{"id":9485,"date":"2021-05-28T17:56:45","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T14:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/?p=9485"},"modified":"2021-05-28T17:56:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T14:56:45","slug":"legends-of-andor-an-easily-approachable-fantasy-board-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/legends-of-andor-an-easily-approachable-fantasy-board-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Legends of Andor: an easily approachable fantasy board game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legends<\/span> of <\/span>Andor<\/span> is a <\/span>thematic<\/span> board<\/span> game<\/span> designed<\/span> by<\/span> Michael <\/span>Mendez<\/span> and <\/span>published<\/span> by<\/span> numerous<\/span> publishers<\/span>. In <\/span>the<\/span> game<\/span>, <\/span>players<\/span> control<\/span> 2-4<\/span> heroes<\/span> through<\/span> different<\/span> scenarios<\/span> in a <\/span>high-fantasy<\/span> setting<\/span>. <\/span>The<\/span> game<\/span> combines<\/span> strategy<\/span>, <\/span>luck<\/span>, and <\/span>resource<\/span> management in <\/span>quite<\/span> a <\/span>pleasant<\/span> way<\/span>. <\/span>Basically<\/span>, <\/span>the<\/span> players<\/span> wander<\/span> through<\/span> the<\/span> map<\/span> completing<\/span> quests<\/span> and <\/span>fighting<\/span> against<\/span> enemies<\/span>, <\/span>while<\/span> the<\/span> game’s<\/span> narrative<\/span> keeps<\/span> proceeding<\/span> every<\/span> turn<\/span>. <\/span>Players<\/span> are<\/span> required<\/span> to <\/span>keep<\/span> track<\/span> of <\/span>the<\/span> time<\/span>, money, and <\/span>hp<\/span> as <\/span>they<\/span> tackle<\/span> all<\/span> the<\/span> obstacles<\/span> the<\/span> game<\/span> throws<\/span> before<\/span> them<\/span> on <\/span>their<\/span> journey<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

While the story is definitely one of the greatest parts of the game, I don’t want to spoil a thing about it in my review. Still, I can’t completely disregard narrative elements as the game does outstanding work with the story’s progression. The time track, which advances as the heroes spend enough actions, forces players to evaluate their actions carefully. In some cases, the narrator moving through the time track triggers a legend card, which contains parts of the narrative. Practically, the story progresses through these cards that indicate what is the current objective. If players take too much time, the story will progress to its end, resulting in a game over. I truly enjoy that the narrative is integrated into the very mechanics of the game because it makes me think about every single action cautiously.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

The<\/span> game<\/span> is <\/span>also<\/span> very<\/span> easily<\/span> approachable<\/span> for a <\/span>thematic<\/span> adventure<\/span>. I <\/span>have<\/span> rarely<\/span> seen<\/span> such<\/span> a <\/span>compact<\/span> and <\/span>informative<\/span> manual<\/span>. <\/span>The<\/span> manual<\/span> contains<\/span> all<\/span> of <\/span>the<\/span> rules<\/span> and <\/span>other<\/span> relevant<\/span> information<\/span> in just <\/span>seven<\/span> very<\/span> clear<\/span> pages<\/span>, <\/span>which<\/span> I, for <\/span>one<\/span>, <\/span>welcome<\/span> wholeheartedly<\/span>. I am <\/span>not<\/span> a fan of <\/span>extremely<\/span> long <\/span>setups<\/span> and <\/span>complicated<\/span> rule<\/span> sets<\/span>, <\/span>which<\/span> are<\/span> painfully<\/span> common<\/span> with<\/span> thematic<\/span> fantasy<\/span> board<\/span> games<\/span>. <\/span>It’s<\/span> refreshing<\/span> to play a <\/span>board<\/span> game<\/span> that<\/span> can<\/span> be<\/span> started<\/span> fast<\/span> but<\/span> still<\/span> contain<\/span> enough<\/span> depth<\/span> in <\/span>its<\/span> story<\/span>.<\/span> Furthermore, the fighting mechanics are quite simple and straightforward: rolling dice, adding the highest roll to the battling characters’ strength, and then comparing those values determines which one will hit the other. The game’s difficulty derives from the limited time rather than complex mechanics, which makes strategizing more important than, for example, memorizing huge rulebooks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legends of Andor is definitely a recommendable board game with outstanding illustrations and surprisingly difficult gameplay. Completing all scenarios should be a decent challenge even for experienced board game fans, but the mechanics themselves are simple enough even for younger players.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Designers<\/span><\/b>:<\/span><\/b> Michael <\/span>Menzel<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Publisher: <\/span><\/b>KOSMOS, 999 <\/span>Games<\/span>, <\/span>Albi<\/span>, <\/span>Arclight<\/span>, <\/span>Devir<\/span>, <\/span>Fantasmagoria<\/span>, <\/span>Fantasy<\/span> Flight <\/span>Games<\/span>, <\/span>Galakta<\/span>, <\/span>Giochi<\/span> Uniti<\/span>, IELLO, Korea <\/span>Boardgames<\/span> Co., Ltd., <\/span>Piatnik<\/span>, <\/span>Zvezda<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Release <\/span><\/b>date<\/span><\/b>:<\/span> 2012<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Number<\/span><\/b> of <\/span><\/b>players<\/span><\/b>: <\/span>2\u20134<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Playing <\/span><\/b>time<\/span><\/b>:<\/span><\/b> 60-90min<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Ages<\/span><\/b>:<\/span><\/b> 10+<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defend the realm against hordes of enemies in a high-fantasy board game!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":9488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1411,246,1335],"class_list":["post-9485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","tag-legendsofandor","tag-adventure","tag-fantasy","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}