+ BEFORE YOU BEGIN +
Know that you will forever have 1/3 of the games cast unaccessible to you, and most dissapointingly, by far the most interesting characters of said cast. This is due to a unadvertised kickstarter which was participated in by about 3,000 people. Being part of said kickstarter got you access to the "Bandit" clan permenantly and exclusively. So let's just get that un-advertised thorn of dissapointment right out in the open.

The Pros:
-The game is fun, the gameplay is solid, and it feels like exactly what it was meant to be- that beer and chips roleplaying, dice throwing, card slinging board game you've likely played with your friends before.
-The graphics are smooth and there is plenty of depth to keep gameplay engaging.
It is also worth mentioning that the single player AI doesn't feel lacking like some games of these genres do, and have an amusingly nasty habit of punishing the player and other AI's mercilessly. It feels nearly complete if not acceptably so as a base boardgame in it's current state to be frank; though not all cards are incorperated in the game yet, nor are the characters.
-The full game will double the (dirty steam players) roster from 4 to 8. So there are more characters to come. and assuming the community doesn't take the secret kickstarter issue too personally, likely more to come in future expansions, assuming there will be expansions.

The Bad:
-As a pre-release it does have its share of bugs. Occasionally, but not often, the game will hang on an AI's turn and require you to restart the game. This can be bothersome, but it has only happened to me 3 times out of about 14 matches so...it's par for a pre-release in terms of technical difficulty.
-The game does not explain in any way it seems, the ability mechanics obtained through spells and equipment yet.
Example, the abilities "Scout" as provided by "Mariners Lantern" and "Evasion" as provided by a spell who's name I can't remember, are discussed nowhere. You can refer to a wiki...but I feel there shouldn't have to be any sort of question on this. Especially with a large tutorial-esque digital pamphlet to read to get the rules down, there should be an effects tab there to clear up any confusion at the least.
- People can and do ragequit if they are losing mid game. These games mind you can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. This being said, a poor sport could waste a good chunk of your day with no sense of satisfaction to be had. It is also worth noting that there is no system in place to punish this type of poor sportsmanship, and thusly, you can keep your win/loss ratio as high as you want it to be as long as you never let yourself lose...by ragequitting.

The Ugly:
- Overall; I love this game and hope to see it succeed... but I will tell you this as well. Anyone who gets into this game will eventually feel a creeping frustration regarding the 1/3 of the character cast they will never have access. Especially given that they are easily the best designed and most interesting characters so far as to be seen of the lot. This is a real shame in my eyes.
Being meant to be played online, the average player will likely get fed up or agitated seeing these sacred cows they will always want to play with, but ya know... NONE FOR YOU!
Also, it is worth mentioning this will likely cause tension regarding the competitive gaming community as well regarding the legality of these characters in any sort of tournaments, which will likely insight endless bickering and hostilities between the filthy steam players and the obscure kickstarter community.

Final Verdict:
+The Grade I want to give: 9/10 - As a pre-release game it shows a great deal of polish, care, and attention to detail. The gameplay is balanced and there is enough to be done to remain engaging; including trash talking in chat mid game. I love the way it looks and feels very much and could spend many countless hours tooling around a game like this casually, however...

+The Grade I have to give it: 6.5/10 - As stated above, this is a fun game that is hard to find fault with, even in its early stages, but with the ability for poor sportmanship to ruin any chance of an accurate leaderboard, and the high probability a "Good" player may actually just be a man child hellbent on wasting your time and robbing you of that satisfying victory you started the game seeking, I can't fully endorse the multiplayer just yet in a competitive sense.
Furthermore, I personally found out about the game only after it was released in its early release phase, but by the time the steam community was made aware of it's existance, they were already damned to forever-never play 1/3 of the games cast; more regretably so, the most appealing 1/3 of the games cast.
Maybe seems like a small detail to some out there, but I personally won't ever be able to fully dismiss this as a "Tough luck" kinda thing. Because nothing spoils a good meal like eating by a great meal, especially when you never knew it was going down accross the table from you.

