Base price: $25.
2 players. You can buy a solo mode.
Play time: < 15 minutes.
BGG | Board Game Atlas
Buy directly!
Logged plays: 6 

Full disclosure: A review copy of Pocket Paragons: AEGIS was provided by Solis Game Studio.

Alright, we’re almost through all of the main Pocket Paragons sets! Just in time for more to come out, but, hey, something to look forward to! I think there will be some tweaks made between now and then, so some of these sets might be a bit out of date, but bear with me. I think there won’t be major gameplay changes. Either way, there’s a lot to cover, so that’s why we’re doing another micro review! I mean, functionally, the core gameplay loop is the same as Pocket Paragons: Origins, these cards just have some new abilities specific to them and the AEGIS crossover. Let’s find out more about it!

In Pocket Paragons: AEGIS, your favorite combining robots have found their way to the world of Pocket Paragons! There may be a bit less combining (sadly) than the original game, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t fights to be won! Adapt, learn, strategize, and execute (sometimes in more ways than one) if you want to pull off a win. In Pocket Paragons, that always means reading your opponent’s moves and trying to counter, stun, or just hit them as hard as you can. As you do, you’ll collect the energy you need to pull off your Ultimate Move, which might just be what you need to turn the tide! Either way, be careful; if you let your guard down to refresh your spent abilities, your opponent might exploit that downtime and just execute you on the spot! Can your many combining robots turn the tide in your favor?

Overall: 7.5 / 10

Overall, I like the Pocket Paragons system a lot, and I enjoyed Pocket Paragons: AEGIS. As is the nature of numerical reviews, you eventually end up in a spot where you have to rate one as the lowest of the set, and I suppose AEGIS is there, for me (though you’ll note that I still enjoyed it!). Why is that? Certainly not the theme — I’m actually familiar with the AEGIS board game and enjoyed it. I think some of the complexity bled over into the AEGIS set, however, making it a bit less new-player-friendly than the other sets I’ve gotten to tool around with. That said, there are some very fun abilities in this one, particularly Ainer / ARK-150’s ability that, when finally activated, means you never have to use a Recharge again (meaning that, in all likelihood, you cannot be Executed). Whether or not you survive long enough to pull it off is an entirely different story, I suppose.

The core of Pocket Paragons: AEGIS leans a bit more towards that complexity, even though the characters are still sorted along the same complexity axes as other sets. I’ve taken some time to actually try Pocket Paragons with new players every time, and I think this is the one that the new player struggled the most with. I imagine there are other factors going into it, but figuring out when certain abilities activated and how seemed a bit more challenging. The other sets have their complex characters, but on the whole I’ve seen more success introducing the game to new players with those sets than I have with AEGIS. That all said, I really enjoy the theme of combining robots, and it’s always nice to see characters I recognize back from that game. Plus, I’m pretty sure I can get almost all of these sets into one box, so, easy storage, to boot! If you’re a fan of AEGIS, you enjoy the Pocket Paragons series, or you just are looking for a two-player dueling game with a bit of back-and-forth to it, you’ll probably enjoy the Pocket Paragons: AEGIS set! I’m looking forward to some more games with it.

---

If you enjoyed this review and would like to support What’s Eric Playing? in the future, please check out my Patreon. Thanks for reading!