.jpg)
Review by Martin Griffiths
Beowulf: the Legend is Reiner Knizia's lost classic, languishing outside
the BoardGameGeek top 1000 due to mismatched expectations. Coming in a big
Fantasy Flight box and with high fantasy artwork from John Howe, many were
expecting a more Ameritrash implementation of the source material.
But if you know Knizia, you know that's not the way he rolls. At first
it may seem ludicrous that he turned an epic poem into an auction game, but if
you give the game a chance you start to see the theme seeping through in more
subtle ways.
So, how does it play? The players represent Beowulf's companions on his
epic quest, competing to gain the most fame and become Beowulf's successor on
his death. The unusual L-shaped board depicts a linear track through the various
episodes of the poem, explained in more detail inside the rulebook. Most of
these 'episodes' give a chance for the players to demonstrate their prowess at
various skills, aiming to collect the best rewards and avoid nasty
penalties.
The core of the game is a deck of cards in five suits representing the
skills of courage (Fists), fighting (Axes), travelling (Ships), wit (Foxes),
and friendship (Drinking Horns). Each episode has five possible
rewards/penalties (reduced if you don't have the full five players) and tells
you which skills are needed to win them.
Some episodes are resolved by a simultaneous blind bid of cards with
matching symbols, while others use a poker-style raise/pass bidding system,
with the first to pass getting last pick of the rewards. The tension of this
system is reminiscent of another Knizia great, ‘Taj Mahal’.
Added to this is a fun push-your-luck element. Before playing cards from
your hand, you can choose to take a 'risk' by flipping two cards from the deck.
If either card matches the suits in demand, you get to keep them, but if
neither match, you're out of the bidding immediately, which can be calamitous.
Some have criticised the risks for being too luck-based, but I find it more a
question of knowing when it's safe to take a risk and when you really can't
afford the downside.
So what are the rewards and penalties the players are vying for? Rewards
include straight-up victory points, money and special power cards for use in
subsequent rounds of bidding. Penalties come in the form of 'scratches' and
'wounds', which will count against you if you aren't able to heal them before
the end of the game.
In between the major bidding episodes, there are other opportunities to
replenish your cards and convert between the various resources, plus yet more
auctions in which you can bid the money you've acquired on further
rewards.
It's a game about picking your battles and pushing your luck, and that's
where we get back to the theme of the bravado and one-upmanship of Beowulf's
company. The tension of the bidding and the drama of the risks make for lots of
laughs and curses along the way.
The game plays in an hour or so and is at its best with the full five
players, but works fine with three or four too. Don't miss out on this one because
of the poor BGG rating; in my opinion, it's Knizia's best game of the last
decade.
Boardgameguru has Beowulf : The Legend on special offer at £7.99. We will also add a free copy to any order over £100.
Posts
