Ashes Reborn: Red Rains Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review Ashes Reborn: Red Rains, published by Plaid Hat Games. Ashes: Red Rains takes the competitive dueling game and gives it a solo/cooperative mode.

Back in 2021, fellow BGQ reviewer and dueling game addict Andrew reviewed Ashes Reborn. That itself was a release and retooling of Plaid Hat Games original dueler, Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn (2015). Well here we are in 2024 (technically 2023 when it released) and Plaid Hat Games has thrown another curveball into the Ashes line in the form of Red Rains. This time, instead of another trip down the 2-player dueling game avenue, it brings the gameplay into the solo/cooperative realm as you take on the dreaded Chimera and one of its different aspects.

I’m not going to rehash the in’s and out’s of playing the standard Ashes Reborn game. If you want the full details, you can check out Andrews’s review of Ashes: Reborn here as the player turns are largely the same. But to give you the short of it, you are controlling a unique Phoenixeborn, a spellcaster of sorts, who can recruit allies, summon conjurations, and cast spells. The goal of the original Ashes Reborn was to reduce your opponent’s life to zero. In Red Rains, the goal is still the same, yet your opponent is the Chimera.

A basic turn has you taking one main action and an optional side action. Main actions involve summoning units, attacking, and playing spells. Side actions give you a bit more flexibility such as using minor abilities or changing the face of a die.

Yes, there are dice in Ashes. Resource generation is based on rolling a handful of unique dice that will power all of your abilities. Each die has 3 different levels, with the highest levels being able to sub in for any of the lower levels.

What’s new here is after you have taken your turn, the Chimera goes. If the Chimaera has any facedown aspects, you start its turn by rolling a rage die and its behavior die. Rage dice have a 50-50 chance to land on the bad side, and once all are showing the Red