The Other Side is the first expansion for the small-box card game Crimson Company, designed by Fabian Fischer and Dario Reinhardt. If you missed the GameTyrant review of the base game, read it here. A two-player game in which opponents battle by hiring mercenaries to conquer castles, Crimson Company is a fast-paced strategy game that’s easy to learn and contains a lot of variation for frequent play. The first player to conquer two of the three castles wins and scoring can be a complex interplay of cards. The Other Side builds on that by adding twenty-one more cards and two more dual-sided castle lanes.

It’s the first expansion to the game, and the second, Ragnarok, is expected to launch on Kickstarter in May 2020.

The base game is an excellent start. Let’s see if the grass is greener on The Other Side.

Sorry, I had to.

STORY

Adventurous nobles abound in this cutthroat fantasy world. In a battle of wits, these men and women recruit hardened warriors, shady merchants, and mythical creatures as old as time. Who will outsmart their rival and gain control over the castles of a long-forgotten kingdom?

GAMEPLAY

As an expansion, The Other Side does not change the rules of Crimson Company. It introduces more than twenty additional mercenaries that affect gameplay decisions and strategy, but the mechanics of the game have not been modified.

The one decision that players will have to make is whether to incorporate all of the cards into one large deck or to select a custom deck of 30 cards according to preference.

Most of the cards in the expansion focus on two maneuvers: destroying cards and flipping cards. Those card abilities existed in the original game, but the infusion of so many characters with those powers means that players will be able to vary their strategy in building influence in castle lanes.

Destroying cards can elongate a battle for a castle lane by preventing any player from gaining the four cards necessary to score a lane. And flipping cards dramatically affects a lane’s strength by reducing character values to zero.

With an expanded deck and more possibilities than ever, The Other Side makes Crimson Company more likely to engage players for longer.

My favorite cards from the expansion? The capricious Voodoo Doll, which destroys a card in any lane whenever the Voodoo Doll is destroyed. The carnivorous Audrey, a terrifying plant that destroys all cards in the lane with a value of 1. And the Ferryman, who can bring someone back from the dead to play face-down in a lane.

But there are plenty of other characters to enjoy and powers to manipulate.

VISUALS

The Other Side maintains the artistic style of the original game while providing new illustrations with each of the twenty-one cards. If you enjoyed the artwork on the Crimson Company cards, then you’ll be pleased with the new additions. And the strength values and card effects are still clear and easy to read as players draw new mercenaries into the play area.

REPLAYABILITY

The whole purpose of The Other Side is to enhance the replayability of Crimson Company, and it succeeds in doing so. The influx of new cards means that gamers can enjoy the original game that much more.

WHAT IT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER

The best expansions not only enhance the quantity and quality of the original game, but they also add new layers to the gameplay. The Other Side does not provide any game variants or other changes to Crimson Company. That doesn’t mean it’s not a great expansion. It’s just not the best.

But if you like what Crimson Company offers, then you’ll be more than happy with what The Other Side adds to the equation.

VERDICT

For the price, The Other Side is definitely worth it. Small-box games sometimes have small ideas, but Crimson Company packs a lot of fun into a miniature package, and the first expansion certainly helps to boost the variability. If Fischer and Reinhardt keep it up, then Crimson Company is going to evolve into an eminently playable card game. In for a penny, in for a pound. The Other Side is more good times for tabletop gamers.