Board game - War of Shadows

Five great and powerful empires are engaged in an endless struggle for dominance over the world. The banners of states rise above numerous armies, and brave warriors advance against the enemy, ready to fulfill orders and give their lives for the crown and the head that wears it. But it is not the kings and emperors who give the orders...

The body that sits on the throne with an air of importance is merely a puppet, and those who pull the strings hide in its shadow. They have no faces, no names, and they belong to no one. Everything belongs to them. Invisible empires are much more powerful than those with borders on maps.

About the Game
"War of Shadows" is a strategic game about the battle of five great empires for power over the world. You will find yourself at the very center of these events, but not as a powerful ruler of one of the states: under your command will be one of the secret societies that have placed their bets on the ongoing war in order to extract their own benefit from the current events. In the game, you will influence all the empires simultaneously by sending your agents to the councils of states. But your organization is not the only one of its kind: other players will also influence the actions of the powers, which means that sticking to one strategy will not be possible. Skillfully change sides, shuffle the cards, and manipulate events to achieve victory in this "War of Shadows"!

How to Play?
Throughout the game, you will pursue only one goal – to bring the state you are most loyal to to supremacy. The game board represents a map of lands shared by five states, and each round is divided into four phases. We will cover only two main ones.

The agent phase is the most important part of the game. At this stage, secret societies begin to weave their web, sending members of their organization to take positions in the councils of the empires. Each council has 4 positions, and the more significant your agent can infiltrate, the sooner you will begin to implement your plans. Choosing the empire to which you direct your agents is equally important: the action drawing of the council starts with the Empire of the Fierce Bear, located in the northern mountains, and continues clockwise, ending the agent phase with the Empire of the Enduring Horse, situated beyond the long mountain range.

In the empire phase, active actions begin: you can reinforce the territories you hold with new troops, attack neighboring lands controlled by another empire, and take empire cards – they give special advantages to actions. You should have an ace up your sleeve, right? Each position in the council allows you to do something specific, rather than everything at once, so sometimes it can be useful to disregard the turn order in favor of efficiency.

In the last phase, you will have the opportunity to draw conclusions from what is happening on the board and change the side to which you are most loyal.

Who Won?
At the end of the fourth round of ongoing wars, you will need to reveal your cards! That is, your loyalty tokens, which determine the extent of your allegiance to a particular empire. The higher it is, the more points each city under the control of that empire will bring. Make sure not to feud with the state that has the most cities, or you risk losing everything. The winner of the game is the player who manages to lead the necessary states to victory in the war, and thus earns the most victory points!

Game duration: from 60 minutes

Number of players: from 2 to 4