Armello

It’s taken three years to get here, but the long journey hasn’t dulled Armello’s blades. From the deep tactics of its living board game gameplay to the sheer charm of its world-building and character designs, it's a turn-based quest filled with back-stabbing, political power plays and rampaging monsters that’s different each and every time you play. It’s at its absolute best when played in multipl...

If you enjoyed playing board games or card games when you were younger (or are still young), Armello will captivate you. The game is beautiful to look at, fun to play, and challenging enough to keep you coming back for more. Even if you’ve never played a game like this before, it’s enjoyable just learning to play and finally getting a satisfying victory.

Fit for a king.

Overall though, I’d highly recommend Armello to fans of Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, D&D, or anyone wanting to branch out from traditional board games. The graphics, though not the most exceptional in terms of quality, are beautiful; the combination of 3D effects with almost anime-esque cu scenes gives the game a unique and striking look. It’s interesting, the music has a calming eff...

Board games have had a surprising renaissance in recent years. No longer are they an item collecting dust in your Nan's closet, but a fun and viable pastime. This has led to some video game developers capitalizing on this increased interest, producing titles that emulate the style of a board game. One of the most interesting of these is Armello, developed by League of Geeks.

Games generally last for about 20-30 minutes, depending on how well (or poorly) players do. The intensity ramps up very quickly, which is crazy, because no game that's this cute should be this stressful. Playing is both a joy and infuriating, depending on your back stabbing/stabbed ratio. In either case, I found myself wanting to go back for more.

The only major things that hold Armello back are things that either can be fixed or are purely subjective. Personally I feel the random element is a little too on the nose, but like all good board games, there are going to be those who really dig that particular feature. Armello’s a fantastic example of a gateway board game and also a great way to spend an hour or two with friends who may not be a...

Armello is a great addition to the Switch library, delivering a tabletop experience on the go. Beautiful to look at, this title boasts deep, engrossing mechanics for those who are willing to stick it out through the rather steep learning curve. While you won’t be able to hop onto the couch and engage in local multiplayer with your friends, Armello helps make up for this with solid AI and an online...

In the end, Armello does not strive for anything more than being a polished and well-rounded experience, and despite some lingering complaints on its lack of communication and interactivity, it is a worthwhile purchase for any board game fan.

To be fair to Armello, any turn-based multiplayer game struggles if the players you’re competing against are slow or incompetent. The big problem is that even when it works smoothly, there’s nothing special about Armello beyond its style to elevate it beyond passable. But if anything goes wrong, and its limited communication in multiplayer makes it far too likely that something will, Armello has n...

Video games have quite a few advantages over the every day board games made out of plastic and paper. Sure, they’re not as physically real. You can’t handle them and touch them the same way. They don’t have the factory sealed smell of freshly printed material, and perhaps they can’t match the social aspect of a real-life gathering. But in practicality, they’re faster to set up, they do all the mat...