Beowulf: The Movie Board Game

Place numbered tiles and figurines on a grid in a tight abstract duel dressed up as the Beowulf film.

Designers: Reiner Knizia, Jeff Tidball
Published by: Fantasy Flight Games
Editions by: Devir, Hobby World, Kaissa Chess & Games, Lautapelit.fi, Galakta, Heidelberger Spieleverlag, Delta Vision Publishing, Smart Ltd, KADABRA, Ubik

Beowulf: The Movie Board Game is a reimplementation of Reiner Knizia's Cosmolancer, wearing the theme of the 2007 Zemeckis film (not to be confused with Beowulf: The Legend). Underneath the Anglo-Saxon paint it is an abstract duel on a square grid. On your turn you either place a tile, which may carry a positive or negative number and sometimes a power, or place a figurine. The game runs in three chapters with slightly different sets of tiles, so the board changes as it goes. Some pieces can be used only once, which makes hand management as important as placement. A tight sixty minutes for two to four players.

Reimplementation of Knizia's CosmolancerTiles with positive or negative valuesThree chapters with changing tile sets

Who it's for

You like Knizia-style abstract duels and do not mind a movie theme draped over a pure placement puzzle.

Not for you if…

You expect a dramatic monster-slaying adventure from the title. The film theme here is mostly decoration.

Vibe's take

Dry and clever. You pick what to place and what to save, and every number on the grid becomes a small argument about who profits.