Veiled Fate Review

Hide in plain sight.

Veiled Fate is a game that has players controlling every piece on the board with the overarching goal being for their demigod to have the most renown after the end of the third age. Here's the kicker, nobody knows who you are trying to have win the game so you need to be clever with how you position yourself. Each turn, players can choose to move or use one of their god powers. If a player moves to a quest, they place the character on the card and cast a vote. Each card has two halves with differing endings. Some will cause them to gain or lose renown or be exiled to the abyss until the next turn. Once a quest card is full of miniatures, a vote happens where players choose which side of the card will be played. After all quests have been completed or all players have passed, the age ends and play repeats the cycle. At the end of the game, each player will reveal who they were playing as and whichever character has the highest renown wins. Hopefully it's the character you want to win.

The Good: IV Games continues to blow me away with their production quality. As soon as I opened the box my first words were simply "wow". Between the minis, the cards, and the circular board it really is a work of art. I loved playing this at two players which you wouldn't expect with 7 other characters on the board but it's such a fun puzzle to try and get into your opponents head and figure out who they have. This is a perfect intro type game to hidden roles. It's a really nice balancing act between keeping intentions hidden and scoring enough renown. The best is when you can manipulate your opponents into doing your bidding for you.

The Okay: I do wish that there was a little bit more heft to the game. There are a ton of quest cards and city cards but they ultimately have the same general flow. Move the piece, do a vote, deal with the results. The god powers give a little more to the game but it's still just about getting pieces in the right places or getting them to the wrong places.

The Not So Good: If you're not great with bluffing I can't say if you'll have a great time. I know I'll get into my own head at times when I do something advantageous to myself of whether or not it was obvious who I am or what the intention was. The manual says don't get discouraged if you do give yourself away early and to make other moves to throw other players off the scent but doing this may end up putting you too far behind to actually make up enough ground.

Overall: 7.5/10

Veiled Fate is a beautiful game with high quality components and super solid gameplay. At first glance you'll think it's going to be overwhelming but it really is a simple game at its core. I'm not sure I could recommend it as an intro to hidden roles because it's a premium product but if that doesn't bother you then by all means you should look into this. Especially if you're a bit hesitant to games that really commit you to the bluff.

Thanks to IV Games for sending me a review copy.