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ir1337
88
Sep 30, 2015
Good price 44.99 shipped at lowest price point. On clearance at MM for 20, with the three expansions at 10 each, 56 shipped. I see one of the expansions at a buck less, and you might be able to swing a free ship deal, but the best total cost at MD is at least 4 bucks better than assembling it anywhere else (you might have to use multiple vendors to get the best item pricing on this one).
The TL;DR - I loved it as a CCG, I love it as a non-collectible. Sell it as part poker part old west and use the pre-set decks to teach others the basics.
Now for the background: I purchased this deal a couple cycles ago. I played Deadlands Doomtown when it was a CCG, and this is a faithful conversion to non-collectible. I like the booster pack idea - they release a full spate of expansion cards with quantity three for each card. This allows a player to begin customizing the deck with every option immediately. The starter is sufficient to play two-player and potentially more, but the card selection would be minimal beyond 2 until you added in expansions. The rule book does a good job of explaining some of the intricacies of dude movement - that's usually the biggest obstacle to overcome in learning the game. The play boards also help the early learning curve with shootout/job dude requirements. The "How to learn the game in one dang round" is a quality walk through to teach the basics. If you want to use it, don't crack open your decks and start shufflin'...the two decks that have Homes on top (Law Dogs and Sloane Gang) are set up fer lernin'.
I really enjoy the game - the entry point for some players may be the poker part of the game. My wife is a poker fan, and the game was an easier sell because of that component. The first couple games were a bit difficult, but starting every round with low-ball bridged the gap and kept her playing. She's not a CCG player, but really enjoys Dominion and other deck builders. There are expansions available which add more factions to the game, I saw the Chinese clan and the Acolytes/Heretic/Zealots available out there somewhere, so this game could play beyond 4 players. Since there are a lot of additions you can make to DT:R, this game could find a soft spot in your heart for a while - and keep growing. I believe AEG is still supporting it, and releasing expansions. If you went with opaque back sleeves, you could easily slip in some DT:Deadlands cards, you cheatin' fool!
The final step in getting regular play out of this game is to convince your counterparts to customize and deck build. If you can get there, you're golden.