You start by picking a character, who comes with starting stats and a special ability. You fight a string of bad guys until you’re ready to take on the final boss. All three, to my disappointment, are tower defense games. Solar Sentinels comes with the system, while decks based on Too Many Bones and Hoplomachus Victorum are sold separately. Starting HandĪt the moment, there are three decks for 20 Strong. The first deck was a tower defense game, but the others could be whatever designers wanted. When I spoke to Chip Theory at PAXU in December of last year, they talked about all the ways the system might develop. The specifics of play change from game to game, depending on what deck of cards you use. 20 Strong consists of 20 dice and a poker chip, along with a basic set of rules.
Second, it’s a modular system, rather than a game. Not only that, it’s a small design from a publisher known for enormous designs, which made me all the more curious. Most of Chip Theory’s catalogue doesn’t speak to me, but I was immediately interested when they announced 20 Strong in late 2022. Here we have 20 Strong from Chip Theory Games, best known as the publisher of Too Many Bones. Can it weather a year of Andrew’s expectations in this Meeple Mountain review? Chip Theory’s much-anticipated new dice game 20 Strong made its debut at Essen 2023.
