Shadows Over Camelot – A noble quest for all

We’re excited to post our 50th game review!

And we think we’ve picked a fantastic game to be dubbed with the honor of being our 50th family game review.

Shadows Over Camelot is a game that I (dad) first saw in 2006 and immediately got excited about it. It was the first cooperative board game that I had come across – which in and of itself sounded like a great thing for family gaming and a good reason to pick up a copy. Then you add the fact that it’s about being knights of the round table and heading off on quests – and I was sold.

However, our oldest child at the time was just 10 so my excitement started to wane. Or I guess I should say, my excitement was just put on hold for a while. I left it on the store shelf that day but it has been on the top of my wish list ever since, waiting for the day that our household of noble knights grew old enough to take on the quest.

I’m very happy to report that my years of patiently waiting paid off when I finally received a copy of Shadows Over Camelot for my birthday this year! Oh, happy day!

So the big question then is, “Is Shadows Over Camelot any good?” or “Was it a lot of build up for a big let down?” Well, don’t wait any longer – check out what the trio of knights say about Shadows Over Camelot in their game review. I’ll add a little disclaimer that this is our longest video review so far – but there’s a lot to the game and we still barely scratch the surface.

Can the whole family enjoy Shadows Over Camelot?

So far we haven’t played Shadows Over Camelot all together so we don’t have a report from the damsels in our family. But as you can see, Caleb loves joining in the fun too. And since it’s a cooperative game, it makes playing with the family a great option. So those that are younger or may be reluctant could still enjoy the interaction.

 

How many players should you have to play Shadows Over Camelot?

The first time we played, we only had 3 knights on board and we squeaked out a win – or so we thought. After playing through we consulted the rulebook again (to make sure we played correctly), and we found that we had missed one of the quest rules. And it was an important one. If we had played correctly, the black swords would have overtaken our round table and we would have lost to the powers of evil.

But we knew right away that we wanted more knights to join us on our quests. The response came from Trevor’s teenage friends on a late Friday night. Everyone had a great time and more was definitely merrier.

 

But don’t forget the Traitor

With more than 3 players, we also added a potential traitor into the mix. Suffice it to say that everyone wanted to be the traitor. But as you can see in the video, it’s not for the choosing, but done randomly so you don’t know who it could be or if there even is one in your midst. The Traitor element adds a great facet to cooperative game play. So we guess in that sense, that it’s more of a semi-cooperative game or a mostly-cooperative game or a potential-traitorous game. Either way, having the potential traitor heightens the fun for everyone.

How does Shadows Over Camelot score on the “Let’s Play Again” meter?

Do we really still need to answer this question? It definitely scores high on the “Let’s Play Again” meter, but we’ve never played games back-to-back. It does take longer to play than a typical family board game so our “let’s play again” statements are typically followed by the qualifier “soon”.

So don’t put your dreams on hold – go ahead and don your armor, become a valiant knight, and sally forth on many quests in Shadows Over Camelot.

It may cost more than any games you’ve purchased before, but it’s a very high quality game and we plan on enjoying it for years to come.

Great game Days of Wonder!

The Board Game Family Game Ratings
	Caleb
Has not played	Brooke
	Jaden
	Trevor
Has not played	Mom
	Dad
	Average