Armello - Switch Review

'RING! RING!'

"Hey man, what's up? What... A digital board game with online multiplayer that ISN'T Monopoly and has a medieval theme to it??? Bro, I'm so there."

'CLICK!'

Let all dive into a classic feel of Catan meets D&D's Lords of Water Deep in the release of Armello for the Switch. This role-playing strategy board game was originally released by the League of Geeks, an Australian company, back in 2015 for the PC. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter it has since been ported to every handheld and console since then.

The game takes on a pretty simple plot direction, the king of the land is cursed/sick and it's up to 4 different clans to try and either save him or dispose of him. There are 4 ways total that can claim your victory. You can choose to collect some sacred stones and offer them to the king in order to heal him or you can overthrow him by powering up and facing him in a duel. There is also the option of going insane by absorbing as much "ROT" as possible and infecting the world with the same curse or... just wait until the sickness kills his royal highness.

You play as anthropomorphic animals that set out on a journey. The 4 clans: Wolf, Rat, Rabbit and Bear each has both a male and female representative. Depending on who you start with their stats are different as well. You're also able to attach a couple of bonuses to give you a slight advantage during your play through.

As the game opens up into the field map, that you'll be traversing on, you start at your clan base. At the top left corner of the screen you'll see a picture of your character, along with some Abilities points to show you your movement capabilities. Beneath that you will see some symbols. Those symbols show the amount of Fight power (dice your able to use in a fight or peril), Health, Card capacity (which will be displayed between your Ability points and stats) and Magic power your character possesses. The bottom center will keep track of all players action, including the AI's. To the bottom right corner are more symbols that display your Currency (money), Magic power (in stock if you were to collect over your normal set amount), Prestige points (Loyalty points you gain from the kingdom populous) and Rot points (showcasing you how much darkness your character is suffering from). And to finish off you'll be given an icon that will keep track of day and night for you, which will also be the button to use to end your turn.

Depending on the type of tile you land on it will have different effects on your character. For example, a swamp can cause you damage, while a sacred pillar site will grant you health. If you choose to walk through the mountain it will eat up 2 of your AP points, but will grant you extra defense to use during an ambush or fight. Dungeon tiles allow you to explore them and can reward you with treasure or could set off a trap that could do your character harm. Forest area will only grant you stealth at night and open plains have no effect or attachment to your hero. By planning carefully you can use the maps train to your advantage.

At the start of each turn your character will always be carrying the numbered amount of cards your allowed to. You have 3 decks to choose from: Fight deck, Spell deck or Event deck. You can choose to take all Fight cards or take one from each deck and vice versa. Each card that you possess will have a type of "payment" in order to activate or equip them. Either through Currency, Magic, Prestige or Rot points. You can also equip special sidekick cards that you can collect by exploring dungeons, stealing from other heroes or finishing quests. Some cards can be placed over certain tiles. In doing so you will create a Peril and anyone caught in it will have to roll and match the dye display beneath the card.

Even though the King stays locked away in his castle he will reach out to the hero with the most prestige points, at the start of a new day, in order to help him make a decree. This decision can either be a blessing or a disadvantage so think carefully before choosing.

When entering into any fight all your dices have six different faces of symbols on them. A sword face counts as an attack, while a shield will grant you defense. The Sun and Moon can be used as extra attack point only if they fall under the correct time of day. The Rot symbol will only add to your attack strength if you have accumulated enough darkness and finally if the dye falls on the Tree symbol it will also add to your attack point, PLUS give you an extra dice roll. Cards in your hands can also be used to help you during a fight. Each card has a dye symbol that you can use by sacrificing it before you roll, adding it immediately into your fight pool giving you a better chance at winning or defending.

As you play through the game you can keep track of everyone status by moving the cursor over any Enemies or Heroes. At the beginning of your journey your given a quest to strengthen your characters abilities and popularity. With each quest you complete a new one will appear. By finishing a quest they will always reward you with a Prestige point and the choice of raising the stat of your choosing. You're also given a challenge upon arriving and could win a chance at some extra Help (Bard, Squire, Warlock, etc.), high end Equipment or Spells and/or a Spirit stone. Though be cautious that if you lose the challenge you will be punished. You are given a brief percentage of your chances of winning each challenge. If you find yourself defeated in battle you will be brought back to your clan base and may resume adventuring on your next turn.

Depending on the time of day different AI's will move accordingly. During the day the Royal Guards will wander the kingdom, either claiming bounties or destroying monster. At night creatures known as Banes will appear and choose to chase down heroes or terrorize settlement. If you choose to fight a guard you will place a bounty over your name and lose Loyalty points. If you chase after the Banes you will gain loyalty points, but be warned if you are killed by one of them you will be infected by the Rot.

