Shadows over Camelot

[Kyp Henderson]

Does anyone here play this game?  Does anyone know what this is for that matter?

[redemption99]

I've played it a few times, one of the people i play redemption with here has it and we play sometimes at regionals after the first day is over. It's fun fun fun.

[The Schaef]

Shadows over Camelot is a quasi-cooperative strategy board game.  Each player assumes the role of a knight of the Round Table (and/or King Arthur), and has a hand of cards.  "Fight" cards are numbered 1-5 in strength, and special cards have other powers written into the text.  Each knight also has a unique special power that he can invoke (usually) on his turn.

The game is played "against the board", each player must first cause one bad thing to happen (the Progression of Evil phase), and then do one good thing.  The player can either place a catapult (siege engine) outside Camelot, lose a life point, or draw and play a black card.  The black cards are counterparts to the white cards, some have numeric values, some have special powers.  All of them are crummy.  Among the good actions a player can take is to move his character, play a card to complete a quest he is on, play a special white card, or discard cards from hand to regain life.  A player can also sacrifice a life point to take an extra good action in the same turn, different from the first action.

The knights travel to quests (mostly as a group, but some are solo quests) and play cards to complete them, either special cards for that quest (Grail for example) or numbered cards in poker hands (pairs, straights, full houses) to battle the evil number cards played on that quest.  Each successful quest adds one or more white sword to the round table, each failed quest adds one or more black swords (there are other rewards and punishments as well).  Once 12 swords are on the table, the game ends and the knights win if 7 or more are white.  Six or less, the knights lose.  If all the knights die, they lose.  If 12 catapults are on the board, the knights lose.

Oh, and one other thing: there's a potential that one of you may be a traitor.  Loyalty cards are dealt in the beginning, and kept secret from everyone (of course, all players are "loyal" at the start, if you want to believe that.  And in Bang!, everyone is the deputy, and in Werewolf, no one is the werewolf).  The traitor could be secretly working against you, and if he goes the whole game without being discovered, he flips two white swords to black.  He could sabotage the endgame, so technically you need 9 for a guaranteed win.  You can accuse someone you suspect as your good action for your turn, and if you're right, white sword.  If you're wrong, a white sword flips to black.  Once the traitor is revealed, he stops pretending to be a good guy and only does bad actions from then on.

This game is WAY fun, but it's tough; it takes a lot of teamwork and planning to beat this game, even without the traitor working against you.  The expansion, Merlin's Company, adds one knight and a new set of powers to choose from, but the game is a LOT harder.  I am a big fan of cooperative games, and this is one of the best out there.  It's simple to set up and teach, and all the info you need to understand the game is printed right on the board, or on your character card.  The design is fantastic.

For fans of this game I also recommend Battlestar Galactica.

[Kyp Henderson]

There is an expansion for Shadows over Camelot?  Wow.  Our youth group enjoys playing this game often but it is hard with some of the people who act selfish every single game.  Anyone play their own rules?  We sometimes play that we draw traitor cards when six siege engines besiege Camelot or 6 swords are on the table. It gives a little advantage to the good knights.

P.S.  redemption99 what state's regionals do you attend?

[redemption99]

I live in GA so i go to SE regionals

[The Schaef]

Kyp,

That might be one good reason to try Battlestar Galactica.  People get loyalty cards at the outset, so some of the players may be Cylons early (Cylons being evil robots disguised as humans).  But then when you get halfway through the game, another round of cards goes out.  It's called the Sleeper Phase, and after working so hard to win the game, Surprise!, it turns out you were a Cylon after all and now you have to start working against the team.

But yes, cooperative games require the right crowd.  If you have players who are out for themselves, or like to stab you in the back just for fun, probably don't bring this to the table.  Cutthroat Caverns or Munchkin might suit their tastes better.

[Kyp Henderson]

Thanks for suggestion. But i don't have money and I am not allowed to order offline.     Yes it is frustrating to play with those people, but it is the only game of the ones you have mentioned that we play.  Settlers of Catan and the expansions go over better though.

[Maus]

Kyp,

I've played Shadows with my boys a couple of times and we've always had a blast.  I have not introduced the traitor to the game because I know the first kiddo to get the card would blurt it out right away and they are so competitive anyway, I'd rather they gang up on me than each other.

The suggestion of drawing the card after the first X number of turns is what I will do when we actually start using the traitor.

As an aside as a homeschooling parent:

I've found the game is good at teaching cooperation, planning, minor math skills (adding), and we've talked about mythology and how it relates to our beliefs as Christians.  I like the fact that with the special artifacts, there is a degree of selflessness that can (and does occur in my small group) with helping each other by using them to beat a hard game.  We have yet to win.

Maus

[The Schaef]

Pandemic might not be a bad option either.  It's a lighter cooperative game that takes only an hourish to play.  Just as hard as Shadows, if not more, though.

[Prof Underwood]

Anyone play their own rules?

I play that you have to accomplish as many different quests as you have knights playing the game (in addition to all the other winning conditions).  That makes the game more challenging, as it is a bit too easy otherwise.

7 knights means you have to beat the dragon or you lose

[The Schaef]

If it's too easy for you, add Merlin's Company  :p

[RTSmaniac]

I was not aware of an expansion either and Im the one that usually brings Shadows to SE Regionals. I taught my son to play and he's 4 and we almost beat it once. He likes trying to win the relics like Lancelots Armor and the mystic sword I forget its name.

[The Schaef]

...Excalibur?

[RTSmaniac]

yea