60
minutes
€53
cost
2-4
players
Game overview
In The Adventures of Robin Hood, you play different characters that live through an exciting storyline..
Each player chooses a character at the beginning with whom you will play the entire story. If you are playing in pairs, you can also both play 2 characters. This includes 2 meeples, 3 movement meeples and a disc in your color.
You don't actually have to learn any rules at all because you are walked through the game in the book. The book is therefore the main thread of your adventure. During a scenario it is your turn when the disc in your color is drawn from a bag. You can then move your meeple to another place on the game board by using a movement meeple, this must always touch the previous meeple on the board, making a chain of meeples. If you only use the 2 short movement meeples, you can put a white cube in the bag which will give you an advantage later on. Once on the new spot, you may either read out a piece of story or simply go to the next turn, depending on where you landed.
Each story has a goal which is often indicated at the beginning. For example, a goal could be to free someone from the castle. When this goal is completed you can read the end and move on to the next adventure!
Our thoughts
As fans of narrative and cooperative games, we were introduced to the board game Andor a long time back. Although we really liked the idea of the game, the game soon left our collection due to the in our high too much luck factor. When we heard that 999games had a new game in the collection, namely Robin Hood, that resembled Andor, we were very curious. Maybe this is the perfect, narrative and cooperative game?
Let's start with some positive news right away, Robin Hood surprised us a lot! We had high expectations for the game, mainly because of the fact that it is a narrative, cooperative game, but also because of the nice theme and the beautiful book that comes with the game. Still, we read varying reactions on the internet, but we are glad that we gave Robin Hood a fair chance. We like Robin Hood very much! First of all, the game starts in the most amazing way. After reading only a short instruction, you can start playing right away, without reading any game rules. In fact, the first chapter of the game takes you by the hand. You learn the rules, but it just feels like a real game. Very nicely done! We love this way of learning game rules.
Throughout the following chapters, you learn new rules each time, making the game more complex step by step. But, Robin Hood never gets really difficult. We find the story very fun and engaging to read. The book is certainly not a superfluous addition. Playing a board game, while leafing through the thick book together and reading bits aloud, gives a unique feeling. We find it very enjoyable! We play Robin Hood with 2 players, but both play 2 characters. This way we still get the full game.
Indeed, the game has the same feel as Andor. For example, to complete chapters you must go to a certain location and complete a task. Yet the game does play differently. We also see similarities with Destinies, for example. For example, you also talk to other characters on the game board and you get the choice to, for example, ask for help or goods. One big difference between Robin Hood and Andor is the luck factor. There is a luck factor in Robin Hood, but less than in Andor. Andor was often negatively affected by luck in our eyes, to the point where it started to irritate us. We have fortunately not had this in Robin Hood.
Robin Hood is definitely recommended for fans of cooperative and narrative games. We think this game will appeal to a large group of board game players. After all, it is a unique, yet very accessible game! We can't wait to discover the rest of the game.
Pros and cons
+ Fun theme and original execution
+ Interesting story
- The cardboard on the main board damages quickly
- Not replayable
