Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game

Not really worth the price tag, which is more condemnation of the physical board game than the developers of this game.

$17 is a lot for something that feels about as fun as a free mobile game. Perhaps if some extra effects or descriptions were added to the video game then it would feel better. As it is, the game is shockingly simple and dependent on RNG. On Easy difficulty and when you are playing cards before planning everything out will leave you kind of frustrated and constantly losing.

It's really a game where you look at your opening hands & enemy board and can immediately determine if you're going to win.

I don't regret my purchase, as I'm a huge Dresden fan, but the game isn't worth $17; maybe $9.

Yes, But….
I play this like a wizard solitaire to kill a bit of time, but it isn't really...a co-op card game.
You WILL lose most the games you play. The Fate dice hate you. The game hates you, re-deal often.
I don’t know my win-loss rate, but I was able to complete the game, and get every achievement...but It is forever close. I feel like I’m close to one win for every 8ish games on the harder stories? Changes is just…so hard. So. Freaking Hard.

Thematically it does a great job representing each character in the Dresden universe (Great)
The puzzles do feel like something of an arc to each of the books, but only sort of. (OK)
The game's balance is way too hard over all, but that is mostly in solitaire mode. It may be easier to play it in 4 player mode, as a solo game. (Ok/Bad)

The game itself doesn’t have the flow I want in a co-op game as too much of the game, is spent discarding cards for fate, and the juggling of who discards what, and how tight you have to play to get some of the wins…it’s a bit overturned, but I have this problem with the paper version of it.

Honestly, I am forever upset that I still like this game, its too hard, often unsatisfying to win, but thematically its such a slam dunk of puzzle solving it just is easy to turn on, and play a few games.

For a game all about min-maxing everything, it's incredibly annoying how it depends (most of the time) on rng for the player to be able to win.

The Showdown is a terrible mechanic. The victory is decided by a coin flip. How's that fun? And I know, improving odds and luck management can be great mechanics in games (like X-Com), but not when it's the deciding factor of the entire match. I might as well play "toss the coin, heads is a win".

The digital adaptation is solid, but the card game is a 5/10.

Eh, I dunno, I like TCG, but this one didn't seem to be intuitive like others. I mean it seems based on the same standards but even with the tutorial, it didn't make sense to me. 26 minutes in I still wasn't sure how to play and honestly, while I love Dresden Files, I'd prefer some kind of RPG over a silly TCG. Sorry, Mr. Butcher, I will wait for some better video game, not based on TCG to invest my time. I wanted to love it, but I don't even like it. In contrast, I played Magic The Gathering and within 20 minutes understood exactly how to play, not so much with this game. I give it 1 star and that's because it's Dresden Files.

I’m reviewing this game without owning or having played the physical version. At the time of this writing, I’ve played through Blood Rites (and Side Jobs a couple of times).

As a brief overview, you play as different characters from the Dresden Files universe looking to solve the problems of a scenario based on one of the books. One player must control Harry, but the other 1-4 players control other characters from the books, including series staples and even some pretty minor characters (in expansions). Each game centers on a different book in the series. The book you choose has a set of obstacles, foes, mysteries, and advantages based on the events of that book. Obstacles get in your way and Advantages offer helpful boons. The bulk of the game centers on mystery and foe cards. Defeat foes by attacking them with combat cards and solve mysteries by obtaining the required number of clues. The object of the game is to get the board to the point that there are fewer foes than there are open cases. Theoretically you need not overcome any obstacles or take any advantages, but that would be fairly difficult in any of the books I’ve played. There are other important mechanics, but that’s the gist of it.

My overall reaction is that this is a pretty fun game. I haven’t played a ton of coop card games, but this one does feel unique. In some ways it’s kind of like a puzzle more than a card game given that your starting hand is going to be most of the tools at your disposal (card draw is rare). While there is some RNG in how the dice roll on variable card costs, you can theoretically plan out most of the game just glancing at the board and your opening hands. I consider this both a strength and a weakness for the game.

The weakness is that as a cooperative card game, the predictability of the game and its more puzzle nature defeats a lot of the purpose of the coop game. A good coop game in my eyes requires some coordination with each player working together to achieve the goal but enjoying their own playstyle and moments to shine. Instead, this game is more just figuring out the best way to use each player’s cards and abilities. While that sounds similar, it can theoretically be figured out by the more experienced player who then runs the show. A lot of the coop nature of the game is more arguing about the most cost-efficient way to solve the issues in front of you which doesn’t capture much of the that fun coop element to me.

