I`ve mentioned a few times before that on the whole, I`ve been pretty disappointed with the ID games we`ve had on offer this year for us. To be fair, we`ve seen some crackers, a small selection, but on the whole, I`ve been quite disappointed with the ID games and market we`ve had this year. And I`m afraid to say, after playing Armello, it isn’t going to get much better. It`s a game that I went into not knowing a single thing about, a fresh game for me, and something that looked a bit different. Oh how I would be wrong, and I`m afraid to say, it`s a game that will be straightly coming off my hard drive, and won`t be making a return.
Armello is a digital board game, developed by League of Geeks, an Australian ID game studio. First making its way as an iPad game title, a successful kick-starter campaign for a version to arrive on Steam occurred back in January 2015. It would then over the next few months appear as a Playstation title, and finally, at the end of August, launched on Xbox One.
It`s effectively a board game, that has been piled into a digital setting, and although it looks really nice and good, it`s these type of games that I struggle with, and I found myself struggling big time to really get into the game, and it`s a game that I now know why I hadn’t heard or seen anything of before reviewing it.
So what is Armello about? The King has fallen ill, and after 9 days, he will perish, leaving one of four players on the board to take the throne. It`s a game that requires a lot of skill in card-playing, and of course, with any card game, you need a little bit of luck on your side. You`re going to need to build your skills up and your cards up, as it`s going to be difficult to counter the kings dice until you`re at a high level (When you fight against an opponent it`s a game of luck and dice – roll the dice, and the dice will determine how successful you are in winning the fight)
It` s a game that can be very confusing and really difficult to really get into, especially if you`ve never played something like this before. Don’t get me wrong, if you`re a gamer who has played these types of games before then this is probably right up your street, you`d know what you were doing and what type of game you were playing, but a for a new gamer to these types of games, it`s a genre that I will be staying well away from.
It`s going to be an extremely frustrating game. At times, it feels like you have no control over what you`re going to get and do, and is a game full of chance. I don’t mind that at times, but it`s a game that relies heavily on it, and you feel like you have no control. No, not for me.
Armello is a game that for the gamers who are fans of the genre then they`ll love. But, if you`re not a fan of the genre, or for that matter never played a game of this genre, then I seriously wouldn’t bother. As I said earlier in the review, I went into Armello full of uncertainty and not knowing a thing about the game. But now, its a game that I`ll be staying well away from, and a genre I certainly will not be touching again.
A huge thank you to XCN for supplying us with a Review copy of Armello
Game: Armello
Developers: League of Geeks
Publishers: League of Geeks
Genre: Role-playing Board Game
Price: £15.99