- iOS, Android, PC/Mac
I mentioned this in last week’s news bundle, but Asmodee has been hard at work on bringing the Forbidden Sciences expansion to everyone’s favorite forgotten board game port, XenoShyft. Turns out they were working harder than I realized, as today XenoShyft updated and, lo and behold, Forbidden Sciences is right there waiting for your money.
If you’re not familiar with XenoShyft, it’s basically a tower defense game in cardboard form. Each player plays as one department of the enigmatic NorTec Corporation, recruiting mercenaries and equipping them with goodies and then sending them into the meat grinder. The meat grinder in XenoShyft is an unending onslaught of disgusting aliens that hate humanity. Who can blame them, really?
There have been plenty of other expansions released for XenoShyft, including the massive Dreadmire expansion which basically doubles the content of the original game, and adds an entirely new alien race to squash.
The thing about Forbidden Sciences is that I’m not entirely sure what it adds. The Cool Mini or Not page doesn’t even reference it as an expansion, so I’m stuck with BGG and hoping the description there is correct. That said, it reads like copy, so I’m guessing some PR flack wrote it at one point:
The Forbidden Sciences expansion includes all-new Division Cards for the Psychogenics Lab and Grafting Research divisions, as well as five all-new items for both Divisions, adding a wealth of new variety to your games!
Bring out the untapped potential of the human mind with the Psychogenics Lab!Turn your Troops into horrifying (but effective) alien/human hybrids with the Grafting Lab!
Tap into the untold power of The Forbidden Sciences!
There you have it. Maybe. Anyway, the expansion is only $3 via IAP in the iOS and Android versions. It doesn’t appear to be live in the Steam version, but I assume it will pop up at some point in the next day or two.
Please don’t hate me; I know I’m beating a dead horse and that I talk about it in every thread about every game ever. I like this game, even though it is brutally hard. I just don’t play it much because I don’t have nearly as much fun with these games solo as I do with people. I know asynch would be difficult to impossible to implement because of everyone’s ability to play cards on other players’ turns, but this is one of those games that if there were able to implement asych, I would have played thousands of times with my friends. Ah well.
That aside, the game itself is great, the app is polished, and there is functioning online for those of you who are able to get a group of friends to dedicate the time to get online at the same time.
As a bit of an aside, I kid of decided the other day that I like card games, and deck builders in particular are quite fun to me, but I am tired to the point of not wanting to play them of the set up and tear down. The Legendary system, in particular, has potential to suck dozens of hours out of my game time, but the setup is just too long and tedious. Xenoshyft is a similar game. I’m happy to own the digital game, and if I had all the money in the world I wouldn’t mind it in my tabletop library, but setting the game up would just be a pain. Thank goodness for digital, sometimes.
Okay, that does it. Xeno has been the leading item in my “learn to play” folder for like … ever.
It’s time. And, hey, at least it’s clear that it’s being supported.
I will play this game before the weekend ends.
I keep trying it and keep hitting my head against the brick wall, and then put it away for a while.
I just do not get to how to succeed at this game.
Any suggestions?
Enjoy! And have a happy activity lined up as well because this one will put the hurt on you.
The hardest waves are 1, 4 and 7 (IIRC - it’s been a bit since I played - the first wave of the new round). You’re not going to be ready for anything, you don’t have enough for anything, and troops are super weak.
Base health is a resource.
More divisions can be a looooot harder than 1 or 2. More lanes means more damage, more things to keep track of and so on.
Don’t forget your division abilities. They matter.
Whoaaah, I just won my 2nd or 3rd game ever! OK it was on easy, with Nortec Elite and Forbidden Sciences, But i’ll Take that victory screen any which way!
Starting to wrap my head around the base game (had it forever) and bought the grafting lab. Won’t play on hard, but even normal is brutal!
And now I have the extra hive enemies and the heroic units.
Game is solid!