Labyrinthos Review

Greek mythology has always fascinated me. The adventures are awesome, the heroes are mighty, and the creatures are awe-inspiring. I often wonder what it would have been like to live in those ancient times, hearing those stories firsthand, and experiencing the excitement associated with such feats. Well, I may not have a time machine. But I do have a board game table. And on it is Labyrinthos.

Disclaimer: I do not intend to rehash the entire rulebook in this review, but rather provide an overview of the rules and game flow. -L

Labyrinthos is a game of action and adventure in which players are exploring the famed Labyrinth of Daedalus, searching for the 4 secret keys that will let them escape! All this while avoiding traps, their competitors, and the deadly Minotaur who seemingly lurks around every corner. To setup for a game, create the Labyrinth as described in the rules – in the end it will be a 7×7 tile grid. Each player receives a Player Board, Standee, 4 Desperation cards, 7 Action tokens (3 Hand tokens and 4 Feet tokens for the first turn). The remaining Desperation cards and tokens are placed to the side of the play area, along with the Key tokens. Select a starting player, and the game is ready to begin!

Over a series of rounds, players will take turns performing various actions, exploring the Labyrinth, searching for Keys, and avoiding the Minotaur. On your turn, you will be spending Action tokens to perform various actions, like: Move (to an adjacent tile), Explore (flip over an adjacent face-down tile and move to it), Discover Key (gain the corresponding Key token to your Player board), Desperate Action (play a Desperation card), and a handful of other actions. Each action has a token cost associated with it, and you must pay it in order to perform the action. Each different Player Board also has a unique Special Ability that is active during the game. Once you have taken as many actions as you can/want to take, you will return any unused Action tokens to the supply, and then choose a combination of 7 new Action tokens to be used on your next turn. Then, you will refresh your hand – drawing or discarding Desperation cards so your hand limit is 4 minus the number of Key tokens you possess.

The final step of your turn is to roll the Minotaur die and resolve his movement/actions. The movement of the Minotaur is similar to the movement rules of players, and some results on the Minotaur die activate special abilities. If the Minotaur ever enters a tile occupied by a player, he immediately Attacks! The controlling player rolls the Blood die, and the attacked hero gains that number of Wounds to their Player Board. A Wound on your Player Board will cover one of your turn actions, prohibiting you from performing that action until you spend Action tokens to Heal. Certain tiles of the Maze have special symbols that will immediately affect the gameplay. For example, any time a player moves onto a Trap tile, they immediately take a Wound. When a player is on a Hide tile, they cannot be Attacked by the Minotaur. Play continues in this fashion, alternating turns, until a player has collected all 4 Key tokens and made their way back to the starting Door tile. That player has successfully escaped, and all others remain trapped in the Labyrinth!

I know that may seem like a lot, but the gameplay itself is actually pretty streamlined and intuitive. The action descriptions on the Player Boards are clear and concise, acting as a player reference sheet in a way. I appreciate the Player Boards SO much because it keeps me from having to continually refer to the rulebook for any action questions. The action options themselves are simple to understand and perform, but the strategy required for overall success is trickier to master. This truly is an exploration game – the 7×7 grid is created anew every game, and chances are you will never play with the same grid layout twice. The Key tiles could be anywhere, and you have to try to get to them before your opponents. The different tile symbols offer some risk/reward decisions. Do you risk turning over an undiscovered tile in hopes that it gets you across this gap? It could be a Trap! Or it could be a Secret Passage that allows you to move elsewhere. You’ll never know if you don’t try it!

I also really like the mechanic of the Minotaur in this game. At the end of your turn, you roll the Minotaur die and resolve it. That means the Minotaur is essentially controlled by all players. It becomes a sort of tug-of-war, if you will, as players try to get the Minotaur to attack opponents, while hopefully also staying out of his range for the next player’s turn. Another neat thing about Labyrinthos is that when you collect a Key token, it actually provides you with an action and is added to your Player Board, covering an existing action. Through the use of actions and Desperation cards, you could be able to move Keys around on your Player Board too. Maybe its initial placement doesn’t fit the situation anymore, and you need that covered power back! The opportunities to strategize with your actions are endless, and that keeps the gameplay engaging. One last cool thing I want to mention is the selection of new Action tokens at the end of each turn. Certain actions require Hand, Feet, or both types of tokens, and having the ability to choose the combination of those for yourself feels pretty powerful. It could also quickly backfire, if suddenly you find yourself needing Feet tokens, but you only have Hands left! It’s another layer to the strategy, and it helps up the excitement of play.

Components. The components of this game are great. The maze tiles are nice and sturdy, the symbolism clean and clear. The Desperation cards have some cool flavor text, and their actions are straightforward. All of the Standees, tokens, and dice are good quality that will hold up to lots of handling. All in all, great production quality!

I am extremely happy that I decided to back Labyrinthos on Kickstarter. For being a seemingly simple game of maze exploration and movement, there is definitely a lot more to it than meets the eye. Players have to manage resources and plan ahead for what they need in subsequent turns. Desperation cards can affect the gameplay, and can sometimes even be used during an opponent’s turn. The ability of Key tokens to cover existing abilities really makes players think about what their strategy is moving forward. All of these aspects put into one game make for a fun and immersive experience. Purple Phoenix Games gives it an a-maze-ing 10 / 12. Also, special shout-out to the all-female team behind this great game!! It is really cool to see how women are moving up in the gaming industry, and becoming prominent players across game design, art, production, and media content realms within this hobby. Kudos to you ladies! I am very much looking forward to supporting your games in the future!