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 World
of Warcraft The Board Game
is
manufactured and created by Fantasy Flight Games.
The board game like the MMORPG is a
fantasy based adventure made for 2-6 players. A game can be
completed in about 2-4 hours.
Here are the game stats:
-
Play as one of 16 heroes from
nine classes and eight races, advance your character and gather
treasure, battle thirteen different types of monsters, and
ultimately challenge one of three invincible Overlords.
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Build your character up from
level 1 up to level 5 (the equivalent to level 60 in the online
World of Warcraft game)
all the while increasing your character's stats, abilities,
talents, and equipment.
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The game box weights more than 10
pounds and contains nearly 1000 components including 16 sculpted
Heroes of the Horde and the Alliance, 120 plastic monsters, and
hundreds upon hundreds of cards and cardboard tokens.
The World of
Warcraft Board Game can be purchased at most board game
retailers or online from
Funagain Games. They sell the game at a 20% discount
compared to most online and offline sellers.
Here are a few
reviews from people who have played World of Warcraft The
Board Game:
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I played this
last week with a few friends and we had a blast. My only gripes
are that it takes hours to play and it boils down to a dice
combat game. The whole team aspect really makes it fun though
and the whole package is very well-made. If you're a fan of the
MMO, you'll get a kick out of the attention to detail in the
boardgame.
-Anonymous
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The following
review reflects our groups experiences after one game played
with 4 people. Obviously this review is not meant to cover all
balance issues or precise gameplay mechanics, simply our first
impressions of the game. I will try to keep things short so you
can get a general idea if this game is right for you.
The Computer game
Just to clear things up, you don't have to have any knowledge of
the computer game in order to understand this board game. The
classes and monsters are taken directly from the MMORPG, but
they are fairly universal for the genre (i.e. rogue, mage,
warrior, etc.). There are cool tie ins to the video game that
come as a little plus to those who have played it, but no
advantage is gained for it. If you have played similar board
games (Runebound, talisman) then you will have a good idea of
where this game is headed.
Components
Well, for an $80 dollar game, you really get what you pay for.
The components in this game really reflect the value put in. The
creature models are sturdy and fairly well molded. The tokens
are all very thick. The cards are nice, though the smaller ones
are tough to shuffle. additionally, every part of this game is
done with the art style of the computer game. If you like the
stylization, then this is a plus. Personally, I love it. It is
very "cartoonist", but not in a goofy way. There are bright
color and dramatic flairs all over. If you favor a more
"traditional" RPG style, this might be a turn off to you. But
the art is definitely not "slapped" together as it appears that
the game makers made ample use of the extensive existing
Warcraft art that has been developed by Blizzard (the computer
game maker).
The Rules
The rulebook supplied is great. It has tons (and I do mean tons)
of examples. For almost every rule, they go through and explain
an example. Also, this book does a great job of using pictures
to help relate the game components to the rules that are being
explained. I really can't say enough about how nice this
rulebook is. It may seem like a small thing, but I just bought
another game, that has a horrible rule book, and it really
effects my overall enthusiasm for a game. Also, the rules seem
to "flow" nicely. In other words, as I was reading them they all
seemed for make common sense. I never read one section and then
say to myself "now wait a minute, didn't it say back here
that..." As you are reading them, you can almost guess what the
next sentence is going to tell you. It's not full of exceptions
and confusing steps.
Character Development
This game is basically a race game to develop you character
faster than the opposing team. You do this by completing quests
and killing monsters. The game really shines in character
advancement. You have three things to improve you character:
items, powers, and talents. Items includes armor and weapons.
This is pretty much similar to most other games of the genre.
You pick up new items from towns and by completing quests.
Powers can also be bought, but are specific to your character
only. Each character has his/her own deck full of different
powers, and you can buy and use them based on your level and
your gold. Finally you have talents. These are received, free of
charge, every time you level (the highest you can level is to
5). Talents are generally passive abilities that improve certain
aspects of your character. The great thing about powers and
talents is that you can't possibly have all of them in play. In
one game, you might see a little more than a third of that
character talents/powers. The way you combine you talents and
powers can shape you character in a unique and fun way. Granted
we only played one game, but after we were done, I was wondering
how cool it would have been if I would have advanced my
character differently. Considering that you have 9 classes to
choose from, this definitely adds to the replay value of the
game.
Combat
Combat goes hand in hand with quest completion. In order to
finish quests, you need to kill monsters. Due to the complex
nature of the character development, you are left with a fairly
complex combat system. It's not overly difficult, but it does
seem a bit cumbersome the first time through. Everything seems
to make sense, you just have to keep an eye on all your
abilities and powers to make sure you are getting the most out
of your character. Towards the end of the game, we were getting
much better, since we didn't have to keep consulting our card to
see what we could do, but it does seem a little overwhelming at
first. There are a lot of cool little abilities that make each
class unique, but all the abilities are paid for with a heavy
combat system.
Player Downtime
Well, this game boils down to a two team solitaire game. One
team goes, then the other. When the other team is doing stuff,
you could be sitting there for a couple minutes waiting around.
On some turns, the other team moves rather quickly, but if a
quest or two is completed, this can drag out a bit. There is a
lot of housekeeping to take care of every time a quest is
finished and a new one is revealed. Gold, items, and experience
has to be handed out. Then some players might level and they
have to choose new talents. Then new quests are revealed and new
monsters need to be placed. Each step isn't too bad by itself,
but it can be a toll on some gamers. If you someone in your
group has a short attention span, you might find them wandering
around the living room waiting for their turn. However, don't be
too scared by the downtime, I have seen much worse. This isn't
exactly Axis and Allies.
Play time
Our game took us 3 hours and 15 minutes from setup to
completion. The game seemed to move pretty well. People weren't
looking at their watches. You character only gets two actions a
turn and there is always something you want to do, so you're
generally looking forward to your turn trying to get the most
out of your two actions. I was initially worried that this game
would end up taking 4+ hours (and hence getting limited play),
but it appears that we will be able to let it hit the table even
if we don't have a whole afternoon for it.
Overall Impression
I personally enjoyed playing the game a great deal. I love this
type of game. My previous favorite in the genre was Runebound
(and Talisman before that). Now World of Warcraft has replaced
those at the top of my "character development" board game list.
The vast array of ability and talent combinations makes each
level so much fun to reach. If you are really into games that
start you off as a weakling and then you turn into a hero, then
this is the game for you. Our group enjoyed the experience a
good deal. One player thought that the combat system was a bit
hard to get a hang of, but everyone else seemed have a good
time. Even my wife, who almost never plays a game that last
longer than an hour, was having a good time figuring out how her
little gnome rogue could ambush monsters better. For our group,
it was money well spent. I see this game hitting the table at
least once a month. I give it an 8.
-Jason Jullie
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