Fortune & Glory Game Review

 If you've ever wanted to be in the shoes of Indiana Jones: collecting ancient artifacts around the world and fighting Nazis, gangsters and cultists, this is your chance. Fortune & Glory from Flying Frog Productions tries to bring the atmosphere of a classic action novel to the table with a try-your-luck mechanic, dice-based combat and, most importantly, a stylish soundtrack CD.

 A little about Flying Frog Productions: all of their games (whether zombies, aliens, or action-packed adventures) have a strong emphasis on atmosphere. The mechanics are hardly elegant: they consist of a lot of dice rolls and drawing a lot of cards with a lot of artistic text. However, their games are often boring.

 Fortune & Glory is designed for 1-8 players aged 12+ (I suspect this is due to the setting). According to the box, a game takes 90-180 minutes, but its duration can vary greatly depending on the number of participants and the selected game mode: solo, competitive, team-competitive or cooperative. Yes, I played one solo game in 45 minutes, but I was probably just lucky. If you order the game directly from Flying Frog (or buy from them at one of their tabletop shows), you'll get an extra pair of promo cards.

COMPONENTS

 I will not list all the components - there are a lot of them. The set comes with a hefty trifold box (one of the reasons the box is so huge), almost 50 plastic figures (heroes, villains, temples), piles of plastic coins (which you use to mark your wealth and fame) and dice, and hundreds of cards. And even bigger cardboard sheets of characters and villains and stacks of tokens, including those that are useless in themselves but can be useful in homemade or future scenarios. And, of course, Flying Frog's signature feature is a soundtrack CD.

 All cardboard is of very high quality: dense, with a glossy finish. The cubes are ordinary: small hexagons. The miniatures look pretty nice, with a unique figure for each hero and villain, plus a pack of Nazi soldiers and thugs. However, some of the minkes in my box turned out to have bent barrels.

 The cards are illustrated with photos of actors in costume and themed scenes, as in most Flying Frog games. There is usually quite a lot of text, sometimes very small (especially artistic), but generally readable without problems. However, for some reason, all Flying Frog games use hard glossy cards that stick to each other and are difficult to shuffle. The upside is that they will last longer, but I would prefer regular cards.

 The CD has a 35-minute soundtrack with music by Mary Beth Magallanes. It's nice to turn on the music and start playing. However, during the party, the soundtrack will repeat itself several times, considering its duration. If you want something longer, I would recommend the music from the Indiana Jones movies.

GAME PROCESS

 I want to warn you right away: Fortune & Glory has a lot of all kinds of rules. For the first few games, you'll have to regularly consult the 30-page rulebook. Just listing the main mechanics (which I'm going to do below) takes up an entire sheet of paper. If you are not interested in it, you can immediately go to the descriptions of additions and conclusions at the end of the review.

 The game has several modes to choose from. The default is competitive, in which you compete to be the first to collect 15 units of wealth (gold) and return to your hometown. You can also play competitive team: the same, only you cooperate with a friend. In cooperative mode, a rogue organization (Nazis or gangsters) appears with its own special rules, which opposes you. Well, the solo mode is just cooperative alone. Also, the rules are divided into basic and advanced: so that you can get used to the game faster, and additional features - such as a Nazi airship flying over the map, collecting gold and landing soldiers - can be introduced later.

 Each player receives their character sheet, which lists the starting location, special abilities and parameters: combat, agility, intelligence and knowledge, plus health and defense indicators. Available characters include ace pilot Jay Zane, daring photographer Sharon Hunter, renowned scientist Dr. Zhukov, nightclub singer Li Mei Chen, and others.

 There are always 4 treasures on the field. Treasures consist of an artifact card and an adventure card; in this way, treasures of different value and difficulty of obtaining are randomly generated. Some adventure cards have special special rules. Where exactly the treasure will appear is determined by drawing a card from the location deck. The location of the treasures is marked by small multi-colored skulls.

 The essence of the gameplay consists in walking by rolling the dice and in the following adventures. If you end the movement in a different location with a treasure or an enemy, then you roll a die to find out what you get: an event card (usually they are positive), or a fight (trouble), or the journey passed quietly and peacefully. If you are in a city, you draw a card from the city location. You might get a hazard challenge, a new piece of gear, an ally, or even a secret mission. In cities, you can also sell the collected treasures and spend your hard-earned glory on equipment, allies and healing wounds.

 Of course, the main action begins when you get to the treasure. In this case, you will have to pass the danger test. The red shield icon on the adventure card shows how many dangers must be overcome to obtain the treasure, while the gold coin icon on the artifact card shows how much wealth the treasure will bring.

 To survive the danger, you need to pass the check indicated on the card. Some hazards allow you to choose a skill to use (or, as an option, engage in a fight with the enemy), while others will force you to choose one of the options offered. On each check, it is indicated which number on the die is considered a success, and the number of X's - how many successes are required. For example, "dexterity 4+xxx" means that you need to roll 4 or higher on three dice to pass the check. The number of dice rolled depends on your skill. If there is at least one success after the rolls, you can reroll all the dice. After a successful check, you receive a danger token and you have a choice: move on or take a breather.

