Greece has many myths and legends. These myths and legends are also a popular source of inspiration for various games. I have written extensive reviews with appropriate historical context on this theme before (see for example my review of Khora in which I summarise the Oedipus tragedy in my own unique way or my review of 300: Earth & Water about the Persian invasions of Greece). These ancient Greek stories are full of drama, monsters, heroes, cities and gods. Think of Heracles who had to perform 12 challenging labours, Perseus who beheaded the gorgon Medusa and the heroine Atalanta who hunted the Calydonian boar. In Legends of Hellas, different heroes come together to defeat different monsters during 12 trials. Are you hero or a no show?
Legends of Hellas is a cooperative game published by Quined Games. In Legends of Hellas, players face 12 challenges with increasing difficulty. During a challenge, 1 to 5 players (each a hero represented by a wooden token) try to defeat a set of monsters, the last of which is a Chimera (a ungodly joint venture consisting of different kinds of monsters). Each individual monster has two weaknesses and players try, by playing their cards, to expose and defat these weaknesses before the general draw pile runs empty.
During a turn, a player can perform one of the following actions:
- Fight: A player can play an action card from his or her hand. By playing enough action cards, players can defeat monsters. Each monster has two weaknesses. Play at least one card per corresponding colour to defeat the monster. With the “wild” cards, players can play a colour of their choice or vanquish a monster much earlier if there are already cards in the required colours.
- Move: Players must move to the locations of monsters to defeat these monsters. To move, the player must discard a card from his or her hand.
- Recover: Players can use this action to replenish their cards. The active player draws action cards from the draw pile until this player has 5 action cards in hand, after which this player must discard one card.
- Support: This action allows you to give cards to another player. This player must then discard a card.
- Consult the Oracle: The active player draws the top six action cards from the deck and places them face-up on the table. One of the cards is discarded and the other cards may be returned to the pile in any order.
Each turn cards are played or discarded. The game is lost when a player cannot draw any more cards from the draw pile. Legends of Hellas is primarily a race against the clock. Players win a challenge if they manage to defeat all the monsters. There are 12 trials in total. Each trial can be played as many times as you like, but these separate challenges provide variation and several difficulty levels.
Legends of Hellas is a simple cooperative game where players mainly have to manage their hand cards. They have to keep an eye on which monsters they might have to face and which colour cards they need for this. By playing the “wrong” cards or by discarding cards too often, players can obstruct themselves. Legends of Hellas may not be complex enough for most seasoned players, but for fans of cooperative games, this is a small and lighthearted game to be played after dinner or at the end of an evening.
