The Duke

Product- The DukeProducer-Catalyst Game LabsPrice- $ 40 here http://www.amazon.com/catalyst-games-CAT13000-The-Duke/dp/B000BU6F5I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1437752656&sr=8-2&keywords=the+DukeSet-up/Play/Clean-up- 30-45 minutes (2 players)Type-EuroDepth-mediumTL; DR-Chess, now with a touch of random. 94%Basics- Two meet on the battlefield, but only one can rule! The Duke is a miniature war between two dukes. The main goal of the game is to capture the enemy’s duke. If this sounds like Chess, then you’re on the right track. Two new mechanics separate this from Chess: 1) random piece draw and 2) variable piece movement. On a turn, you can do one of two things: draw a new piece or move/activate a piece. The pieces themselves have a miniature board on them indicating how they move, what squares they move to, and any special powers in each square. Some actions are moving across spaces, some are hopping over spaces, some moves are not moves as they just attack spaces at a distance. What is interesting is after a player does use a tile, that tile flips to another side, thus providing two different tactics for each piece. The other option is to spawn new pieces. Each player has a bag of tiles, and when they spawn a piece, the player randomly draws a new tile and places it adjacent to his/her duke. Play goes back and forth between the players as they capture tiles, move across the the board, and try to outwit one another to capture the opponent's duke. Last duke standing is the winner.Mechanics-I’m not a Chess player. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s never been my go to game. The Duke, though, is fresh enough to draw me in. The constant flipping tiles and random tile draw makes this an innovative game as pieces can change from a knight/bishop hybrid to some new version of a jumping rook. However the best part of this whole thing is the new moves are all balanced, as well as easy to use. No one peice will completely break the game, and no piece will leave you scratching your head as to how to play them. 5/5Theme-Theme is hard to do in a Chess game. This game has some nice wooden pieces as well as some decent board art. The tiles all do actions that their names would imply. Overall, its a well done version of a war between two flat kingdoms. 4/5Instructions-The rules to this game are a bit long. The Duke has a lot of ground to cover, but does it well. I’d like them to trim down the rules a bit, but they do have some excellent game aids to get you playing quickly. Those extra cardboard sheets will be the thing you most often reference as you plan out your attack. I’d rather have less than more, but sometimes more is not exactly more. 4.75/5Execution-Chess is a classic game, but this not only improves on that, it adds new game modes. You can fight a dragon, you can add new terrain to the map to challenge both players, and the game is expandable by adding heroes from classic literature. I love what comes in this book. 5/5Summary- I’m not a Chess player, nor is my wife, but we both liked this game. The simple nature of each tile really makes this game approachable. The random nature of the tiles also means that veteran players will have to adjust strategies on the fly, while new players won’t instantly be squashed. It’s got great components. I’d like to place the rules on a diet, and possibly give it a tad more theme, but overall, this is a game I can play. The true test is that this is a two player, head-to-head game and my wife will ask to bring this one to the table. That right there tell you that this is an excellently balanced, fun, fast game. 94%

This game does not get stale in the way that chess can (don't get me wrong, I love chess)... however, with the variability of pieces placed on the board due to the blind-draw aspect, this game stays fresh and yet there is still enough skill involved that an experienced player still has a better chance of winning against a novice, but the luck factor is strong enough to keep the game interesting, fun, and fresh... and lots of expansions if you get really into it.

Very interesting game. It has some elements of it that feel a little chess-like, but it has some randomness in that every time you put a new piece on the board, it gets blindly pulled out of a bag.It has some great thinking and strategy, but because of the randomness of it and the fact that pieces keep changing what they can do, it's not a game that I plan out many moves ahead. This makes it quicker and more dynamic but at the same time less deep than Chess.I could imagine people getting really good at this game and having a different level of strategy. For me, it's a lighter but very fun game. One of the best abstracts I have played

It's a very fun game to get into. It feels a lot like chess strategically, but it is very different in how the pieces behave. I've tried two changes to the rules which have also been enjoyable:1. Identical ordering of pieces for each player. Having randomly chosen pieces is an interesting random element of the game that can change the tide completely, but I think it ends up feeling unfair when someone gets a lot of pieces in their favor. Having both players order their pieces also adds another strategic element, since they know which piece(s) are coming next.2. Removing the assassin in random draw games. With it in the game, there are suddenly a lot of moves that become insanely riskier (such as checkmate in 2 moves), even when the assassin is not on the board.

Easy to play even for a 6 years old kid since it's all about picture, not wording for those pieces, so kids are easier to understanding them. The fun thing is that you won't get the same piece for every game, it created more plan the strategy for every game. After couple days playing, my 6 years old kid is able to beat his 9 years old brother. It becomes their favorite game for this month. Over over, nice chess style game with fantasy game play role and each piece presents very nice skill as their title to create fun time for kids.

This has been a fun game, and we've yet to explore the many options. Already friends are ordering their own games. The only reason I didn't give five stars is because there's no option for a quality upgrade for the game board, A great game like this deserves a better board. Good stuff.

For me anyways. This is because games are quicker so I can fail, lose, and learn faster. Whereas Pawn structure baffles me and I can lose a game of Chess early and still have to play the entire game for another hour!Also, randomness gives the game variety and somewhat handicaps high skill differences. You're forced to work with whatever you pull from the bags.Cons: I worry about the integrity of the game board, and how i would replace it if it got damaged or stained. Could a wooden replacement be crafted? idk for sure.Basically: play this game. Funnest $38 dollars you'll spend with friends and beer(or drink of your choice).