Summary
đź‘Ą A game for 2 – 4 players
⏳ Playing time is 35 minutes
🏢 Publisher is Matagot
Introduction
Gauls and Romans battle for glory in Asterix & Co., a fast-paced card game full of clever tactics, iconic characters and just enough chaos to with that classic Asterix charm.
Let’s get in on the table
Each player starts with an overview card, a legionnaire’s helmet, and three bonus tokens (a potion, a fish, and a wild boar). Then, everyone is dealt five character cards, and the rest are placed as a draw pile (all cards are shuffled together).
A starting album is placed between each player. With two players, there are two albums between you and with three or four players, there is one album between each neighbor. These albums are double-sided: one side Roman (red), the other side Gallic (blue). Orientation is important, as you may only play cards on the side facing you. The remaining albums form a face-down stack from which you will draw later. Bonus tokens and helmets are placed within reach, and the battlefield is ready.
Let’s Play
Players take turns, and on each turn they must choose one of three possible actions.
Action 1. Play 1 character card and perform the action.
Action 2. Use 1 bonus token and draw 1 card from the deck.
Action 3. Discard a number of cards and draw cards to your hand until you have 5 cards in your hand again.
Action 1: Play 1 Character card and resolve its effect
Choose one Character card from your hand and place it on your side of an Album, taking the character’s faction into account. Gauls are played on the blue side, Romans on the red side, and neutral characters may be played on either side. Some characters have additional requirements, such as discarding cards before they can be played.
After placing a character, you may choose to activate its special ability, as long as there is a valid target. These abilities can knock out opposing characters, earn helmets, or manipulate cards in play. Hero cards, such as Asterix himself, are especially powerful but limited, as only one identical Hero may be visible in play at any time.
Action 2: Use 1 Bonus token and draw 1 card
Instead of playing a character, you may use one Bonus token. First, draw one card from the deck, then apply the effect of the chosen token. The Potion bonus doubles a character’s strength and protects it from being knocked out. The Fish bonus allows you to knock out a character without protection, temporarily removing its strength from the Album. The Boar bonus offers flexibility, allowing you to either activate the ability of a visible character again or reinvigorate a knocked-out character without activating its power.
Action 3: Discard cards and draw back up to 5 cards
You may discard any number of cards from your hand and then draw cards until you have five cards in hand. This action gives you the opportunity to look for better combinations or get rid of cards that no longer fit your strategy.
Win albums and score points
As soon as the total strength of visible characters from one faction on an album reaches 15 or more, the album is immediately won. The player with the winning faction takes the album and gains sesterces, along with additional points for any Legionary and Centurion helmets present on that album.
The losing player receives compensation in the form of a bonus token of their choice and then places a new Album in the empty spot, deciding which side faces them.
The game ends immediately when a player reaches 50 or more sesterces after winning an album.
Conclusion & our score
Weight: 1.56/ 5
Replayability:Â 8
Our rating:Â 7,5 out of 10 dices
Asterix & Co. pulls you into the world of the comic books. I can’t say for sure whether all characters from the series are included, as I’m not that deeply familiar with the comics, but I can say that many well-known characters make an appearance. Some even show up more than once, which actually adds to the fun rather than taking away from it. A really nice touch is that you are battling over the comic albums themselves. While this doesn’t have a huge impact on the gameplay, it’s great to see certain characters referenced on specific Albums.
Asterix & Co. is a lot of fun to play. The characters have entertaining abilities, and the different tokens really help immerse you in the game, from the magic potion to the fish you can use to knock out an opponent. The game plays quickly, but you’re constantly faced with interesting choices: do you go all in on raw strength, or focus on sabotaging your opponent instead? Thanks to its short playtime, clear iconography and constant tension, this is an ideal game for families as well as players who enjoy light strategy with a healthy dose of confrontation.
A game that’s easy to get to the table, yet feels slightly different every time you play. Exactly what you’d expect from an Asterix adventure.
Thanks to Matagot or the opportunity to play this game and write about it.
