Shadows Over Camelot
Encyclopedia
Shadows Over Camelot is an Arthurian
-themed board game
designed by Serge Laget and Bruno Cathala. The game was also published in French as Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde and in German as Schatten über Camelot. Players take on the roles of Knights of the Round Table (with the possibility that one player takes the role of traitor) and play the game by fulfilling quests. The game is cooperative
in that a shared victory or loss is possible in the absence of a traitor, and a traitor does not benefit by revealing himself too early. The endgame with a revealed traitor is, by contrast, a competitive game of asymmetric teams.
The game was unveiled by the publishers Days of Wonder
at the 2005 American International Toy Fair
and was more widely released in May and June 2005.
In 2008, an expansion for Shadows over Camelot was released titled Merlin's Company.
, Sir Galahad
, Sir Gawain
, Sir Kay
, Sir Percival
, Sir Palamedes
, Sir Tristan of Lyonesse
. Additionally, an alternate character, Sir Bedivere
, has been distributed in games trade magazines and at conventions as a promotional item. The character is also available as part of the Shadows Over Camelot expansion A Company of Knights.
, a genre in which players work together in order to try to defeat a game system which itself is moving the game toward defeat for all the players. There is a chance that one knight is secretly a traitor, plotting the downfall of the others loyal to Camelot
. The existence of the traitor turns a fairly simple game system into a hotbed of paranoia
and accusation.
Each turn a player must first suffer the "progression of evil". They either decrease their health, add a siege engine
to those attacking Camelot, or draw a black card, which will usually make one of the quests harder to complete. After the progression of evil, each player takes a heroic action, which includes moving to or returning from a quest location, advancing a quest toward victory, playing a "special white" card, discarding three identical cards to gain one life point, or accusing one knight of being a traitor. In addition, while at Camelot, the player has the option of fighting a siege engine or drawing two white cards in addition to the normal heroic actions. Finally, each player may choose to lose one health point to perform a second, different heroic action. For example, a player may move to a quest, choose to lose one health point, and begin to advance the quest toward victory, a series of actions that would otherwise require two turns. Moreover, each player also has a "special power", which can be performed once per turn in addition to his or her heroic action(s).
The board of Shadows over Camelot depicts a number of locations, each with an associated quest. At the start of the game, they are: Camelot
; the War against the Picts
; the War against the Saxons
; the tournament against the Black Knight
; the quest for Excalibur
; the quest for Lancelot
's Armor; and the Grail
Quest. The quests for the Grail, Excalibur, and Lancelot's armor can only be completed once, whereas the wars and the Black Knight tournament repeat. Once Lancelot's Armor has been retrieved or lost, the knights have the opportunity to defeat the Dragon
. The success in all quests is determined by the playing of cards, mostly in various sets, and perhaps by the player's willingness to sacrifice their life to further advance a quest for the good for all loyal knights. For example, Grail cards are used to complete the Grail quest, a set of 1-2-3-4-5 in Fight is needed to complete the wars, and two pair of Fight are needed to complete the Tournament. For group quests, the cooperation of players is crucial for completing them quickly to gain the rewards before the progression of evil takes its toll (either the players' health is too depleted and/or there are too many siege engines). Quests are completed with the knights' success, in which case white swords are added to the Round Table, or by their failure, which results in black swords being added to the table.
The game ends once the Round Table is filled with twelve swords; if there are more white swords than black, the knights win; otherwise, they lose. In addition, the loyal knights will lose if they cannot fill the round table before twelve siege engine
s surround Camelot, or if they all perish fighting the forces of evil.
and will be less likely to be defeated immediately.
Players can accuse each other, which constitutes a heroic action. A correct accusation leads to white swords being added to the Round Table, whereas an incorrect accusation results in a white sword being flipped to a black sword. Further, if the traitor is not unmasked by the end of the game, two white swords are flipped to black at the end, which may result in an unexpected defeat.
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
-themed board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
designed by Serge Laget and Bruno Cathala. The game was also published in French as Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde and in German as Schatten über Camelot. Players take on the roles of Knights of the Round Table (with the possibility that one player takes the role of traitor) and play the game by fulfilling quests. The game is cooperative
Cooperative board game
In a cooperative board game, players work together in order to achieve a goal, either winning or losing as a group. As the name suggests, cooperative games stress cooperation over competition. Participants typically play against the game, and sometimes against one or two other players as well, who...
in that a shared victory or loss is possible in the absence of a traitor, and a traitor does not benefit by revealing himself too early. The endgame with a revealed traitor is, by contrast, a competitive game of asymmetric teams.
The game was unveiled by the publishers Days of Wonder
Days of Wonder
Days of Wonder is a board game publisher based in the United States and France. Founded in 2002, Days of Wonder distributes its games to 25 countries. It specialises in German-style board games and have branched out to include some online games. Days of Wonder has published games in English,...
at the 2005 American International Toy Fair
American International Toy Fair
The American International Toy Fair is one of a few major toy industry trade shows held around the world. It is held annually in mid February in New York City's Toy Center, located at 23rd Street at the crossover of Fifth Avenue and Broadway and at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and is...
and was more widely released in May and June 2005.
In 2008, an expansion for Shadows over Camelot was released titled Merlin's Company.
Cast
The Knights of the Round Table in the game are King ArthurKing Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, Sir Galahad
Galahad
Sir Galahad |Round Table]] and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic, and is renowned for his gallantry and purity. Emerging quite late in the medieval Arthurian tradition, he is perhaps the knightly...
