Stonesaga Components Overview and Impressions
Stonesaga is the next epic adventure from Open Owl Studios, and one that I actually pre-ordered prior to a review copy arriving for us to create content for. I’ve been following Stonesaga for a long time now, and although I missed out on the campaign, I was able to get my own copy preordered through a local game store, which includes all the extras as well! Stay tuned for those articles in the near future. Today, though, we have access to the base game, and before we can get it played, we need to unbox this thing and let you know what we think of the games base components! Let’s get down to the table!
Large games in big boxes are a bit intimidating for me; I always recommend getting these opened and sorted prior to your first game play session, and some big box unboxing experiences are worse than others. Thankfully, Stonesaga, despite all it’s pieces and boards, was not one of those negative experiences. And it all starts with a handy packing guide, showing exactly which cardboard chit pieces go where, and how each part of the game needs to be stored to not only get it all put away, but to make it easier each time you have to setup for a gameplay session. While some people prefer this information to be printed on the inside of the box lid, I actually prefer the sheet of paper I can remove and look at – it’s the superior way, and I’m so incredibly glad that Open Owl Studios had the foresight to do this.
I wasn’t shocked when I found containers and spots for everything included with Stonesaga – I’ve owned Mythwind and various expansions since it first launched, and the storage production on that was top notch; this might be so much better. I love the removable trays that include all the different tokens you’ll use during the game. Instead of making piles on the table, these trays are easily removed from the box and just plopped down on the table. This makes getting what you need really fast, which is key in games like this that take a bit of time to work through. All of the cardboard pieces are beautifully detailed and perfectly sized. Too big and they don’t nicely fit into the various trays, too small and they are hard to handle; Open Owl Studios has done a great job finding the balance between storage and usability, something again I find too many companies failing at.
The included playboard are great as well. These dual layered boards include a nifty gameplay mechanic where when night falls, all the goods you have collected must fit within the “well” of your pouch on the player board. That means you are trying to fit different sized tokens in a bag sized space, but it must be all flat. Different areas of the player board are recessed for other reasons as well, including items you might be holding, a slot for sliding in your player card with your stats, and a place for your mantle power – a power you have during the game – in the bottom corner. I assume the entire board wasn’t dual layered for structural and integrity reasons – the spots for health and energy tokens are NOT recessed, and while disappointing, there is probably a bigger reason for why it is not.
If there is one thing I hate about big box games – and I will say Mythwind does this! – is when the game comes with tons of cards but the cards are stored in wells as opposed to deck/card boxes. There are a ton of cards in Stonesaga, and the quality of these cards is great in my opinion; no need to sleeve these, and even if you did, I’m not 100% sure if you’d get them all back in the box! I’m so glad to see Open Owl Studios using deck boxes for this game. This is the idea way to store cards when you are not playing, and an easy way to keep your gaming space clean; with Mythwind, I find I need to keep the giant box nearby for when I need to pull out new goal cards or event/adventure cards, but with Stonesaga, I can put the box away and just keep these small card boxes on the table. It is a much better use of space, especially for something as in depth as Stonesaga.
Before we hit a high points – miniatures – I’m going to discuss one element that isn’t as solid as I would like, but yet I understand why it is this way. The game includes a number of tiles you will place out to create your world, and wisely, Open Owl Studios included tile trays to keep everything connected and clean – no concerns about bumping one tile and ruining the entire table. That said, these tile trays feel very flimsy, as if they are made of the cheapest and thinnest plastic around. While this might initially seem like a problem when you unbox your game, I think you should be aware of two things. First, making these hard plastic would drastically increase their size and weight. This means a more expensive production, and a heavier, larger box. Second, these aren’t plastic components you will be fiddling with a lot. You’ll plop them on the table and place tiles in them, that is it. So to that end, these don’t need to be the highest quality products ever!
What are really nice, though, are the games miniatures. Not only do you have one for each Mantle in the game, but you also have a few larger monsters as well. The detail here is phenomenal; I am especially impressed with the plastic dome on the back of one of the monsters. I’m sure this will play into the games story somehow. I honestly cannot wait for my father-in-law to get these painted to enhance our gameplay experience in the future. This game already looks great when tabled, but now we can make it look even better.
Overall, Stonesaga is incredibly impressive, and once again Open Owl Studios is highlighting what makes them such a well respected company. Reputation is really important in the board game industry, and when I see the Open Owl Studios logo on a Kickstarter or a shelved product, I know for certain that the quality of the production is going to be tops in the industry. If you missed out on the extras that were available through the games Kickstarter campaign, don’t fret – this production of the base game is phenomenal all on its own.
Big thanks to Open Owl Studios for providing the game for us to review, and BoxKing Gaming for supplying our table!
Article By Adam
