Ivanhoe

Joust, brawl and play dirty tricks in a card game of medieval tournaments inspired by Ivanhoe.

Designers: Reiner Knizia, Andy Lewis
Published by: GMT Games
Editions by: asmodee, Maldón

Ivanhoe, from 2000, drops you into a medieval tournament at the king's court. You play a knight, and your cards are your fighting skills: jousting, sword, axe and morning-star. Each round has a tournament type, and you play your cards to win it. You can rally squires, gain the favor of a maiden and use action cards to mess with your opponents, including one that unhorses a knight and forces everyone still jousting into a weapon fight of the action card player's choice. Some actions make you drop your weapon and brawl by hand, where the most cards, not the highest total, wins a token. Chivalry, with a healthy amount of dirty tricks.

Tournament rounds of jousting and weapon fightsSquires, maidens and action cardsWin tokens by outlasting rivals

Who it's for

You like card games with a medieval theme and enough trickery to make table talk interesting, with two to five players.

Not for you if…

You want pure strategy without take-that. Action cards can wreck your best plans.

Vibe's take

Lively and tricky. You build a strong hand for the round, then watch an action card turn the tournament upside down just when you thought you had it won.