/pic8731103.jpg)
Darkleaf Gambit is a two-player, turn-based, asymmetrical game that takes your most beloved chessboard and transforms it into the mythical forest of Haggedorn.
Begin this classically competitive game by taking control of one of six clans, each offering a unique set of abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Although champions from one clan to the next share similar shapes—pawns and rooks, knights and queens—the way in which these units move around Haggedorn varies dramatically. Some units protect while others manipulate the terrain while others seek only to destroy.
Each turn, you and your rival roll from a pool of dice to determine what deeds can be performed. Metal-core chips track the status—both boons and curses—of your clan’s units in Haggedorn. Once powered up, cube tokens may be spent to unlock powerful clan skills. Game progress is tracked by each player on a beautifully illustrated dual-layer board.
Maximizing the game’s asymmetry, every clan’s path to victory is also different. You may be forced to protect your king from the ranged attack of the Huldra or a close confrontation with The Murg. Ferrymen seek to push units into the void, while Erde care only for claiming Haggedorn’s sacred territories. Wildero Wibo transform your units into pawns of their own, while Hexen curse the very ground upon which you walk.
Be the first to reach your clan’s victory condition to ascend as the last true power in Haggedorn.
—description from the publisher
- Gives chess interesting twists.
- A lot of replayability in exploring different factions.
- Each faction plays different and has different win conditions and has different special abilities.
- Each chess piece has their own special abilities.
- A game played on a chessboard with chess pieces, but it is not chess. It is a head-to-head tactical duel game.
- chess
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice Rolling — Each turn, a player rolls a die and uses it for movement or a faction's ability.
- Set Collection — Dice are 'slotted into a spot on your board' and filling a row unlocks special abilities.
- Unique win conditions — Each faction has different win conditions.
- Variable player powers — Each of the six factions plays differently and has different win conditions and special abilities.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Dark Leaf Gambit and it is played on a chessboard with chess pieces, but it is not chess.
- This takes chess and gives it a lot of interesting twists.
- If you want to take something familiar like chess and breathe a whole different life into it, check out Dark Leaf Gambit.
References (from this video)
- New type of tactical tussle
- Utilizes a chess set as a base
- Each player has unique victory conditions
- Asymmetrical duel of deeds and darkness, fight for the soul of Hagadorn
- Hagadorn, a forest realm
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Point Allowance — Each turn is divided into five phases: upkeep, declare intent: roll and execute, slot bones, and acquire power.
- Area Movement — The player moves and activate their unique units over a series of turns.
- asymmetrical gameplay — In this asymmetrical duel of deeds and darkness, two players take the role of clan leaders, each commanding a retinue of units
- Dice Rolling — Utilizing a chest set, cuz it's basically a chest expansion, along with added clan boards, tokens, and dice, Darkleaf Gambit brings a new type of tactical tussle to your table. Players move and activate their unique units over a series of turns...
- Press Your Luck — A player must have at least one bone left in their pool at the end of their turn. So, if their last place bone wouldn't activate a power, then it cannot be slotted.
- Set Collection — The chips are not clan specific and any color can be assigned to any skill.
- Variable player powers — Each player selects a clan to play for the game and takes the corresponding clan board, clan guide...
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Everybody should own a chess set.
- The next time I see you, I want to see a chess set in your background.
- A glow up, if you will.
- The chess battlefield is now the mythical forest of Hagadorn.
- Pawns are still pawns, as are knights. However, kings and queens are each known as a royal. Bishops are known as sages.
References (from this video)
- Asymmetric factions offer different ways to play and unique strategies.
- The use of a standard chess board and pieces is accessible.
- Mechanics like slotting dice and activating abilities add strategic depth.
- Movement can be restrictive and sometimes results in lost actions if no legal move is possible.
- Dice rolls can be frustrating when they don't hit needed numbers.
- Asymmetric factions battling in the woods
- Hagadornne, the woods
- Wicked Cribage
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — On a turn, players choose to 'journey' (move units) or perform their faction's 'deed' (special action).
- Area Control — The Aird faction aims to reclaim and control the four central spaces on the board.
- asymmetric factions — Two factions with completely asymmetric abilities, movement, and win conditions.
- Dice Rolling — Dice are used for movement, actions like destroy/reclaim, and determining success for various abilities. Dice are also slotted to activate abilities.
- Hand Management — Players collect and slot dice, which can be thought of as managing a hand of actions or resources to activate abilities.
- Modular Board — Uses a standard chess board, but the 'woods of Hagadorn' are represented by it, and pieces are stand-ins for units.
- Variable player powers — Each faction has unique actions, abilities, and win conditions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is a game that uses a chess board and chess pieces, but it's not a chesslike game.
- The Merg want simply to destroy their opponents. noble, the king chest piece.
- The Aird doesn't have destruction on their mind, but rather they hope to reclaim the forest they lost.