G.I. Joe Deck Building: Coldsnap Expansion Review

boardgamequest.com:

Last year, I spent a good amount of time singing the praises of the G.I. Joe Deck Building Game from Renegade Games. This enjoyable card game took me by surprise and was definitely one of my favorite games from 2021. I closed out last year with a review of the Shadow of The Serpent Expansion, which was a worthy add in my opinion.

Only a few months later, here we are checking out the newest expansion for this card game: Coldsnap. Is this another hit or will players be left with frostbite.

Much like the Shadow of the Serpent expansion, the Coldsnap expansion gives us more variety and also introduces some new concepts. On the hero’s side, players now have Towables that they can bring on missions. By discarding a number of Joes equal to the cost, players will be able to tow along an asset like a Flak Canon or a Howitzer. These usually provide powerful bonuses on the missions.

To balance things out, the Dreadnoks have joined the Cobra side. These 12 cards are all unique side missions that will make life difficult for the Joes. However, unlike normal side missions, they also provide a reward when defeated.

Much like the previous expansion, Coldsnap also comes with new main deck cards, complications, 2 new leaders (Snow Job and Gung-Ho), 2 full missions, a new set of Cobra Troopers (Snow Serpents), and one Cobra officer: Crystal Ball.

One thing I like about what designer T.C. Petty III is doing is not just giving us more of the standard cards (although I do like that), but branching off with new innovative mechanics. Yet the new concepts aren’t so far out in left field that I feel like it’s a chore to introduce them into the game. The Towables, while probably the most unique, really aren’t that hard to use. In fact, I like how