Trudvang Legends Review - A Lot Of Fun!!! At First.

Steeped in epic Nordic and Celtic myths and sagas, Trudvang Legends places players in the roles of legendary heroes who make their mark on a dynamic, everchanging fantasy world.

The game — based on the Swedish RPG, Trudvang Chronicles — thrusts players into a cycle of epic sagas in which their achievements change not only the world itself, but the very rules by which gods, peoples and nature interact. They will quest through an interwoven series of adventure books, and the results of their choices will echo through history: changing the relationships between sovereign nations, usurping kings, creating new waygates, or even locking and unlocking parts of the map.

Change in Trudvang Legends manifests physically as parts of the board actually change, making the actions of previous hero generations affect future sagas. However, the changes are only as permanent as long as history remembers them, which makes the game endlessly replayable, and even playing the same adventure book repeatedly will have a completely different feeling because the world itself has changed. Heroes, following a path of destiny, will even become historical fixtures as they become kings, guildmasters, or even gods!

TimeStamps:
0:00:00 - Overview
0:10:03 - Ease of Play
0:10:51 - What I Like
0:14:44 - What I Don't Like
0:17:21 - What I Can See Others Not Liking
0:19:36 - Final Thoughts
0:20:48 - Recommendations

5.0 - My absolutely favorite games. You can pry them out of my cold dead hands.
4.5 - Love this game! At the same time missing something that would make it a 5. Could be hard to table, lacking variability, a little light, etc.
4.0 - Really great game, almost always keeping, although has meaningful complaints as to what takes away from the experience.
3.5 - Really enjoyed, don't love it, may lose out to better games but the idea of never playing again is a bit sad.
3.0 - A good game, would play and suggest with the right people, if I never played it again wouldn't lose any sleep.
2.5 - A game I'd play again , but will never suggest it myself
2.0 - A game I don't want to play again
1.5 - A game I can't find any reason to recommend
1.0 - A game that is just bad.

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[NickJacksonusa]

I think this is a very fair review. We had a lot of fun playing it over the long weekend, but the core box needs more and I'm hoping the Wave2 extras give it the variety it needs.

[HexForger]

And let's not forget the usual, dreaded CMON's decision to release some of the expansions (not just cosmetic items!) as Kickstarter only exclusive content. Because who doesn't love the the feeling of missing out when buying CMON game!

[Linnir]

I have finished Trudvang. The story gets better and better as you get deeper. You can’t judge it from the first two or three scenarios as these are still setup storywise. The last third is really good as your previous choices bear fruit. This is a game where it feels that your choices matter to the world.

Two caveats: the Dimwalker is essential as you need a healer. I found the sweet spot is two players for player interaction and game mechanics. I miss it now that I’ve finished and look forward to wave 2 content.

[wade]

Watching you explain the game and go through the review I kept saying this seems like a less compelling version of The Isofarian Guard. Then you mentioned it at the end. I'm now glad I got in on a late pledge for The Isofarian Guard and let this one go.

[Valen-D]

Without a doubt this is most accurate review and conversation on Trudvang out there! Every point on the likes and not likes are spot on and why it may not be for everyone. Nice work Alex.

[yadayadayada]

I've played 5 sessions so far and your assessment was spot on. 👍 I like the story more as I get further in. But the repetition of pulling chips out of a bag and fighting the same 4 enemies, using the same 8 cards is disappointing. I'm still enjoying it though - just wish it had more variety.

[brettpetersen]

Brett Petersen
I finally played last night, was worried after watching a few reviews, it was really fun. This game ended up being pretty close to what I was hoping for when I backed it, which is a choose your own adventure game mixed with Quacks of Quedlinburg. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of Destinies, which also has minimal punishment for failure. I have decided that most choices they made because of the impossibility of balancing everything. I wish that more of your upgrades could carry over but balancing prevent it. My only real complaint is the same as yours, that the spawning system for enemies should have been designed more flexible so that the game could include expansion monsters. I will wait for wave 2 to see how the system develops. For now I am excited to play C-2.

[mysticmouse]

I know there's been a lot of chatter about how hard skill tests are. I don't have much problem with this but my son and I did start trialling this idea for fun...sometimes we like to tinker. So...

Variant option for skill test resolution in addition to the normal rules for
not passing test ( IE can Exhaust to return all runes and draw again) so...

If any success runes are drawn these can will reduce the target test by equal number for any subsequent attempt allowed through Exhausting character.
So after Exhausting character return all runes drawn including the successful runes to the bag and draw a number of runes again equal to 7 minus the number of successes from the previous draw. Resolve new runes drawn as normal with any further success being compared to the reduced challenge for a final result.

Example Str 3 challenge. Drawn 7 runes and gain 1 success. Challenge is now Str 2 test. Exhaust character to draw again. So return all drawn runes to bag and then draw 6 runes again ( 7 minus the single previous success). Compare new runes to adjusted challenge.

[Linnir]

Yes your assessment is correct. However while you can’t lose, failing checks will lead the story down a darker path. So you don’t fail in combat but can fail in the story. Agree that the core combat mechanic does need some tweaking for longevity.

[marksteelman]

I agree this game needs more variety in advancement. I also think the Event cards are lacking. We are playing three player and there are a lot of events where I just declare I’m going to fail out of the gate beside I need 4 fire and there is only one in my bag. I wish there was a reason to stay engaged. I wish event tests worked a lot more like combat. I like the core loop I just want new problems to solve in such a long game.

[MerrillWhiteKalEl]

You liked it more than Boardgame Rambling. I was originally a backer and then pulled out. I am glad that I did. Too bad that even with a retool the game still did not deliver a great experience.

[pedroalves]

Thank you for the intelligent and thoughtful review. I backed this mainly for miniatures for the rpg and immersion. For those of us that have read the RPG setting books and novel (Oathbreaker) the general negativity the game has received has been a tad distressing. I´m prepared to give it the slack it deserves, even if for immersion sake alone. Thank you again. Cheers.

[isaacraze]

That year it was between Trudvang and Oathsworn, I’m sure there both fun but I’m glad I picked Oathsworn.

[AngelAlita]

As a painter, I chose Trudvang over Isofarian Guard. I may have made a mistake.

[viesturskokarevics]

I like that you cannot loose. Nice change from Gloomhaven.

[blakecurry]

I get the notion that this will be where I land as well, but I've only played 1 chapter, so I'll see how it evolves as I play.

But I'm with you, Isofarian Guard is my number ONE most anticipated game and I can't wait for it to deliver.

[CB-yhdb]

I think people needing a “lose” condition is really people wanting a “challenge”. If you can not lose, they feel like you are not being challenged. We lost a few scenarios in Gloomhaven but we just ran it back and used our previous knowledge to win. That really didn’t bother me. I grew up playing Japanese RPGs. When you would lose against a big boss in a Japanese RPG game and then go on to grind/level up and then face them again.
The loss was not really a loss to me, but a set-back.

[patriziopastore]

Hi man... I'm also playing the game after waiting a lot as all the backer that jump this project. We are more or less on the same page is a good game but not great and I want to play great game (to keep in my collection)
I can agree on 3.5 but can be easy going to 3/5 in a while.

[elimcjones]

Alex after not having played Trudvang for a couple of months: "I wonder where Trudvang went? Maybe it's in that pile over there... nope, hmm I guess I can lose it..."

[mikhailvoroshilov]

So... quickly... I'm very impressed with how quickly a human being is actually able to speak! This is just overwhelming. I can't understand half of it.