Shadows Over Camelot

Customer Reviews

New challenge Review by Gagnonator

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Finally, a good balanced cooperative game! The fact that every body try to work together makes the game really addictive. Every game, thanks to black cards. The only thing is the traitor is too powerful. It is really easy to mess things up without being spotted. Other than that, the game is great! (Posted on 10/22/10)

Fun co-op game for larger groups Review by Andrew

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Shadows Over Camelot is a strategy game where players assume the roles of the knights of the round table and cooperate to fend off the encroaching forces of evil!

The mechanic which sets this game apart is the traitor; one of your fellow knights may secretly be scheming against the rest.

In my experience, this game is great with large groups (5+ players) and gets better each time you play with the same people. The bluffing element to the game really starts to shine when you’ve had experience playing with everyone at the table.

This game is fun for new players as well – the rules are easy to learn, and new players can sometimes be the most successful traitors. (Your fellow knights will be asking themselves “Is he inexperienced or the traitor?”.)
(Posted on 8/9/10)

Solid co-op, depends on your group Review by Louis

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This is an excellently produced co-operative game from Days of Wonder. Once again, the components are of excellent quality (typical DoW). Players take on the roles of Knights of the Round table to defeat the powers of evil, however, one player may secretly be a traitor conspiring against the loyal Knights. The loyal knights attempt to complete quests around the realm and defend Camelot from impending seige throughout the game.
The only problem I've found with this game is that it tends to be easier for larger groups, so 6 and 7 player games tend to be more easily won by the loyal knights, and more difficult for the traitor.
The game is easy to teach to new players, and once a few turns are played, the game runs very smoothly. Each knight has special abilities that make gameplay more interesting.
The game overall is top notch, but I think it will largely depend on who is playing. Some people prefer competitive games (like my game group), so my recommendation is try before you buy. (Posted on 7/23/10)

A good game that is hard to get on the table Review by Jasmine

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Depending on your gaming group, Shadows Over Camelot may be a great addition to your collection. However, through personal experiences, I have found it difficult to bring the game to the table.

Ideally, the game is more fun with more people. You can work with different people this way and there is more discussion about who the traitor is. Though it is possible to play with 3 players, I would not recommend doing so. A large regular and eager gaming group would be best for this game.

The components of the game are beautiful. The artwork on the boards are really nice and the figurines are well made. If you like to paint figurines, you can make them look superb with your set.

The game plays better with a not-so-core group. The main reason for this is that the mechanics and gameplay of Shadows is quite simple. In the rules, it states that you cannot talk about the game specifically, which is a farcry from Pandemic where such active talk is encouraged and required to beat the game. Once strategies are allowed, the game breaks down quite simply as the knights can easily band together to conquer the quests in a methodical manner.

With a group of core gamers, after a few games you will find that there is a simple path to follow in beating the game, which reduces the fun somewhat. As well, the game can sometimes feel like it drags on a bit, but not too long unless everyone focuses on drawing cards too much.

Overall, this game is either a hit or a miss. You may want to try it out first before purchasing. (Posted on 12/9/09)

Excellent Themed Fun Review by David

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Shadows Over Camelot is an extremely fun cooperative game that pits the knights of the round table against the forces of evil surrounding Camelot. The game is designed for 3-7 players and each player controls one of seven knights, each of whom have their own special powers. The knights must work together to win various quests and keep the forces of evil at bay.

The mechanics of play are pretty simple once you get started - each turn consists of something evil happening, followed by the knight doing something good (or, not so good if they are the traitor - more on that in a minute), and that's it. There are any number of end game scenarios, but the main idea is to ensure that there are more white swords on the round table than black - swords are placed according to success or failure on the various quests.

This game would be decent without the traitor aspect, but it the idea that one of your supposed brave knight companions might be working against you that really adds a great element to the game. One proviso to that is that you must ensure that when you are playing with the traitor that you go over the rules on the traitor and what they can do very clearly before you start - because if you are the traitor and you're unclear as to what happens, starting to flip through the rules mid-way through the game isn't exactly conducive to keeping your status secret from the other players.

One other qualm with this game is the level of collaboration allowed. The rules aren't extremely clear and it is often tempting to share more than you are supposed to in an effort to win. After being soundly defeated in our first few games, we came up with a strategy that seemed sound and kept the forces of evil back. I have some concern that following the same strategy will almost always lead to victory, but haven't played enough to know for sure.

