Death isn’t a major punishment, however your turn just ends and you respawn back at the start. For example, you can get into battles, and very likely your character will die. The learning curve isn’t necessarily gentle, but it’s steady enough to not really leave interested players behind. Thanks to the video game concepts here, there is a way to kind of just play out the game and learn as you go, since so much is automated behind the scenes.

The complexity definitely makes it a little harder to introduce new players to, but it’s not that much unlike board games of a similar ilk. It’s overwhelming, but a great tutorial, smart tooltips, and a detailed rulebook make it a little smoother to get into.

Right off the bat, you have so many choices and directions in which to go. If none of the other win conditions are met, the player with the highest prestige level (basically like stars in Mario Party) becomes the winner and new king. Every game has a set turn limit as well, as the king slowly rots away to his death.

Multiple victory conditions are possible, whether it’s slaying the king, waiting for him to die of rot, purifying him of rot, or becoming more rotten than him. The goal is for the four heroes, from different animal clans and with different abilities, to usurp the king. While a lack of local multiplayer is disappointing, the solo and online play still makes for a masterful blend of video game and board game ideas.Īt the heart of the randomly generated game board is the ailing corrupted king and his castle. I’ve played board games similar to Armello, but the trick is that since it’s a video game, it allows for more complex systems and mechanics to happen behind the scenes, making for a deep, engaging experience. I knew Armello had board game influences going into playing it, but I didn’t quite realize how wholly a board game transformed into a video game it was.

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