Altered Review – A Race to the Middle
Off the back of a wildly successful KickStarter which broke all previous record for trading card games on the platform – bringing in excess of 6 million euros no less – publisher Asmodee is distributing designer Régis Bonnessée’s (Seasons, Dixit, Mysterium) latest title Altered to retailers globally. Competition in the space has been heating up with both Lorcana and Star Wars Unlimited receiving positive coverage from Player2 of late, while Altered faces the challenge of launching a new IP alongside some incredibly different systems which excited crowdfunders and speculators but could face difficulty in the market if the gameplay isn’t up to scratch.
At its core, Altered is a ‘race’ game, and not in the way that if we abstract ideas enough, most games are; players are literally racing each turn to move one of their markers (Hero and/or Companion) along a pathway before they meet and end the game. This mechanic represents the journey of two separate Expeditions across a fractured land, shown by three randomly ordered Tumult cards placed between players. Each Tumult card contains between 1-3 terrain type symbols – Forest, Mountain and Water – which are also found on the Character cards players will deploy from their deck. By having a higher value in a matching terrain type than their opponent at the end of a round, players will be able to move their Hero or Companion token one space forward. Characters can be deployed to the left or right side to move either the Hero or Companion token respectively, making it a tactical decision around whether to push from one side while potentially allowing the opponent to go uncontested from the other. The first wave of Altered features six Starter Decks built around the six different Factions the game offers thus far, each of which highlights a particular playstyle.
Unlike many other TCG’s, played Character cards don’t stick around until they are defeated, because there are no Health or Defence stats in Altered; everything revolves around the Terrain type values. Instead, players have a ‘Reserve’ space with two open slots to ‘save’ cards for the following round, while any other cards played go to the Discard pile. Reserved cards can be played again in the next round, usually for a lower resource cost. There are unsurprisingly decks built around messing with this mechanic to further the potential for mind games between opponents; holding cards in Reserve or using the ‘Anchor’ mechanic to keep a card in the main row can turn the tide if done correctly. Player2 was sent the Muna and Yzmir Starter Decks, the former of which is focused heavily around keeping characters Anchored, while the Yzmir deck focuses drawing cards, placing opponent cards in the Reserve and sending Reserved cards to the Discard. Abilities, herein called ‘Triggers’, activate depending on whether played from the hand, Reserve area or either/or. Putting out a card that does little from the hand but something exciting from the Reserve can become either a feint or a well laid plan for a future turn, but could be undone by an opponent. Certain cards also include ‘Quick Actions’, ostensibly a free action which won’t count as a ‘turn’.
A standout aspect of Altered, and the one most commented on initially when I’ve introduced it to others is the artwork, which is of a very high quality with plenty of character and great use of colour. Further emphasising this is the ways in which rarer cards eschew the standard border design for a ‘full art’ look which is quite striking. Altered has been marketed as riffing on the work of Studio Ghibli (which isn’t really true IMO) but is still attractive in its own right, with a mixture of high fantasy tropes and anime aesthetics.
Mechanically, Altered faintly resembles a number of other card games I’ve played, echoing aspects of lane battlers like Omen and Schotten Totten or even the unique systems in SiegeStorm: Siege Mode enmeshed with TCG trappings. Zero direct conflict is sure to attract an audience but it may not pull attention away from its competitors for the same reason. There is a good amount of ‘back and forth’ in any given round, which is comprised of 5 distinct phases; Morning, Noon, Afternoon, Dusk and Night. Thanks to the included Player Aid cards, these phases are easy enough to track and move quickly until such a time as both players have passed. Games themselves wrap up fairly quickly, in the realm of 15-20 minutes meaning back-to-back play is not only possible but likely desired by both players. The early game is given a boost by having each player start with 3 Resources in play compared to other titles which typically start at zero, but comes at the cost of a reduced starting hand size of 3. This has the potential to allow players to put up to three cards out on their first turn but then struggle to have options going forward without more ways to pull cards – like Star Wars Unlimited, Altered uses a ‘draw two, play one as a resource if desired’ mechanism which means within 3-4 rounds each player is unleashing their most powerful cards if desired.
I may have had reservations around a tournament scene developing around Lorcana due to some of its mechanical choices, but I will be completely flabbergasted if Altered manages to make a big splash. There’s just nothing in the gameplay that feels mechanically exciting enough to warrant the sort of fierce competition a head-to-head card battler can bring out in players. Altered may be subtler in many ways, but too much subtlety out of the gate can fail to provide the hook that turns new or casual players into dedicated fans. The ‘digital collectible’ aspect of Altered is one that can’t be fully explores in this review as much of it has yet to go live – while I was able to easily scan my cards into the Altered app and play around with its deckbuilding options, the trading market and card purchasing are sure to have a great impact on the development of Altered’s meta and how the competitive scene does or doesn’t materialise. The first Wave of Starter decks give a solid overview of the mechanisms of Altered, so choosing the two that most tickle your fancy or opting for all six is probably the best way to dive in, although the decision to not include a Booster in a Starter pack seems like an unwise move when compared to Lorcana as both a value proposition and a way to encourage deck construction from the get-go in new players who will undoubtedly be drawn to Altered for the unique characteristics it brings to the TCG format.
Dedicated TCG players may view Altered as akin to ‘Tokaido the TCG’; slightly bland and inoffensive, providing a pleasant time more so than the cutthroat action and war of attrition other games seek to capture. Most TCG’s boil down to getting a higher number than your opponent in some way, but Altered removes much of the obfuscation, thematic or otherwise, which helps to hide this from players. Granted, the first wave of a TCG tends to be the simplest, so there’s’ a real chance Altered changes quite a lot by the time Waves 2 and 3 are releasing and more Keywords and card types make an appearance. Deck construction is also currently limited to a single Faction which severely hampers the options the standard ‘two faction/colour’ limit provides other titles. But I suspect for the demographics Altered is trying to woo, the above may be features rather than bugs. With competitive pricing on both Starter Decks (between $25-30) and Booster Packs (between $6-8) it’s a low entry fee to give the game a shot. While I have enjoyed Altered, I think it has the potential to become even more engaging with some more involved mechanics as it develops. Anyone looking for a more ‘low key’ TCG would be well served by giving Altered a try and seeing if it’s unique spin on the genre is what they’ve been looking for.
Altered Starter Decks and Booster Packs were kindly supplied by PR for this review.
