Stats:
No. of players: 1-5
Amount of time to play: 90 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 10 min

Mousquetaires du Roy Rules Description:

Mousquetaires du Roy is based on the novel “The Three Musketeers”. It may be played as a cooperative or semi-cooperative board game.

In Mousquetaires du Roy you play as the Musketeers against Milady who is set on dishonoring the queen. If you are playing the semi-cooperative game, one player takes on the role of Milady.

The Musketeers must duel and overcome skill challenges in different locations on the board. If they run out of turns, lose the battle in La Rochelle or the queen loses too much honor, Milady wins.

Each Musketeer is unique. There are four skill sets and each Musketeer excels in a different skill. Adventure Cards may be played to add skill points for a specific challenge or add dice in combat. Musketeers may also be equipped with items that will help them gain advantages in combat, movement or skill ratings.

Milady has treachery cards, traps and adversaries to hinder the Musketeers. She also has a bodyguard to protect her, Rochefort. Each turn the Milady player will secretly go to a location. If a Musketeer player enters that location, Milady reveals herself and Rochefort steps in to duel the Musketeer.

On their turn Musketeers get three actions. The Musketeers may take their turns in any order but must take all three actions on their turn. They may choose from drawing an Adventure Card, moving on the board, trading or buying equipment, reinforce La Rochelle, overcome a challenge or duel an adversary.

The way the Musketeers win is by completing four quests. These quests are comprised of challenges and duels and get progressively harder. If they are able to finish the four quests before they meet any of the lose conditions they win.

A Quick Mousquetaires du Roy Review:

Mousquetaires du Roy is a very good cooperative board game. It is tense and challenging and you’ll consistently feel like you could lose at any time.

The game looks good but the rules are pretty bad. It isn’t that they are that hard to understand. They are poorly organized and you’ll spend a couple games leafing through them to get answers. Mousquetaires du Roy is a complex game and the rules do not help to simplify it.

There is also and extra character that is not mentioned in the rules and has no figure. At first I thought it was the card for Rochefort, but upon closer inspection found it was Treville. You may insert him for a Musketeer if you like. I just wish that was clearly stated in the rules.

The game seems stacked against the Musketeers and this advantage makes the Milady side a bit overpowered. This is mostly resolved by just playing against the board, but you may feel you lose something doing that.

I also wish the box insert was better designed. It doesn’t really separate the components and the screen for Milady and board don’t easily fit into the box.
The last negative about this game is the title. Not a deal breaker but translating Mousquetaires du Roy into English would help make this game feel more approachable.

All that said the game itself is enjoyable. You’ll have to get through the first few plays to really remember all the rules, but you’ll be rewarded.

Mousquetaires du Roy reminds me a bit of Shadows Over Camelot. You must manage your resources and actions to beat areas of the board. But the hits just keep coming so you have to be ready to adjust and react accordingly.

There is luck involved in the combat system, but your decisions matter. Speaking of the combat system it is straightforward and fun. You roll the dice; if you match the icons for your Musketeers’ special attack you kill the adversary outright. If not you match your rolled swords against the opponent’s rolled shields and vice versa. Any swords not blocked by a shield inflict one wound.

Although Mousquetaires du Roy is not a perfect game, the gameplay, tension and theme make it worthwhile. If you are looking to add a new cooperative board game to your collection with a good combination of luck and strategy, unique player powers and hand management try Mousquetaires du Roy out.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 5 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6