Game Info
Year
2023
Players
2
Age
12+
Playtime
45 min
Complexity
2.5/5
Collection
Your Tier
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Description
A two-player asymmetric tactical game where one player controls bears and the other a towering Guardian
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 7
This page: 7
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–7 of 7
Video eN3qvPcpweE
Hungry Gamer Top 5 List at 6:07 sentiment: positive
video_pk 89812 · mention_pk 239172
Click to watch at 6:07 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- excellent two-player asymmetric design
- wide replayability via mash-ups
Cons
- primarily a two-player game (not ideal for larger groups)
Thematic elements
- two-player asymmetric battles between guardian armies
- fantasy world with two-player combat
- flavorful fantasy
Comparison games
- Skulk Hollow (guardian vs. guardian mashups)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- armies vs guardians mashups — replayability via pairing different guardians with armies
- two-player asymmetric play — two distinct sides with different abilities and victory conditions
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's really really good
- this game is killer
- the loop is really really good
- it's a fantastic two-player asymmetric game
- familiar tales... I'm so excited for it
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video HIjKanllqYg
kovray Review at 0:32 sentiment: positive
video_pk 89745 · mention_pk 238858
Click to watch at 0:32 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- fun two-player head-to-head with clear roles
- intuitive and easy to learn; reference card shows what the other can do
- clean mechanics; easy to see what you can do from your cards/board
- easy to switch between Grizzer and Guardian
- large, visually striking guardians/meeples
- cross-compatibility with Skulk Hollow and other variants
Cons
- asymmetrical characters may not appeal to everyone
- some players may prefer less asymmetry
Thematic elements
- grizzer vs guardian battle
Comparison games
- Skulk Hollow
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck Manipulation — Magic actions used to attack or influence Guardian.
- Discard a card — You may discard a card as part of actions; tracked on the reference card.
- Leaping — Leaping actions move into the Guardian or between zones.
- magic — Magic actions used to attack or influence Guardian.
- Melee — Melee actions used to attack the Guardian.
- Movement — Grizzer can move as part of actions.
- Power resource / transfer — Power usage and transfer between Grizzer and Guardian states.
- Rage resource — Rage is gained to summon other characters and perform more actions.
- Reference card guidance — A summary/reference card shows what actions are available.
- Role transfer — Mechanic to switch between Grizzer and Guardian during play.
- Summon characters — Rage is used to summon other Grizzlers.
- Throwing/Bouncing/Flipping — Leaping actions move into the Guardian or between zones.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- yeah it's fun it's a good two-player game it's a nice like head-to-head uh feels asymmetrical enough
- i'm not huge on asymmetric characters and games
- it's very intuitive
- the mechanics of this are quite clean
- the meeple guardians are so cool yeah they're humongous and they're spooky
- there's a lot of cross compatibility
- it's a team battle so you'll have both the foxen and the grizzard versus the guardian from all peak and the guardian from skull hollow
- it's a very team based and very kind of competitive
- we'd love to see it and that is Mall Peak
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video LQHnUq7Wt0I
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Analysis at 1:00
video_pk 89557 · mention_pk 238100
Click to watch at 1:00 · YouTube ↗
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- if you find updating kickstarter to be a pain which you must if you ever run a kickstarter campaign what i've started doing recently is in the last few campaigns is creating a psd a file where i'm just putting the art for the kickstarter page in and moving it around and adjusting it and so like building out the entire page off of kickstarter and then once it looks really good and moving it over it's so much faster it's so much easier to iterate on if you do kickstarters and that's the only thing you take away from this video that's a super valuable thing
- Hanafuda on the other hand is actually a pretty large audience
- this is a fantastic addition to the 100 tory which is a great game and this is this is a really special version of of a classic fantastic traditional game
- shipping is is very problematic right now
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 2c0wPyh5sB0
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Analysis at 38:22 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 89474 · mention_pk 237641
Click to watch at 38:22 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- My biggest flaws is having really big ambition and in the tech world in the startup world I'm able to do things and I'm able to follow up with my ambition and it was the first time in making a board game I had honestly no idea what I was in the store for.
- The reason why we're called quality Beast is because I do care a lot about the quality of the game production but also the quality of the mechanics.
- Worth the wait.
- Find out things that are your flaws and I'm not saying autism is a flaw but what it created was often bad communication.
- Have somebody check your language have somebody check your understandability.
- Sometimes it took I mean I've sort of I you know ultimately there's always different expectations for different kickstarters based on X Y or Z but from my perspective like I don't at some point I'm just trying to freeze it right like you do a lot of kickstarters it's like I don't need the next Kickstarter to be bigger than the last.
- The cost of making it the components of getting in then the you know wholesale and all the different you know steps you know people in it and what what how you're selling it all ties in.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video qYV-ISdtqsA
Brains On Games Review at 0:02 sentiment: positive
video_pk 88618 · mention_pk 234056
Click to watch at 0:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Outstanding component quality and a visually striking, tactile meeple set.
- Highly thematic and asymmetric, delivering distinct experiences for each side.
- Excellent replayability due to multiple guardians, monsters, and expansion options (Skull Hollow integration).
- Solid two-player focus with scalable potential when adding Skull Hollow for four players.
- Clear emphasis on planning, strategy, and executive-function-like decision making.
Cons
- A few rule areas could be clarified (rage cube spending and how some actions interact with certain cards).
