Stephen Stewart
United States
Visalia
California
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...the competence of the players.
This expansion to Ultimate Werewolf, which I play quite frequently, has some good and bad points.
Typically, the artifacts are handed out to each player at the beginning of the session. During the day up to the moment of when the votes are cast upon the Accused, anyone may activate their artifact card. Prior to activation, the artifacts lie dormant and await proper timing to utilize the powers to the maximum effect.
During the first few games this turned out to be very bad. New/weak willed/immature/ignorant players were playing their artifacts like they were going out of style. Each player seemed to be arbitrarily activating their card to see the results...Well, if they took the time to THINK about the power of the card AND how it could/should function as a positive usage of power, other than abuse, then the game wouldn't transition into INSTANT CHAOS.
By the third time my werewolf colleagues, (different ones) played with them, the game seemed to progress not as chaotically. Not everyone jumped out to play their cards instantly and one player actually used his card to benefit the Village. He happened to cancel the ability of the Sorcerer.
Many of the cards are simply powers that duplicate other roles in the game. Idiot, Mayor, Hunter, Pacifist, Prince are just a few that I experienced. I'm not sure how this differs from just having an additional role for each player. About half of the artifacts in any given game played were duplicate powers. Other artifacts cause other players to reveal roles/discard artifacts and other various effects. These artifacts seem to have the best effect upon game play as players can impact the power(s) of others and thwart their function, semi-randomly, of course.
After playing 3-4 games with the artifacts, I understand that just as the witch and seer have to use and TIME their exposure in the game to make the biggest impact, so must the activation of the artifact powers. Activated too early and the effect is minimal/Too Late and the effect is lost.
The following cards are just a few cards. Most I have seen used and will describe some possible usages for these cards in the Strategy Section of this forum.
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Nick Fash
United States
West Hollywood
California
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Read: If you don't like Artifacts, you are a bad Werewolf player.
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James
United States
Midlothian
Virginia
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Well, that's not how I read this review anyway. I appreciate knowing that this is a set of cards that will go over much better with more experienced players; this does inform my decision whether of not to pick up the game. It's also good to know that so many of the cards duplicate villager powers. I probably will end up getting it as many of the cards will fix the issue of players getting disappointed at being "just a villager." However, I know going in that I may be thoughtful in which artifact cards I introduce. This ability to choose is what makes the Ultimate Werefolf version such a good value; so much is offered that you can easily tailor the game to your group.
Thanks for the review!
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