I think the puzzle aspect is a strength in the sense that it feels rewarding. With a game like this, you’re rewarded for understanding the way cards can interact and how certain advantages can give you just what you need to complete other objectives on the board. There is still a manner of working together too, the above paragraph aside. I played with a friend or two who were also fans of the books and were on voice chat. It took a lot of coordinating and negotiating, but does still end up rising above one person simply telling the others what to do, though there’s a degree of that as well once one player has looked at the others’ hands and figured out the plan of action. You can queue up with random players without voice chat (not sure there’s text chat either) but I never tried that and it seems like it would be difficult considering that even with all that coordination, the game can be difficult.

On that note, the game is satisfyingly challenging. My friend and I have generally not had too much trouble with the last few books we’ve played on easy. I’ve managed to play the first several books on hard by myself (so far, I think playing alone is significantly easier given the lack of coordination needed). But the higher difficulties, the different nature of each book, and the different character decks you can try them with offer a wide variety of difficulty and playstyles to complete each scenario with lots of replay value.

The ability to play Hotseat mode is also great. The rules and flow of the game actually change a lot for balance depending on the number of players. While it’s not what Hotseat mode is for, I enjoyed seeing how the balance works differently by playing solo in any of those modes, controlling everyone myself.

In general, my favorite thing about a board/card game based on some other IP is if the game overlays well with the source material on a thematic level. If I’m playing a Dresden Files game, it should FEEL like the Dresden Files, not just have the art and character names. While it’s not the best example of this I’ve seen, I think this game achieves that mostly well. The fact the scenarios are based on the books and the character decks include references to the character abilities and powers helps a lot in this regard, but also the fact that the advantages, obstacles, mysteries, and foes setup fits the books’ plotting.

To me, the coolest part is the number of playable character decks and books scenarios to play through. So far, there are books to play all the way through Skin Games. There are also a ton of characters to choose from, each with their own individual stunt, talent, and deck. Even though there are only so many ways to play with the mechanics, each character’s abilities manage to feel pretty different from the others. The variety of characters and playstyles means that there’s plenty of replay value and personal style to enjoy. Note, while the number of characters is great, there are some huge spoilers for some of the books even on the character select screen, so beware if you haven’t caught up.

One quibble I have is the way the game reuses its art. For instance, a character might have 4 combat cards, but all of them will have the same art whether they’re for flinging a fireball or smacking someone with a sword, which detracts from flavor a lot. On the flipside, the cards for the book scenarios are varied and thematic to the book. This makes up some of the variety I found lacking in the character decks. Each book has different ambient sound effects in the background to fit the book itself, such as thunderstorms during Storm Front. While they weren’t anything spectacular, I appreciated the added bit of flavor, especially as they fit each book rather than being a basic track that’s the same across all scenarios.

The elephant in the room is that the vast majority of content comes in the form of a series of DLC packs. Buying the base game gives you the first 5 books and 5 characters. The other books/characters require further DLC packs. I found this to be decent value. The base game isn’t the price of a full AAA game and still offers a good amount of play time with some replayability. Each DLC is just a few dollars for a couple more books and new characters that will change up how you can play those books or the ones you already owned. The best thing about this is that the base game is a relatively cheap way to try out the game without committing to the full price of all the expansions. If you don’t like it, it’s not a ton of money down the drain. If you do enjoy it as I have, it’s probably worth investing in DLC packs, which you can buy one at a time so that even if you get sick of it, you can just stop there.

As a last aside, if you aren’t a fan of the books, I’m not sure why you’re looking into it, but I don’t think this game would be that enjoyable and isn’t a good way to get into the books as it’s full of spoilers that would be better discovered reading the books.

Ultimately, if you are a fan of the books and enjoy card games, coop ones especially, this game is worth a shot. I would recommend buying the base game first to make sure you actually like it before investing in the numerous expansions. The base game should be plenty indication of whether or not you’ll like it enough to invest further. While it’s an okay game to play with friends, I weirdly feel like despite it being a coop game, it’s plenty enjoyable to play solo if you don’t have friends who are interested or fans of the books.

I like the "Harry Dresden" Books. So I like this game. It is a minimalistic software version of the card game by "evil hat".
Minimalistic, because there are almost no animations except cards moving on and off the board, just basic sound effects, some background effects loosely thematical to the "book" you play, and that´s it.

