Sunderfolk review: Game night

For some reason or another, a tabletop game night might not work out for everybody. Maybe there's too much hassle in setting up and cleaning when it's all over. It's possible that the whole group can't make it out. Perhaps there are only a few minutes to spare in a busy week. For those people, Sunderfolk may be the next best thing. The teams at Dreamhaven and Secret Door have put together an admirable facsimile of a cooperative tabletop experience, one packed with comradery, laughs, and adventure.

Rolling the dice

Sunderfolk is a tabletop-style tactical RPG that takes players into a fantasy realm known as the Sunderlands. The world is in danger from an unknown threat from the shadows, and the game's various heroes work to uncover this threat while defending their home from hostile tribes. Up to four players can dive in and select from six classes (Arcanist, Bard, Berserker, Pyromancer, Ranger, and Rogue) with their own distinct mechanics. Individual quests and side missions unfold on a hexagonal grid with card-based attacks that determine damage and move numbers. Though dice aren't part of this tabletop equation, the game functions well without them, and the rules are simple to understand. The dice's main replacement is cards, which are drawn after every attack and determine any damage qualifiers.

While every class's abilities and gimmicks are all different, these classes can all work together to battle hordes of enemies. In fact, teamwork proves to be critical, especially since there isn't a specific turn order. It's up to individual teams to decide on who goes first. If the team isn't coordinated, it's possible for any mission to go south quickly. For example, the Pyromancer can lay down fire on different hexes and walk over them to charge their future attacks, but if they lay that fire down in the path of their allies, it can burn them and cause damage. Likewise, Berserker attacks can throw foes several spaces away, but it's possible to accidentally throw them somewhere where they can be a greater pain to teammates. Communication is the key to winning, something I'll touch on in a moment.

It's also possible to play the game alone. Playing alone means taking control of two different classes and approaching the campaign like a standard turn-based RPG. While the communication element goes away in single-player, it does introduce more of a puzzle element. Players must exercise a more individual sense of strategy when battling foes or taking on emerging objectives. In one quest, two party members had to occupy specific tiles in order to expose the exit path. Once the path was revealed, the mission would end with one hero occupying the exit tiles, at which point I had my Arcanist use their teleport ability to move four spaces and then lift their teammate and port them over to the exit, avoiding enemy encounters.

While Sunderfolk is at its best as a social experience, it's perfectly competent as a solo adventure. With that said, a single-player outing can't help but draw more attention to the game's story and this is its weakest element. Sunderfolk's story comes across as standard D&D-style fare and, honestly, it feels more pedestrian the longer it goes. It almost needs groups of friends so that they can all riff on the story together over a few drinks. The NPC townsfolk aren't much better, with most of them being totally forgettable. Between quests and side missions, players are prompted to talk to the townsfolk and gain their affinity in order to unlock items and features, but this is something that feels like a chore after a while. Despite the story and character shortcomings, however, there is a charm in all of Sunderfolk's characters (including the narrator) being voiced by the same person, as if the game packed in its own makeshift dungeon master.

It's dangerous to go alone

While there's a lot to say about Sunderland as a game, it's time to talk about what truly makes it stand out: It's presented as a two-screen experience. Every player uses a smartphone and the free iOS/Android app as their own individual controller. It's a formula that works brilliantly, allowing players to build their character, talk to individual townsfolk between quests, and browse through their individual cards and inventory. That allows for a more natural big-screen presentation, sending normal HUD elements to the individual's phone instead.

Here's where it should be noted that Sunderfolk doesn't operate with traditional online multiplayer. It's primarily meant for couch co-op only where all present players scan the QR code on the title screen to connect their devices. While it would have been nice to have a traditional host/client lobby system, the only way to connect with friends remotely was through Discord's screen-sharing feature. With that said, everything worked out seamlessly with one friend sharing their screen and everyone else scanning the QR code.

With that said, there were a few negatives when playing with others through Discord. The biggest drawback is that any character you've built on your copy of Sunderfolk cannot be transferred to somebody else's campaign. If you've leveled a character up and filled up their inventory for your journey, it'll do no good when jumping into someone else's adventure. The game will instead prompt players to create a new character from scratch. While that character will be leveled up in order to catch up with the party leader, it still leaves their inventory aggravatingly empty.

Even with this unfortunate downside, playing with friends still proved to be the ideal way to approach Sunderfolk. There's nothing that replaces the personal experience of talking with others, forging strategies, and laughing together when the best-laid plans go hilariously wrong. Even as somebody who isn't typically a tabletop gamer, I didn't feel out of place with my group of friends. Sunderfolk works as a game, but it's even better as a social activity.

Party up

Sunderfolk proves to be an admirable debut from developer Secret Door. It features many of the best aspects of tabletop games, capably molded into a two-screen video gaming experience. Even the parts of the game that feel subpar, like the mundane story, can still be a net positive simply through the power of friendship. Whether folks come together through a weekly game night or through a short session on Discord, Sunderfolk's bold ideas shine through and will hopefully set the stage for more exciting campaigns down the road.

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch digital code provided by the publisher, as well as the accompanying iOS app downloaded through the App Store. Sunderfolk will be available on Wednesday, April 23 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch for $49.99 USD. The Sunderfolk controller app will be available on the App Store and Google Play for free. The game is rated E10+.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?