Shadows Over Camelot        

Category: Adventure/ Cooperative board game Ages: 10 and above Players: 3-7 Play Time: 90 minutes Published By: Days of Wonder Awards Received: Jeux sur un plateau - JSP d'or 2005 2005 Game of the Year in Japan 7th place - Deutscher Spiele Preis 2005 2006 Game of the Year in Germany - Special Award : Fantastic Game Wiener Spiele Akademie - Hall of games 2006 Origins 2006 - Gamer's Choice Game of the Year Award

Description Of Shadows Over Camelot

Shadows Over Camelot is a board game with a medieval theme. Shadows Over Camelot was also published in French as Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde.

Players of Shadows Over Camelot play the roles of young noble knights of the Round Table and have to join hands to defeat the game. Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? But wait, there is a catch. One of the players gets to play the role of a traitor. The traitor’s identity is not evident easily, as he waits for the right moment to reveal his identity and make a strike.

The game box of Shadows Over Camelot brings you One Master game board of Camelot and the Round Table, with its surrounding Quests; three additional Double-sided Quests (the Holy Grail, Excalibur, and Lancelot & the Dragon); 16 Swords of the Round Table; 168 cards; 7 Coat of Arms (one per Knight); 7 standard dice (one for each Knight) and 1 special 8-sided die for the Siege Engines; a Rules Booklet and the Book of Quests; 30 Miniatures (7 Knights, 3 Relics, 12 Siege Engines, 4 Saxon and 4 Pict warriors).

Shadows Over Camelot draws a lot from history and features several locations with an associated quest. The various locations and their quests are - Camelot; the War against the Picts; the War against the Saxons; the tournament against the Black Knight; the quest for Excalibur; the quest for Lancelot's Armor; and the Grail Quest.

Each turn gives players any of the following situations. Their health decreases or their attackers become stronger or the quest becomes harder. After this each player is allowed to take a heroic action like moving a quest location, or making a quest towards completion. Success in a quest is determined by the playing of cards. Various rules lay down the card combination needed for completing each quest.

A game of Shadows Over Camelot comes to an end when 12 siege engines surround Camelot or when the Round Table is filled with twelve swords. Proper coordination between the players can prevent the happening of an event that lets the game win. If the traitor is clever and shows his hand at the right time, the players can lose despite excellent cooperation.

Days of Wonder gave the world a peek at Shadows Over Camelot at the 2005 American International Toy Fair. May 2005 saw Shadows Over Camelot being released into the mass market.

Review of Shadows Over Camelot

Players engaged in a game of Shadows Over Camelot need to think up strategies for their role of either a loyal knight or a traitor. As a game of Shadows Over Camelot does not have any individual victory, players need to possess and play with team spirit.

The strategy required by the traitor can be very interesting. A traitor in Shadows Over Camelot can harm the common cause by being warlike and placing siege engines strategically; he can be inefficient and cause damage to team strategy. He can also harm the common cause by wasting useful cards. The other method he can use is to keep quiet and show his hand at the end to tip the scales in his favor. He can also be greedy and acquire strategic weapons needed by other knights.

It is evident that a game of Shadows Over Camelot sets players thinking. They need to evaluate situations and take timely decisions. Playing Shadows Over Camelot is a good way to exercise thinking and decision making skills.