Shadows Over Camelot

Shadows Over Camelot is one of the best thematic games on the market; this is the perfect board game for role players. It is an unusual co-operative game, where players work together, not competitively, by Bruno Cathala (Queen's Necklace, Mission: Red Planet and many more) and Serge Laget (Mare Nostrum, Castle and many more). Produced by Days of Wonder (Ticket to Ride, Fist of Dragonstones, Pirate's Cove and the much anticipated Cleopatra and the Society of Architects, among other titles), this game is absolutely gorgeous, and the artwork and high quality components do much to inspire the game to become the pleasure it is to play. Full credit must be given to the artist, Julien Delval (Shadows Over Camelot, Citadels, Fist of Dragonstones and many more), whose talents are truly on display in this game.

Shadows Over Camelot is a very different sort of game, it requires the players to work together against the game, and at this it works brilliantly. Added to the fun and tension is the additional possibility that one of the knights (the players) may actually be a traitor, secretly working to bring Camelot to destruction and ruin. This additional tension makes the game a riotous experience, and great fun, any simple mistake, any action that even looks slightly dodgy will get the other players looking at you with the question in their eyes ‘are you a traitor?’

Shadows Over Camelot is a brilliant game for people who enjoy the human aspect to board gaming; with rules about the ways in which Knights can communicate, the game also inspires a fair share of role-playing, and can be extremely tense. In order to enjoy the game properly players need to make an attempt to play the game the way it is designed to be played, this includes communicating according to the rules of collaboration as laid out in the rule book and playing within the spirit of the game.

Shadows Over Camelot does much to invoke the style and theme of Arthurian legend, the players are knights faced with the challenge of many quests, many of them extremely dangerous. These quests, if won by the knights, do much to restore faith in the legendary round table, if failed they cause yet more faith to be lost. The good and bad faith (as I like to see it) is represented by white and black swords, which are placed about the round table during the game, and form the scoring mechanism at the end of the game. If the knights have managed to get more white than black swords (and haven’t all died, or allowed Camelot to fall), then they win the day, if black swords number as many or more than the white, then the legend of glorious Camelot is cast down and faith in the brave knights is forever broken.

Shadows Over Camelot is one of the most enjoyable and interesting games I have played, it is not a tactical gem in the style of ‘Go’ or ‘Tigris and Euphrates’ (although good tactics must play a part), it is a game to be enjoyed, savoured, and experienced. If you believe that games should be played so that a group of friends can sit down and have a great time, then Shadows Over Camelot is for you. This is one of the best games I own, and certainly one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences my game collection can provide.

Anyways, Shadows over Camelot, believe it or not, it's not as dorky as it might sound (okie, still pretty dorky). If you've played the game and understand the rules, you can explain it to someone in about 10 minutes. I know 10 minutes is still a pretty steep amount of time, especially if you have friends like mine.

The game is undoubtedly one of the best co-op games I've ever played, and I've played a few in my time let me tell'ya. The game is extremely rich in components, the little siege engines to the knights themselves. The board is layed out in a great way that is managable as long as you have a table that is about 2 and a half foot by 2 and a half foot.

The game requires that players play in a type of secrecy about their cards and actions, other-wise it's extremely easy for the knights to win. The only downside I see to this game is that after perhaps 30-40 games it can be predictable, but hey, I've played it perhaps 20 times now, and it's still fun.

- L.T.

The concept of a fully cooperative game was quite compelling to me. It was so compelling that when the cooperative "Lord of the Rings" game came out, I bought it and its two expansions before ever playing the core game.

We then played the core game and every single playing fell flat for us. It felt mechanical, contrived and lacked any real immersion with the theme.

Then came Shadows Over Camelot. It doesn't hurt that I'm also a big fan of anything "King Arthur" but found other Arthur-related games lacking. Not so with SOC.

SOC is rife with theme. You feel like you're really involved in some Arthurian experience and the cooperative aspects are fantastic. Table talk, though limited in what specifics can be discussed, will be rampant throughout. Debates will form as to the best course of action. The tension is also well designed here and rises with each round of play.

The concept of a traitor is, as has been well covered here, an excellent one that takes SOC from being a very good game to a great one, in my view.

So much of the game will hinge on the possibility of a traitor, so much so that it comes as a surprise when one isn't in the game. Conversely it's often a surprise when one IS in the game! That's a pretty good trick.

The only minor complaints I have with the game are as follows:

1. The game can go long especially with slower or newer players. Generally this isn't a problem thankfully.

2. The loyalty/traitor cards are pretty flimsy. Given their extreme importance, I would have liked to have seen something far more durable to handle its task.

3. The images of the cards on the various play surfaces are perfectly mirrored images of the cards which serve to confuse players. Those images should have been subdued or restricted to black-and-white representations.

None of those problems adds up to knocking this game off the 5 that I've rated it. It's a fun time for most gamers and great family fun.