Charterstone

"The immortal Forever King has selected 6 citizens of Greengully to start a new village far from the Eternal City. Congratulations for being chosen! Your goal is to bring the greatest glory to the Forever King so you may rule the village in his name. After spending all day flying over the kingdom, the zeppelin sets down and the guards open the hatch for you and your companions." This then is how you start to play CHARTERSTONE. For those of you, like myself, who have never played a "Legacy" board game, you are probably asking what IS a Legacy Game? It is a game where your decisions on what to do permanently change the play of the game and the future of the outcome. This means that if you eventually start over (you will need to purchase a Recharge Pack for the game, it is advised you do so now if you are planning on buying this game) the play of the game will be entirely different. Even the rules of the game can and will change depending upon your choices. You will enter this fantasy scenario entirely blind without need for "learning" any "rules" whatsoever. Game play and directions are intuitive. Once you open the box you are guided through step by step and you and your fellow players take the steps and dive right in. You can play with up to 6 players and you can even assign some non-player players to the courses of action. I am trying to be vague purposefully because like a good movie, you don't want to be given any "spoilers" about what you are going to encounter. This game is fun and it has just given me incentive to try out some other "Legacy Games". There is a little touch of open ended RPG Fantasy Adventure video game, a smidge of Sid Meier's Civilization, an element of discovery akin to maybe Clue from the old world, a constantly evolving artificial intelligence that "guides" you and throws down obstacles in your path. There are twists and turns and with each outing (campaign) you will make key decisions towards your eventual ending. This game consists of 12 "campaigns" before it is entirely finished and you then you will need to use a Recharge pack to start all over. When you open the box for the first time, do not let the plain non-descript labelled inset boxes give you a false impression. This is one of the most artistic and beautiful games I've ever seen or experienced. Again, to avoid spoilers it is hard to describe without giving away secrets that add to the luxuriousness of this one of a kind experience. Unique is the best description of CHARTERSTONE, and from what professional reviewers have said of the game I don't believe that only applies to newcomers to these kind of games. It should also be noted that boomers and seniors are enjoying this game a lot as well as the younger gamers, CHARTERSTONE is an adventure for all ages, a joy to play, and again a work of art you build as you play. The most personal feeling of an unveiling as the game progresses is one of the hallmarks of enjoyment here, there are secrets revealed and unexpected turns to take, so if you like a sense of mystery and open-world exploration and sudden cliff-hangers with uncertain futures poised on a balance, then this will be your cup of tea, and see... no spoilers given away. The reviewers who have written reviews prior to the release date of December 14th and only said good-bad-or indifferent in a few words cannot have possibly played this game as it was only available to professional gamer/reviewers and invitees of Stonemaier Games prior to this date (there are some pro reviews out on the internet by good writer/reviewers, but be cautious not to ruin your experience with spoilers. A lot is made of the cleverness of the game design and I have to agree, this is an intellectual reward as well as a fun adventure that can and will appeal to the broadest of character types and ages from somewhat-mature teen to the old codger. In a word, a board game designed for Everybody.