Meeple on Board Rating
Be the first to review this product.Board Game Geek Reviews
Be the first to review “Ettin”
You must be logged in to post a review.
Ettin
From the mists of war, a pair of great nations rise together like a two-headed giant. They march across the land crushing their foes. As one, they combine their strengths, thwart their enemies, and achieve a triumphant destiny.
Ettin is a 2-8 player card-drafting game in which teams of two compete against each other in fierce skirmishes and fast global conflicts. Your alliance shares strategies, defenses, and resources as you face off against neighboring enemies. You can even expand to 16+ players with multiple copies of the game!
Each of the eight unique nations has a different focus and playing style, designed to be a formidable opponent or a reliable friend. Pairs of enemies and allies play at the same time, making even the most climactic global conflicts between eight players shockingly quick.
—description from the publisher
| Ages | 14+ |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 Players, 3 Players, 4 Players, 5 Players, 6 Players |
| Play Time | 0m – 60m |
| Designer | Kenneth C. Shannon, III |
| Mechanics | Drafting, Team-Based Game |
| Theme | Fantasy |
| Publisher | WizKids |
Terry Egan
I can see what the designer set out to do, but Ettin is too complex and fiddly for its own good. Just way to many special abilities and the exceptions to rules they generate to flow smoothly. And the game certainly isn't engaging or fun enough to put up with the multitude of flaws.
Kitirat
Once played more than one time, best with 4+ stands out at 6-8+ people and that's where it niche is. When you have 6, 8, 10, 12+ people who all want to play a game at the same time. Its the only non-deduction out there.
Dr Monocle
I played this over the weekend at Escape Winter Con, with 16 people. I can't say enough good things about it. Ettin is a team-based deck builder that can scale up to 40 players. It plays over 3 rounds called ages. In a nut, you play cards in various lanes (city, quest, castle, etc), each of which gives a reward to the winner, and whoever wins the majority of lanes wins the age, which gives a big victory point bonus. Some cards such as Fortifications can survive between ages. I played the Wood Elves, and I was able to build a special fortification that allowed me to teleport units into my ally's game and help her out. I would say this is the deepest deck builder I've seen. Gorgeous production all around, and I helped clean up so I noticed that it also has a top-notch insert and that will definitely make life easier. No baggies required. Two minor cons: - It's a little complicated. The game has great depth and it hums right along once realize how cleverly integrated everything is, but all that depth has an up-front cost. - VERY IMPORTANT: Don't play this with tiny groups. I think 6 and up is probably where it shines. Possibly 4 and up. We played with 16, which requires two copies of the game, and everyone had a great time... I haven't played with 2, 3, or 4 but I'm told it really is not intended for the smaller sizes. And it can in theory scale up to 40, which is very unusual for a deep game like this one.