One Year On – 1066, Tears To Many Mothers

Well, what a difference a year makes! When I wrote my original review of this game, I have to say I quite enjoyed it, especially the solo game. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm and enjoyment didn’t last very long.

As a two player game it does produce some really close games, at least if the two players have equal experience of the game, but it just didn’t hold our interest once we’d become familiar with the games strategies. This, coupled with the frustration of working hard to get a really good and expensive card on the table, only to see it wiped away almost immediately by a cheap, throwaway card, has meant this game is currently awaiting a new owner.

But what about solo? Yes, I did say that it had a respectful solo mode, but again, that ended up having no legs. Even on the hardest A.I. level, winning the game is pretty easy once you’ve worked out the strategy, which just leaves you with chasing a new high score.

It doesn’t take long, though, before the only score you’re chasing is a perfect one, which means that as soon as you know you’re not going to achieve it you end it, and start again. Once you’ve achieved that perfect score then what else is there to do – the game doesn’t contain enough variation in strategy to hold you anymore, and you will probably never play it solo again.

It is still a very beautiful game – the artwork on the cards is fantastic, especially the emotions written across the faces. The flavour text is full of history, and if you are a bit of a history buff, especially as far as the battle of Hastings is concerned, then this game may still hold something for you – I know I learnt a lot about the battle just by reading the cards!

One Year On – As a two player game it becomes repetitive and frustrating; as a solo game it hasn’t enough legs for anyone other than a very casual solo player to get their teeth into – for me, it’s on the pile of game to go.

Read the review here