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Key to the Kingdom - A Randomgame Review
Our gaming group is playing each two weeks a random game from our collection, which we maybe bought as kids or got as a present and hardly played before.
This is the review for "Key to the Kingdom".
Objective
The players each have the role of one adventurer moving through the dreamland of the dark lord Tarralan. There are different adventures which have to be solved, marked with black or white daggers. For the main adventures (black dagger) the adventurer gets a reward hidden in an envelope which could be the key to the kingdom. If one of the adventurers has found the key to the kingdom and another valuable treasure he can leave the dreamland and win the game.
Conclusion: objective and theme sound nice, fantasy rocks :-)
Game contents
6 plastic adventurers - production quality is ok, unfortunately they look all the same
1 dark lord Tarralan - in my opinion a worthy dark lord
48 equipment cards - 6 times the same cards: net, torch, food, rope, axe, sword, grapple, shield. Illustrations are ok, unfortunately they look all the same (again)
30 monster cards - very funny, most of them having alliterative names and nice illustrations
1 manual
1 eight-sided die - awesome! :-)
6 envelopes and 6 treasures - one key to the kingdom, four treasures and one evil cobra, which prevents the aventurers from winning. Illustrations are fine, the envelopes are of good quality and still have no big scratches after nearly 20 years.
6 bridge pieces – for a bridge adventure on the board. Nice bits and it is funny building it up once during the game.
Game board consisting of 2 foldable pieces - the masterpiece of the game: very nice illustrations, you can look at it for hours finding new details and funny elements. And its foldable: when an adventurer enters the magic whirl, the board will unfold to a new area showing different new places to visit.
Conclusion: the game pieces are ok, the card illustrations are nice and funny, the board is a masterpiece for this kind of games.
Manual
The manual is b/w. I have just the German version, so I can't tell about the original one. But this one, is really a mess.
The structure is unclear, finding a specific question leaves you skimming frantically through all pages.
The description of the adventures marked with white daggers is incomplete, one location is missing and some descriptions just do not cover all cases. And the sequence of the adventures seems to be completely random so that it is hard to find the one you are searching for.
The main negative aspect: it's inconsistent. Some rules contradict others, many rules are not described (e.g. what happens when you have to flee from the board but you are in prison? how exactly is movement through a zone with a black dagger which has no treasure left?) I think you would need a FAQ as big as the manual for claryfying all open questions.
Conclusion: really a mess.
Flow of play
You have to roll the D8. Then move the dark lord Tarralan to the corresponding field. If this is a field with an adventurer on it or next to it, move him to prison. You are not allowed to pass the way which is blocked by the dark lord.
Then move exactly your numbers you've thrown, except for white or black daggers, where you have to stop.
For a white dagger, you have to look through the manual to find a textual description how to solve this adventure. For most of the adventures you need to have a specific equipment and to throw many dice. Most of the times when you don't solve the adventure, you are suspended for a few rounds. This can be really horrible, because you can be suspended for three rounds, while in the fourth round you are just allowed to move one space. This means (e.g. for a five player game) you'll miss 4 times 4 turns while having 100% downtime.
For a black dagger, you have to draw a random monster which you have to battle. The fighting procedure is well known: use equipment, throw dice. If you win, you get the envelope for the corresponding location. If not, you have to move out of the black dagger location.
Once the location is empty, you just have to battle, without a reward. Which totally does not make any sense, but is sometimes necessary to shorten the way to a specific other location.
If somebody moves onto the magic whirl, the bord will unfold or close again. The other people at the board have now three extra throws to flee from the impact of the folded board. When you flee, you have to stop your movement at daggers, which means that from some locations at the board you do not have the chance to flee to a save location and will be caught.
If you get caught by the folded board, you are suspended again. Like often in the game. Additionally, you can also lose your treasures.
Then there are a few other rules, concerning the cobra, the ring of the menhire and the sorcerer of wealth which make the game more diversified.
And one really bad rule: if you exactly reach a point where another player stands, you can steal one of his treasures. This means: hours of play you will throw dice, move, fight and solve adventures and then one idiot, which did nothing during the complete game until now is moving at your location and stealing you the key. Very funny and happening at least once each game.
How long is the playtime? It's infinite, if you have skilled players. By entering and exiting the magic whirl you can prevent one player from winning until he his hair becomes grey and he quits. We didn't have one game which ended! We always set a time limit saying: if after this limit somebody has the key, another treasure and not the cobra, he will win.
So, what happens while you play this game?
- you will first enjoy the beautiful artwork, the game pieces and the funny monsters
- then you will discuss at least after each 4th or 5th throw if a specific case is possible. The rules will not state it and you have to find a common solution with your group
- many people will have minutes of downtime over rounds of play because they get suspended as an result of adventures, the prison or the magic whirl
- winning an adventure is in 90% of the case pure dice luck
- if the others will find out that somebody is trying to escape the dreamland, they will open and close the bord so long until everybody will be sick
Conclusion: at the beginning this game seems to be fun, but after half an hour you'll feel that you just roll dice and sit there waiting while you are suspended. And finally, the game shows the tendency to be endless.
The Good
the board, the illustrations, dark lord Tarralan, the random monster cards
The Bad
skimming through the rulebook to find white dagger locations, rules discussions, undefined playing time, much downtime as result of adventures, luck dependend
The Ugly
unplayable with skilled players because of the magic whirl
Personal rating: 3 / 10 because the longer you play the more you will be annoyed.
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Posted Sat Jan 21, 2012 1:41 pm