- Out-of-the-box play is strictly two-player unless you own Skull Hollow for four-player play, which may deter some groups.
Thematic elements
- Asymmetric creature clash with a clear predator/prey dynamic; emphasis on board control, trap mechanics, and monster abilities.
- A two-player, forest-themed battleground where a Bear-based group (Grizzar) defends against a colossal Guardian/Kaiju; winter beasts and multiple monster types shape the encounter.
- Thematic, episodic skirmish with vivid creature identities and a strong sense of ritualistic combat between disparate sides.
Comparison games
- Skull Hollow
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric play — One side controls the giant Guardian (Saboso/Saboso variants) and winter beasts, while the other side commands the Grizzar bears with their own deck and abilities.
- combat and health tracking — Health counters and wound markers track damage; red hearts signal wounds on bears, blue wounds on guardians; combat outcomes influence victory conditions.
- Combat: Damage Based — Health counters and wound markers track damage; red hearts signal wounds on bears, blue wounds on guardians; combat outcomes influence victory conditions.
- Hand Management — Players each have a hand of action cards; guardian and bears have different hand sizes and action options that must be managed across turns.
- Hidden Victory Points — The guardian defeats bears by exhausting map spaces or achieving a specific damage/trap condition; bears win by eliminating the guardian or preventing its victory condition.
- multi-map movement — Bears move on a main map and can leap onto a separate guarded map for attacks; the guardian operates with a different map layout and aim.
- replayability through variety — Multiple guardians and winter beasts with unique abilities; standalone deck options and expansions provide varied experiences.
- resource cubes and actions — Orange power cubes grant actions on cards; rage cubes enable additional actions, while other cubes track healing/damage and special effects.
- summoning and reinforcement — Grizzar can summon additional units to bolster their confrontation with the guardian as the game progresses.
- trap and containment — The guardian can trap bears inside a stomach map area; bears can counter by attempting to escape or prevent traps from constraining their moves.
- Variable victory conditions — The guardian defeats bears by exhausting map spaces or achieving a specific damage/trap condition; bears win by eliminating the guardian or preventing its victory condition.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Mall Peak is a two-player asymmetric battling game
- these meeples I think I've seen in any game that I've played
- everything about production of this thing is Top Notch
- it's totally asymmetric
- it's so thematic
- the monsters are so amazing
- replayability here
- it's a visual spatial problem solving game
- stress management
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video qVCQBqUSHbM
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Discussion at 0:15 sentiment: positive
video_pk 88257 · mention_pk 232274
Click to watch at 0:15 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Grizzled bears versus gigantic guardians
Comparison games
- Skull Hollow
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- standalone expansion — This was the Standalone expansion to Skull Hollow.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- so we released Mal Peak then uh almost the next month we released another expansion
- we did have one Kickstarter this year it was for the siblings trouble expanded deluxe edition
- so coming up uh I'll be putting this video out on YouTube but it but it'll also be announced at our newsletter if you don't have our newsletter I'll have a link below
- so these are the three titles we released um all available and it's just been super exciting and again really um on the back of Kickstarter and support and fans of the games that we're doing
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video xP4-PGbleqw
Ryan Bethany Board Game Reviews Review at 0:07 sentiment: positive
video_pk 74374 · mention_pk 179196
Click to watch at 0:07 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Chunky, high-quality components and large meeples provide tactile appeal
- Deep asymmetry with varied guardians and win conditions
- Bone action tokens help balance experienced vs. new players
- Two-board setup with both horizontal and vertical representations adds a 3D feel
- Helpful player aids that clarify opponents’ options
Cons
- Prototype status; subject to change before final release
- Asymmetry can be intimidating and may not be fun for everyone, though mitigated by balancing tools
Thematic elements
- Array
- Fantasy world with guardians and little folk
- Informational overview / review
Comparison games
- Skulk Hollow
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area/Board Movement on Guardian — Players move on and onto the guardian; there are leap actions to land on top of the guardian and deal damage.
- Asymmetric Player Powers — Guardians and grizzlers have their own abilities and win conditions, creating asymmetric play and dynamic strategies.
- Deck Building — Each character has a dedicated deck that is drawn from and used to perform actions; cards include actions like gain rage and summon abilities; some actions draw more cards (prepare action).
- Gameplay Aids / Opponent Awareness — A dedicated player aid summarizes the opposing character's actions and win conditions to help players understand the other side.
- Hand Management — Players have a hand limit and draw to replenish; when the deck is exhausted, discard piles reshuffle to form a new draw pile.
- Resource Management — Rage cubes, web tokens, and winter beast artifacts act as resources to enable actions and effects.
- Turn-based draw/discard and hand management — Players have a hand limit and draw to replenish; when the deck is exhausted, discard piles reshuffle to form a new draw pile.
- Variable Player Powers / Asymmetric Play — Guardians and grizzlers have their own abilities and win conditions, creating asymmetric play and dynamic strategies.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I loved the big chunky pieces
- there's a lot of asymmetry and a lot of different actions that can happen between different characters
- each guardian has their own special ability and win conditions
- there were two boards, one showing the landscape horizontally and another whole board representing the guardian vertically
- I think overall this is gonna be a hit
- the bone pieces provide extra actions to balance experienced players
- there’s a tiny little thing… a player aid of the opposing character
- we could hop around from one board onto the other board and then you’re climbing around that
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
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