So this is a game that I got to try at GenCon and I thought Knights of the Hound Table, it’s fun, but is it a game that I want? I now own it, why, because there is just something that kept me coming back and thinking about this game. Now, I need to play it more, but that’s for a bigger review to come. Let’s talk a little bit about what Knights of the Hound Table is.

Knights of the Hound Table

Knights of the Hound Table is a battling game for two to four players. In my opinion, it’s a two player game, but that’s besides the point. In it, you are building up a deck of cards to get more and better powerful cards. But the crux of the game is not really that deck building, it is playing the cards.

One each round you play out three hounds. One hound you will use for attack, one you will use for defense and the other one is used for it’s special ability. You’re trying to get more attack then your opponent has defense to try and cut down their life total to 0. It’s not that complex a concept.

But what stood out to me is that the decision making space was better than I expected. That’s because I expected a “take that” type of game. And the powers certainly do have that element. But as a battler game, I also expect it. So when I look at my cards, I realize I want to use everything

. And whose power activates first is all off of a singular number. If it is very high, it’s great for attack or defense but your power will activate first. But on slower cards the power is often better. But if your opponent can mess with your hounds too much, it might not matter. So now you have a tough decision less attack or defense to get that faster power or not?

Who Is It For?

I’m changing up how I write the Beyond the Box Cover to be less in depth than the reviews. But I want to keep this in here, because initial impressions do help you know if it might be for you. And I think that Knight of the Hound Table is for casual gamers in a great way.

It gave me a experienced gamer a good decision making space. But for a more casual gamer, it’s not an overwhelming space. You pick for three cards and then you choose which card you add to the deck later, if any. And that space is very tight and limited, which makes it accessible.

I think this game reminds me of a number of other battlers. But while those can either come out of the box with a lot of rules or a million rules if you are Magic: The Gathering, Knights of the Hound Table is much simpler.

Highlights

Now, to build off of what I said above about who it is for, Knights of the Hound Table is simple in what it does. And that is one of the major highlights of the game for me. Turns go quickly, and everyone goes at once. I play my three cards, you play your three cards. The only time we don’t do everything at once is buying cards. But the market is limited, so that is fast as well.

Another thing is the speed of the game. Now, at GenCon I got to demo the game, that is not the same thing as a full game. The full game is less snappy in terms of length, but doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. When I place it in a weight, I think Munchkin for a light card game. But unlike Munchkin which overstays it’s welcome through luck, Knights of the Hound Table offers real decisions every turn.

Finally, I like how simple it keeps the card. I talk about attack and defense but that is a singular thing on the card. There is one number, so you use one for attack and one for defense. And the one on the hound you use for the power determining who activates their power first and who buys first. So one number is used for three things.

Final Thoughts on Knights of the Hound Table

This is not going to be a game for everyone. But I want to call attention to it because I find it really fun. I think a lot of people looking at the game would assume that it’s just another take that dumb game that is meant to sell a lot of copies. Knights of the Hound Table, that is a silly theme. But, in my opinion it is more than that.

And for that reason, I want to call it out. I want people to find this game and dive into a fun and light experience. Yes, it is a game that won’t offer all the decisions all the time. But it balances a few limited decisions every turn to get fast game play. And I want that tradeoff a lot of the time because not every group I play with and not every game I play needs to be 90 minutes or more.

I doubt many people have heard of this. But let me know if you are familiar with Knights of the Hound Table. Is it a game that you enjoy? If you haven’t heard of it, did i sell you on trying it?

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