Hero Realms: Litch & Dragon Boss Decks review — A fun addition to any Hero Realms collection

Hero Realms is a deck-building card game that typically sees you playing as a hero. However, the new Litch and Dragon decks have you playing as a boss and fighting 1-5 players. Put simply, these are so much fun, but before I tackle each product, I want to discuss some of the changes that playing as a boss brings to the table. 

The goal is different for the boss versus the players. The boss wants to eliminate the players, while the players want to steal the boss's treasure. The game recommends that you play against at least 3 players, but I did experiment with as low as 1 and as many as 5. 3 players are for sure the right spot to be at because it keeps the game flowing smoothly and doesn’t make the game last too long. 

Each boss has a different set of rules, something that I cover further in this review. You can also play as a boss versus a boss, which was fun for a time, but quickly becomes stale because the hero side of the game simply has more options for players to choose from. The last thing I will say before we get into the meat and potatoes of this review is that my group found that the Boss Decks had some balancing issues. 

Dragon Boss Deck review 

The Dragon Boss Deck has a few unique mechanics. For starters, the Dragon can be Taunted, which means that players can force the beast to target a player so long as that player deals 10 or more damage during their turn. Taunting is fun and creates some truly dramatic moments, and the mechanic works exceptionally well here. The Dragon can also steal treasure back from defeated players. 

The Dragon Boss Deck contains 30 cards and has two unique mechanics. Personally, we found that the Dragon Boss Deck didn’t pose a significant challenge regardless of the heroes players were using. At this point, my group has helped me test everything Hero Realms related and have a good handle on the game, so they’ve figured out how to get the most out of the available heroes when facing the Dragon. 

Playing the Dragon is fun however, and if I sit there and focus on one player at a time, that is when the boss becomes challenging; it just didn’t feel fun to play this way. There is a lot of engagement that is lost with this deck and I was left wishing that the Dragon had more to offer.

The Dragon Deck is fine; it wouldn’t be my first choice if I were looking to pick up a new one. I had a constant feeling that I had to change my playstyle and really hone in on one player at a time to win. Don’t get me wrong, I love PVP (player vs. player) and overall enjoy this deck, but it missed the overall fun factor for me. The issue is that the Boss Decks, in general, are better designed than the Hero Decks; this one just fell short of the mark. 

The card artwork is something that really stood out to me. These cards are nice to look at, and the artwork flows nicely. The deck looks cohesive, which I appreciate from a themed deck of any kind. 

Playing this boss deck revolved around the player stealing treasure, and you the dragon trying to protect it. When a player Taunts the Dragon, meaning a player deals 10 or more damage to the dragon deals damage to only you, the other players have a chance to steal from your treasure hoard. 

Litch Boss Deck review 

The Litch Boss Deck stands out because players have to defeat Soul Jars to damage the Litch, and each jar has its own power that the players must conquer. The Litch clings to life when it’s knocked down to its last Soul Jar. With the Litch in play, the party has to make an effort to destroy the Soul Jars, meaning that they can’t end their turn with anything not spent. Finally, the Litch can prevent discarding from happening. 

The Litch Boss Deck is my favorite boss, but prepare to feel like you have to grind to make any progress. Having to break Soul Jars is an engaging mechanic, but that is what ends up making the encounter last so long. My group uses the campaign expansion, additional Hero Decks, and the starter box, and taking the Litch down still takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. 

I enjoyed the artwork for the Litch more than the Dragon for a couple of reasons. The first and most important reason is because of the theme. I lean more towards the undead cards, and I like the card art a lot better. Just like the Dragon deck, the Litch deck is themed up beautifully. 

I find that the Litch is extremely easy to win with; out of 6 games, I only lost two. The Litch deck has your health being determined by Soul Jars. Players have to break the jars to damage the Litch. Sometimes breaking the jars can take a bit, especially if you’re only using cards in the base game. While this deck is packed full of mechanics, the reason that I found myself winning games is because of the Soul Jar management that the players are forced to take part in.