Skulk Hollow Review

Pesky foxes vs. one giant. Winner take all.

Skulk Hollow from Pencil First Games has two players each controlling a different faction. One player will control the Foxen Kingdom and the other will control a massive guardian. Each player will take their respective tuck boxes and set up their factions. The Foxen Kingdom has a leader and several other types of soldiers, including ranged ones. The guardians are all different. You'll choose the one you want and place their gigantic meeple on the board and then you'll put their "board" down that acts as a secondary board. More on that soon. Each player will take turns playing cards to move, add soldiers, or attack. If the Foxen want to attack the guardian, they'll need to climb up it. This is where the second board comes into play. The Foxen will need to completely cover the guardians board with damage. Any time an attack is completely damaged, they cannot use it any longer. The Foxens will win if they kill the guardian and the guardian will win if they take out the Foxen king.

The Good: There is so much variety to this game. Including 4 different types of guardians that all have different play styles means that replay value is extremely high. I love the scale that the game manages to capture. It feels like a board game version of Shadow of the Colossus. There is a lot of really clever card play that can make or break you if you play something at the wrong time. I really enjoyed the art. Opting for a cartoon style felt like the perfect decision. They kept it so that everything still felt very on theme but it wasn't something that took itself too seriously.

The Okay: Some games can feel very one sided. Because it's based on cards, if you have a bad draw, you can waste some turns while the other player hammers away at you. This can cause some games to last as long as 10 minutes but when it's balanced, it's pretty great.

The Not So Good: Overall, the rulebook left a lot to be desired. I had to refer to Rodney to really get a grasp of the game. The concepts are all there, but I had a hard time grasping them in writing. The general concept of power cubes I'm still not totally sure I understand.

Final Thoughts: Skulk Hollow really captures the essence of what it is. Every game that I've played, I've immediately wanted to try out a different guardian or switch sides. There can be a bit of a learning curve and sometimes you'll have a game go completely against you but for a two player skirmish game it absolutely nails it. When you pull off a huge move in these games, it's one of the best feelings in gaming. The follow up to this, Maul Peak, will be available next year as well.

Thanks to Pencil First Games for providing me with a review copy.