A thumbs up with a few reservations that hopefully get fixed, but here's what I like.
The games art is exceptional, and the board really sets the mood, the animated cards are a nice touch, actually the game is filled with nice touches. Armello is enjoyable to play, each character plays different, so just using a different hero changes up the gameplay a little bit and a game can have a lot of tense moments. The boards tiles are randomly laid out each time you play, so one game doesn't feel too much like the next.
There's quite a bit of luck involved with all the dice rolling and card drawing, some players may not like that, so even if you feel like you are playing a perfect game, the dice may not be on your side, but you can change some of that outcome by burning your cards to influence the dice rolls (at the expense of having less cards till the next round).
If your looking for a heavyweight, BGG top rated type board game, then this may not be for you, but if your looking for a light mix of luck and strategy, this may be up your alley.
If they manage to fix some balance and multiplayer pacing issues, this has the potential to be a great game.
I look forward to the finished product.

I love this game so much I, working on making a RL Table top of Armello for me and my friends to play!

9.5/10 for Early Access.

The only down side is that, I feel like the games should last longer in solo play.

+
Very nice looking game
Fun, unique characters
Combat is really well done using dice
Cards are fun to use with well designed art

-
4 ways to win, more like 1 way to win (via most prestige)
Game are deceptively short, maximum of 50 minutes each (more if online)
From what ive played, you have a big advantage if you favour combat


Overall the negatives are me attempting to find flaws with the game, which doesn't really make the game much worse. Definitely worth playing!

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As a kickstarter backer, an alpha and beta tester, I can say without a doubt that this game is truly a gem. Even in its alpha form it was very well built and fun to play. You can see how much love LoG puts into their game in every single detail of this magnificent world. The story is deep, and engaging. The basic idea is that a Mad King is cursed and slowly dying. The goal is to over throw him and become the new King/Leader of the land.

Each character has their own backstory, bonuses, and generally a typical way they should be played, with room to wiggle: After selecting a character you get to choose from Rings and Amulets, both of them giving you more bonuses and traits that will allow you to help shape your strategy for winning.

The game plays like a board game, with many mechanics and elements added with the cards, but simple enough to play casually if you'd like. However, in my opinion, the fun really begins when you really try to strategize to win. There are several methods of winning, Prestige (having the most prestige at the end of the game), and over throwing the Mad King in several different ways starting with overcoming the trials placed around his castle. If you pass those trials you can then enter into combat with him and over throw him, or you can present 4 Spirit Stones (Aquired by exploring dungeons, encountering druids, or taking them from the other players) and banish him from the realm with their magic. You can even win by becomming more rotten/cursed than the king and being able to over-power him.

The cards in the game are wonderfully crafted peices of artwork. They move, and flow, showing off the talent this team has even further. Each card's picture faithfully represents what the card's gameplay function is. There are spells to cast, traps to set, tricks to play, equipment to wear, and followers to join you. You can play cards with either your Magic, or Gold. Some cards even make you more Rotten when you play them or take your Prestige, so be sure to read the card carefully if you are going for a certain strategy to winning (Sometimes you want the Rot, and sometimes you just don't care about Prestige!).

I haven't covered many mechanics this game has to offer, but to quickly throw out a few there are Perils, Quests, Dungeon exploring, Settlments, Terrain effects/bonuses... not to mention the incredibly engaging Dice rolling and Card burning system during Combat and Perils!

Well, to sum it up, I think this game is amazing, and I highly recommend it to absolutely everyone. Especially those who enjoy a strategic board game, a love for animals, a beautiful world, and most of all when actual HEART is put into a game!

Thank you!

PS) Be sure to read the Quick Start Guide (along with the many others) in the Community Hub by Alvorn and 8BitProxy

I play in 4k with two 980 GTX in SLI. Overkill. Runs nice and smooth.

Armello is a turn-based strategy game similar Civilization V as it has a similar grid based layout and turn taking system. Your goal is simple, winning, but how you do it is up to you as there are multiple ways of winning a game of Armello. from what i've seen Armello provides an enjoyable single-player experience as well as an enjoyable multiplayer experience.
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Pros:
Art style is very aesthetically pleasing and very nicely finished.
Gameplay is enjoyable.
Its a great game to play with you friends.
Its a relatively easy game to learn.

Cons:
Matches are a little short for my liking (I am too used to Civilization matches).
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Armello is an very enjoyable and promising game, I have been playing Armello since it was in alpha and i've seen the game grow and improve drastically and I am really excited to see what Armello has in store for us in the future.