It has RNG-elements, and even without it, it would definitely be no easy game.
It offers single player mode and does not need any KI, because you "play" against a board of cards dealt at the beginning of the "book" you have selected. A book is a predefined set of cards you need to clear off the board to win.
Each "book" will take you a maximum of 30 minutes. If you play alone and know how to play, it will be even less.

So, would I play it if it wasn´t dresden themed? Probably not.
But if you like Dresden, you´ll probably like this game, because it is not bad, just very.. minimalistic.
(The "real" card game has a score of 7.1 at BGG, by the way, which means it´s quite good)

This game is challenging at times, but there are options to make the game easier if you don't want to lose too often. Definitely some luck involved, but a sound strategy (and playing on easier difficulties) can give you a good chance of winning. Games move at a fairly quick pace, as well. Lots of fun.

For fans of the book series, the different decks for each hero make them play differently, and I feel like they did a good job capturing each character. Also, I've played this game offline, a lot, so I have way more hours than Steam credits me for. Just to be clear.

Faithful implementation of the board game, that unfortunately has you play solo while not being able to see all of the cards in all of the hands, which comes at a significant detriment to planning your turns. It's a bit of a pity because the game itself is a fine and interesting puzzle, that absolutely requires optimization to succeed.
I got this on the cheap (7 euros) which is close to what I'd want to have paid (5 euros would have been fair from my perspective).
I suppose you can see more in the game's theme if you have read and loved the books.

I really, really wanted to like this game. I like card games, I like Dresden Files, I like for want of a nail stories, but I just cannot like this game. The best way I can describe it is that the game is just about numbers, not what ifs. The pictures and names are just meaningless window dressing. It does not mater if the clue is technological or magical, all of the researchers can look it up. Fighting a ghost? Does not mater if the attack is a gun, a club, a punch, or a magical blast. They all do the same damage. the Swords of the Cross are as effective against mistaken mortals as unholy demons. It's only about the numbers and if you like a game about numbers, go right ahead and get it. Otherwise, it has about as much story as a book of mad libs.

If you know and like the Dresden novels this game is a fun reminder of the characters and stories. The game plays as a puzzle where you have to figure out how to use the 4 types of cards you get to meet the 4 types of objectives. I thought it was a deck builder, but instead you get a pre-defined set of cards, although each character has a thematic deck of cards with a different mix of the 4 types.

The game is stimulating, challenging, and interesting in the way it references the books.
I recommend this for fans of the Dresden books - especially if you have friends to play with you.

Despite several technical options, there doesn't seem to be a community for people to find players online.
There are ways to increase difficulty - which may be desirable if you are playing with multiple (1-5) people - but the easiest difficulty is incredibly tough for solo players.
The game relies heavily on both skill and luck. It takes some time (even after reading strategy guides) to figure out the useful combinations (my favorite is Molly+Mouse), how to strategically play (overcome obstacles and hunt advantages before attacking or investigating), etc. As far as luck goes, with experience and heavy use of "redeal cards" the player can find favorable combinations.

Overall, it would benefit greatly from a better tool for finding other players online, and for some "easier than apprentice" settings (like maybe a gameplay mode with infinite FP) for beginners to get familiar with the game.

An absolute joy to play for any Dresden fans out there, the Dresden Files Coop Card Game plays insanely well even at 1 player, and is a fun way to revisit the Dresden stories.

Game for huge fans of the book series, but probably not for others. The developers did an excellent job porting this card game to the computer screen, but the game is brutal. The rules are extensive, the gameplay is unforgiving even on Easy, and there is a lot to puzzle out. (Only 34% of owners got the win achievement.) You will need to take a lot of time figuring it all out, just getting to the end of the round, with all the layers of rules. There is a very nice tutorial, though. The developers could have done more to provide on-screen cues, but they can't be blamed for the core mechanics.

Despite the name, this is a pass-and-play cooperative game. I expected more interaction, considering it is a big marketing point. Also, most of the characters shown on the steam store pictures are only available through purchasing DLCs. Shady.

I am recommending this game because the solid linux support. I played this on an old, dusty, ubuntu desktop with radeon mesa graphic drivers, and the game ran quickly with little load-time. The game uses mouse-controls, it requires 200MBs of diskspace, and it uses the Unity game engine. For the $17 cost, plus DLC options, I think people should think twice before purchasing.

Solid port of a horrible game. Not recommended - basically you will either get screwed by the board placement, what you draw, or the fate points you have available.

