Couldn't win and expansions didn't help.

The good news:
On the one hand the main game was free - and it was simple enough to get rolling quickly - The mechanic for choosing which of the 20 encounters you would play which kept it somewhat random but also in general order started out fantastic. It was also great to see the extra contect you could buy showing that there was more to this than just a one time thrown together game.

The intermission: Having played the base game a couple of times I was really into it. Yes I had not made it all the way through but rationalized that it was just the dice or something. I did see a little bit of a challenge to playing but I was gung-ho for the game and bought the full bundle thinking that playing with the other characters would really make it shine and take care of things.

The bad news:
Tried a new character, and another and another but still no wins. Here's what I had trouble with: 1) In general, you often end up facing enemies whose dice are better than yours. I would get a lot of d8 armor vs my d6 damage or similar. And vice versa with the enemy's attack being better than mine. I seemed I would be able to hit freuquently enough but was unable to beat the odds to do enough damage. 2) Note that it seems you start at level 0 in the regular course of things - I started at level 1 to help out after those first couple of games - but having one extra ability didn't usual help out.
3) Hit Points/wounds was probably the biggest problem. Over the course of maybe 15 encounters that can do damage to you, you only have maybe 12 hit points to start and maybe a 1d6 healing potion or two. So by the time you start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel you realize you are down to 1 HP with three encounters left. 4) What really turned me off, and maybe I didn't read it right, but if you are unable to get by the Dragon by non-combat means, did he really have THIRTY SIX HP? (That's the next next to last encounter.) So my 2 HP vs his 36 wasn't going to cut it. 5) That mechanic for moving the game along is cool to start the game but you end up basically doing most of the encounters in order starting sometimes around #7-12. That's ok, but I thought it would keep it a bit more random than it ended up. Kind of seemed I may as well have played them all in order.
6) To be fair, I jumped to an adventure I had purchased - looking it over I did not see any 36HP baddies and this one even had a 'search for clues' first half of the full quest so I thought for sure I could at least have some good success. But alas, I didn't make it through the 1st half either. (Though that was only with 2 playings)

End story, On the bright side for the price of the bundle I spent enough time that it was worth it and I had fun learning the new system and all that. I would suggest to start at level 5-7 or even higher to get the extras needed to win and then scale back to lower levels as you go.

So if you are interested, get the free version and maybe one of the pay quests and one character and have-at-it. Maybe it will work for you and THEN you can buy more.

The 3 rating is because of the price and fun of learning the game.

SoCal Doug

First, I want to make it clear that I think Chronicles of Blood is a great set of rules, whether played solo or against an opponent. I was very much looking forward to any expansions, and a set of scenarios seemed like a good place to start. What I got for $1 were two very general, undetailed scenarios, that probably took all of 20 minutes to think up, write up, and finalize in a document. Because I like the rules so much I consider the money to be in effect payment for them, and not for the scenarios. In my opinion the scenarios should be made part of the rule set (and charge the dollar for that), or make them a freebie. I certainly am not going to buy the other expansion.

Sorry, folks, but there is no way I can recommend this. At all.

I enjoyed the solo adventure well enough, but as a solo gamer what really intrigued me was the mechanism used for encounter generation.

It's easy enough to extract this system and use it with your own solo dungeon and hex crawls. I especially find this useful when I tire of totally random encounters (which doesn't take long) and want something with more of a logical progression to some sort of definitive end.

I give this a bad rating because everyone who bought into this series got screwed when the company kept few promises and then discontinued the game. The same for Chronicles of Blood. The games themselves are okay and play well, but I purchased everything in the Chronicles releases only to be left in the cold when Crystal Star Games pulled the plug (and right before a promised release of a Part Two scenario!). I will not buy anything else from this company ever again.

Great stuff here. I love miniatures games and boardgames but am lacking the time to set up and play lately. This takes minimal set up (dice, paper and rules) and you have a full fledged dungeon crawl. The system is very streamlined and has a clear sense of progression as you fight your way through the adventure. Combat results in dicing off for landing hits and armor saves. Because of the scarcity of healing options this makes each battle and die roll tense and exciting. I waded my way through half the adventure slaying two orcs, a great orc (barely) and was cut down by an orcling. Fun stuff!!!