As intricate as this game sounds I found myself glued to its strategic gameplay. The character sprites are adorable and the action and adventuring keeps the story lively. This game can also be played online with others and I highly recommend choosing this option once you're comfortable playing this game as the AI's fighter tend to be predictable after many rounds. This game is no more then 45 minutes per session and has achievement that you can unlock by playing multiple playthroughs. If you complete the achievement you are given a new bonus ability that you can use before the start of your next gameplay. Armello is nothing short of charming and I will gladly give this game a rating of 9.5 out of 10.

Now if you'll excuse me I have a friend that is in dire need of a purging.

YOU. SHALL. NOT. PASS

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
League of Geeks
Publisher(s):
League of Geeks
Genre(s):
Turned Based Strategy
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4
Microsoft Xbox One
Mobile iOS / Android
PC / Linux / Mac

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Natasha

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Armello - Mobile Review

I'll admit, when I ended up with Armello to review, I wasn't sure what I was really getting, as the only thing I'd seen about it was a single picture that made me think it would be in the style of Civilizations. Well, I was pretty wrong on that front, as I ended up with more of a digital board game akin to Settlers of Catan, really. It's a quaint little game that has in-depth strategy and planning, but with a general concept simple enough to pick up pretty fast.

You play as one of the many members of the Armello Kingdom, who you choose at the onset of the game. There are a number of stats, you have a bunch of action points, and you get to draw cards and cast spells. Ultimately, this is no tutorial for the game, although that is happily included, but I'll run down the basics.

The current king of Armello is infected by an evil force called "the Rot", and your goal is to either usurp the throne, cleanse the king, or take over after he dies naturally. There are four primary characters, excluding purchasable ones, and each is more or less specced for a certain type of win.


Thane of the wolves is geared for beating the king in a duel, Mercurio of the rats is more of the "win by being more corrupted and beating the king" type, Amber the rabbit is more geared for gaining enough prestige to take over if the king naturally dies, and Sana the bear has the goal of cleansing the king. All characters move on a hex grid taking turns, completing quests to earn items and prestige, and playing traps for the other characters.

Cards are available as spells, which consume mana, equipment, which costs money to put on for some reason, and 'trickery', which is generally used to hinder other players. When you get in combat with someone, or if you need to perform an ability check, you roll dice, and when in combat, you get attack and defense symbols, with the calculated totals being the outcome of that round of combat, which may be affected by the day/night cycle. In ability checks, you need to roll the same symbols presented by the check. Sounds difficult? Not really, to be honest. There's a lot going on, but playing through the tutorial basically teaches you all you need to know to get started.

Armello has a pretty cool premise and some good mechanics, but has some rather clear drawbacks as well. First of all is the fact that, like a large swathe of board games, ultimately a lot of your success or failure comes down to luck, and not necessarily skill. Like failing two checks that were 80% in my favor. My awful luck aside, the different tiles on the hex grid board have different aspects to them, as an example stonehenges (fairy circles) provide you with +1 health upon entry. This makes navigating the board to find your next quest location more of a plan, rather than simple movement.

Since I was playing on an iOS device, you tap and swipe to perform actions, and Armello can be rather…finicky, about what it thinks you've done. Far too often I went to slide the map, only to end up moving to a tile I didn't want to. Same with the "end turn" button, it sometimes took a few taps before I could hold it properly to advance the turn order.

On the plus side, the gameplay was smooth, and it wasn't choppy, nor did it drain my battery. The only thing I'm super peeved about is that the "zoom out" basically just covers the board in a hazy mist so you can't see anything, rendering it absolutely useless, or I may have missed a zoom function, but I would expect it to be the standard two fingers together or away to zoom in/out respectively.

Armello would be one of those things that's great to have while on a long commute, or while traveling, but I honestly can't see myself playing it for any other time, as each game takes longer than what I would deem as "ideal", unless you've set some time aside to play with friends or the like. While Armello definitely has some flaws, it definitely has some bright points too. If you're a fan of board games, it's definitely something to consider, especially if you have long distance friends you want to continue your board game nights with.

Game Information

Platform:
Apple iOS
Developer(s):
League of Geeks
Publisher(s):
League of Geeks
Genre(s):
Turned Based Strategy
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplaer
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4
Microsoft Xbox One
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Antihero’s Armello Addition - Gaming Thoughts

I had a lot of fun with Antihero when it released earlier this year. Having a 1v1 strategy thief off in Victorian London just felt right. Not to simply sneak out into the night to never be seen with your belongings again, the thieves are back and this time things are a bit more feral with the cast of Armello (PS4 / Xbox) joining the fray.

So this isn’t a “review” per say but it is a look at some of the new things that Antihero has going for it. Starting off, Antihero now has the option to have Armello characters run the streets alongside the master thieves. These new characters don’t add anything to the gameplay per say but they do add some visual diversity and their re-design for London’s smaller streets look great.