Cooperative game play at it's best. Based on an excellent series of books and you can play out every book via the DLC. All the main characters are there to play each with their unique talents and skills. It's a tough game to beat but if you work with your partner you can take down the enemy, solve the cases and ultimately win the game. Shed loads of fun over discord or your voip of choice.

So first of, this is absolutely a competent port - no bugs encountered and it works flawlessly.
Hidden Achievement did an excellent job porting the card game.

This review is strictly about the card game itself. And that's not my cup of tea.
Basically - it plays more like a puzzle game than a cooperative card play in that there are NO unexpected events (other than the occasional rare extra card draw) and as such, this puzzle can be solved by staring at the starting board and determining the best order to play your three hands of cards in on the first turn.


I'm sure that's fun for some people - but it just feels like math homework to me.
If you're already familiar with the card game and you enjoy it - pick this up, it's a solid port.

If you like card games such as Sentinels of the Multiverse, or Pathfinder Adventures - this eliminates the random elements and uncertainty of those. If that sounds interesting, try this game.

It wasn't for me, though.

The interface has some minor problems. The distribution of text, cards, etc sometimes overlaps and hides information that is important to the explanation.
But the main offender is the rules of the game itself.

The random factor that the game has is unfun. It can render your decision process moot.
You may make a good strategic decision, but bad luck can make it null.
And when you have good luck, it doesn't bring you more benefit than a not having luck.

This review is hard to articulate, so take from this whatever you can.
(30 hours of in-game experience)
(23/24 Achivements)
(Huge fan of the books)
(Lover of tabletop and card games, as well as video games)
(Received the digital expansions for free due to backing the original via crowdfunding)
(...I don't think any reviewers here are paid? But I'm not being paid for this, for whatever it's worth.)

+The game is a faithful recreation of the physical card game, and save for a few minor UI issues that I was informed they're going to patch, the game for what it is, succeeds quite well in doing that.

+As with the physical game, I like the artwork (for the most part) of the cards and character depictions, and the card designs themselves aren't overly flashy or obnoxious with their layout or designation. Simple, straightforward, and clear.

+The game is challenging (but this is also part of my biggest issue), and I do think that the on-sale price of around 16.00 USD is a fair pricepoint vs amount of time I have played so far.

+The game is very stable; never had any crashes or freezing occur. In fact, the only issue I had with that was a necessity for an online connection every time I wanted to use the expansion decks (which when asked about, the Devs were VERY prompt with their response of their working on it, and it seems to have been successfully patched).

~The game's aesthetic is alright; card artwork aside, the lack of animations and flair is a little underwhelming. But this isn't supposed to be a Yu-Gi-Oh! card game or similar style of games, so it doesn't really hurt the game. (And I'm kind of torn; would I prefer really ugly or low-quality "effects" or not have any at all? I kind of am inclined to the latter.)

~The music/sound effects are a mixed bag: the music is supposed to vary by each Book's deck, but save for one or two noticeable sounds, it all kind of sounds the same and is forgettable. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it; they remind me a lot of those cheesy but fun Halloween ambience cd's. (I can easily see people groaning or facepalming in regards to this sort of direction.)

-The game is essentially a micromanagement/resource/numbers game. (See below)

-Level of skill of player is irrelevant towards gameplay.

(?) I can't attest to the online play, as I don't have much interest in that with the game, so I can't give any informed opinion on how good or bad that is.


So, you might be thinking "Why aren't you fully recommending this game when you seem to like more than dislike the game?"

Well, the simple fact is, I despise the game (but NOT this digital version of said game).

The whole "pitch" for this game was "What-if Harry had different allies in the various adventures, how would things play out?" as well as it being focused on co-operative gameplay. The latter is EXTREMELY important, but the former element goes by the wayside. This game comes down to resource strategy and management, and the only fun you're likely to have is with friends. You have Fate Points, which is the currency you use for the cards' costs that you play. Instead of having the experience of going "Aw man, how is Harry and ______ gonna deal with this?!" or shouting in triumph when you succeed in defeating an iconic villain from the series, you're just focused on MIN/MAX-ing every single play you make (which, don't get me wrong, not saying that A. that attitude is wrong or B. it can't be fun to do that) and it feels more like work than entertainment. Instead of being excited on having Dresden cast his trademark Fuego fire-spell, or Sanya wielding Esperachius, you're focused on which card's effectiveness best deals with the random organization of Foes, Cases, Obstacles, and Advantages on the game board. It makes the thematic elements of it being a Dresden Files-based game completely irrelevant. You don't care about the cards' meaning or context, just what it can do for you. (I'd compare this to the "Casual" vs "PRO" card game player mentality, and how in this game, it's very much the "PRO" mentality.)

