Enthrone Board Game Review
Enthrone wasn’t a game I thought I would like that much, but the fantastic production made me want to give it a go as soon as possible. The production is out of this world good, but does the gameplay hold up? Let’s take a look!
There are eight different characters in the game, and to setup each player is dealt three cards (characters) leaving two left over that no player will get to see. From the three cards you are dealt, you will pick one of the characters to be, but taking note of the other two in your hand – obviously, these are not your opponents. When the game begins, you will know 3 of the 8 characters. Finding out who your opponent is the trick!
On your turn, you can move one of the characters as long as their token is in the green area. You are not limited to who you can move, which means you are free to move your piece, the other pieces on the cards you saw, or even pieces that might be your opponents. After you move a character, you take their token and move it to the bottom of the board. You will be moving pieces for a variety of reasons, but ultimately you are trying to eliminate the three characters listed on the bottom of your character card. As you begin to eliminate these people, your opponent might catch on who you are, and work to eliminate you.
The only way to capture a player piece, however, is if you are moving a character in the top two spaces, so there is a bit of strategy in what characters you let rise to the top. This is generally a game of cat and mouse in my opinion, but one where you cannot let on to your opponent who you are. Taking out the three required characters as noted by your character card is pretty tough. Getting your opponent out of the game, if you know who they are, is am much easier task.
It is the simplicity of the experience that makes it such a positive one for me. It is easy to teach, but has a ton of strategic decision making moments that keeps the game feeling fresh no matter how many times you play it. I’ve played two players games like Boop over 50 times, and this feels like it’s in the same vein – easy to teach, easy to understand, but hard to master. And mastering Enthrone is something I desperately want to do. There are definitely strategies to utilize, and the more you play, the more you will pick up on. That said, there is nothing stopping a brand new player from winning either, which makes this an attractive game to teach others even if I’ve played a dozen times or more.
If you enjoy really thinky two-player experiences like Boop or Hive, I think you will really enjoy this one.
Article By Adam
