Divinus Review - One God To Rule Them All

The Norse Gods have invaded Greece, and now battle the Greek Gods for supremacy. You, along with the other players, take on the role of demigods, trying to make a name for yourself in the war and ascend to full godhood. Divinus, a digital hybrid legacy game by Lucky Duck Games, who also produced the awesome hybrid games Chronicles of Crime and Destinies, allows you to weave this tale of gods.

What Is Divinus?

Divinus is described as a digital hybrid legacy game. What that means is that it's a board game that uses an app (available for free), to progress the ongoing narrative as you play the game, along with tracking progress. The legacy elements mean that things will change permanently throughout the game. Everything from the map tiles, dice faces, and even the rulebook, as players progress through each of the 12 scenarios.

How Does Divinus Play?

At the core of the game's mechanics, Divinus is a dice-rolling, tile-placement game. You roll your pool of dice and pick tiles by adding and subtracting the numbers rolled, to select tiles off the central board. The central board is numbered 1 to 12, and the number under the placement indicates the cost of the map tile to buy with your dice totals. Once you've picked a tile, you place it in front of you, building a map over the course of each scenario. Each map tile place must connect with a previously placed map tile, and must also match the terrain type of the tiles it touches.

Each game also features a number of quests to complete. and these gain favor with one of the two Pantheons, which are tracked in the app and show each player's ranking with the gods. Players can also visit certain places with scannable icons, which can offer benefits and narrative elements. Once you run out of dice to spend, you can rest, which refreshes your dice pool by gathering them all together and rolling them again. This resting mechanic works very well as not all players need to rest at the same time, and it makes the game run continuously until a player completes their map, rather than running through a fixed turn structure every turn.

I'm being deliberately vague and not detailing too much to keep this review spoiler-free, but also because elements change over time, including the rules themselves.

What Is The App Integration Like in Divinus?

The app integration works well, as is expected from Lucky Duck Games, based on their previously high standards in hybrid games. It progresses the story well and tracks everything, and as long as you're onside with app integration in your board games, then this will offer everything you need.

Having played multiple app-hybrid board games, the app doesn't feel intrusive, and keeps the game flowing, along with tracking and keeping everything a secret as the game goes on. For those not used to it, any kind of jarring should be short-lived as it feels very natural to scan when you need to in order to progress the scenario.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On Divinus?

Divinus blends the multiple parts well, overlaying the core mechanics with the app integration and the legacy elements. The game itself can be quite fast, only slowed by the player's decision-making on what to do during their turn. Sometimes, if multiple app scans are required, along with legacy elements using stickers, it can feel like not a lot of gaming happens for a bit, which can distract somewhat from the system, but it's usually short-lived before you're back to gaming again.

One thing you need to consider though is that once you start playing, you're playing all 12 scenarios with that player group. Players can't step in and out so you're committed to the 12 scenarios. There is an Eternal Mode after the 12 scenarios have been completed, and also a refresh pack available to allow you to play through the game again, but this isn't a pick-up-and-play game with random players each week.

Should I Buy Divinus?

If a narrative, hybrid legacy game sounds like it's something you want to be involved in, and you have 2, 3, or 4 players who are committed to seeing it through, then Divinus is absolutely worth it. But if you don't like legacy games, or want app integration in your board games, then this won't be. If your regular gaming group is difficult to organize and regular players throughout sessions, then something like Chronicles of Crime will probably be better suited if you're looking for a great hybrid app game. But if you've got a group dedicated to seeing which demi-god will come out on top, then Divinus is a solid gameplay experience. 

The copy of Divinus used to produce this review was provided by Lucky Duck Games.