Mass Effect: The Board Game – Priority: Hagalaz Review

boardgamequest.com:

Regular readers of the site will know that I’m a big fan of video game translations on my tabletop. Well, I’ll say that with the caveat of only when it’s done right. Back in the day, they used to be nothing but a licensed IP slapped on a mediocre game (at the best of times). But we are in a new age now. With games like Frostpunk: The Board Game, 6: Siege – The Board Game, and Assassins Creed: Brotherhood of Venice, publishers and designers are really taking the time to create experiences that do justice to their source material.

The newest entry in the genre is Mass Effect: The Board Game – Priority: Hagalaz. Designed by veteran game designer Eric Lang, along with Calvin Wong Tze Loon 黃子倫, Mass Effect drops you in the shoes of Commander Shepard and other squamates from the SSV Normandy as you take on threats from the Reapers and Cerberus.

Mass Effect: The Board Game is a short campaign game played over a series of 5 branching missions. Each mission requires Commander Shepard and 3 other squadmates (regardless of player count).

At the start of a player’s turn, they roll all of the available dice (12 for the first player in a round) and then select 3 to use. Dice will allow you to move your characters, or activate an ability such as attacking or hacking. Moving is pretty straightforward, allowing your character to move to an adjacent hex for each icon spent. However, moving out of an enemy’s threatened area will trigger an opportunity attack.

In addition to the move and ability icons, there is also a Star icon. When that is rolled during the roll dice step, the character gets to use its unique power, and then reroll it. This may allow Tali to move her drone, or Wrex to flip a rage token (for example).

Combat is handled by using a character skill, usually inflicting a couple of points of damage on an enemy in a direct line of sight. A character can attack any unit that you can draw a straight line from one of your 6 hex sides (no turning) and is not blocked by cover or