After all the excitement around Star Wars and at the turn of the year, peace returns to the house Spielpunkt. What better way to start the new year than by testing a cooperative card game for two brave heroes? What a question. Of course not!
And so it's not surprising that we thought about the right strategies in countless games as part of the test for Chada & Thorn in order to master the tasks of the exciting 2-player card game in the Andor universe. In the following article I would like to introduce you, loyal readers, to “The Legends of Andor – Chada & Thorn” in detail. Have fun!
There's no Chada without Thorn
As a fan of the board game The legends of Andor I was excited about the new offshoot of the series, which is specially tailored to the needs of 2 players from around 10 years of age. Instead of a board game concept, Chada & Thorn relies on a card game as the main element, which has been expanded to include a miniature game board. The plan works: Chada & Thorn is quick to set up, compact and therefore perfect as a travel or bring-along game. So the next board game party shouldn't start without the two bold heroes. Although the game is wonderfully portable, it takes up a lot of space to play. Other games are better suited for the car or train journey.
Corresponding to the Andor series, Chada & Thorn begins with an introductory story that draws on classic fantasy elements and should therefore appeal to the majority of role-players; except it's die-hard SciFi fans who don't like to think outside the box. Chada is the nice girl on the left of the game box: appropriately wrapped in a green coat and a professional archer. Thorn, on the other hand, embodies the warrior wielding weapons. By the way: I leave it to your imagination whether the resemblance to Thor or Chris Hemsworth is on purpose.
After opening the packaging, the genre-typical game accessories were revealed to us:
- 2 pieces made of cardboard
- 1 red bonus figure for the solo game
- 1 curse figure made of cardboard
- 3 campfire tokens
- 20 willpower tokens
- 60 different cards (equipment, hero and curse cards, region cards, friend cards)
- 1 set of instructions (used as a play region in the introductory game)
So a lot of content for a small-format game like Chada & Thorn. And with so many accessories, the motivation to start the game immediately is high.
Hero Lines - The card game element
As with the big board game brother, Chada & Thorn also shines with a successful introductory round including a brief history that deals with the shipwreck of the two. Practical: The instructions themselves serve as the playing field. So what is it about?
Chada and Thorn have to get from the north of the Silberland to the south coast - of course, alive and, if possible, in one piece. The fact that the evil curse has completely different plans doesn't really need to be mentioned at this point, but it makes it clear when the two players lose the cooperative game. Namely, when the curse figure reaches or overtakes a hero or no fog cards can be drawn or a hero's row of cards is completely blocked and this circumstance cannot be remedied even with cooperative foresight.
The stages played are based on a continuous, exciting story. The individual game stages are really worth playing and anything but a sure-fire success. The level of difficulty increases noticeably and tactical considerations are just as important as cooperative actions. They come into play in the form of will-point donations, help in combat or even cooperative combat operations. Of course there are also tons of monsters to kill in Chada & Thorn; and won fights are rewarded with willpower points, the number of which is based on the strength of the monster. Exciting: Monsters can be removed from the hero lines even if certain actions replace a fight. That adds extra tension to the game.
The actions of their heroes are carried out by the players with the three so-called hero cards, which form a total of three rows of heroes (see picture). All game actions take place within these rows. With the help of the cards you can run, fight, use friend skills, defeat monsters, generate additional willpower points or equip or use equipment.
In particular, the already mentioned friend cards bring helpful bonus skills into play, which make the gameplay considerably easier or, if left out, make it enormously difficult. So hardcore Andor fans are probably playing unaided, relying only on their own sword or bow. Rarely does it happen when using the friend cards that an endless loop arises in the generation of willpower points, which can almost be equated with an "instant win". While this is a bit annoying because it almost completely eliminates the challenge, it happens quite rarely. Within the rows of heroes are also the curse cards, which block a row of heroes until the effect of the card has taken effect. This can be, for example, the nasty cursed character who is on the heels of the two heroes moving on. The activation of negative effects, like everything else in this cooperative 2-player game, should be discussed with your partner, because nasty surprises are synonymous with heroic death in the Andor universe. Who in the game mechanics, by the way, the similarity to the game The legends of Kashgar it is noticeable that it should be said that these are not accidental; the game author is also Gerhard Hecht.
Fantasy games live not least from their graphic implementation and at Chada & Thorn the illustrators have done a good job. The playing field cards and figures, but above all the cards, are beautifully drawn so that drawing cards is always a reward for the eye of the beholder. The tokens do not win a beauty prize, but they fit in well with the overall graphic concept.
Infobox
Number of players: 2 players
Age: from 10 years
Playing time: 45 to 60 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Long-term motivation: medium
Publisher: KOSMOS ►
Year of publication: 2015
Author: Gerhart Hecht
Language: German
Cost: 20 Euro
Image gallery
Conclusion
The legends from Andor - Chada & Thorn plays completely different from the board game model and offers two players an exciting game concept with lots of strategic decisions and interesting cooperative game actions. The card row mechanism works intuitively and mostly fairly. The tension is clearly noticeable and the content is perfectly complemented by the beautiful background stories. Chada & Thorn is a real bargain with a purchase price of around 15 to 20 euros. After the initially easy entry, it develops Chada & Thorn a playful heavyweight that should not only inspire fans of the Andor series. Do not miss!