If you love solo rpg's or adventure game books you have no reason not to pick this up. Its FREE!! Its great marketing though. I've lost three times in a row. If I just spend a $1 I can buy me a dwarves warrior. Its a matter of time before I cave in ;)

Curt

You get what you pay for...

This was mentioned by the author as "inspired by Warhammer Quest." If this was all the inspiration they got, they missed something when they played that fantastic game.

Layout was good, writing was clear, but the game system itself was very lacking. Four basic fantasy tropes stumbling into random encounters. It didn't feel like there was any meat to the system. I was hoping for a more of a story or world to get sucked into, but there just istn't anything to latch onto, no hook to real me in and keep me interested.

Still, it was free, so I'm not going to loudly complain.

A simple encounter-based game that is playable with minimum setup and learning time. I'm not sure if I'm missing something but spellcasting seems a little weak (or expensive, depending on how you view it.) Although the game is playable by 1 to 4 people, I think it really is fun with 3-4 as the tension from choosing between exploring a bit more or trying to complete the game before someone else does becomes greater. For solo play there are other options, including Chronicles of Arax from the same publisher.

This game is an excellent down load and go game. It is very easy to learn and an extremely simple system. My family and I love it.

If you are going to play Battle Quest, then here are some simple things to make the game that much easier.

I made up some spell cards, character cards, treasure cards, and encounter cards. This was easier to organize and only took a few minutes. Other than that, after a few times of playing you submit the information to memory. That is how truly simple the game play actually becomes.

It is simple and fast paced, great game.

I got this because it was free, and I cant spend the amount that games which need miniatures require. I tested the single player a couple of times and so far, I am impressed enough to probably buy some of the expansions. I like how the random events help balance the single player game and am actually looking forward to trying this as a two player game.

How to change mindless dice rolling into fun? Try Battle Quest. It will not replace any RPG, but can engage You for few hours! Looks nice and it is worth it's price :) I will wait for expansions - hope they will make Battle Quest more diverse

After downloading and reading the rules I gave it a go. Good fun, but I think it needs a bit of tweaking and polishing, or perhaps I just need to 'house rule' my games.

After playing a few times, I felt the movement rates are too low or, alternately, the game is a few turns too short. Most times no combat happened until turn 3, and with only 5 turns in a game that doesn't leave much time for action. The combat system could use a little massage in the damage department, I found it quite frustrating when my cavalry scored a tremedous hit due to the charge special rule, a hit which resulted in no damage. Archery was not very effective either, mostly due the damage rolls. Perhaps a one point damage minimum for a hit is in order, or perhaps damage bonuses for the special talents at least. I echo the feeling of another reviewer who stated that enemy activation can be touchy if the higher point units are behind the lower point units due to random deployment. The short length of the game combined with low movement rates makes those high point units near useless until the last turn if they are in the second line. I enjoyed the random event rule, kept things a bit unpredictable, and the morale checks can be devastatingly wonderful if many 1s are rolled.

Overall a good game, potentially a very good game. I look forward to checking out the expansions, particularly the ones that add special fighters and allow one to create their own army lists. Core rules for free, expansions for a buck, how could a solo wargamer not give this one a try? If you like to solo wargame, you must download this one now. If you've never played a wargame solo before, this is DEFINITELY a good place for a beginner to start, so again, download now!

This is the best of the adventurers for CoA. It is the only one, so far, that does not follow the basic formula of the same number of stats above the average and below the average. It has 3 above the average and only 2 below. The best fighter out there.

This is an adventurer for the Chronicles of Arax solo game. All the adventurers follow the same format as the Hero adventurer that comes with the basic game. They all come with a short background that explains the character, how many dice for each of the attributes, and any special abilities. They are worth picking up to add variety, but priced at $1, the same as the quests, actually make them a bit high priced. Would have given 4 stars if they were .50 each. You could easily come up with similar adventurers on your own for free. The second non-human.

This is an adventurer for the Chronicles of Arax solo game. All the adventurers follow the same format as the Hero adventurer that comes with the basic game. They all come with a short background that explains the character, how many dice for each of the attributes, and any special abilities. They are worth picking up to add variety, but priced at $1, the same as the quests, actually make them a bit high priced. Would have given 4 stars if they were .50 each. You could easily come up with similar adventurers on your own for free.