Saboteur Review

Okay, so Saboteur isn’t one of the newest or shiniest board games on the market at the moment. Here’s the thing, it doesn’t need to be. It is profoundly unique, and well, scratched a BIG itch at its debut. I cannot think, off the top of my head, of a board game that is so immensely strategic, yet quick, super thrilling, and engaging for all ages.

As I said, this game may be small, it may be older, but it is mighty. If you like that element of a “sabotage character” in board games, then you will love Saboteur. The best part of this game is that being the “sabotage character” isn’t difficult to learn or teach. I remember playing rounds of “The Resistance: Avalon” or “The Resistance” thinking “what the heck am I really supposed to do?” before really understanding the sabotagey (I am making a new word here) role. At times I felt even a little incompetent because I was stuck in this role all by myself. This is where Saboteur REALLY shines! Not only is the sabotage role easy to learn, you get sabotagey FRIENDS to help you out. It only gets better with more and more players too!

So, what is this great little game all about? Well, each player is dealt a role card which is either a regular old (yes, they all have long white beards) dwarf, or a saboteur dwarf (they look slightly more sinister than the rest). Of course, our good dwarfs are on an honest quest to find some gold. (Nothing could go wrong right!?) As our dwarf friends begin to dig further into the cave of golden wonders (in the form of cards seen in the illustration below), they have to navigate to one of 3 specified cards with only 1 truly holding their golden prize. All the while our Saboteur friends, which are not revealed until the end of the game, are making attempts to play pathways and tricks to divert the good dwarves away from the treasure. The winning conditions are simple. If the good dwarves find the gold, they win. If the Saboteurs prevent the good dwarves from finding the gold, they win. Each role is then awarded with gold chunks, which they will keep for a cumulative score after 3 rounds of play. As I said, simple, but SOOOO much fun! I think the most exciting part for our game group has always been turning over the cards at the end of each round to see who the Saboteurs really were.

I think I speak for us all when I say that the excitement level and ease of teaching for this one are through the roof. If there are any drawbacks, it is the quality of the cards themselves. You will want to sleeve them…..trust us. Your game group will be begging to play multiple games in a row, lending to not so sterling looking cards. They get scratched after only a few plays. So, with the money you will save on this cheap little gem, do yourself a favor and splurge the extra $5 and get a nice stack of sleeves! The other drawback you may find frustrating is at the end when you are revealing roles to find out that someone who you thought was a Saboteur was actually a regular dwarf all along with really unfortunate card draws! Such is life, right!? Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a sneaky 20 / 24. Anyway, until next time, happy gaming everyone!