Reiner Knizia has a thing for making multiple games with the same name. He did two games called ‘Lord of the Rings’ for two different publishers, and they were completely different games. But it can get pretty confusing when there are two games with the same name from the same publisher, so that’s undoubtedly why both games have suffixes.
First you’ve got Beowulf: The Legend. Fantasy Flight Games did a great job with this one, and it’s a blast. But that’s not what this review is about. This review is about Beowulf: The Movie, because that’s the newest Beowulf game from Fantasy Flight Games.
If you’ve ever played Kingdoms, you’ll be completely familiar with Beowulf: The Movie Board Game. The mechanic is exactly the same, and in fact many of the pieces have been recycled. The dragon still robs you and the chasm still blocks you, but now they have different names. Plus there are tiles that can get drunk and assorted other complications.
The theory behind Kingdoms and this Beowulf game starts with a grid. Player take turns placing tiles with positive and negative numbers on them, and then try to place their scoring markers to maximize their benefits while blocking opponents from getting ahead. It’s a very clever game, all things considered, even if the theme is obviously applied as a cosmetic.
Scoring markers each have a number of diamonds on them, from one to four. Once a grid is completely filled up, each marker gets saga points (we ended up just calling them ‘moneys’) equal to the sum of the numbers in that marker’s column and row, multiplied by the number of diamonds on the marker. It’s a classic Reiner math game.
To make the game even more interesting, there are special tiles that can be placed to manipulate the board. A valor tile with a positive value can replace a temptation tile with a negative value – but those temptation tiles can also be swapped out. There are tiles that let you remove other tiles, tiles that let you move your scoring markers, and tiles that increase your scoring multiplier, for good or bad.
The game takes place in three acts, and there are different tiles for each act. The first act has fairly tame tiles, but by the end of the game, players could place tiles that would send their opponents plummeting into negative scores. The board folds out, so that each act is played on a different board, and the added complication this creates makes the game far more interesting.
It should go without saying that the game is beautiful. It is not only made by Fantasy Flight Games, a company with a reputation for beautiful games, but it is based on a Hollywood blockbuster movie, and has stunning graphics from that film. Every single piece in the game is fun to see, from the game board and plastic scoring markers to the play tiles and money counters.
Beowulf: The Movie Board Game is not a game for everyone. Players who want a lot of theme will not find it in abundance here. Players who get bored with math will be frustrated by this game. But players who can appreciate a good game reinvented and reinvigorated will find that a Reiner Knizia classic just gets better with age.
Style: 5 – Beautiful game with great, high-quality pieces
Substance: 4 – All the clever tile placement and math of Kingdoms, with more twists and long-range planning