, Sir Gawain
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
, Sir Kay
Sir Kay
In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay is Sir Ector's son and King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. In later literature he is known for his acid tongue and bullying, boorish behavior, but in earlier accounts he was one of Arthur's premier...
, Sir Percival
Percival
Percival or Perceval is one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. In Welsh literature his story is allotted to the historical Peredur...
, Sir Palamedes
Palamedes (Arthurian legend)
Palamedes is a Knight of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is a Saracen pagan who converts to Christianity later in his life, and his unrequited love for Iseult brings him into frequent conflict with Tristan...
, Sir Tristan of Lyonesse
Tristan
Tristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain...
. Additionally, an alternate character, Sir Bedivere
Bedivere
In Arthurian legend, Sir Bedivere is the Knight of the Round Table who returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. He serves as King Arthur's marshal and is frequently associated with Sir Kay...
, has been distributed in games trade magazines and at conventions as a promotional item. The character is also available as part of the Shadows Over Camelot expansion A Company of Knights.
Gameplay
Shadows over Camelot is a cooperative board gameCooperative board game
In a cooperative board game, players work together in order to achieve a goal, either winning or losing as a group. As the name suggests, cooperative games stress cooperation over competition. Participants typically play against the game, and sometimes against one or two other players as well, who...
, a genre in which players work together in order to try to defeat a game system which itself is moving the game toward defeat for all the players. There is a chance that one knight is secretly a traitor, plotting the downfall of the others loyal to Camelot
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world...
. The existence of the traitor turns a fairly simple game system into a hotbed of paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
and accusation.
Each turn a player must first suffer the "progression of evil". They either decrease their health, add a siege engine
Siege engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and...
to those attacking Camelot, or draw a black card, which will usually make one of the quests harder to complete. After the progression of evil, each player takes a heroic action, which includes moving to or returning from a quest location, advancing a quest toward victory, playing a "special white" card, discarding three identical cards to gain one life point, or accusing one knight of being a traitor. In addition, while at Camelot, the player has the option of fighting a siege engine or drawing two white cards in addition to the normal heroic actions. Finally, each player may choose to lose one health point to perform a second, different heroic action. For example, a player may move to a quest, choose to lose one health point, and begin to advance the quest toward victory, a series of actions that would otherwise require two turns. Moreover, each player also has a "special power", which can be performed once per turn in addition to his or her heroic action(s).
The board of Shadows over Camelot depicts a number of locations, each with an associated quest. At the start of the game, they are: Camelot
Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world...
; the War against the Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
; the War against the Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
; the tournament against the Black Knight
Black Knight
The black knight is a literary stock character, often contrasted with the white knight. The character famously appeared in Arthurian literature and has been adapted and adopted by various authors, in cinema and popular culture...
; the quest for Excalibur
Excalibur
Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate. The sword was...
; the quest for Lancelot
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
's Armor; and the Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
Quest. The quests for the Grail, Excalibur, and Lancelot's armor can only be completed once, whereas the wars and the Black Knight tournament repeat. Once Lancelot's Armor has been retrieved or lost, the knights have the opportunity to defeat the Dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
. The success in all quests is determined by the playing of cards, mostly in various sets, and perhaps by the player's willingness to sacrifice their life to further advance a quest for the good for all loyal knights. For example, Grail cards are used to complete the Grail quest, a set of 1-2-3-4-5 in Fight is needed to complete the wars, and two pair of Fight are needed to complete the Tournament. For group quests, the cooperation of players is crucial for completing them quickly to gain the rewards before the progression of evil takes its toll (either the players' health is too depleted and/or there are too many siege engines). Quests are completed with the knights' success, in which case white swords are added to the Round Table, or by their failure, which results in black swords being added to the table.
The game ends once the Round Table is filled with twelve swords; if there are more white swords than black, the knights win; otherwise, they lose. In addition, the loyal knights will lose if they cannot fill the round table before twelve siege engine
Siege engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have been used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and...
s surround Camelot, or if they all perish fighting the forces of evil.
Traitor
At the beginning of the game, a set of eight loyalty cards are dealt to the players. There are seven cards indicating 'loyal' and one card indicating 'traitor'. Since a game is played with at most seven players, not every game is guaranteed to have a traitor. Moreover, games of three players are often played without a traitor, since otherwise the game can become unbalanced. Should the players decide to play with the possibility of a traitor despite this risk, the rules recommend for each player to wait until after six turns before looking at his or her loyalty card. In this manner, the loyal knights will have a slight head startHead start (positioning)
In positioning, a head start is a start in advance of the starting position of others in competition, or simply toward the finish line or desired outcome...
and will be less likely to be defeated immediately.
Players can accuse each other, which constitutes a heroic action. A correct accusation leads to white swords being added to the Round Table, whereas an incorrect accusation results in a white sword being flipped to a black sword. Further, if the traitor is not unmasked by the end of the game, two white swords are flipped to black at the end, which may result in an unexpected defeat.
Awards
- Spiel des JahresSpiel des JahresThe Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the stated purpose of rewarding excellence in game design, and promoting top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality...
award for Best Fantasy Game, 2006. - Origins AwardOrigins AwardThe Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Gamer’s Choice Best Board Game of the Year, 2006.
External links
- Official Shadows Over Camelot website
- Shadows Over Camelot on Bruno FaiduttiBruno FaiduttiBruno Faidutti is an historian and sociologist, living in France, who is best known as an author of board games. His best known games include Knightmare Chess , Mystery of the Abbey and Citadels . He is also involved in the boardgaming community with his "Ideal Games Library" website and...
's Ideal Games Library