I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys strategy games.

This game has come quite a long way since I first got my hands on the Alpha build and has made great strides going to Beta and now Early access. Lot's of little improvements to the UI have been made to make keeping tabs on what goes on in-game much easier. Cards have been added and balanced as needed with the current total so far being 60 out of a planned number of over 100 cards. The game mechanics have been all put in their place to produce a decievingly deep strategy board game that can have you at certain victory only for someone or something to quickly dash your hopes and make you lose everything.

Armello overall is a game that involves a good mix of luck and skill to win. The luck aspect comes from what cards you draw, dice rolls, and dungeon exploration among other variables. Skill on the other hand comes from knowing where to move, using the terrain to your advantage, and how to use those cards to give yourself an edge. Gameplay itself may last anywhere from about 40 minutes to an hour for multiplayer matches, depending on how long players take on their turns, and at about 30 minutes for matches against the AI. Currently there are a series of tutorial pop-ups present when you play your first game to help guide you through everything Armello has to offer since it can be a little daunting to first time players. Plenty of this game itself is seemingly done, but there's still plenty of polish to be added and feedback to be given. This in turn is where any prospective Early Access player will be able to help make this game even better by providing a fresh perspective on everything already in game plus new ideas for the future.

League of Geeks still has lots of work ahead of them, but I already know from what I've personally seen that they will get it done and do a damn fine job of it at that.

I've played a few games so far and really like what I see. It looks great and is a lot of fun to play. It has both card and dice elements and allows for various strategies since there are multiple paths to victory. I haven't looked, but hopefully I can setup matches with friends. I could see spending a lot of time on this one.

Playing Armello is the a new great way to make your friends hate you, its like Mario Party, but for PC. In this game you pick a character, right now there is 4 different, and you should always pick Thane. Then you proceed to find the best bling between rings and amulets. When all that is done, then you go around as a greatsword-wielding wolf and beat the sh*t out of magical birds of evil, and you friend that decided that a cute little bunny was the best character ever. After having played around for a bit, you will find yourself at a fight with the mighty king. Or once mighty, because he has grown weaker over time, and since you are pure, then his rot means nothing. In the end you claim victory, and even tho you failed on most of your quest, you find out that the sword is mightier than the pen, and you got the biggest sword in Armello.

10/10

Cant wait for new characters to rival Thane's unmatched strength, so my friends might want to play with me again

As a guy who has never played a game of this genre before, Armello does an incredible job of easing you in and explaining all of the features in great detail and makes for a good beginners strategy game, bundle this with a breathtaking art style and an outstanding soundtrack you get a truely great game.

First off, I'm quite pleased for a game that breaks the archtypes of animals, meaning that a rat isn't necessarily a bad or evil character. Really, it seems that YOU are the one who determines the alignment of four characters, a Thane (wolf), Sana (bear), Amber (rabbit), and Mercurio (rat). Each character is trying to become the next lord of Armello, and it can be done with intrigue, murder, or muscle.

The game is a card/board/dice game so each play is different. Cards can be used to make your ascension easier, or more difficult on your rivals. And all the while Banes, something like a corruption elemental, are spawning and wreaking havoc on the land while dungeons are ripe for exploration. Declarations can be used to make thing easier on you, harder on others, or just a touch of randomness when nothing else is beneficial.

This is one of the most unique games I have played and I enjoyed it, it's easy ot learn and isn't a game that is all to lengthy in play. You can play alone with computer players, or you can get some friends together and compete for the throne in multiplayer.

A 4 player fantasy regicide board game.

Still needs some balancing and polish because the magic bear has a real hard time winning but overall the core game is finished and very playable.

Music is relaxing, art is nice, they added a card book so you look back on all the things you find.

The devs will respond to any bugs you report with the bug report tool ingame or on their forums and are a friendly bunch.

Games only last 18turns at the moment but id expect options for custom rules in a future build.

If you like board games and fancy something new, give this a shot.

It contains magic bears.

