With the December 2014 release of DC Deck-Building Game: Forever Evil, the realm of superhero deck-building games now includes supervillains — alongside zombies and schools run by Lovecratian Horrors. With Forever Evil you can take on the role of one of DC’s most infamous villains and “craft a truly demented deck [to] give those Justice League do-gooders what’s coming to them!”
DC Comics has collaborated with Cryptozoic Entertainment since 2011 to create the DC Deck-Building Game and its various expansions. Other Cryptozoic titles include The Walking Dead Board Game, The Big Bang Theory Party Game and Assassin Creed: Arena. Cryptozoic’s most recent endeavor is the Kickstarter-funded project, Ghostbusters: The Board Game.
The original DC Comics Deck-building Game launched in November of 2011 and Forever Evil is the latest standalone expansion. Designed by Cryptozoic’s own Matt Hydra, Forever Evil boasts that “It’s fun to be bad.”
Gameplay
- Forever Evil is a deck-building game for 2-5 players. To begin the game, each player chooses a supervillain at random; each super-villain has their own special skill than can be used during a player’s turn
- Each turn, players draw five cards from their personal deck and play them: use their abilities, attack other players, attack superheroes, buy new cards.
- The game ends when either every super-hero is defeated or the “main” deck is depleted; the latter way is a collective lose for the table which the first is a “win” and then player’s count their VPs to determine who is the overall victor.
- Experienced players that prefer the Forever Evil‘s engine to other deck-building games may enjoy alternate play methods like the “good vs evil” variant game described in the rulebook.
Components/Rulebook
- The cards include gorgeous comic-inspired artwork and some are infamous scenes and covers comic nerds will immediately recognize from the New 52.
- The rulebook is laid out beautifully with clear headlines and specific card clarifications are included with pictures of the cards to help identify what you are looking for. The back of the rulebook also has a quick overview of play in 11 easy-to-follow steps.
Overall
This game at times it feels cooperative, but the ability to attack other players reminds everyone that they are playing as supervillains and captures the spirit of a true DC Comic supervillain team-up: one second friends, the next enemies.
Players not familiar with deck-building games will find, compared to others in the genre, the overall mechanics of Forever Evil are fairly simple and easy-to-follow. Experienced deck-building players will either love it or hate it due to the overall simplicity. These veteran players, however, may prefer a game like Legendary: A Marvel Deck-building Game for its extra mechanic where villains can escape the city.
Cover image via
Another Castle 
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