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The shadows arrived on the moon. From that day on, a mass of shadows (called Sheol) similar to a black tide began to form until it shrouded the moon completely and the moon "cried" the shadows down to Earth. Although technologically advanced, people had no means to stop the shadows, which slowly filled the Earth and exterminated almost all of mankind. The planet was fully enveloped in layer of clouds so dark that sunlight could not filter through and the survivors took refuge on the Isle of Light, also called the Citadel, the last outpost of mankind. In fact, Lux, a type of light radiation capable of destroying shadows, was discovered too late.
Enclosed between the immense walls that surround the many square kilometers in which the intricate levels of the citadel arise, humans have slowly forgotten the external world shrouded in darkness and exhausted themselves in a series of internal political, cultural and economic struggles. In fact, over the decades, the citadel has become a collection of decadent people, mixing nanotechnology with superstition, millenary beliefs with cyber-empowerments, chaos and the emergence of new castes.
Only the Scouts, explorers of the unknown and raiders of the outside world, have not forgotten that the world belongs to mankind and that mankind shall reclaim it one day. In this game, you are one of them.is set in a not-too-distant future. After the Moon’s Weeping, Earth has turned from being the realm of man to a place reigned by shadows. The only bastion of salvation is the Citadel, where the last survivors of humanity found shelter to survive. It is from here that the Scouts head out to explore the desolate lands of Sheol in search of resources.
Sheol is a cooperative game, playable solo or up to 4 people, with an emphasis on storytelling and strategy. Sheol is set in a coherent universe where game mechanics and setting are deeply interconnected. It is organized in campaigns, in turn, subdivided into missions. In each mission, players will have to coordinate their efforts tactically to complete the objectives and defend the central game area (the Citadel) from the enemy invasion. The story will progress, mission after mission, allowing characters to discover the secrets of the Sheol’s world and unlock more items and skills.
—description from the publisher
Ages | 12+ |
---|---|
Players | Solo, 2 Players, 3 Players, 4 Players |
Play Time | 90m – 120m |
Designer | Gabriele Porro |
Mechanics | Action Points, Cooperative Game, Narrative Choice / Paragraph, Grid Movement |
Theme | Miniatures, Science Fiction |
Publisher | (Self-Published) |
Gamil_
A lower price would maybe see this at a 6, but this is WAY too much investment, and the game absolutely does not justify it in any way. edit: Lowering this rating again, due to a lack of support for a subpar rulebook and bad card text with no official errata, leaving players (customers) to guess at what the designers may have theoretically meant.
Thor80
See review for my thoughts. https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3007564/sheol-compelling-narrative-somewhat-flawed-game
mr_hamish
2023/05/11 EDIT: Eventually we managed to complete the core box campaign. On the plot level - top notch. It was exciting and I admire the writers for creating such an absorbing story. I still think the game is good. What makes me think it is "only" good? The maintainance of the board itself and the development phase triggered always between chapters. Man, this takes a lot of time, sometimes we were scrambling through it for over half an hour. Definitely not cool. Second of all, I have an impression that the creators designed not enough meaty and gameplay rich scenarios. There are 13 within the campaign and some of them are demanding, unforgiving and hard. Then you just come across a couple of scenarios which last lesser than the development phase, which hurts. We just flip another card and it says: VICTORY. Even though the real game has not started yet. It seems as if the designers wanted to artificially extend the game itself, so that the backers would not be left with a feeling of unsatisfactory game length. The plot works for those scenarios, but there is just not enough game within the game which creates the feeling of it being uneven. Do not even get me started on the necessisity of killing Outer Lords several times before something actually happens - it felt cheap and gave my the experience of the game being, again, artificially extended. That is why I substract one point from my initial score. Again, I really enjoyed the game, but I think I could have enjoyed it more if it had not been for those features. At the very moment we're going through the campaign and I have to admit, that I actually enjoy the game much. The theme is extraordinary and this would be a blockbuster movie or series. The mechanics seem a bit overwhelming at the beginning but as the game progresses (and players too) it all becomes pretty smooth and easy-going. I adore the free stream of cooperativeness in this title - we can overlap our turns and work like in a real-life team. This is something different from all coop games I have played so far. However the scenarios are getting more demanding on different levels. I mean, almost all the time you have to do the same things, like pick up and deliver or go to destination and explore it. But the gravy this meat is dipped into is pisced up with plot twists which create pretty cool experience and you just want to play more to see what happens next. The game is text based hence it is essential to read a lot of fluff before scenarios to fully emerge in it. Sometimes I do not have time to do that. Luckily we got a friend who does that. All in all I like it, despite some minor flaws (mostly things I do not find OK, like Lords or Heralds hitting you when they die, etc.). I'm looking forward to play some more.