It is often remarked that good things come in small packages. While not always true for board games, there is a lot to be said for any well-designed title that’s also portable enough to take to the pub. Council of Serpents from Wulfhorn Games aims for exactly this, promising a compact game of fantasy intrigue and political machinations with mechanics as deep as they are rewarding.
The crowdfunding campaign for Council of Serpents is scheduled to begin on July 7. Players will compete to meddle with the affairs of three noble houses. As a member of the eponymous Council of Serpents, you’ll be secretly charged to bring a house’s attributes to Triumph or Collapse. As soon as any house’s attributes meet one of these extremes, the game ends, so you’ll need to tread carefully in pursuit of your objective.
To do this, you’ll need to acquire and use Influence cards, all of which adjust the disposition of the three houses while boasting additional effects that change the shape of the game. While Council of Serpents aims to bring high levels of player interaction through these cards, it’s notable that you don’t directly target enemy players. This level of separation may well remove the sting of acting against another player’s interests – a key quality of many of the best board games.
In a curious additional layer of complexity, Council of Serpents allows you not only to manipulate the qualities of the noble houses themselves, but also the relationships between those houses as well as their plans going forward. Timing and forward-planning are key.
Though I’ve not played Council of Serpents myself, I’ve played enough Coup and Resistance to know a promising intrigue game when I see one. I can’t guarantee that Council of Serpents will deliver on its aims, but I strongly believe that the game is worth a look.
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Source: Wargamer
