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Spelinfo
www.spel-info.nl
October 2001
The Netherlands
The Design
Everybody who likes roleplaying humor recognizes the
illustration on the box as being from John Kovalic (artist
of DORK TOWER). Because Out of the Box uses these illustrations,
it’s clear that the game probably is entertaining and
not too complicated. The box isn't big: a little bit
smaller than A4-format (Letter format: 8,5 x 11 inch).
The contents consists of a folding gameboard and a set
of 64 cards. The cards can be split in 4 colors of 16
cards each. Looking at the cards it’s soon obvious which
classic game was the inspiration for BOSWORTH. On the
cards we see the same illustrations as on the box.
The Rules
The rules are very clear and take up 6 pages (smaller
than A5 format). One of the pages is used for showing
the starting positions (which depends on the number
of players) and 2 other pages are used for explaining
(in word and illustration) the movement of the cards.
All cards move like the chess-pieces of the same name,
except for the pawns; this card is allowed to move horizontally
as well as vertically (like the tower, only the pawn
is allowed only 1 square movement per turn). The pawn
is also allowed to strike diagonally, in all 4 directions.
The game is further identical to chess. The big difference
is that you don't start with all your pieces. You start
with 4 pawns and 4 cards in your hand. During your turn,
you’re allowed to move one card in your Field Camp or
on the board and then to fill up empty places in your
camp with cards in your hand. Of course, there are some
moves from chess that are not allowed in BOSWORTH, a.o.
chess itself
The Game
A major battle serves as background for this chess-based
game. Each player represents a kingdom fighting for
control of BOSWORTH Field. They do this by collecting
troops in their Field Camp and sending them onto the
battlefield. A booklet in the box explains that BOSWORTH
Field is the place where was the decisive battle in
the War of the Roses between the English houses of York
and Lancaster in 1485. Not much from the background
returns in the game and even less in the rules. The
layout is probably to humanistic for such a serious
content. Still, it’s a good background for a chess game.
And that it is. Alternative chess. The biggest difference
is the fact that you control the when and where of the
pieces and the fact that you can play with more players.
This makes for no waterproof tactics, like you have
in chess. Which leads to a more open game. Winning is
dependent on strategy (do I start with a Queen or not?)
and a small but healthy portion of luck
Summary
Plusses
Rules are easy and richly illustrated. Latest versions
can be downloaded in PDF format from the OTB-site. Easy
to learn. Even more so for chess players
Minusses
When playing with 4 player’s it can get messy because
the cards are as big as the squares they are put upon.
Cards move a lot that way (1st edition game)
General impression
Because of the humorous design and the easy to learn
rules, this game is surely recommended. It will provide
many evenings of fun. When you buy the game, make sure
you buy the second edition. That will prevent some irritation
with cards. Very playable, though people with chess
knowledge may have a slight advantage in the beginning.
Who doesn't remember the first time you had to learn
all the chess moves…?
Remark:
This review is based on the first edition of the game.
There is now a second edition with some differences:
- the second edition uses counters instead of cards
- the board is now a square
The rules didn’t change as far as we know. The 2nd
edition rules can be downloaded from www.otb-games.com/bosworth/bos_rules.html
Replace cards by counters in this review and you have
a review of the 2nd edition BOSWORTH won Games Magazine
‘Games100 award 2000’.
Back to
Bosworth Reviews page
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