Tournament at Camelot

Today's review is of the 2017 release, Tournament at Camelot.  For 3-6 players, it takes 45 minutes.

Overview
You are in Arthur's circle of friends (or foes), eager to prove your prowess at the tournament.  Each round, you'll deal (or receive) damage.  When the first person drops to zero health, the player with the highest health wins.

Each player will be a protagonist (Arthur, Sir Gawain, Mordred, etc.), which gives him/her a special ability.  Each protagonist has a corresponding companion (Excalibur, etc.) for an additional ability when his/her health falls below a stated value.

The play revolves around dealing damage using weapons cards.  There are five suits of cards- four standard (swords, arrows, sorcery, deception) and one suit of wild cards (alchemy)- and a few other special cards.  Each suit has cards valued 1-15, and some are 'poisoned.'  See below image for an example.  Play will revolve around skillful use of these cards, as explained in the next section.

examples of cards; image from here

If you fall behind, don't worry- there is hope.  Godsend cards are distributed at the end of each round to those in greatest need, giving a further boost to level the playing field.

Simplified Gameplay
This game is played over a series of hands (called "Tourney rounds").  The dealer gives each player 12 cards.  The player to the left of the dealer leads with a suit of his/her choice.  From there it's a simple trick-taking game:

- all players, in clockwise order, must play a card with matching suit (if they have one) or wild card (if they have one).  If they have neither, they discard a card and lose 5 health.
- once all cards are down, the person who loses the trick (has the lowest number) takes the pile and places it in front of him/her.
- that player plays a new card, and things proceed until all hands are empty.
- at the end of the tourney round, each player receives damage based on the cards they have.  A 'normal' card is 5 damage, 'poisoned' are 10, and special cards (like Merlin) can be much more.
- each player deducts the damage they've received from their total health.  If nobody's reached zero, cards are shuffled and a new round begins after godsend cards are distributed.  If one or more have zero health, the game ends, and the person with the most health wins.

The player's protagonists, companions, and godsend cards give them unique abilities to introduce twists in the game.  Some, for example, give other players more damage in certain conditions, or shield the player from damage from a certain type.

Review
I enjoyed this game, a simple trick-taking contest with twists.  The art is good (and suitably Medieval in flavor), play is fast, and the protagonist/companion/godsend cards give a surprisingly authentic Arthurian flavor as well as introduce fun variations.  Best played with 5-6, give this one a try at your next game night.

Rating: A