Monumental Duel Review: Harder, Better, Faster, Shorter

[@TimYoung1984]

It is a bad feeling finally receiving a shipping notification for my $400 version of Monumental, it’s two expansions, titans, and deluxe pieces after a 4 1/2 year wait only to hear Tom say, “For me, this completely replaces Monumental for me.” Like being punched in the gut.

[@TheSludgeMan]

I wouldn't worry too much, if you invested that much in the original then you are clearly interested in the "epic" feel which this streamlined version isn't going to have. Then again you could always sell it and move on, maybe learning something in the process about throwing $400 at one game.

[@TimYoung1984]

@@TheSludgeManThe reviews of the first printing were so glowing with some saying it was their favorite game of all time. Mike Dilisio was exuberant with heaping on praise for the game, and Tom was not far behind with his praise of the game as well. Alex at Boardgameco also heaped tons of praise on the game. Too bad so much time passed between then and now.

[@michaeldilisio557]

I still have all of the content for Monumental, plus the new expansion. I will keep it, and still play it when I want the “big game” experience. These Duel games shouldn’t dampen your enthusiasm.

[@kuremalone78]

Tom plays thousands of games, so having access to shorter experiences is basically a better way for him to consume more games. Doesn't change the fact that bigger experiences exist out there and are just as good or possibly better for the right group. (and to add I basically got everything for Monumental and can't wait to play it)

[@TimYoung1984]

@@michaeldilisio557 Thanks for the reply, Mike!

[@ramonosuke]

So if they each have a slight difference, why not just package those modules in one game, instead of making us buy three copies? Or just make one, and sell the two other modules an expansion for much cheaper? I feel like it’s a huge waste of shelf space, and thankfully they aren’t super expensive to begin with, but it would’ve been nice to have a decent box size, to fit everything nicely

[@gobo2093]

The resources in the original Monumental are plastic disks, not cardboard or wooden.

[@nerdyjawsh]

Yea i don't know about this. There are dozens of duel deck builders. I have alot of them lol. Monumental felt different, a huge civ, dudes on a map, combat, exploration, monsters and doing all that with a simple deck building system. To abstract that away, would just make it like any other duel deck builder. Plus like mike said the african empires expansion, already fixed the down time.

[@1235q]

Name 3 other duel deckbuilders please, I'm only familiar with Undaunted

[@nerdyjawsh]

@@1235q I mean there is the Starwars one, star realms, ascension, shards of infinity, paper back. Honestly look up any deck builder, even if it's more than 2 players, it's probably better played as a 2 player duel game. The list goes on, now granted they all do start to feel pretty similar and really it's just a theme that's different.

[@1235q]

@@nerdyjawsh I completely forgot about Star Realms and its clones lol. To be honest, this Monumental Duel seems a lot different from those, with it's 3x3 grid. Anyway, I might give this a try although the scores on BGG make me worried.

[@Poiuytrew.Q]

So what you’re saying is that the game is no longer monumental?

[@nerdyjawsh]

@@Poiuytrew.Q You know I really thought about saying that as well. I'm glad someone said it. Lol

[@jorgecabrera2599]

Wow, this hurts in so many levels just having received my shipping notification of the big game KS from....4 years ago!!! Will have to start looking for a buyer and get these hahaha

[@nerdyjawsh]

I would not sell your Kickstarter, the big troops on a map, defense, exploration, combat is what makes monumental be different from other duel deck building games. This game abstracts it so much, and it takes away what makes monumental feel unique.

[@CresentSoul]

Yeah maybe sell it cause it’s only this new version that will get the ⛺️pitched up and the gravy cooking and flowing. If you know it you know it

[@jessedana9151]

Just watching the overview it does not give the epic vibe of the original. That being said I find it interesting that at an "8.5 score" it replaces what has been on Mike and Tom's top 100 for a few years going... will it appear again this year? I did appreciate that Mike gave the info about this version being closer to the original design pitch but then it seemed to get minified... It's seems to be some insight as to what went wrong with the Kickstarter.

[@thecaryou]

This is interesting Monumental did not work for me as a game. A great mechanism with the grid/deck stuff but the board did not mean much and the theme not there for the scale of the game and all the minis that did not actual work with the board. So just the mechanism is a small package is interesting. Since also the base game was pretty solo in my opinion.

[@elqord.1118]

Just please can we get a new 2.0 core box that puts the best version together?

[@StoneTempleGlyph]

I used to own Monumental and sold it. It's physically a big game with the best minis I've seen in a board game, but the map part was boring. The city grid was where the game was at and that should have been developed and expanded on.

[@joeferreti9442]

I personally never found the 'original' "Monumental" good or interesting enough. These smaller boxes might be an improvement. But I easily skip those as well, because these "Monumental" games just don't do what I am looking for in a good enough way. It's just way too clunky and awkward.

[@NateCochrane]

From Monumental with minis to just a minimal experience.

[@TabletopFamily]

Just got the retail base game of the original for 15 bucks. I wanted to try the simultaneous rules from the african expansion pdf. Maybe i shouldnt even bother now and just grab this version?

[@cursivecurses]

two thumbs up for the pun

[@RheaOfLief]

It's a good thing i just bought Monumental

[@JorWat25]

As always, having three people on a review of a two-player game amuses me.

[@majorlazor5058]

Why?

[@JorWat25]

@@majorlazor5058 Not sure. I guess I subconsciously assume the reviewers all play the game together before reviewing it.

[@HorseIRL]

Ok

[@joeferreti9442]

@@JorWat25 You get that you can play 2-player matches by taking different pairings of 2 people out of a group of 3 people? Also, as far as I know, the Dice Tower reviewers all have their separate playgroups and so on to test games.

[@JorWat25]

@@joeferreti9442 I regret saying anything now. I just find the idea of three people reviewing a game for two people mildly amusing. Nothing wrong with it.