~Rob Fenimore
Dice Drop Games
Royalty and entertainment have traveled hand in hand throughout the ages. Just ask Bach, Mozart, or Marilyn Monroe. When the King is happy everybody’s happy, right? (Well, maybe everyone but the Queen) Asmodee’s Histrio (designed by Bruno Cathala and Christian Martinez) takes you to a fantastical world with a renaissance feel, where you and the actors and acrobats you recruit try to put on two plays that will wow the monarchy, and gain you the rewards you deserve!
In Histrio you travel to one of 8 locations in the kingdom each round, trying to acquire actors, acrobats, and resources to put on the best shows for the king at the upcoming festival. If your art pleases the king, you will get paid handsomely. But the competition is tough, and there are up to 4 other troupes vying for the same prize. You may need to change the king’s mood or subvert your rivals with flat out thievery in order to win. High stakes = tough breaks.
With royalty being predictably whimsical, the king will either be in the mood for a comedy or a tragedy, with barely a moment’s notice. Histrio comes with a three-dimensional stage with a “mood meter” where players can gauge the king’s current pleasure. The meter starts slightly to one side of the spectrum. Each player has 8 cards in their hand representing one of the 8 locations on the board. Each location contains at least one face up card that is ripe for the taking. These cards represent acrobats (who can provide one time bonuses at the right time), monetary bonuses in the form of 1-3 coins, and actors (comedic or tragic). Actors can steal from opponents, influence the king’s mood, allow you to refresh your hand of location cards, or send managers to the stage to acquire money. Actors range in strength from 1-5 in either comedy or tragedy.
The game is played over two seasons (twice through the draw deck). A play is performed at the end of each season. Each season is made up of a number of rounds. Each round, players secretly choose a location card from their hands and simultaneously reveal it. In order to reap the maximum rewards that a location has to offer, you need to be the only player to go to that location this round. If you do, then you get to acquire and use all the cards currently at that location, placing any acrobats in front of you to assist at some opportune moment later in the game, and adding actors to your troupe to perform your show at the end of the season. If multiple players go to a location, however, they do not get to keep any cards. Instead, all actor cards at the location will be compared with regard to their strength in comedy or tragedy. The net result will affect the king’s mood. For example if there is a tragic actor with a strength of 4 and a comedic actor with a strength of 2, then the king’s mood meter is pushed 2 spaces toward tragedy. Once the king’s mood has thus been altered, all the cards at the location are discarded. At this point, any players at this location draw a card from the “secret requests” deck. This card can provide a bonus scoring scenario for the player at the end of the season.
Once the draw deck is depleted, the season ends. Players add up the strengths of their acting troupes and the net result (comedy or tragedy) is compared to what the king’s mood was at the end of the season. Every player whose troupe’s net matches the king’s mood pleases the king and the player gets a number of coins (3 first season, 5 second season). The player whose show had the most strength matching the king’s mood gets double coins. Then players decide if they want to play one of their secret request cards (only one) and gain any bonuses it provides. These secret request cards really make a difference. For instance, in our play through someone had a card that gave him 10 coins if his troupe’s mood did NOT match the king. That was a huge swing. Furthermore, the secret request card you play at the end of season one is also in effect at the end of season two. So this player, successfully being on the opposite side of the king’s mood twice, garnered 20 coins of his 45 for the whole game. Truly, a game changer. Once season one is over, you rinse and repeat. At the end of the second season, the player with the most coins wins the game.
I have to say, the name of the game, Histrio, had me skeptical at first. I looked up the word, and Histrio does mean “actor,” but still. I mean, no Blood, or Rage? How could it be good? Well, it was. The outcome was in doubt until the very end. The game we played had a difference of 6 coins between first and last place. I came in second by two coins, and that was only because the winner stole two coins from me on the last turn (a 4-point swing)! Now, while any game that has me not winning is clearly designed poorly (I jest), Histrio kept us engaged until the end. We had meaningful decisions to make at every turn. Which location should I go to? I know this opponent wants those cards as well. Will he go there, too, and cancel us out? Should I use this acrobat’s one-time ability now? Decisions at every turn that mattered. What more can you ask for, really? And the art in the game is quite stunning.
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