Dust off your beard and put on your helmet, because we’re going to dig in mines to reclaim the holy halls of the dwarven kingdom from the darkness in Covenant. Do you have the greatest ambitions, or will you keep it small?
Background
Covenant is one of the new and bombastic board games from Devir. Every year, Devir brings several new titles to Spiel, always including a larger flagship title. This year, Covenant did very well at Spiel and was sold out after just a few days. The game includes many components, offers a lot of possibilities, and boasts outstanding production quality.
In Covenant, players take on the role of dwarf clans, and each player sends their dwarves into the dangerous mines during three different ages (rounds) to restore the honor of the dwarven kingdom. The dwarf king has issued a command to all clans to recapture Karrak-cüm-Kazar, the holy mountain and ancestral home of the dwarves since the First Age of the Beard, for the dwarven kingdom. The holy mountain has been overrun by dark monsters, and the dwarves must return to the mountain to restore the honor of these ancient halls to their former glory.
The world of these dwarves is beautifully illustrated and brought to life by Spanish comic artist Enrique Fernández Peláez, with clear influences from The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the Mines of Moria, as well as a hint of Fafnirian and Germanic inspiration. The game itself was designed by the now much-loved game author Germán P. Millán, whom you may know from Bitoku, Men-Nefer, and Sabika—a master of complex games full of choices.
Gameplay
As mentioned in the background, there are three ages; these translate into three rounds, as a game of Covenant consists of three rounds, each consisting of four turns per player. This sounds streamlined, and it is: players have only a limited number of actions available and must therefore make smart choices, but each action is a combination of multiple actions. More on this later.
During their turn, players send one of the four dwarves from their clan to perform various actions. At the start of the game, each player has access to four actions shown on their personal board, but players can unlock additional spaces on their board during the game. Only one dwarf can be assigned per action. At the beginning, the dwarves are less experienced, but they can become stronger and thus perform actions more effectively. Players can also make their dwarves drunk with beer, which may translate into more confidence and better actions.
What kind of actions can the dwarves perform? There are four main actions: 1. Digging up valuable minerals and gemstones and exploring the halls of the holy mountain, 2. Fighting and defeating monsters, 3. Building monuments in the unlocked halls of the mountain, and 4. Delivering minerals and gemstones.
An action is not always simply just an action; it often results in several interconnected actions and bonuses. For example, there are multiple tracks on the game board on which players progress by performing certain actions, and all these tracks influence each other during the game. By digging, you unlock new halls, which also earns you bonuses. By building monuments, depending on the type of hall and the depicted resource, you also get bonuses. With the various actions, bonuses, and tracks on the game board, you can also unlock new actions and bonuses on your personal board, strengthen your dwarves, or increase your income at the start of an age.
At the end of the game, the clan that has accumulated the most glory receives the recognition of the ruler and the victory.
Conclusion
Covenant is, in every respect, a brilliant, highly elegant game. The challenge is thematic, intelligent, and complex. The rules are extensive and so are the components; at first, this may seem intimidating, but the gameplay itself is brilliantly intuitive. In Covenant, it’s all about the details. The four main actions speak for themselves, but the way they interact and connect is the main engine of this well-oiled machine of actions and choices.
