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Shadows over Camelot
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This requires a lot of discussion, and the rules demand that this happens in the right atmosphere: 'Please, Noble Knights, help us to convince Merlin to help us in this perilous situation!' and not: 'A Merlin card, anyone?' 'Yes, here you are!'. Of course, this puts some demands on the imagination of the players, and when the luck of the (black card) draw is against the players it may lead to some irritation: the quests seem to drag, and some knights will sometimes visit just one or two quests. The optimal application of the unique special power of each card is also quite important, but difficult to apply for first-time players.



Two observations:
• Shadows over Camelot has led to some of the most memorable and hilarious gaming experiences within my gaming group last year.
• Shadows over Camelot has not been played for about the last six months or so.

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Seldom there has been such laughter during a game with seven knights, when, after numerous (faulty) accusations, only black swords remained on the round table, after which it appeared that there was not even a traitor among the players. The reason that it is not played more often is partly due to the collaborative nature of the game, and partly due to the game itself.
Cooperation is something we are faced with every day at work, and games seem to provide an escape from this, and fight each other openly. The game itself is often reduced to a card-playing game, and as rather spoilt players we want more challenging options to choose from in a game.
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Graphically the theme is very well and nicely supported, but the players are typically involved in a card-playing match. And then it can become quite demanding for the players to stay in their role as a knight. When one knight calls out: 'My fighting powers are fading, please assist me in my quest against the evil Saxons', another knight may typically respond with: 'Ah, he needs a ‘5’ fight card'.

King Arthur: It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England! We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my court at Camelot.
Soldier: What? Ridden on a horse? You've got two empty halves of coconut and you're bangin' 'em together…!

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On one hand ‘Shadows over Camelot’ tries to create a distinct profile for itself as a 'heavy' game, with its rather large amount of detailed rules and a playing time of at least 1-2 hours. On the other hand, having mastered all these rules, the game reveals itself as a rather mediocre card or role play, only to be saved by the enthusiasm of the players. The game is saved by the constant threat of a possible traitor, leading to group discussions on possible traitorous moves of a knight ('Did he really have to place that siege engine?'), but especially with a smaller number of knights it can get clear quite soon that a traitor is not among the knights.

 


‘Shadows over Camelot’ is a game that is surely worth a try. It may lead to a unique gaming experience, a ‘9’ on the 1-10 scale. However, a game may also result into a dragging, irritating repetition of moves, where a ‘5’ is typically the maximum grade. Levelling between these two extremes, this leads to ‘7’, with a ‘+’ for the nice graphics and components.
© 2006 Edwin van de Sluis

[King Arthur has just cut the Black Knight's last leg off]
Black Knight: Okay, we'll call it a draw...
(quotes from: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1975)
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Shadows over Camelot, Serge Laget & Bruno Cathala, Days of Wonder , 2005 - 3 to 7 players 10 years and up, 120+ minutes (according to the box information 60-80 minutes)

A '10' for the moody and very detailed graphics and components
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