Tales of the Arthurian Knights Review

boardgamequest.com:

Tales of the Arthurian Knights is a reimplementation of the 2009 storytelling game Tales of the Arabian Nights. The original was famed for providing an immersive narrative experience surrounding characters such as Aladdin and Sinbad. Here the setting has changed to the titular knights of Camelot. And while it features a fresh entry point to what many consider a modern classic, does it also do enough to make it an adventure to seek out considering over a decade of innovation in the hobby?

Designed by Andrew Parks and published by WizKids, Tales of the Arthurian Knights can be played by up to four players at approximately forty-five minutes per. It features heavy reading and is recommended for ages twelve and up.

The main board features seven regions that span from Brittany in the south to Scotland in the north. Within each region, there are five potential terrain types with a sixth being sea spaces that circumvent the lands. Players begin their adventure in Camelot and to do so must choose one of eight potential knights to be their avatar.

Each knight’s player board features a turn structure guide, end of era scoring information, as well as the main feature: a bank of twelve skills to power up through adventuring. These skills are separated into four categories (Martial, Spiritual, Courtly, and Wilderness) with three skills in each. Players begin with three skills enhanced by adding them to the +1 column and over the course of play skills will rise and fall in power.

There are three eras in a full game, each era broken up into four turns. Players begin with a starting quest and mark the region(s) on the map that they must reach to complete it. And then they’re off! Each turn players proceed based on their movement stat, reach a location, and complete an encounter. Encounters can be standard, in which players draw from an encounter deck to see what they’ve happened upon, or they can be special and interact with quests.

Enter the massive Book of Tales which features