Spartacus
The price of blood and betrayal
Description:
“This fast-paced board game is set in Ancient Rome. It immerses you in a world of merciless plots, fierce bidding, and bloody gladiatorial battles!
Foment plots and undermine the forces of your rivals with your cards. Betrayal and lies are your weapons of choice.
Bid on your opponents during the open market and acquire top-notch recruits!
Set up your champion against that of your opponent and bet on the outcome of the fight. The path to victory passes through the sacred sands of the arena! “
The contents of the box:
1 Arena & Paris board
4 House tiles
4 plastic figures
1 rulebook
62 Market
cards 104 Intrigue cards
152 tokens
26 dice
The course of a game:
Each player chooses their character (and their dedicated cards and abilities), and must obtain 12 Influence points at the end of the game to win.
To do this, the game turn goes as follows:
Interviews : Refresh the maps, heal wounds, feed the gladiators and recover the fruits of the labor of your slaves).
Plot : Draw 3 cards and buy them (the maximum level of the hand, as well as the possibility of playing them depending on your influence points),
Trade : trade cards freely and auction others. Finally, we auction the title of Host, which will gain influence and organize gladiatorial fights (on the central board, each person’s heroes are represented by the figurine, equipped with weapons and abilities and ‘face off with attack and defense dice, while avoiding intrigues imposed by all).
The verdict :
Originally published ten years ago, the game Spartacus: The price of blood and betrayal is now experiencing a reissue, the opportunity to benefit from a graphic overhaul (icons and illustrations drawn and no longer simple photos from the TV series) and details of the rule points which remained unclear or unbalanced.
To go into details, the heart of the game, the Intrigue Phase, is a pleasurable surge of “whore shots”. Indeed, the size of the hand being limited, a rain of resolution of effects falls suddenly (the active player playing all his cards in his turn, but will have to expect retaliation). We can ally ourselves in order to benefit from the influence of another Dominus, and play more powerful cards, but also bargain for acts (without having to show the card, which results in a bluff), then betray!
The whole point of the game is therefore to rot, counter, betray and break alliances. This is also its limit, because this game is reserved for experienced players. Indeed, the game is ultra competitive and will make you lose some friends if they are not aware of the unusual turn of the game.
In the row of novelties, the combat rules have been redesigned, which is a very good thing because the original rules were so strange.
To sum up, Spartacus: The Price of Blood and Betrayal is a good new edition, with a design change (like it or not), which is reserved for players who like betrayal.
Technical sheet
Type: Management
Format: Game box
Author (s): P. Simunovich, JP. Brisigotti
Publisher: GaleForceNine
Illustrations: D. Stojanovic
Number of players: 3 to 4
Age of players: 14 years and over
Duration of a game: 120+ minutes
French edition: Yes
Available extensions: No Observed
price: Less than 50 euros
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