 After taking a breather, you heal all wounds and receive as much glory (blue coins) as is indicated by the dangers you survived during this run. If you move on, you will draw a new danger card. This will bring you closer to the treasure, but at the same time there is a risk of being left without glory.

 If the danger test fails, it turns over and becomes a "cliffhanger" - until the next turn. For example, during a car chase, you allowed yourself to be overtaken and there was a massive explosion. Will you survive? We will find out in the next turn.

 Tense moments usually force you to pass a new check or just inflict a few wounds. In any case, if you survive a tense moment, you will receive a danger token and again you can move on or rest. When a tense moment fails, you lose consciousness and find yourself at home in your hometown. At the same time, you can lose earned cards, money or artifacts.

 If several characters go to the same treasure, they take turns encountering dangers. Each player tries to pass the check, then decides whether to rest or move on, after which their neighbor draws a card. That way, even if you choose not to stop, a competitor can take the treasure, but you'll still have to go through the danger test with nothing in return (well, except glory).

 However, just getting the treasure is not enough - you have to return to the city, experience the city adventure, and then sell it and get rich. To win, you need to collect 15 units of wealth, and then wait a turn in your hometown.

 I will not describe the battles in detail. I will only say that bad guys can meet you in different ways. Some are spread across the map, so you'll have to fight them if you end up in the same location. Others also go on adventures and can snatch the treasure from under your nose. And from time to time you will meet an unfriendly personality, and you will have to draw a card from the deck of enemies. Battles are also allowed by throwing dice. If you wish, you can run away from the battle.

 If you play in co-op or solo mode, you will be confronted by Nazis or gangsters. And then a deck of thieving events appears on the field. The villains themselves establish new secret bases/lairs and/or go on treasure hunts each round. Your goal is to collect enough gold before the villains get a certain number of points. The Nazis prefer brute force: they spread across the map and capture cities. They are not easy to fight, plus they have a zeppelin that flies around the map. Gangsters establish lairs that bring them extra income, collect artifacts faster, and have the ability to kill/kidnap your allies.

CONCLUSIONS

 I first tried Fortune & Glory at PAX two years ago, and the game seemed pretty fan-made. But when I brought the box home, my cell didn't appreciate it. Only during the game did I realize how many rules I had overlooked. Perhaps the most important of these was the caveat that if you are playing with more than 5 players, you must play as a team. As a result, our party of eight took too long. The second playthrough the next day went much smoother, but most of my friends didn't really like the game after the first try, so it ended up gathering dust on the shelf. I got the impression that Fortune & Glory is not worth spending on the layout and rereading the rules of effort.

 But since I'm a fan of Flying Frog decks, I decided to give the game one more chance before writing it off for good. At PAX Prime that year, I played a few more games—this time more carefully, re-reading the rules—in competitive, co-op, and solo modes, as well as add-ons. This time, the impressions were much more pleasant (with some caveats).

 I'll start by listing the shortcomings of the game. The odd card stock is my only gripe with the otherwise excellent components, which I've already mentioned.

 Since the set of hazards is completely random, sometimes very strange and illogical things happen to you during the trials. For example, in one of the games, the player first had to climb a mountain, then escape from the quicksand, and then end up in a nightclub... while in Antarctica. Some cards have modifiers (for example, if you are in a jungle location, this hazard has an additional special effect), but wild situations can still occur. And I still haven't discovered a single crystal skull.

 Another downside to random hazards is that you don't know in advance what to expect. For example, you play tomb robber Jacques Moreau (apparently an anti-hero) who has a combat rating of 5 but an agility of only 2. Yes, sometimes you can choose to fight or run from enemies, but what if you find yourself crossing a rope bridge? You never know when you're going to have to make some dexterity checks that will most likely end badly, especially with a dice roll. And no strategic planning will help here.

 As for the pros of the game, I really liked how the global treasure hunts are set up. A huge field, many stacks of cards, tokens and miniatures - all this creates a feeling of epicness of what is happening. I also like the use of photos on the cards: they shoot the actors in costumes, and it turns out very stylish. In addition, the game is very thematic. Perils, tense moments, heroes and villains, artistic text on cards... Fortune & Glory is full of thriller clichés.

 In my opinion, Fortune & Glory is best played in team or co-op modes. Because in these modes, multiple characters with complementary skills can work together. Now, knowing that you have a terrible Knowledge skill, you can choose during the challenge whether to proceed without or cooperate with a fellow Knowledge expert. When going through tests together, you can choose which of the characters will pass a certain test, which allows you to use the strengths of each. In these modes, there is a sense of greater significance to the decisions you make. It's up to you whether you should split up to prevent villains or competitors from getting the treasures, or go through the checks together.

 Also, since each thief organization has its own play style, you will not only have to hunt for treasure and deliver it in the city, but also try to get rid of secret bases/logs and henchmen of the villains. In normal mode, there is a feeling that only four locations with treasures matter on a huge field, and the rest are just empty cells on the way there and back.

 Since Fortune & Glory isn't cheap, it's best suited for those who like to play the same board regularly (most Flying Frog fans seem to fall into this category). You're unlikely to buy an expensive coffin to play with just once or twice a year. This is a mastodon game that will take up almost the entire game night. However, since I really enjoyed the co-op mode, I now plan to play Fortune & Glory more often.