Council of Verona – a 2 player review.
Here's my Council of Verona fantasy. I open a bottle of chilled Prosecco, put on a recording of <PERSON>'s Romeo and Juliet (particularly the stirring 'Montagues and Capulets'), and then with my tummy still pleasantly full from my favourite Italian meal, I bring out Council of Verona...
Alternatively, as is suggested by it being the first of Crash Games' 'Pub series', this is a game you can stick in your pocket and pull out when an opportunity arises, be it at a pub, in a restaurant while you wait for your meal to arrive, or just wherever you've got a few minutes and a small, relatively flat, surface to play on.
So what is Council of Verona?
Physically, its a 2-5 player micro card game – Just 13 cards and a handful of influence tokens are used with 2-4 players, while with 5 players a further 4 cards are added into the mix.
I've been quite intrigued by the concept of micro games – can a game with so few components really make for a worthwhile gaming experience? As I play a lot of 2 player games, I was hesitant to get Love Letter, (which seems to be generally regarded as better with more players) but having seen <PERSON> (My 'go-to' for recommendations of 2 player games) run through video of this it seemed like this could be the 2 player micro game I was looking for.
Thematically, it's a game set in the realm of <PERSON>'s Romeo and Juliet, encompassing the rivalry between the <PERSON> and <PERSON>.
The theme comes through both from the lovely artwork, and in the appropriate ambitions and actions of these familiar characters: <PERSON> and <PERSON> just want to be together, Lord <PERSON> wants more <PERSON> on the council than <PERSON> (while Lord <PERSON> wants the exact opposite). <PERSON>, on the other hand, wants more characters to be exiled than on the council.
I'm quite sure there was no intention for this game to have an educational benefit, but as a mother when I played this with my son I was pleased to think that it might actually add to his literary knowledge. While we did see Romeo and Juliet a few years ago ( so he does have a feel for the underlying themes), I can imagine that playing this might actually make names and allegiances stick in his mind– actually, for that matter it might even make them stick in mine!
While the theme is present enough for those (including myself) for whom playing a <PERSON>-based game is a draw, the game play is such that you could enjoy it even if the bard is not your thing. 118
It could have been re-themed in many different ways, but personally I'm really glad they they went in this direction.
So how do you play?
Get your hand of cards
Each game is played with a subset of the total deck so you never know exactly which cards are going to come out – however you do play with the vast majority of cards (10 out of 13 for 2 players), so you can anticipate cards making an appearance even if you didn't see them during the drafting phase.
All cards depict different characters from Romeo and Juliet. They come in two types: action cards which allow you to take an action when you play them, and agenda cards which have a goal that earns you influence if the goal is achieved.
These are handed out (5 cards each for 2 players, 4 for 3 and 3 for 4.) and then a drafting phase results in your hand for the game. We skipped the drafting phase for our for first few games, and when playing with my nine year old daughter I give her a special dispensation of allowing her to look at her hand and then get to decide whether to keep it as is, or opt for a draft.
Each player also receives an identical set of influence tokens, each of which has a different value on it (the full set of 0, 3, 4, and 5 is used for 2 players, while for 3 and 4 players the 4 is omitted)
On a player's turn they:
Must place one of their cards in either exile or council
Every turn you choose a card from your hand, and decide whether to place it in the Council or in Exile (these being simply two distinct areas on your table).
May take an action
If the card has an action written on it, you can choose whether you wish to perform it. Actions stir things up: things like move a character from Exile onto the Council (or vice versa), swap two of the influence tokens, etc.
May place an influence token
You may then place one of your influence tokens on any one of the agenda cards which are already on the table. 629