Gudnak : Exploring the Depth of A Tactical Card Game

Bert
Aug 13
5 min read

Updated: Sep 4

What in the world is a Gudnak? According to the fine folks at Chaotic Great Games it is Orcish for "war". Gudnak is a card driven strategy game. There are aspects of area control and deck-building involved in this enjoyable game. There are four factions in the base game that players can take into battle The Refractory, Shardsworn Alliance, The Gloaming, and Delguon. These factions are new fantasy fair but the flavor is very familiar making the themes of the game feel comfortable like a nice bowl of soup on a cold winter day.

Setup

There are 168 cards in the box, players will use the cards to create their own custom 20 card decks. I recommend using some of the example decks in the back of the instruction book to start. That will give players a good grasp of what each faction plays like. Each faction has several strategies to use throughout. This gives Gudnak a lot of replayability and the fun of CCG games with out having to buy your deck one card at a time, all the cards are here.

There are 2 kinds of cards in Gudnak, fighters and tactics. Players will have a mix of them in the deck they construct. The fighters come in 3 strength levels and six types. Oh and there are heroes too. Tactics cards are a one time affect that a player can play in their turn.

When a player constructs their 20 card deck they will use a basic structure rather than a points system for example the player will have 1 level 3 hero, 2 level 2 heroes and 2 level 1 heroes. Players then layer in 5 tactics cards and 10 basic fighters 2 level 1, 2 level 2 and , one level 3. Construction shouldn't take long for players to finish.

In the box there are well more cards than 2 players need to battle each other. Why are there so many cards, well variety for the decks and one of the most fun ways to play Gudnak.... 4 Player. The player board is a 3x3 grid that a 2 player game is played on on the reverse of this double sided board is the 5x5 map for 4 player. In the 4 player version players can choose to play free for all or teams both are exciting in their own right.

Game Play

So you have all these cards and the game board what do you do with it all? The 2 player game is on a 3x3 grid. Each player controls a stronghold on their side of the board. The goal of the game is to run the other player out of cards. This is done by laying siege the other players stronghold. Laying siege just means that players have one or more of their fighters on the other players "gates" space.

The most exciting part of the game is revealing the octopus arm cards one at a time and figuring out who is able to hunt and who got thwarted

There are 7 kinds of cards that each player has to choose from. They all have the same cards at the start of the round. Ink, Sharks, Eel, Hunt, Hide& Hunt, Punch and Octobility. each card has a ability. If an Ink card is next to a shark card the shark card goes away. If a shark card is adjacent to any hunt cards they go away. Eel cards can remove one adjacent hunt card. The hunt cards are how the players collect the food tiles and consequently the points on them. Hide & Hunt is the same as Hunt with the exception of its immunity to Sharks and Eels. Punch and Octobility cards are played face up and in front of the player who played them and not added to any arm. Punch lets the player who played it to move a card from one uncapped arm to another uncapped arm (without peeking), this could even be their own card. Finally the Octobility card allows the player who played it to activate one of the revealed Octobility tiles and use its ability. The Octobilities allow players to gain points or have an unique ability or action. Once an Octobility tile is chosen it cannot be used until the next round.

The most exciting part of the game is revealing the octopus arm cards one at a time and figuring out who is able to hunt and who got thwarted. The players reveal the arm cards one arm at a time. Each card starting from the one closest to the food tile has its ability used. This part can be an emotional roller coaster as players reveal and remove cards from the arm to determine who can hunt and get one of the food tiles from the pile. The food tiles are a point salad. Each of the food tiles has a different method of scoring, for example if you have acquired a squid its worth 1 if you have an odd number or 2 if you have an even number. Each tile is different and some are a little more tasty than others but depending on a players strategy will depend on how fierce the competition is for each tile.

Thoughts

I really appreciate that this game gives me the feelings of a collectible card game without the money sink that comes with it. The action and strategy in Gudnak are on point. The factions are well thought out and keep to familiar fantasy themes so it feel natural. I would recommend this to people looking for a light strategy game that has the feels of a larger strategy game. The four player free for all variant is epic. If you get this game try out 4 player as soknas you can!

Deck customization in Gudnak is great the 4 faction that come with the box offer a lot of variety and ways to build your army. There are also neutral cards that add a mercenary element. This is a fun 2 player strategy game but is a great 4 player strategy game! The amount of card in the box make the price worthwhile and the design and elegant rules make it a must have for your game collection.

Players: 2 or 4

Year Published: 2024

Recommended Ages: 12+

Time to Play: 15-25 minutes