Nerd Spotlight: Dan on War Chest

I’m going to start off with this:War Chest is my favorite board game as of now, so this blog is truly going to fit well under “Rants and Raves”. With that said, this game is able to appeal to both hardcore and casual players in a way few games can, all while providing an engaging experience the whole time.

There aren’t many games that I can play with my parents where everyone both understands what’s happening and is enjoying themselves, butWar Chest crosses that gap.
Its rules are simple and consistent enough that after one or two games many people can grasp them fully, but those rules are made in such a way that the game has tons of strategic depth, even with the low complexity. As an example, over Thanksgiving and holiday break, my family and I played some 2v2 matches ofWar Chest. Each game took about 2 hours (give or take 30 minutes), but unlike other games, there was always something happening. There was never a boring part of the game where people were just waiting for the next event to take place. Every turn was important and difficult, each one carried weight. My parents picked up on the game quickly and soon everyone at the table was thinking with the same level of strategic depth for a game they just learned about that day.

War Chest is a great example of elegance in design, using the least complexity to get the most depth. It’s approachable, yet it has so many potential strategies and plenty of meaningful decisions to think through. Needless to say, I would recommend this game to any strategy/tactics lover, particularly if you like chess but wish there was a randomized element to it (and if you want to see why that might be good, check out my blog on luck and skill).War Chest is a game I plan to play with family and friends for years to come.