One of the best games with worker posting mechanics. Argent: The Consortium Game Review

 So, class. sit down

 Today we will learn about "Argent: The Consortium" .

 It all begins with the resignation of Chancellor Nostros Calagaan and the appearance of a vacant position. They pay a good salary and you can wear your Harry Potter costume without being judged. So you definitely need to apply.

 But it will not be easy.

 A group of twelve secret judges choose who will sit in the chair, and you have to win their place.

 But who are they? And what do they want?

 Welcome to Argent: The Consortium . To win, you must win the support of the majority of the judging panel, but each judge wants something different from their candidate. The richest, most mana-hungry, most influential, most supported candidate. These judges start the game face down. And open to you only if they have your tag.

 You start the game with one marker on the field, but throughout the game you have a chance to place more. Until you put all twelve, you never know where you stand or how close you are to the chance of getting into the chancellery. This creates a level of uncertainty between you and other applicants. Since everyone starts the game with their information, you have to try to guess what they saw, or spend a turn to place a tag and check it.

 This doubt makes it feel like you are all stumbling in a dark room together. However, the game does not become completely aimless. You keep getting stronger and stronger, regardless of whether you're getting closer to victory.

 That feeling of doubt is compounded when you do get the label. You immediately check the table to see who won. And usually it's not you. This is where human nature kicks you in the ass, because even though you may win several other tags, you focus on the one you didn't.

 Because of this, you have a constant feeling of pressure and tension - you are never satisfied with what you have. But when you seek the terms of another juror, it means that the claims you focused on earlier remain open to competition. At this point, you become a plate spinner, trying to spin as many umpire conditions as possible, hoping no one gets knocked out.

 This is a great solution compared to the boring old victory points.

 But let's go back to the beginning.

 You start in the waiting room where there are students who want extra points. On each turn, you can direct one of these students to one of the buildings on campus, earning you a reward at the end of the round.

 However, now you need to understand where to place whom. Each student is trained in one type of magic, and when placed, they put their talents to work. For example, red students injure mages already in the room, sending them to the infirmary, while gray mages can be placed as an extra action when you've spent your turn casting a spell.

 This eliminates the delay between placement and feedback often found in worker placement games. This allows placement decisions to be made without being limited to the basic question of whether I should go here now or later. Instead, you focus on how best to allocate your resources. Should you use your red guys to destroy the opponent early on? Or green girls — immune to injury — to take up defensive positions? But what if it makes you unable to cast spells and cast gray pupils?

 It's this mechanic that should make you sit up straighter in your chair right now. The way Argent: The Consortium combines tactical and strategic thinking takes board gaming to a new level.

 Sometimes you won't want to place a worker. Instead, you can use an item, minion action, or spell.

 These spells belong to different schools of magic. All of them are unique and very strong. Some spells allow you to make several moves, others can send everyone in the room to the infirmary. Each spell can be upgraded twice more, becoming exponentially more powerful. You get the same feeling as the 1st, 50th, 100th level character from the mobile game ad.

 You're guaranteed to get spells every game, but they're expensive to cast, and even more expensive to improve. However, when you do, you can control the playing field in a way that other games feel out of place. But here you will feel at home. The game has some crazy moments that stay in your memory long after the game is over.

 The last action you can take is to take the clock tower card. These cards give you a bonus per round. When you take the last clock tower card, the round ends.

 You and other candidates can use this mechanic to control the fleetingness of the round like a two-year-old with the last pea on his plate. Sometimes you'll be fighting a slow war of attrition, trying to use each worker as efficiently as possible. Other times, you'll use fast mages to fill the field as quickly as possible.

 This is another mechanism that creates strategy and tactics in the game. At very little cost. It also allows you to test your luck, as when the round comes to an end, you have the choice of using an action or spell, or putting workers on the field. This is another interesting but difficult choice that this game throws at you.

 Once the last clock tower is taken, each room and each worker in it will activate in turn. And you get a bonus for where they are. Now you cross your fingers and toes and hope that all your tactical warfare has resulted in a strategic advantage.

 After five rounds, the game stops and you reveal each judge in a dramatic fashion worthy of a reality show. Once all the judges have been revealed, you will know your winner.

 It's a difficult game, but in my opinion, it's not.

 As with Spirit Island and Great Western Trail, the difficulty of this game comes from the space of decision-making, not from learning and learning the rules. Also, at the beginning of the game, similar to the games listed above, you are limited in your moves when you start playing. This gives you time to familiarize yourself with the rules and how to play before throwing you into the deep end.

 The highlight of "Argent: The Consortium" is that even if you are in the deep and can't swim, you can still trade. And what I mean is that there are no bad moves here. Everything you do makes you stronger and has meaning. Even if no judge praises you for it.

 If we talk about depth, Argent has enough of it. And that's before exploring everything inside the box. Each building tile is double-sided with different places to place workers on each side. The same applies to game characters. Also, there are more spells, items, and minions in the game than you'll ever need.

 There are so many game components here that you may never need another board game again.

 That's a huge compliment.

 But let me give you another compliment: this game is special; I get excited just thinking about picking it up again. So much so that while writing this review I was so inspired that I bought the app. This has never happened before. Argent. Magician's Advice is definitely one of the top four games I've ever played. It's a critical hit and I can't wait to play it again.

USEFUL LINKS

Argent: The Consortium on the BGG portal

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/144797/argent-consortium

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