Few shadows over this game

 by Morris

This is a game with a good theme and beautifully designed components. The main draw for me to this game was that it is a cooperative game for the players you literally play together to beat the game system itself. As knights of the round table, the players attempt various quests, sometimes alone and sometimes together.

The game itself is essentially a card game with accessories to organize it. Each player has their own hand which is unknown to the other players. This secrecy adds to the game's difficulty but also allows the interesting "twist" to the game.

This twist, which is the real spice of Shadows over Camelot, comes from the possibility of a traitor amongst the knights who, in the appearance of helping, can actually hinder the cause. Even with maximum players, however, there is no guarantee that there will be a traitor so the second guessing always remains.

Overall, this is a great game, with wonderful atmosphere and unique gameplay that should cause you to repeatedly don your armour to face the perils of Camelot.

[Note: The expansion, "Merlin's Company", enhances play even further and feels like a natural extension to this game. Played with it, the rating increases to a solid 9.]

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