The Usurpers Arrive:
An Armello Follow Up

We just put up our review of the game last week, and had mostly good things to say: that it’s fun, it feels like a flawless blend of a board game and video game, and no matter what, you have to respect the amount of art and style the game puts forward. On the negative side, we felt that the game might sometimes could feel a little too luck based, which is the curse of all games that are based around dice. The thrill of gambling your victories on rolling die might always be fun, but having a losing streak can be very frustrating.

I’ve put in quite a few more hours since writing that review, and my appreciation of Armello has only gone deeper. This is for two main reasons; one is that we were fortunate enough to get a review copy of the newest downloadable content, Usurpers, which adds four new characters and more variety to the game. The second reason is because I finally made the jump to playing multiplayer with friends, and I haven’t laughed that hard in a long, long while.

The Good: Usurpers Brings New Life and Spectacle

Usurpers is a content upgrade that adds 4 new characters, and 4 new rings. While the rings are minor - one of the small ways that you can change your avatar’s bonuses when a game starts – I cannot state how huge a difference it is adding 4 more characters to the game, especially ones that operate so differently than the original 8 in the base game. In order to really get this point across, let’s break them down one at a time.

Ghor, The Wyldkin – This dopey looking bear is a great place to start: this magic-based character is tied to terrain in a way like no character before him with his ability "Conduit”, forcing him to stick to the woods. It seems a little underwhelming at first, until you first walk into the woods with him and see him turn into a walking tree. With his ability to effect any woodlands on the board with magic, he can suddenly have influence you don’t expect. That paired with how magic becomes cheaper for him while he’s in woodlands, and you know that this bear is going to pull out a lot of tricks you might not expect. While he might not be the most offensive character, his influence on the board and varied toolkit make him a foe with a lot of options.

Magna, The Unbroken – This wolf is packing, and I mean that in every sense of the word. Her shield is as massive as she is, giving her a presence of intimidation that matches the bear clan’s Brun. If anything, she seems even more brutal, simply because her hips are wreathed in the pelts of other animals. Just think about that for a moment. Perhaps the most straight-forward addition, this wolf still prizes combat, but mixes it up with a defensive trick; her burned shields in combat now reflect damage! It's absolutely brutal when you see her in combat destroying someone with her shield. You don’t want to mess with this wolf directly, because you’ll most likely lose; the way I ‘win’ against her by just avoiding her terrible gaze, denying her prestige through combat.

Elyssia, Wardress of Wardens – The rabbit clan always has felt like the ‘cultured’ group, and Elyssia just drives this point home. With a fancy hat and art-deco inspired measuring equipment, this rabbit is based all around taking the settlements around the board and making them work even more for you. When she ends her movement in a settlement, it becomes fortified, and this fortification is permenant. In addition, she doesn’t pay any extra movement for moving through fortified settlements, giving her more speed advantage as the game wears on. She’s the least aggressive of the new members, but can tarpit the board by getting more money and defensive terrain than others.

Sargon, the Death Teller – This creepy rat wins the award for best new aesthetic. While the other rats had a sneaky, devious look about them, Sargon looks pathetic and diseased, and simply wrong. His torch glistens in the dark, and its red flame envelops him in puffs of smoke when he moves, giving him an otherworldly look. What gives him his advantage is the ability to see what cards lie on top of the decks you draw from: like other rat abilities, there doesn’t seem to be an immediate pay off, but when done correctly, can be devastating. Facing Sargon in combat can be an easy affair at first, but as the game goes on, he simply seems as if he might always have the item he needs to destroy you. Or, as we found out with Dana, turn him into a nightmare-fuel infestation of rot.

More than ever, Armello has a blast making four characters duke it out for the kingdom, and it is improved whenever you have variety in the way different players go after this goal. While Usurpers doesn’t add a new board type or new modes of play, adding four more characters makes it feel like a new game again.

Multiplayer Madness

Up until recently, I’ve only played this game single-player. Typically, my turn-based games are a way that I enjoy to relax, alone, hiding from the world as I try to conquer some virtual other-place. Armello is quickly becoming an exception to this rule, for a few reasons. First is the fact that Armello was originally conceived to be a board game, and so the fun of having others join you seems a lot easier and organic. While I’ve done some randomized multiplayer, I find that jumping on a skype or discord call with friends then starting up a private game to be an insane blast: for those of you who have long distance friends, take note of this game for sure.

A second noteworthy mention is that Armello is a significantly shorter multiplayer affair than most turn-based games. Most of my attempts to play Civilization or Endless Legends with friends are fun, but stop a few hours in unfinished. An average Armello game is about an hour, so you can tear through one or two sessions easily in an evening.

The last thing to mention is something which is incredibly refreshing: if you are playing Armello with friends, only one of you needs the Usurpers upgrade for all of you to enjoy it in your multiplayer games. If the host has this content, everyone can enjoy it for that particular round, letting more people in on the fun faster.

The Nitpicks: The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side

One of the only downsides to this new content is that it makes some of the original characters feel mild in comparison to their new shiny cousins. I love my bear Sana, or my tricky rabbit Amber, but the new bear Ghor turns into a tree, and Sargon teleports around the map in puffs of smoke, insidious whispering accompanying him. It’s a small issue, but one that I can feel during the game playing one of the original, more ‘static’ characters.

I’m also getting a little nervous about balance. I love the idea of Elyssia, but I find that all the money in the world can’t help me win if I just get terrible luck drawing cards. Sana has a great ability, but it only works if other characters are corrupted on the board. In comparison, Magna’s always steady approach, or Brun’s ability to overwhelm with magic seem like consistently good abilities. Again, this might just be because some of these characters don’t work towards my particular gaming style, but favorites are starting to be drawn. League of Geeks is known for updating Armello consistently however, and so if there are some trends of imbalance starting to show across the board, I’m certain they’ll address it as time goes on.

The Usurpers DLC Content Adds Fun, And Even Better Flavor

The more I play Armello, the more I enjoy it, and that’s a good place for any game. There’s enough variety and depth to keep basic games feel fun, and my continued delving into multiplayer is exciting. On top of all of this, the Usurpers content adds a whole new level of trying to understand and master the different elements of the game.

While this is a review of the new Usurpers content, it’s important to note that Armello still stands strong on its own. Remember, if you are playing this game multiplayer with friends, only the host needs Usurpers for all of you to enjoy. I’m really thankful to the developer that they’ve made this choice, and shows that they are balancing the wishes of making money with the happiness of their player base. That, plus the patches that they’ve been making since the release of the base game says a lot.

Get the Usurpers pack for your Armello game: it makes the game flashier, and if you’ve already played this game a lot, revives it for a new set of challenges and fun. It’s worth the money, and if anything, make sure you get one copy for your group of friends. With that in mind, I have to go challenge Dana to another round, after beating me in our last livestream. Jerk.