The second huge issue that deals with the gameplay is how the random dispersal of cards can and will put you in situations that are literally impossible to win, regardless of how effective your plays are. This is caused by the inclusion of the FATE system dice rolls and FATE points to use as cost payment for your cards. I'm not going to lie: I really, really don't like the Fate system... at all... When it comes to losing a game? I'm fine with that; sure it sucks, but whatever, right? Just get back in there and try again. But NO game, be it a video game, card game, tabletop or RPG game that is impossible to win or overcome, and especially not by random chance. After a while, I was able to tell just by glancing at the board whether the setup was defeatable or not, and would just back out, and start the match up all over again, sometimes handful of times over and over until one came up that was viable. (And I'll gladly admit that resource management/number crunching ISN'T my strong suit, so maybe the game is harder for me than others, or I play ineffectively. Could very well be.) If this was a collectible/competitive card game where you build your own decks for play, THEN the failure is 100% on the players; you might pick the wrong cards or less effective ones than your opponent, etc. But when the game's randomizer just gives you an unbeatable match, all that happens is you get some frustration and practice.

So do I recommend this game to the general public? No, I don't; but NOT because of this game's digital recreation: Developers, if you see this, and I hope you do, I TRULY think you did a great job recreating this game in this format, and will be checking out other games you've done/other games you'll be doing. Excellent, prompt, and courteous communication, etc.
But the game itself, not the video game recreation of it, is frustrating and not fun or entertaining for me. I backed the crowdfunding for the game, hopeful for it to be fun and it wasn't, but I was still supporting the series I love. I bought this game for the same reason, and played as much of it as I have for that reason as well, and to support the developers.

If you're a fan of the Dresden Files and want to support everything related to it, you already have/love the card game, or enjoy resource management/number crunching card games, then you'll probably love this game.

Otherwise, I strongly suggest watching videos about the game before purchasing, as well as taking a look at what others have said about the game (seriously, don't just listen to me, get a broader view than mine) before buying; but DEFINITELY consider picking the books up if you like Fantasy/Urban fantasy, as well as keeping HiddenAchievement on your radar.

A faithful recreation of the original, worth it for fans of the board game, although the price feels a bit high.

For those who are unfamiliar with the board game, its a game of strategy with just the right amount of dice based risk taking.

A team of 3 or 4 characters from the Dresden Files universe work together to solve cases and defeat foes. Each character has their own special stunt, talent, and deck which will help you complete various adventures based off the books.

Each turn consists of players paying fate (from a shared pool) to play cards to interact with the board, using their unique stunt, or discarding a card to recharge the team's fate.

Eventually the players advance to the "showdown" by running out of cards, overspending the team's fate due to bad luck, or just deciding they want to test their luck by rolling lots of dice. Victory is determined by whether more cases were solved or more foes remain on the board at the end of the game.

If you are unsure about the game itself, I recommend learning more about the game play before purchasing. You can view my getting started guide HERE or you can view the official youtube tutorial for the board game HERE

The game isn't without its faults though, the UI was obviously made with touch screens / mobile devices in mind. It feels a bit clunky and doesn't fully utilize PC capabilities.

This is offset by the fact that you can play with anyone regardless of the device they are on. If you aren't on a shared LAN, or playing in hot seat mode, hosting a game can be a bit tricky, but that's the trade off for being able to play with android and iphone users.

Over all its a fun game with a surprisingly high amount of replayability. Its good for playing solo or co-op with friends. I strongly recommend it.

A solid digital implementation of a great board game.

Fans of The Dresden Files will enjoy the fluff and flavor, but the puzzle each scenario presents is a fun and engaging experience regardless of whether you've read the books or not (although I would recommend reading the books first - they're great and this game has minor to major spoilers for them).

Solid replay value - mixing and matching the various characters and scenarios along with the randomized elements makes for a significant challenge each time you play.

Enjoyable game and quick to learn. The PC version faithfully recreates the table top version. Cant wait to try it out in multiplayer. Happy Birthday Harry dresden!

Only played round so far, but it accurately reproduces the card game which is already a great game ... and now I can play without the mess of setup.