Protecting the base from the deep: Xenoshyft: Dreadmire review

While it seems like deck-building games and cooperative games have exploded, the cooperative deck-building genre is still in its infancy.  Only a few have been released in this genre.  One of those was Xenoshyft: Onslaught, a game that I listed as one of the best games of 2015.  When I heard about Xenoshyft: Dreadmire, I was intrigued to see if it would be able to hold up to the previous game.

If you have played Onslaught, then many parts of Dreadmire will feel familiar.  Each player has his lane where troops are placed, as well as the opposite lane for the Brood, the enemies for this game.  The wave and item dashboards haven’t changed, and you’ll still replace an item stack with a new one if it gets depleted.

Dreadmire doesn’t stray too far from the formula created from Onslaught, but some significant changes were made.  The difficulty ramps up slowly in each wave, allowing you the ability to gain stronger forces before possibly going up against the wave bosses.

The setting has changed from sci-fi to a more organic swamp-like enemy.  With this theme the new weather mechanic gets introduced which can influence the strength of enemies.  The different division cards don’t affect the waves, but gives you a greater ability to acquire and use items.

Is Xenoshyft: Dreadmire a worthy successor?  Then check out the video above.

Xenoshyft: Dreadmire
Designed by: Michael Shinall
Published by: CMON Limited
Players: 1-4
Age Rating: 14+
Time: 30-60 Minutes
Mechanics: Cooperative, Deck Building
Weight: Medium
MSRP: $59.99