- Deisgner(s) : Offline Editions, Le Passe Temps
- Designer(s) : Reiner Knizia
- Artist(s) : Victorien Del Tatto
- Players : 2–5
- Game duration : 15 - 30 Min
- Weight BGG : 1.00
What's this?
Camarades is a fast-paced, tactical dice game developed through a collaboration between Le Passe-Temps and Offline Editions. This game is directly inspired by Risk Express (2007), which was revisited in 2014 with Age of War , but it differs from it with a completely reworked theme. Gone are the battlefields and military conquests: here comes shadowy manipulation, corruption, and influence.
How do you play?
The core of the game is based on risk-taking and dice management. The goal? To corrupt influential figures by completing the lines of symbols on their cards.
How a round works:
1. Roll the dice
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The active player rolls the 7 dice.
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He chooses a character to target from among those visible and tries to complete the lines.
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On each throw, if one or more dice correspond to an available line of the chosen character, he can place the dice on the line of his choice (one per throw turn) and re-roll the remaining dice.
2. Relaunch & penalty
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If a throw does not result in any die being placed, the player must remove one from his reserve (it is lost for that turn).
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This continues until:
The player completes all the lines of the targeted character (he recovers it), Or he has no more dice to roll.
End of game:
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The game ends as soon as the character draw pile is empty and there are no more characters left in the center of the table.
Is it good?
Camarrades is a simple game to learn and truly accessible to everyone. With games lasting around 20 minutes, it’s perfect for a cocktail hour or early/late evening.
Its new artistic direction brings an original, offbeat and visually successful theme , with humorous illustrations that fit well with the game’s dark atmosphere.
There’s no real strategy or tactical depth here: you roll dice, cross your fingers, curse, moan, and scream at every unlucky roll. And that’s precisely what makes the game so exciting!
You can also steal other people’s cards, and this petty aspect really creates a good atmosphere around the table. Camarades doesn’t overdo it, and that’s a good thing.
The variation proposed in the rules quickly becomes essential if you don’t want the game to drag on.
The game won’t appeal to everyone : those looking for control or depth may want to move on. Chance is omnipresent , and it can happen that you go through several rounds without being able to do anything. By the middle of the game, you can sometimes already feel like you won’t win if others get too far ahead.
But in the end, it doesn’t matter: the game is fun, fast, immediate, hassle-free … and above all, everyone can play it.
Many thanks to my online partner store, Espritjeu. To discover their catalog, I invite you to visit their website:
Review Camarades
Positives
- Simple rules, game accessible to all
- Quick games (15–20 minutes)
- Original and offbeat theme
- Very good atmosphere around the table
- Essential variant for stealing other players' cards
- Ideal as an aperitif game
Negatives
- Essential variant
- High chance: little control
- Little tactical or strategic depth
- Frustrating if the dice are stacked against you
Breakdown
- Edition 9.5
- Mechanics 4.0
- Thematic 6.0
- Replayability 8.0
- Getting started 10.0
- Interaction 9.0
- Originality 6.0
