On our show, we review games for two or more players, specifically focusing on the two-player aspect. When we picked up this game from Wizkids we did not realize that it was for 3 to 5 players. However, that did not stop us! We recruited our friend Chris to play so we could give it a proper review. After we played, we decided that we could get away with playing with two if we wanted to, even though the box recommends 3 to 5. If you are familiar with the actual Tower of London. you may know the legend that says if the ravens leave the tower, the kingdom will fall! (Google it and you will see!) In this game, the goal is to be the first player to capture seven ravens to win the game! If after three rounds no one has seven ravens, everyone loses! How is it Played? Setup: The game board is only 17 ½ x 11 ½ so it is compact when folded, which could make it a good traveling game. The board represents the Tower of London and the different aspects of the tower. It is divided into three scoring areas (orange, green and blue) and four quadrants. In the first round you just choose a starting player however you see fit, but the turn order can change. The board has a turn order track, which we will talk about shortly. A scoring card is selected and placed on the board. We used the 3-player scoring card. The scoring card shows how many ravens each player receives when scoring each round. (We decided if we play with just two we would just ignore the third player category for scoring.) The Event cards are shuffled. Three are randomly chosen and placed on their spot on the board. Each player receives a set of player cards (13) in their color, and matching “Beefeater” cubes (20). There is a pile of 31 raven tokens that everyone can see on the side. Playing: There are four phases to each round, and each phase is quick:
The strategy is to find a way to take control of the most buildings of an area where you get the most ravens, like maybe giving up one building to take two others. Also, be sure to play the event cards. In our example above, if someone controlled the Byword Tower they would get an extra raven. Once everyone understands how to play, the game can go very quickly. We enjoyed this game a lot and recommend it for anytime you just want to play something quick; it doesn’t take a lot of time to learn. We tried it afterward with just two players and it worked just fine. Timing of the Game According to the box game play takes about 45 minutes, but with the three of us playing it took less than a half hour. So, this would be a great choice if you don’t have a lot of time to play, or maybe a good game right before turning in for the night. Fast Facts:
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