Wonder Woman – Challenge of the Amazons

Wonder Woman’s (Princess Diana) home is under attack! It is up to you and the other Amazon warriors of Themyscira, to defend and defeat these invaders. Will you succeed or will the island fall? You decide!

Wonder Woman Challenge of the Amazon’s is a 2-5 player cooperative board game from Ravensburger, where players take on the role of one of Themyscira’s brave warriors to defend the island from their enemies.  This is a fully cooperative experience that relies heavily on player interaction.  In the vein of Pandemic and other games of their like.  There is no traitor element in this game, the players win or lose together.

To start, place the board and decide which of the three enemies you wish to play against, (Ares, Circe, or Cheetah) The game recommends you use Ares your first time.  Next, choose the difficulty level and follow the instructions on the enemy’s card for setting the enemy health and the defense level for the island, placing the trackers appropriately.  Each enemy has a specific set of instructions for their set up and how they play.  Take the matching deck of enemy cards and a matching reference card for the enemy.

Next, each player selects the hero they wish to use and takes the hero mat and miniature. Based on the number of players, take the 8 artifacts and shuffle them; select the appropriate number based on the number of players, returning the remaining ones to the box.  Shuffle the artifact cards into the deck of hero cards.  Take the sword of Hephaestus and the 4 blessing tokens, and choose one player to wield the sword, placing the blessings at the monuments and temple locations on the board. Place the remaining cubes and tokens aside for use as needed. Finally, take your miniatures placing them in the palace.

The game is played in rounds and each round has five phases; Start of the round, Strategize, Battle Begins, Take Actions, End of round.  At the start of the round, refer to the enemy card and follow the steps.  This is where the enemy advances and adds units or obstacles to the board.  Next is the strategize phase. Unless otherwise noted, deal each player 2 face up and 3 face down hero cards. DO NOT turn the 3 face-down cards over.  Each player, based ONLY on their 2 face-up cards, discuss their plan for actions for the round.  Once all players have discussed their plans, the battle begins. Players are now free to look at their remaining 3 cards. At this point, players MAY NOT discuss their actions any further.  Each player selects 3 cards they wish to use and places them FACE DOWN on their mat in the order they wish to play them.

Each hero card contains one or more emblems, a multiplier for the emblem, and possibly a special action. To use a card, choose what emblem you wish to use. Note that each enemy has specific requirements for overcoming obstacles that must be met in order to overcome them.  For example, to heal a corrupted amazon when fighting Ares, the heroes need 3 wisdom emblems. If a player has a card that offers 3 or more, they may defeat that obstacle.  Hero card emblems consist of either wisdom, vigor, agility, or leadership.  Vigor is used to fight enemies, agility is for movement and leadership allows a hero to recruit amazon warriors.  Warriors are a key part of the game as they add plus one for any emblem on a hero card.  Once a warrior is recruited, they may move along with any hero to add strength. 

Also, warriors may be recruited at only certain areas on the board. Also if a player draws an artifact, they must immediately declare it and then decide if they will activate it or pass.  If they activate, they take the card and the matching token placing it on the location indicated on the card. If they pass, they discard it and draw another hero card in its place. 

Starting with the first player, a hero flips over their first card, and each player after follows suit. Then the first player takes their second action and so on. Once all players have completed their 3 actions, they discard all used hero cards and the enemy’s attack.  Follow the instructions on the enemy’s card to determine the results of the enemy’s attack. 

To deal the final point of damage to the enemy, the heroes must use the sword of Hephaestus.  The sword must be fully charged before being used by gathering the 4 blessings tokens.   The player with the sword may take a blessing if they end their turn at one of the 4 monument or temple locations that contain a blessing token.  Once the enemy is at 1 health, the player with the sword may deal the final point of damage to the enemy, defeating them and winning the game.  The enemies win if they cause the island’s health meter to hit zero.

As stated earlier, this is a fully cooperative game, and to win requires a team effort.  The demand for working together is even stronger here than in Pandemic.  Players need to take the time to discuss their plan and what they hope to accomplish in the round.  This player interaction is one element that keeps the game fresh each time it is played.  Another exciting element to the gameplay is that the planning portion uses only a portion of the actions a player may take.  Once they see their remaining 3 cards, they may change their strategy completely.  This adds a sense of surprise to the game, as a player ultimately decides what actions are best for them.  In addition, as players can no longer discuss their actions, no player knows exactly what each other player is going to do. 

I really feel this element makes this game unique among other cooperative games.  I also feel the theme really comes out strong.  The artwork, components, and a variety of challenges, really fill out this game to create a challenging and enjoyable gaming experience.  Special thanks to Ravensburger for providing a review copy and allowing us to see and enjoy this clever addition to the world of cooperative games.

Written by Ed Carter