We’re always looking for new games that we can play with our 9-year young son Lochlan. He’s pretty proficient at learning and mastering games that are beyond his age bracket, but the kid really enjoys to engage in activities that require cooperation.
When I discovered that Kosmos released a brand new expansion available for The Adventures of Robin Hood I decided that I wanted to write a review of the first. Lochlan likes to read and is a lover of stories which is why The Adventures of Robin Hood seemed like a perfect game for him to play. Let’s review of the game and find out if it’s successful in our household!
If you pull this game in the package, it can appear like there’s plenty happening. There are a variety of pieces for players, tons of different colored cubes and discs, as well as the hardcover book. The board is huge that takes up a significant part on our table. However, the massive, detailed board fits very well with the game mechanics and, once you’ve mastered the game, is all clear.
Around the board, you’ll find small tiles that pop up or out. These tiles usually depict characters who appear to be talking with you throughout your journey. Since this is an experience for a campaign game it is possible to utilize the same game board for several different stories. Therefore, it is natural that some elements of the game board have to be turned over and hidden for certain stories, and being visible to others.
The system is working to some extent, but I’m curious about how long the edges of tiles wear out due to the frequency you take them out then flipping them over and then re-inserting them back into the board.
The game’s gameplay is quite straightforward, and though we’ll discuss a few aspects in this review, do not consider this to be an instructional guide to play! The game comes with a velvet case in which you can throw discs and cubes into.
There’s a disc to every character who is tossed into the bag, along with an event-specific red disc as well as a purple disc to represent other players during the match, and a gray disc that permits one player to play an additional turn and a white disc that permits everyone to play an additional turn. Every round begins by first removing one disc of the bag. If it’s a player disc they’ll take turns in the game, performing various actions and moving. If it’s a purple or red disc, the players can refer to the book to find out what happens.
The player’s turn is about moving their character, and then interacting with an object, person or an object, or even attacking. In order to move their character, gamers make use of their pieces of movement (two two medium pieces and one larger) to form a continuous line of pieces that connects their player piece and to the place they would like to move.
When all pieces have been played and the player has moved the maximum distance. When a player’s piece is placed on a tile with ? upon it, you are able to interact with it and take a look at a portion of the book which contains details about the story. If you fall upon an army, you could fight!
The way to resolve fights is by drawing cubes with the same bag you’re using to draw discs. Throughout the game, you’ll throw white and purple cubes inside the bag. If you are engaged in combat you are able to pull up to three cubes out of the bag. If you take a white cube and the opponent is defeated, you are in. However, if there are three cubes of purple with any white cubes then you’ll lose the fight.
The entire game is focused on the book you read from the book which will explain your objectives as well as what other people will tell you about themselves and more. You will also be able to earn certain items that can be used in your journey.
We’ve gotten through 5 of the stories to date and we’ve been enjoying every minute of it. It was a fantastic opportunity to introduce our 9 year old daughter to games that are based on stories and this won’t be the final. Keep watching as we’ll be reviewing the expansion with Friar Tuck shortly!
