for these type of games. The software is solid. As for the game itself, I like it. I like it a lot. It is a cross between The 7th Continent, Mansions of Madness, and Betrayal at House on the Hill. Destinies removes the grind of T7C and adds narrative. If you like the exploration part of Betrayal, but hate the haunting part halfway through the game, you might enjoy Destinies. If you are looking for something with less complexity and a shorter play time than play MoM, look into Destinies. Destinies scenarios play out in about two hours with three people. Solo games go faster. The solo game options feature Challenger and Exploration modes depending on the experience you're looking for giving a little more replay value. Adding a digital component to an analog board game is a love-it-or-hate-it personal preference. Lucky Duck seems to want to be the game publisher that converts folks over to the app side. Chronicles of Crime (the precursor to Destines) was too app-driven for my tastes, although I still have it. I admire the innovation, but all you were doing in CoC was constantly scanning cards. I like the game solo, but even for me it got to be too much after awhile. By comparison, Destinies has reduced the card scanning to a reasonable amount and makes the scanning of cards more meaningful. Destinies features the tile exploration aspect that both T7C, Betrayal, and MoM have, but in a lighter package. Game play uses a much more streamlined game mechanism. After one play through you never have to refer back to the rules manual. Others may complain this make for a boring game, but not every game has to be Twilight Imperium III. Some days you just want a more chill experience or are looking to introduce non-gamers (or TTRPG gamers) to board games. Destinies does this well. I believe Destinies was originally focused around the story of Joan of Arc (Time of Legends: Joan of Arc, then Time of Legends: Destinies, then just Destinies) but due to a failed partnership, ditched Joan, but kept the setting and time period to tell the stories in the base game. I find the stories really well told and if you take the time to read the narrative out loud during game play--instead of quickly jumping to the results of your actions--you will have a more compelling experience. I mention this because the story is critical to the success of the enjoyment of the game. By comparison, Mansions of Madness is also using an app to tell a story, but the length of the game and the linear path of events makes us start skipping the narrative to get to the action and push forward. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy T7C and MoM and have the former in my collection, and with the right group of people (for MoM) or depending on the mood I'm in (T7C) I can still break them out. There are down sides to Destinies that should be noted. Once you play an adventure with two other people, there is little reason to replay a scenario again. Solo mode might squeeze out a little more play value, but not much. Fan-written scenarios area thing and can add additional content to the game, but last I checked there were only like five or six (less if you go English only) scenarios available and none were highly rated. I would crowdfund a project that hired professional writers to add more scenarios to the game using the existing components. Second, the game has micro miniatures. These minis serve no purpose other than to be moving POIs on the game board and boost the sales of their Kickstarters. As someone who has no intention of ever painting them, I see that as a waste of money. The miniatures are too small to be recognizable from each other on the table, add a lot of extraneous manufacturing costs to the game, and would have been better served using full color standees instead. With all the beautiful artwork in the game, the grey bits make the game look unfinished and, given the limited repeatability of the game, unnecessary. All that said, I like Destinies for what it is. There is room on my shelf for it while I work my way through the expansions.