Armello – Nintendo Switch Review

“From the Wolf to the Bear, the clans declare that it is time to take throne.” This quick poem sets in motion League of Geek’s digital board game of backstabbing, demons, curses, spells and anthropomorphic animals – Armello. Where 4 clans of heroes, the Wolf, the Bear, the Rat and the Rabbit, must fight for the throne against a king suffering from a curse known as the Rot.

Armello is an easy to learn yet difficult to master style of game that draws you in with its visuals and keeps you going with its lore. Originally released on PC and the Playstation 4 in 2015, the team at LoG have worked hard to bring the game everywhere else and finally delivering it on the Nintendo Switch.

As a digital board game, the game is already set up for you to just start enjoying. Players choose from 8 different heroes (or more if you purchase the DLC or Complete editions) from 4 different clans, the Wolf, the Bear, the Rat, and the Rabbit, each with their own stats and dedicated skill which can help them change the tide of the game. Each player has the same goal – defeat the corrupted king and take over the throne.

The king is extremely powerful and won’t go down easily, so there are some options to win the game – by taking on the King one-on-one, by collecting Soul Stones to purify the Rot curse, by collecting more Prestige than the other players by the time the king’s health reaches zero, and by collecting more rot than the King.

Like any good board game, the base rules of Armello is simple – players move accordance to action points which are modified by the tiles they move to, mountains take 2 points while rotted lands removes 1 health, shrines restores 1 health, ruins starts a small game of chance, and cities are conquered to give you additional money every turn.

Of course, there are other players, and computer controlled threats such as the King’s guards and Rot carrying Banes, that will stand in your way. When this happens, you’re set to roll a set dice in correspondence to your strength, which advises how many times your aggressive and defensive moves are. Players that have their health drop to zero, are sent to home base – with the winner of the fight gaining a prestige point.

Then comes the more complicated feature, the cards. Each players comes with 4 cards which represent Inventory, Spells and Traps, all of which can be used to improve your stats or hinder your opponents. These cards can be used during battles as well where they can be sacrificed along with a die to ensure one of your dice roll is set.

When it comes to the Switch version of Armello, the game feels perfect like a perfect fit and is fully optimized for hybrid console to the point that I believe that this might be the best version available on consoles. The game looks and plays great when the console is docked but it works even better when the game is portable, something about being able to take this anywhere you want is a big plus.

The game runs very smoothly with only minimal loading lag as the game a new turn. I like to think this is thanks to the game’s major art focus being the battle cutscenes and their amazingly drawn cards leaving the heavier 3D works in the characters and board to a minimal, which works for the game’s style. The music also delivers promises of high fantasy and tension as players play their turns and fight their battles, all thanks to a beautifully done orchestral score.

Armello is the perfect blend of those who enjoy high fantasy story lines like Game of Thrones – or more accurately in the case of Armello’s animal heroes, Redwall – but wanted a more personalized version of Risk where your quest for domination is based on your skill, strategy and build. The portability and the ease of access of the Switch version makes it the best way to play the game.