Review: Avalon

The Resistance: Avalon

Players: 5-10

Year: 2012

Publisher: Indie Boards & Cards

A copy of this game was distributed by the publisher for the purpose of this review. Another note: From here on Avalon will refer to The Resistance: Avalon, while the Resistance will refer to board game The Resistance, which has been reviewed on this blog before. I must also admit, that I’m slightly in favor of the Resistance over Avalon.

Generic roles

Many reviewers have written about both the Resistance and about Avalon. Avalon is a stand-alone game from the same company, which features aspects of the Resistance and adds an Arthurian theme to it. Instead of fighting against an oppressive government, the players are knights in service of Good (Arthur) or Evil (Mordred). The idea is the same, that through 5 quests, one side overcomes the other.

For these quests teams are selected and there’s a vote to approve or reject the team. If the team is approved, it’s sent out to fulfill the quest, where the participants can play for the success or failure of the quest.  As soon as one side wins the majority of the quests, the game is over.

What’s nice about this box, is that it features everything in order to play the basic game of Resistance, as well as several extra’s. Included is for example a few roles, such as Merlin or Morgana, who have certain knowledge that others don’t have. Another example is the Lady of the Lake, which allows a player to determine the loyalty of other players.

Special roles

Difference between Resistance (2^nd) and Avalon.

The main difference is of course that a few roles have been added already. As such Avalon is a stand-alone game, which also has a few additional elements to enrich your experience. While the Resistance has several dedicated expansions with unique elements, Avalon can stand firm on it’s own, providing both the base game of the Resistance as well as parts of the expansions. It also provides a cheaper alternative to players that want the Resistance and a few extra’s, but without the additional costs of the expansions.

A slight downside is that the new roles are nearly all catered around ‘Merlin’, who knows who all the evil players are. However, he also comes with the ‘victory’-condition that not only does his side need to win, but also do the Evil players need to guess wrong. If the Good side won, but the Evil side guess correct who’s Merlin, the Evil side still wins. Therefore if people wish to incorporate roles, they need to start with Merlin and go from there.

Storytelling is also different in Avalon. While in the Resistance, a lot of things are unnamed and open for interpretation according to different settings and themes, this is slightly more difficult in Avalon in my personal experience. There’s only a setting, while with the Resistance it was easier to change it. Usually we come up with our own missions and narrate them accordingly. This is works a little bit different in Avalon, which doesn't have to be a bad thing.  

Most outstanding feature?

The most outstanding feature in this game is the blending of the theme with the artwork. Everything fits together nicely and the cards look gorgeous. I would highly recommend it.

Post-game reflection

I remember at the beginning that I was strongly in favor of the Resistance versus Avalon. Now that I've played it a few times, I must admit I've mellowed my opinion. The gameplay is largely similar and the difference is largely in theme only. Although I'm still slightly in favor of the Resistance due to personal experiences, both games are great. 

In short: The biggest difference is in theme, between a sci-fi setting or a medieval/fantasy setting. The Resistance has a lot of room for potential expansions, which add different things to the game at a price. However, if you only want the base game and a few extra’s this stand-alone is perfect! Public opinion is also in favor of Avalon and it certainly is a worthy addition to every collection.