Tabletop_Gaming__April_2019

82 April 2019

PLAYED

Rings are put on creepy cardboard

hand cut-outs that double as player

screens, although keeping them

standing straight on the table becomes

one of the biggest challenges of the

game. Putting the impracticality of the

setup to the side, the rings and their

position on specic ngers add an

interesting twist to the core gameplay.

In the rst two sequences of the turn,

players assign their meeples to one of

the three rooms on the board, which

allows them to perform a specic set of

actions. e rings are used to enhance

those actions, making them more

eective and powerful; for example,

allowing players to pick up more cards

or move additional spaces up on one of

the tracks on the courtroom portion.

As players begin with just two rings

and gain additional ones only after

getting to the top of one of the court

tracks, choosing the position of rings

is the biggest strategic decision in the

game. Players are able to enhance

only one ability, so they need to

decide right at the start what their goal

for the rst couple of rounds will be.

Especially if you are new to the

game, that is a tough decision. Apart

from moving up on the court board

and placing the rings on cardboard

ngers, there are a lot of other things

to consider. Every game there is one

I

n Tudor, predictably, players are

transported to the court of Henry

VIII. But not to worry: there is no

beheading in this game. In fact, except

for the portraits of Henry’s wives that

serve as a turn tracker, very little relates

to the history of that period at all.

Tudor is supposedly all about

courtly intrigue, which is really just

a thematic explanation for players to

send their meeples around the board

to collect dierent faction tokens. e

broad premise could work for almost

any royal court, real or imaginary.

e game board, illustrated like

part of the palace, is divided into

several zones, but the main area is

the courtroom. It is populated by a

staggering number of tokens. ey

constitute the majority of the initial

lengthy setup, but look gorgeous

once all the tokens are placed on the

board. Collecting them and moving

up several tracks in the courtroom

• which represents your growing
  inuence – is just one of many things
  you will be doing in Tudor. While
  this is primarily a worker-placement
  game, there are a lot of bells and
  whistles to its gameplay.
  One of the extra elements that
  stands out immediately is a mechanic
  that uses the placement of rings on the
  ngers of players’ respective noble.

More choices than Henry VIII had wives

Tudor

90-120m 2-4 12+ £70

TRY THIS IF

YOU LIKED...

TZOLK’IN:

THE MAYAN

CALENDAR

Tzolk’in is an

example of a

worker-placement

board game with

a gimmick that not

only works with

its gameplay, but

is executed well –

something from

which Tudor could

learn a lot.

WHAT’S IN

THE BOX?

◗ Double-sided

game board

◗ 18 influence tokens

◗ 18 intrigue tokens

◗ Eight

opportunity tokens

◗ 140 faction tokens

◗ 70 faction cards

◗ Six scoring cards

◗ Five scenario cards

◗ Four lord figures

◗ 56 courtier figures

◗ Four scoring markers

◗ Round marker

◗ Cloth bag

◗ Four player

hand screens

◗ 21 rings

◗ Start Player marker

◗ Ring stand

◗ Ring sticker sheet

of several scenarios, which give a

bonus special action. ere are several

end-game bonuses that are drawn

randomly at the beginning of the game.

To perform actions in the three rooms,

players also must follow a specic

sequence of placement and activation

of meeples.

Unfortunately, the iconography

makes the already hard-to-remember

rules and objectives even more

convoluted. Unintuitive little symbols

and signs present throughout every

step of the turn force players to

constantly refer back to the game’s

rulebook, slowing the ow of the

game signicantly. is remains a

stumbling block for a few rounds, if

not for your rst couple of games.

Tudor’s gameplay and core concept

are done well. It fails, however, in

its execution. It is not enough for

components to look pretty; they need

to be practical and help gameplay to

run smoothly. In an attempt to stand

out by looking dierent, Tudor's

gameplay is overshadowed by ashier

and less meaningful gimmicks.

ALEX SONECHKINA

PLAY IT? NO

It may have some interesting ideas,

but their poor execution leaves

Tudor on the chopping block.