The next recent addition is a new map that introduces a new game mode. Instead of stacking up your bribes alongside your assassinations you instead have to have your Master Thief bring them to a specific location. It’s a nice new addition that brings something new to the table and shows that Antihero still being worked on. The best part of that one however is that it’s free for anyone who owns the core game.

So are the characters worth picking up? That’s entirely up to you. They give something new to look at but they don’t change up the gameplay in any way. If you’ve been looking for a reason to dive back in however, “The Agency” map could be that reason for another 1v1 against either the PC, a friend that you can hotseat with or a random someone online.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Tim Conkling
Publisher(s):
Versus Evil
Genre(s):
Turned Based Strategy
Mode(s):
Single Player
Mutliplayer
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Armello characters Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Did I just get Armello added into my Antihero?

I quite enjoyed Antihero when it released earlier this year and in an interesting turn of events it's getting new DLC of Armello in which both Robert and Chris viewed quite favorably.

Here's the full set of details of the new content with our Review to come to you shortly!

TURN-BASED STRATEGY GAME, ANTIHERO ADDS NEW DLC, MULTI LANGUAGE SUPPORT AND FREE MULTIPLAYER MAP

New Armello DLC Adds Four Master Thief Character Skins From the Armello Universe for Even More Devious Skullduggery

BALTIMORE,MD – November 2nd, 2017 – Independent video game publisher Versus Evil, in partnership with independent developer Tim Conkling, have announced that turn-based strategy digital board game, Antihero, has added multi-language support that now includes French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish and Portuguese for Brazil as well as new content in the form of the Armello DLC Pack. The Armello Homage Master Thief Character Pack contains four Armello Master Thief character skins based on well-known characters from the Armello universe: Thane, Twiss, Mercurio and The King.

In addition to the new skins and multi-language support a new free multiplayer map ‘The Agency’ gives players a new location to commit their dastardly deeds, and all with a bribery related twist.

“Armello is a fantastic game created by the League of Geeks team.” commented Versus Evil General Manager, Steve Escalante. “Both games live in the strategy, board game world with unique graphics and wonderful aesthetics.  We couldn’t be happier to team up with them in creating some cool characters for Tim Conkling’s Antihero. Indie helping indies is just fun. We hope you all enjoy.”

Set against the backdrop of a gas-lit Victorian underworld, players take on the role of a Master Thief and have to employ a number of underhanded and ruthless tactics to dominate each territory before their opponent does.

In Antihero players can test their thievery skills in the story-driven campaign mode or challenge friends in the highly competitive timed ‘Live Match’ and regular ‘Casual Match’ multiplayer modes to see who’s the top thief!  Operating in a gas-lit Victorian city overrun by corruption and greed your task is to manage your thieves’ guild, recruit street urchins, hire gangs, steal everything and bribe, blackmail and assassinate your way to victory!  Resource management is key to growing your guild and utilizing your nefarious assets. Spend your ill-gotten riches to hire new recruits, upgrade your thieving skills and acquire deadly weapons. Gold is a thief’s best friend!

Antihero is available now through Steam and itch.io The standard edition of Antihero is priced $14.99/€14.99/£11.99, with a Deluxe Edition for die-hard thieves and evildoers priced at $19.99, which includes the complete game plus the official soundtrack by musician Harry Mack with a contribution bonus track by Steven Gregan. The Armello DLC Pack is available from today and is priced $2.99 / €2.99 / £2.09.

If Armello owners on Steam miss out on the daily deal, they'll still receive a 20% discount on Antihero for two weeks beginning on November 3rd.

To find out more about Antihero, visit: http://antihero-game.com/

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Armello - Xbox One Review

We at Chalgyr's Game Room love board games, some more than others. Seriously, just as Jeff about his board game collection, though I have my share of board games, closing in on 40 board games myself. When Nick offered up a review copy of Armello I hopped on it, given that it is essentially a board game turned video game and it looked interesting. I mean, giant fluffy rabbits and foxes and bears (oh my!) vying to take over a kingdom due to a corrupt lion king? I jumped on the chance to be included in that wildebeest stampede for the throne and am far from regretting it; Armello is fantastic.

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Armello - PS4 Review

Armello has the potential to be remembered as a daring mixture of board game and video game. Clearly there were chances taken, but the design holds up and the game is enthralling - especially with friends. Not everything worked as well as it could have, but for those of us who like board games but do not want to hassle with rule management, Armello might be the perfect solution.

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Armello launch trailer and information

Who is ready for some Armello? We will be getting a review for this one around soon, but in the meantime? How about some screens, information and a trailer to tide you over?

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Armello - release dates, new characters

Armello is an interesting title I have touched on before, and now there is some new news about the game that we wanted to share.

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Armello bound for PS4 this fall

Video games.

Board games.

We love them both, so a video game of a board game? Let's just say we're game.

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