With those concerns in mind, I would still recommend this game. It's definitely a little bit dorky, but for the right group of people who don't mind getting into character a bit and having a good time, it's certainly a lot of fun! (Posted on 11/25/09)

A great co-op Review by G

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Shadows over Camelot is an excellent way to introduce gamers to the world of collaborative board games. The gameplay is relatively simple, the rules are clear, and games take no longer than an hour or so to play. Moreover, the theme is brilliant; who doesn't want to be a knight of the round table?

The various quests provide players with objectives, each of which gets them closer to winning or losing. Excalibur, Lancelots Armour, the Dragon, and the Holy Grail are all one-time quests; once you fail/succeed, you reap the benefits, and that is it. The other quests are continuous; players must continue to fight the Black Knight, the Picts and the Saxons are else they will lose the game. The losing conditions are numerous; the winning conditions not so much.

Collaborating without outright cheating is difficult. Players aren't supposed to state explicitly what they have, but it is difficult not to at time. With the chance of one player being a traitor, this becomes especially important.

Like all Days of Wonder games, the components in SoC are amazing. The cards, the characters and the rewards are all of the quality one expects from a Days of Wonder game.

The only downside to SoC is that it is a bit simple. After playing a couple of games you do get a solid strategy down. For more experienced gamers looking for something more complex, this game may not do it. That said, the more players you add, the more complex and fun the game becomes. Our game group really enjoyed this game, and I have little doubt that most other groups will as well. (Posted on 11/9/09)

Playing against the board is fun in Camelot Review by TR

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Shadows over Camelot is a great game where players for the most part are playing against the board. While there is the possibility of a 'traitor' in the midst; just like the Arthurian legends, players are mostly fighting the board and the cards that are continually drawn to deter them.

For fans of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, this is certainly one of the better games, especially if everyone gets into it. Certain rules are described to allow players to keep the difficulty and theme, with players allowed to only describe certain actions of theirs and not cards in their hands. As well, a ton of quests appear, which are just fun to complete.

Overall, this is one of the better co-operative games out there and good for beginners and mid-level players though it might lack challenge for truly experienced players. (Posted on 3/25/09)

Great fun for a large group Review by Murray

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Shadows Over Camelot is a great introduction to collaborative games, being easy to learn and play and relatively short in play time. More serious gamers will probably be more interested in Arkham Horror. The premise of Shadows is that the players play as the Knights of the Round Table. Their goal is to complete quests and earn white swords to place on the round table. If they can acquire 12 or more swords with the majority being white swords, then they win. However, if Camelot is surrounded by siege engines, if there are more black swords, or if 7 black swords are on the table before the end, then the knights lose.

Every turn includes a progression of evil and a heroic action, with many options for each. Progressions of evil include drawing a black card, placing a siege engine, or losing 1 health. Heroic actions include movement, performing a quest duty, healing, or accusing. Undermining the knights is the possibility of a traitor. At the start of the game all the knights are dealt a loyalty card from a deck of 8. Only one of those 8 cards is a traitor card while the rest are loyal. The traitor works against the knights. Even after being outed, the traitor can still cause significant harm to the group.

Each of the knights have special abilities that can help the group. For example, King Arthur can trade cards with other knights while Galahad is able to play a special white card at no cost. There is a separate rule book for all the quests in the game, which includes fighting the siege engines, the war with the picts and saxons, tournament of the black knight, search for Lancelot, the black dragon, quest for the holy grail, and the quest for Excalibur. Each quest requires the knights to use their white cards in different ways and are relatively well summarized in the quest rule book. Some quests have relics that are acquired if the quest is successfully completed and the relics can help the group.

The components included with the game are very nice. The artwork is very beautiful and colourful. The knight figurines themselves are nicely made plastic molds but are uncoloured save for the base. Despite having many different components, the game is easy to organize and store in the box.

Overall, the game is fun, but a bit simple. The game rules itself suggests that the players avoid collaborating aloud in case of a traitor, but in reality close collaboration makes the game very easy to beat. This makes the game great for newer gamers, but a bit disappointing for serious gamers. I would recommend getting the Merlin's Company expansion along with this game if its easiest will be a problem. (Posted on 12/9/08)