WoW: The Boardgame is meant to simulate the online game. Although I have not played WoW Online, I have read other reviews and played other MMOs and think this simulates the online experience pretty well. There are many things to both like and dislike about the board game.

World of Warcraft – the Boardgame Rules Description:

The game has you playing as either the Horde or Alliance and your goal is to defeat the Overlord. If you are unable to defeat the Overlord you must defeat the other party in a PvP combat.

In order to become powerful enough to defeat the Overlord you must gain levels. Higher levels grant you access to new powers, items and talents. In order to gain levels you need experience which you get from completing quests. Quests also get you gold and usually some loot (items).

You start by choosing your class, then a faction (either Alliance or Horde). There are nine classes to choose from and all play a bit differently. You can travel the land and battle monsters to complete the quests and gain experience. As you roam the land there are independent monsters that have nothing to do with your quests but if encountered you must fight them.

The game takes places over 30 turns which alternate between each faction. And each round your character will get two actions. So basically each character will have 15 turns and 30 actions in a game.

Combat consists of rolling up to twenty-one 8-sided dice. The number of dice you roll is based on your melee and ranged attacks and armor and there are seven dice per category. The dice limit of seven keeps you from concentrating on just one area of combat.

Every few turns Event cards come into play. They represent things happening in the world around you. Some might affect you by allowing you to buy items, win a war or even spawn boss creatures for you to fight.

You can battle the other faction’s characters in PvP combat and even loot them if you win. But the main goal is experience points, to gain levels, to be strong enough to beat the overlord or other faction at the end of the game.

A Quick Review of World of Warcraft the Board Game:

First let me say the components are beautiful. The character management system and options for leveling are simply excellent. It allows for some variety within the same character class. There is a good mix of strategy and luck as most information is open, but you must still roll well to win in combat. Some of the mechanics are both unique and enjoyable. Overall the game is very fun to play. I have even tried it solo and think it is great played by yourself.

Unfortunately WoW: The Boardgame does have a few issues. First the game is pretty complex and long. Let me repeat that…and long. By the time you are reaching the late middle turns it can feel repetitive and tedious. With all the information to keep track of it can even feel a little fiddly.

There can also be a decent amount of downtime while you wait for the other faction to take their turn. And although the independent monsters seem great but there is really no reason to fight them. They don’t grant you experience and mostly just get in your way (which makes them even more annoying). I have heard the first expansion fixes this a bit, but have never played it.

The faction and thus player interaction is limited at best. It rarely makes sense or helps you to attack the other faction so the game seems a bit solitaire. This may be different in a game with more players, but I have only played solo or with two players.

That brings me back to the solo play. I have found a couple different solo variants that play very well and even help to solve a couple of the game’s problems. Taking only 15 turns cuts the game time almost in half and since you are the only player there is no downtime.

All this and I still think the game is fun and people who enjoy the genre should enjoy this game. I really wish it was shorter. Then it’d be easier to find friends to play and it could be played more often. A shorter time would also help it not feel quite so repetitive and make the whole experience better.

I hope to play a game with four players soon and try the 2 player co-op variant. I may have to update this review once I try these out.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 2 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 5 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6