Strategy board games offer a unique challenge, testing both your intellect and creativity. If you’ve ever been in a heated game night with friends, you know the thrill of outsmarting your opponents. If it’s your sibling trying to make the perfect move or your best friend sneaking up with a brilliant strategy, these games bring out the best- and sometimes the most cunning- sides of us. But how can you outsmart your friends in these games?
Let’s dive into the world of strategy board games for adults and see how you can take your gameplay to the next level.
Master the Rules and Mechanics
The first step in outsmarting your friends is understanding the game rules inside and out. If it’s a classic like Risk or a modern favorite like VICTORUS, understanding the rules is crucial to success. Strategy board games for adults often have unique mechanics for the various game pieces that require more than just a surface-level understanding.
In VICTORUS, for example, play is contested across a hexagonal game board that is made up of various zones or kingdoms, a battlefield area, and the prized central cell. Players navigate their knights and royalty according to their unique movement rules. The best players rely on their instant recall of the movement ability of each knight as well as the King and Queen, so they know how and when to employ each piece as opportunities arise.
Mastering the rules also allows you to anticipate your friends’ moves. Knowing the mechanics also means you’re less likely to make mistakes, which could cost you valuable pieces or even the game. So, take the time to memorize the movement characteristic of each knight and understand the unique movement protocol of the King and Queen. A good way to learn VICTORUS and its moves is to play casual games with an experienced player who is willing to be your tutor. A well-prepared player is a dangerous player when the games become more competitive.
Consider Your Options
Strategic thinking is all about planning and then exploiting opportunities that become available to you. Think both offensively and defensively. Be careful not to be overly aggressive and, thus, place your pieces where they become vulnerable to capture. If you’re playing the best strategy board games for adults, like VICTORUS, it’s helpful to see the board from the perspective of your adversaries.
Start by looking at the overall picture and then focus on local tactical strategies. Are you attempting to execute a strategic capture on your next turn? Remember, every decision you make should move you closer to your objective, so think ahead.
When it’s not your turn, pay close attention to the ever-evolving game board. Observe the tactics of each player and be ready to capture vulnerable pieces when it becomes your turn. But never move one of your pieces onto a cell where it may be a victim of capture. The objective for the first phase of VICTORUS is to promote your regular knights into royal knights.
Royal knights are immensely powerful because they are permitted to take two moves per turn, just like a King or Queen. Each “two-move” turn of a Royal Knight involves a “dog-leg” translation of position. Each regular knight is promoted to a royal knight when they capture either two of your opponents’ knights or one of your opponents’ kings or queens.
The final phase of the game is to navigate your royalty completely around and then into the central cell, or eliminate all of the royalty of all your adversaries. For any given turn, the King or Queen must pivot and end their two-move turn on a cell color that is opposite from its originating cell color.
Thus, if the King or Queen begins on a white cell, they pivot on grey and end on grey. The next turn, the King or Queen would begin on a grey cell, pivot on white, and end on white. If the King or Queen begins on a grey cell, they pivot on white and end on white. For the next turn, the King or Queen would begin on a white cell, pivot on grey, and end on grey.
The drama increases when either you or your adversaries judiciously launch their Kings or Queens on their journeys of conquest around the central cell and then attempt to be the first to conquer it. Victory may be yours by anticipating the cell color that your opponents’ Kings or Queens will be occupying at the end of their turns.
Then, try to intercept and execute their captures with one of your royal knights that has an edge color that matches the cell color where they will land. Or, you may attempt to capture an opponent’s King or Queen with your own King or Queen if you have earned the right for your King or Queen to enter the battlefield by capturing the required minimum of 3 pieces.
Evaluate the alternating color “rhythm” of both your adversaries’ Kings and Queens and your King and Queen so you may capture the opposing King or Queen on a cell color where they have landed. But be careful not to end your turn on a cell color where either your King or Queen is vulnerable to capture. The player that best manages this “end game” strategy may be the next MAGNA VICTORUS.
Stay Calm and Adapt to the Situation
Even the best-laid plans don’t always go as expected. In strategy board games for adults, it’s important to stay calm and adapt when things don’t go your way. Maybe your opponent makes a surprising move that ruins your strategy. Don’t panic! Take a deep breath, reassess the situation, and make the best possible move with what you have left.
Final Analysis
Out-smarting your friends in strategy board games for adults like VICTORUS takes planning, adaptability, and a bit of cunning. By mastering the rules, thinking ahead, using tactical ambushes yet avoiding capture of your pieces, and forming strategic alliances if necessary, you’ll put yourself in a position to win. VICTORUS is the perfect game to put these strategies into action, with its deep gameplay mechanics and tactical challenges.
Each time you play, you will have a greater appreciation for the multiple levels of strategy. If you’re working to conquer the central cell or eliminate your opponent’s royalty, you can outwit your friends by staying focused and flexible. So, next time you gather for a game night, use these tips to take home the victory- and maybe even surprise your friends with your strategic genius!
