GENERAL INFO: Cooperative, 1-4 players, 30 minutes.
THEME: Fantasy, set in the world of Tiny Epic Kingdoms.
HOOK: Fast paced, portable co-op, with a unique turn-deck mechanic.
WIN: Defeat the Epic Foe!
LOSE: Let the Capital City get destroyed!
STORY: After the Great War (Tiny Epic Kingdoms), many of the factions, shattered and defeated, looked for something to cling to. One final hope before the last of their race would flow like the river into the ocean of history, gone and forgotten. It was the sages of the Order of Gamelyn who answered their prayers. They provided a new perspective on unity, and a way of life that would welcome peaceful members of any faction. A utopia for all. With very few options and a will to survive, this world alliance became an inevitable truth in the eyes of many of the factions’ leaders. Even factions who hated one another had nothing left but each other. Under the guidance of the Order of Gamelyn, a Capital City was chosen and factions from all over the world came to call this city their new home. At last, the world was at peace… but not for long. A great storm is coming and in the darkness of the mist, there be demons.
You have fought hard and established your Kingdom, but peace never lasts.
Your scouts report that hordes of treacherous monsters is approaching the outskirts of your Capital City. If your Capital City falls you will lose everything, along with your Kingdom.
Gather your friends and defend against the onslaught in this exciting and unpredictable cooperative micro-game!
In Tiny Epic Defenders, players must select their classes and work together to defend against the evil horde and slay the Epic Foe.
Will you take on the role of the Barbarian, the Sorcerer, the Cleric or the Warrior? Each class has a unique player power that you will need to use.
In this fast-paced game, players will scramble between various regions outside their Capital City fighting off enemy hordes! Each region will offers unique properties that players must account for in their strategies.
If your group is fortunate enough to defeat the wave of monsters, you may live long enough to face the Epic Foe! Which Epic Foe will it be? Will you be prepared!?
Does your group have what it takes to survive? Will you have the skill to be crowned the Tiny Epic Defenders!?
For a deluxe edition of this game, see Tiny Epic Defenders: Deluxe Edition
- Portable and family-friendly approach in the Tiny Epic line
- Speaker felt this was the weakest in the Tiny Epic Defenders line; perceived as dry and straightforward without excitement
- Heroic defense with modular threats
- Fantasy realm under siege; cooperative defense
- compact, cartoonish fantasy
- Tiny Epic Kingdoms
- Blood Rage
- Ankh
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative play — Players work together to defend against a common threat.
- dice/overland engine elements — Dice-driven actions and engine-building in a compact form.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- El Grande is the Godfather of the area control games
- the longevity of Pandemic uh this can't be denied
- it's basically descent with Star Wars slapped on
References (from this video)
- Fun gameplay despite criticism
- Includes cute item meatballs with visual upgrades
- Second edition with improvements launching
- Portable tower defense game
- Gets criticized for being too simple
- Very basic presentation
- Limited depth for serious gamers
- Tower defense protecting city from invasion
- Capital city under siege
- Strategic resource management
- Tiny Epic Galaxies
- Tiny Epic Quest
- Tiny Epic Kingdoms
- Eight Minute Empire
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cleansing mechanic — Go out to outer realms to cleanse fire and defend
- Deck drawing — Draw from deck with enemies and assaults
- Fire meter — Advancing fire meter indicates outer realms falling
- Item collection — Gain items to enhance abilities
- tower defense — Defend outer realms from enemies progressing toward capital city
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This game could basically be called Pandemic: Thunderbirds
- It's depressing as all heck
- You're not doing anything heroic in this game
- Really under the radar cool co-op
- This man is blinded by IPs
- Strong theme in the box, you can teach most of this game by theme alone
- It is all tech at this point
- You're really getting a lot of your money's worth
- It can get quite fiddly for my liking
References (from this video)
- Accessible co-op with quick setup
- Good for introducing new players to co-op games
- May feel repetitive over multiple plays
- cooperative defense
- fantasy realm under threat of monsters
- heroic fantasy
- Tiny Epic Kingdoms
- Descent (co-op variants)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative play — players work together to defend against waves of threats.
- tower/area defense elements — players position heroes and use items to blunt waves.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- There's nothing like Essen; it's huge and overwhelming; it's like a kid in a candy store.
- It felt like an Alice in Wonderland experience; the breezeway is the heart of Essen.
- Our backers are so important to us and we value their input.
- It's unlike any other board game convention you have ever experienced.
- I backed Godspeed on Kickstarter; it looks sick.
- Tiny Epic Mechs is the first time it will be an Essen feel.
- The booth has been great; the demos have gone super well.
- We want to serve our backers first; they are important to us.
References (from this video)
- fast gameplay, around 20 minutes once you know the system
- high replayability due to many heroes, foes, and artifacts
- artwork and visual overhaul in the second edition
- engaging tempo and pacing that stays light yet strategic
- compact footprint with reuse-friendly components
- some components are fiddly (cardboard standees, item meeples)
- expansions can add complexity via the experience/skill system
- even with the tiny label, some campaigns expand playtime notably
- Heroes defending a city against epic foes using unique powers, artifacts, and character progression
- Capital city and surrounding lands under siege by invading hordes with multiple regions to defend
- deck-driven, emergent narrative where the threat escalates as the Horde deck grows and the epic foe reveals itself
- Tiny Epic Defenders (1st edition)
- Tiny Epic Defenders 2.0
- Tiny Epic Defenders: The Dark War expansion
- Tiny Epic Defenders: The Dark Orb expansion
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action economy — On a player turn, individuals can take three actions to move, defend, and activate abilities
- cooperative play — Players work together (or play solo) to defend regions and manage damage and resources
- epic foe boss encounter — An epic foe is revealed and fought, providing a climactic objective and powerful abilities
- items, artifacts, and equipment — Collect and use equipment to strengthen attacks and defenses against foes
- region health and destruction — Regions take damage; when a region is destroyed, its capabilities are removed and it shapes future decisions
- turn deck / Horde deck integration — Rounds are driven by revealed cards; Horde deck adds new dangers and escalation each turn
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "it's a fast playing really enjoyable cooperative or a great solo game that is easily repeatable and has tons of dynamic elements that can kind of shift the game around"
- "the core game is still deliberate fast and really enjoyable"
- "the landscapes are gorgeous"
- "the coolest thing about tiny epic defenders more than anything else is that pace and tempo that I was talking about earlier"
- "it's probably the only game in the series that truly lives up to the moniker of being both tiny in size scope space and time as well as epic"
- "I love tiny epic defenders"
- "I think it's an improvement"
- "The end result is that I really love tiny epic defenders I do like the dark war and I recommend that first you do want more and you want to broaden that experience and you want to be able to have a really really epic time then go check out the dark orb"
- "I love just increasing the amount of content there as long as it's increasing the amount of abilities and options and decisions because I really like the core experience of tiny epic defenders now"
- "The landscapes are gorgeous and the facelift that this game has received is incredible"
References (from this video)
- cooperative play suited for families
- compact footprint for a big game feel
- can scale less smoothly with large player counts
- tower-defense / cooperative defense
- fantasy world under siege
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative play — players work together to defend the city against monsters.
- set collection / victory point buildup — gain cards and abilities to defend and score.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- We the really all we do is give you the toys but the people who make you the toys—the elves there's the really the important ones.
- the more subs we get actually helps us more grow and then if we grow we can do more of these and get stuff to you
- donate to Sick Kids it’d be great help just to help the little ones
- Encore is a rolling right game.
- Star Realms is simple to teach and always fun to play.
- Flick of Faith is a rolling right game.