The board game is a complexity monster

When the family comes together for the Christmas season, I slip into the role of the board game officer, who ensures exciting entertainment for the evenings in the loving. Therefore, towards the end of the year, I often start looking for interesting games in order to be able to offer the family something new from time to time. So last December, when I stumbled across a game in my search that I hadn't expected.

Rather by chance, I came across the fact that, apparently, largely unnoticed by the public, a board game in Mass Effect in November (Buy 1.95 € now ))) has appeared. Of course I couldn't avoid that and immediately got a copy. Mass Effect: Priority Hagalaz turned out to be quite a beast from a board game. And since Bioware's Scifi series also has many fans with you, I don't want to withhold my impressions from you.

Hunt for Cerberus

The title of the game is likely to arouse memories of Mass Effect 2. There the Hagalaz planet is a central location in the DLC “Hidden of the Shadow Broker”. The board game is located during the events of Mass Effect 3, more precisely: at some point after completing the N7 mission “Cerberus-Labor” in the game. After this commitment, Cerberus relocated his scientists and research on a converted cruiser in order not to give up an inpatient goal.


Source: PC Games



When the cruiser, just like the ship of the Shadow Broker, wants to hide in the everlasting storm of Hagalaz, the ship crashes. Commander Shepard and his crew are now to rush to the scene of the accident to secure research data and to free kidnapped test subjugations before Cerberus reinforcement arrives. With this interesting premise, Mass Effect: Priority Hagalaz blends in like another mission in the war preparations of Mass Effect 3.

Campaign with missions

The mass effect board game is designed for 1-4 players. It is a cooperative game in which all players work together for a common goal and do not compete against each other. Accordingly, the game can also be tackled solo if you feel like it. On the package, there is a value of 45-90 minutes when it comes to the typical time. However, this only refers to part of the overall experience, as I will explain in more detail. At the beginning I used at least 90 minutes to familiarize myself with the 40-page rule book and the many game materials. Even after that, I only had a big idea how the game works.

The run on the Cerberus cruiser takes place in a large-scale campaign in which up to five different missions are contested until the final destination. Each of these missions takes the 45-90 minutes estimated on the pack. So it is more of a series of several board games that ultimately form an overall picture. Playing through the complete priority Hagalaz campaign is therefore an undertaking, for which you should keep up for several evenings.

Almost one like dungeons & dragons

In the game, a team of four mass-effect characters, led by Commander Shepard, acts at all times-no matter how many players take part in the game. While Shepard is always there, the popular companions are available for the remaining group places Garrus, Tali, Liara and WREX. Everyone has special skills based on well -known skills from the games. And just like in the digital model, the characters can also level up in the board game through experience points, which in turn enables new skills to be unlocked.

In general, the designers of the game have placed great emphasis on transferring mechanics and functions from the video games to the gaming table in any form. So I have to hack closed doors on the mission cards, I collect loot that gives me grenades and healing kits, and of course opponents such as Cerberus troops and reaper units have to be combated. It all feels very much like Mass Effect, even if, as usual with tabletop or pen & paper games, you have to bring a certain level of imagination.



View of the game structure for a mission

Source: PC Games



The fact that Priority Hagalaz goes beyond a normal board game and for me feels more like a round of dungeons & dragons also has to do with the fact that there are always story elements during the game. In addition to the regular and mission book, the game also includes a multi-page “narrative book”. It can be found over a hundred numbered story snippets. In the course of the game there are always requests that the story section XY can now be read. The success and failure of missions and decisions regarding the path through the campaign have an impact on how the history works. So there is also a certain reflection.

A board game for gamers

I am aware that I probably didn't really succeed in bringing over how exactly Mass Effect: Priority Hagalaz works. The extensive rules and gameplaces are not really good to summarize shortly. So I don't even try. It is definitely one of the most complex board games I have ever seen. But that also makes it particularly exciting for someone like me, who is also used to complex mechanics in video games. Gamer should therefore find the game much easier than people who have never had a video game in hand.

But if you are not afraid to familiarize yourself with your friends into the diverse rules, you can look forward to a few exciting board game evenings. Unfortunately, the game has only existed in English. In exchange with the manufacturer Mopiphius Games, however, I was told that you are currently working on translations. So far, however, I could not be told when these localized versions appear. Before the second half of the year, you probably don't expect it. Because of the English language and the high complexity, the game was in the end nothing for the Christmas evenings with the family. But I still had fun dealing with Mass Effect in this way.