To be honest , I was not going to buy this game when I found out about the the Bandit Clan issue,I came to the conclusion that I was cutting my nose to spite my face , so went ahead and bought it anyway. I am so glad I did because I would have been missing out on what is a quite beautiful game. I am not very good at reviews so I'll just say if your feeling the way I did about it dont just go ahead and buy it. Once I bought and started playing I totally forgot about the Bandit Clan issue.
Also the Dev's seem like really decent kinda guys so I think they will keep their promise and look into the issue off the blocked content.

Stunningly beautiful game and Dev's that really seem to care about what they have created here .. 10/10

Ps .. did I mention Lisa Gerrard of Gladiator fame sing the soundtrack ? How awesome is that ! :)

This is definitely one of the best games, I've been playing, recently.

The game is easy to learn, and it's perfect for casual-gamers, as well as for people who like to spend weeks, playing one game and getting better, than anybody else!

I've played a few other Early-Access games, but none of them was this balanced. Most of them were quite unfinished, but this game can be played for hours and you probably won't come across any bugs or stuff that doesn't work, yet.

Over the last two days, I've played the game for almost ten hours and I quite enjoyed it. The only thing I don't like, about this game, is a detail in the multiplayer matches... When somebody disconnects from the game, the whole match will be ended, immediately. I've played a few multiplayer matches, but I've never finished any of those... this should definitely be changed, soon (maybe they'd turn the disconnected player into an AI), but it's just a small point.

If you're searching for a fun new strategy game, you'd definitely get Armello!

All of you PC board games and ports out there, take notes. This is how it's done.

Although it's in early access, which does show a little bit in some small areas, Armello is already mind bogglingly better than the VAST majority of PC tabletop-style games out there. It plays great, it looks great, it sounds great, and it FEELS great.

The amazing music, gorgeous art, and the non-childish lore give the game a phenomenal atmosphere. The gameplay is simple enough, yet offers so many possibilities that it will take a looong time before two matches feel too similar. The developers listen and the kickstarter community is friendly to boot. I can honestly say, i am having a hard time finding things to complain about. What few issues i've come across, they've been ironing out with steady updates.

I may be a little biased, being an avid tabletop and PC gamer, as well as Armello's theme being right up my alley. But this game feels built from passion, which is extremely rare to come by nowadays. For that alone, i would recommend it.

It's pretty much the Buffy The Vampire Slayer of games. Entertaining, fun, intelligent, but very difficult to put into a particular genre. It looks AMAZING, and it's very clear a lot of love and effort has gone into making it what it is. Having not played anything like it before, it took me a few rounds to work out what was going on, but once I got my head around the gameplay I was hooked. Highly recommended!

This game is so incredibly beautiful from the world, the 2D art to even the music. Every part of this game is made with love and care.

I absolutly recommend this game.

This game is excellent. The artwork is great, the gameplay is fun, the story is intriguing, and the developers actually care about the game and it's players.

Although it is in Early access, it was polished and finalized long before. The developers didn't release some half-baked, half-♥♥♥♥♥ game in Early access that are so popular these days.

If you love Board games, Fantasy games, Turn-based strategy games, the Redwall series, or are just a fan of Anthropomorphic characters, then i definitely recomend this game.

I honestly cannot recommend this game as it currently is. Hopefully the League of Geeks will continue to work on it and fix the major problem... but given its nature, I have my doubts.

The main problem is this: the vast majority of the time you will be doing nothing but racing the other three players to acquire prestige, because almost every game the king is going to die of his own accord and the most prestigious hero wins by default. You simply do not have enough time to make the other victory conditions - kill or cure the king - feasible without an astounding degree of luck. With one effective means of winning, a lot of players will feel like there's no point in finishing the game if they're not a contender for top prestige. That means that a lot of multiplayer games end with a disconnect. Yes, end: the developer does not currently have anything in place to continue a game when one player quits in disgust.

Unless the developer extends the time (you have a total of 16 turns at present, the king dying at dawn on the 17th) or makes it significantly easier to break into the palace and handle things more directly, I can't see this game ever being worth the time it takes to play, let alone the expense of buying it. Which is a pity, they put a lot of effort into the game's artistic ambience and atmosphere.

I've invested in nearly 100 Kickstarter campaigns and this one may be the best one I've seen yet.

An absolutely gorgeous game. I'm probably not the first to say it, but it reminds me of the classic Studio Ghibli movies.