Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 60-90 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 5 minutes

Heroes of Metro City is a super-hero themed deck-building game. If you knock out the Archenemy first you win.

Heroes of Metro City Rules Description:

In Heroes of Metro City you buy powers that are powered by energy so you can defeat bad guys. If they are able to destroy the city you lose.

Each player gets a player board. The first thing you have to do is name your hero. You might think this is meaningless, but certain energy cards give you a bonus based on your name.

Your starting deck consists of five Origin Story and five Spark of Energy cards. The two main currencies in the game are energy and plot points. You can slot up to four energy sources on your player board that are used to fuel your powers. Plot points let you buy additional powers and energy sources. They are gained from knocking out bad guys. In player order you buy your initial power and/or energy cards.

There are three types of bad guys, minions, villains and the archenemy. They each have their own pile and are progressively more difficult to defeat. The city is all the cards that are available to buy. Bad guys will try to destroy (trash) these cards and if they try to destroy a card from an empty pile the players all lose.

You start your turn by flipping the top card of the minion or villain pile face-up (if it isn’t already). This ensures you have someone to beat up.

Next you slot your energy cards and trigger any powers you plan to use for the turn. Each power has an energy requirement needed to use it. A Spark of Energy card provides one energy but they can be chained together. There are always two other energy source cards in the city that provided more energy.

Now it is time to fight. You total your damage and take on the baddies. Minions have between one to three life. Villains usually have five while the big baddie typically has eight. You apply damage to as many baddies as you like and if knocked out you can instantly add them to your hand or put them in the rubble (trash).

Baddies in your hand can be used to develop (buy) additional cards from the city. Each power and energy source costs plot points and you can buy one now.

The remaining baddies now have a chance to destroy the city, but not before the local authorities and military try to stop them. You roll a 12-sided die for each remaining bad guy. Depending on the number of players you need to roll a value to stop each bad guy from destroying the city. If not stopped, they trash one or two cards from the city. If you have a card of the same type they trash (melee, ranged, energy or story line) in play then you may destroy it instead.

If the archenemy is still around it is the next player’s turn. But if you knocked out the archenemy you win the game.

Quick Review of Heroes of Metro City:

Heroes of Metro City has many things in common with most deck-building games, but it does tweak a few things. It can be pretty unforgiving though and some players may have several turns of doing nothing. The cards in the city can really determine if this is a pleasant experience or drawn-out slog.

The components for this game are a mixed bag. The art is hit and miss. Some of it is excellent but some is mediocre at best. The rules are pretty good but there are a few vague parts. You should definitely read the FAQ [www.heroesofmetrocity.com/faq/] after you read them. Lastly the storage is not good. I like that an attempt was made to allow for sleeved cards, but if your cards are not sleeved they get scattered all over the box. I wish the box was like the Thunderstone or Sentinels expansions.

I like the theme of this game and how it is tied into the mechanics. It is not perfect but how defeating bad guys helps you develop more powers is nice. Also how naming your character matters. I wish more cards relied on your name and other choices.

Another interesting concept is using the supply as the timer in the game. This makes what piles you buy from matter and sometimes complicated. Buying ranged powers against an archenemy that is constantly destroying them only helps him. But maybe that will help you defeat him in the end.

The ability to thin your deck when the bad guys destroy the city is cool too. In fact it is almost necessary to take advantage of this mechanic. But since you have no control over what cards you have in play or which villains will destroy what it can be unreliable.

I mentioned having turns where you can do nothing and though this can happen in other deck-builders it bothers me more in this one. Maybe it is the theme. Heroes don’t sit idly by doing nothing while the city is being assaulted. I wish there was an action to prepare for your next turn. That way you aren’t stuck doing nothing for a few turns. This might unbalance the game as you are really looking to get four power cards that do two damage each to defeat the archenemy.

I also wish it was just a straight up co-op. It feels like it is mostly cooperative and should just embrace that. It might cut down on some design options but stays within the theme better.

Heroes of Metro City was hit and miss for me. There is a lot I like about the game, but also some things that frustrated me. The mix of cards in the city really matters. With a good mix the game is pretty fun, but a few crappy cards and the game really slows down and loses some appeal. I think you should definitely try it before you buy it.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 2 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 3 out of 6
Overall 3 out of 6 (with a good mix of cards it is a 4 overall)