So, I’ve already done a big TableTopTakes on Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. This was a game that I had a very high opinion of and as you could see in my Top 100 games, I still definitely do. I had been playing this game solo, which I think is harder than in a group, but then when my game group wrapped up Gloomhaven during the pandemic, we needed another game to play. Since we are all in the same area, we decided to try Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon over Zoom.

This review is going to talk about how well the game works via Zoom. I plan on doing more in this series, though we might get a few party games lumped together into a single review of the premise of the is similar. For Tainted Grail, though, it is the only big game that I’m playing via Zoom, except for Dungeons and Dragons and people have been playing that digitally for years. So let’s jump into looking at Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

How Do You Make It Work?

So there are a few things that drew me to Tainted Grail as a game that we could play that was big and grandiose over Zoom. I also didn’t want it to be a game that we played digitally. We had played Dice Throne on Table Top Simulator and more games as well there. But the bigger the game, the clunkier it is on TTS.

The first thing to make playing Tainted Grail work was my camera set-up, and even that only kind of worked. The other players can’t always read all the cards or information on the locations, so that is part of what I do, explain what they say. But I have a top down camera that I can show all of the map. I can also Zoom it in for diplomacy and combat on the encounter.

The next thing is getting the players their characters. Since we wrapped up Gloomhaven in person, in a well ventilated area and masked, I just handed off the characters for people to play. That got them their character board, combat and diplomacy cards for the character color and their character. Since then I’ve also handed off the marker for tracking health, and some other sheets and cards that are useful for helping keep track of everything. If I were to do it now I’d hand off the character board, combat and diplomacy cards, a save sheet, some cubes, the health marker, the map, and if you have the Echoes of the Past expansion, the sheet for that. That is what the ideal would be, it sounds like a lot, but it works well.

Then the app is key for the game. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is an adventure game at it’s heart. And there is a massive adventure book. However, there is an app that has most of the adventure book read out in it. So I play the audio and everyone can listen to the narration as it goes along. However, everyone pulls up the app, that way the player who is exploring can see the choices that they have. It makes everything run smoother using that and I don’t have to read as much. I still do need to read the Echoes of the Past story bits thought.

What Works Poorly?

In the game you can team up with other players and do things. You have the option to explore as a group, fight as a group, and more. We don’t do much of that. While, in theory, it sounds great, it is hard to make it work via Zoom. I lay out my combat line, so someone else could work with me, but the other players don’t have a great setup for that. So we need to explain what the open keys are when fighting together. For that reason, we tend to do our own thing, cover more ground, and come together when we need to light an Menhir.

Speaking of Menhir and lighting them, we’ve played through the first two chapters twice now. The reason for that is that remotely, playing not in story mode proved to be too difficult. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is at it’s hard an adventure survival game, and there is emphasis on survival. However, when playing remotely, it is harder to plan as well as we should. Story mode allows us to use fewer resources when lighting the Menhir, it keeps them lit longer, and generally reduces the cost when we do things together. I think in person we might not have played on story mode, but digitally with the extra moving pieces, it’s tricky.

What Works Well?

Honestly, most everything else works well. But let’s talk about the highlights of what really shines. The app is amazing. Tainted Grail wouldn’t have been a game I picked if it wasn’t for the app. There is a lot of reading. And if I were the only one reading, it would be fine, but make it more difficult for the person who has the game. I feel that even if we come back in person before we finish, which I think is very possible, we will still use the app. It makes it that much easier.

The story element works very well as well. Now, I talked about the app already, literally just finished. What I am talking about here is the fact that this is a story heavy game. I feel like for playing via Zoom, you need either a game with lots interaction, quick turns, things like that, or you need something that has a ton of story. With a ton of story, every player stays engaged in the game. And the writing in Tainted Grail, it is not even close, it is the best writing I’ve seen in a board game. Yes, it is fairly dark, but it is extremely well put together and is extremely immersive. Honestly, probably the best part of the game, though, I spent my whole last session generally fighting and healing. But when other players explored, that was great to get the story.

Would I Recommend It For Zoom?

This is tough. With vaccines rolling out and it being fine, per the CDC for vaccinated people to get together in small groups, share meals, and spend time, this one is tough to recommend. I personally would prefer to play it in person, it’d be less book keeping for one person. Now, if you are playing with someone across the country, say both of you have the game, that’d be simpler. If not, there is a lot that you would need to send even with just the player board and cards.

So yes, I think this one works. Most likely it’ll be a bit before some groups of people can play together in person. Or maybe you will play across the country with someone who has the game. This game works well digitally. Having played it solo, it works even smoother when everyone is at the table, I think, but it’ll work well digitally also. The main takeaways when considering it, there are a bunch of pieces to hand off, and the set-up. I won’t way the app, because I’ll use that in person as well.

What is the largest game you have played digitally? Would you try something as big as Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon via Zoom?

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