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by Bruno Cathala & Serge Laget
Rating 9/10 after 3 plays
by Bruno Cathala & Serge Laget
art Julien Delval
publish Days of Wonder
players: 3-7
duration: 60-100 minutes
type: medium board game
COMPLEXITY: MEDIUM. The rulebook (both parts of it) is a real pain in the neck. It is very thorough, but never seems to have what you want to know in the place you are looking for it. But once you get the rules down, the game is quite easy to teach (?!). Tactics must change depending on the events being revealed, but nothing that will break your brain, just maing adjustments by switching to a different Quest, helping a fellow Knight, etc.
PACE: QUICK. The game is simply: pick and Black (bad) action and do it; pick a White (good) action and do it -- and, if you'd like to, you can lose a life point in order to take an extra White action. Since each of the Quests on their own is fairly simple, the only real slowdown comes when players are trying to decide if they want to switch Quests.
LUCK: MEDIUM. The bad things that happen in the game are determined by Black cards that are revealed one turn at a time, so a string of bad cards on one Quest can be a real pain. (Anyone who has played Lord of The Rings will know what I am talking about.) The difference between the two games is that in "SOC" you always know you'll get one bad action per turn, so at least you know what to expect.
TENSION: MEDIUM. Since players can't discuss their exact cards, they simply wait until they have an appropriate hand of cards, then go take on a Quest. The real tension here is found two places: the Black cards that put pressure on different Quests, which inevitably force the Knights to regroup to different Quests; and the possibility of one of the Knights being a Traitor who is attempting to ruin Camelot.
CONFLICT: MEDIUM. It is a co-operative game, but if a Traitor is present, the players have someone trying to make every placement as damaging as possible. Even without a Traitor, the threat is present which sometimes causes Knights to wrongly accuse each other and suffer the consequences.
VISUALS: EXCELLENT. Considering this really could have been a card game, they sure did a good job of making you think you need all the bits! They throw beautifully illustrated cards, a gorgeous and well-organized main board depicting Camelot and borderlands, and three gorgeous Quest boards as well. The plastic figures are distinctive and detailed, and the whole game sets a new standard in the 'German' games scene.
THEME: MEDIUM. The setting is a great one, and the game does a good job of capturing the feel of various personalities embarking on quests. This game is not as co-operative as LOTR, but that is a better theme fit since the Knights of the Round Table were all strong-willed and courageous individuals. Having said all that, emabrking on a quest really only involves playing sets or runs of numbered cards, so it loses a bit of theme there.
PLAYERS: best with 5-7. With 3p or 4p it seems a little tricker to get momentum and team up on quests, not to mention how much harder it would be to faceoff against the Traitor. With more players, the Quests become more co-op, and the game seems to get a better theme feel as well.
GAMER APPEAL: PROBABLY. There's more individual glory here than LOTR which should woo the competitive folks, and the beautiful bits, braod player range, and short gameplay make it hard to turn down.
CASUAL GAMER APPEAL: YES. This game doesn't overwhelm casual players the same way as LOTR, which makes it a better intro co-op game. Like I mentioned above, short playing time and wide player range should make this a smash with casual gamers. Can this game outperform Ticket to Ride?
REPLAY: MEDIUM. I'll go out on a limb and say that its long term replayability is not quite as good as LOTR IF you have the expansions for LOTR. But since this game will appeal a bit more to casual gamers, it has a big audience right there who are going to love it a lot. So it will get played often by casual gamers, not quite as much with the hardcore faithful. The system is very well designed, but feels a little simple, and while the quests are non-linear, they do tend to play out similarly from playing to playing.
The Knights of the Round Table are called upon to defend the realm and embark on various quests for glory and to be called the Defenders of Camelot! Search out Excalibur, Lancelot's Armor, and the Holy Grail; battle against Picts and Saxons; take on the Black Knight at the tournament; parry the impending attack by destroying the siege engines outside the castle wall. A co-operative game where the Knights can take on the Quests together or separately, always on the lookout amongst themselves for a Traitor in their midst!
My 2 cents
Another chunky co-operative board game! I could barely wait to get my hands on a copy! And it was worth the wait. The mechanics are a bit easier to grasp than Lord of The Rings since the Quests involve laying down simple sets of numbered cards. It is also easier to set up than LOTR, and shorter, which makes this a great "middle" step into co-op games. The bits are fantastic, and the gameplay, while a bit repetitive, has a nice tension to it and is easy to grasp after just a couple rounds. It's hard enough to find a board game that plays well with 6 or 7, and harder still to find good co-op games. And in Shadows Over Camelot, we get both!