A Solo Struggle in Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game
Watch as the Shadowlands descend upon the clans and wage a tense battle in Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game.
Before I get started, let me be clear that my husband has collected Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game since it was released. I have enormous binders of every possible card… But no way to play solo. That is, until the announcement of Under Fu Leng’s Shadow! I was curious to see how this lengthy 2-player game could be modified for solo. To the table!
Game Overview
Game Name: Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game
Publication Year: 2017
Designers: B. Andres, E. Dahlman, N. French & T. Parrott
Artists: Brad Andres, Erik Dahlman, and Nate French
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Solo Mode: Included in Under Fu Leng’s Shadow
This is an immensely complex deckbuilding experience, with a focus on playing 1 of 7 possible clans. The artwork is amazing, the lore is in-depth, and the matches last hours. The solo mode, also a cooperative mode, changes a lot of the game elements. All for the better? Time to find out!
First Play
August 2, 2021
Complexity
5
Latest Play
August 3, 2021
Expansions
40
Setup Time
15 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
1 Hour
High Score
N/A
Game Area
28" x 32"
Low Score
N/A
Thematic Artwork
I don’t even want to look at how many cards are in the entire collection, but it’s well above 1,000! Plenty of duplicates, yet that’s looking at the unique ones. Whoa.
It’s a setting brought to life through a combination of lore and cards. Each clan has a distinctive feel to it, while the neutral cards complement each sort of deck.
To really dive in would take ages! Yet I was hoping to maybe find a way to slowly introduce each expansion.
Actually, the one thing I totally missed out on was all of that lore. I’ve only read tiny bits and pieces so far!
The Shadowlands
Battles have always been waged between clans, typically with a focus on honor and a flow that passes between both players. Yet far out there are the Shadowlands of evil…
The solo mode utilizes this concept to place a clan against a main foe and set of enemies. Good ol’ Akuma no Oni was the recommended place to start, although it’s only 1 of 3.
Let me be clear that I am a totally inexperienced player, having only played a few times with the same deck.
So it was no surprise when I had to relearn the base game rules on top of the expansion rules. A few hours later…
Dangerous Enemies
As always, the artwork in this expansion was gorgeous! Definitely more in the horror-themed realm, yet every Shadowlands enemy felt like they were alive.
And maybe that was where it started to come undone. There are base rules, yet almost every card has its own unique ability… Which might react or interact with others.
The Shadowlands ignored honor entirely, negating some cards. It made sense thematically, just not mechanically.
As the Crab clan, I took a defensive stance and didn’t really feel like there was all that much going on. Hmm…
Losing Focus
For me, this was never a game system that called out to me. It was the art that drew me in, yet gameplay involves a dedication to a few hours of back-and-forth play.
A clan will pull ahead just slightly, only to have the tide of battle change the next round. It’s more of a give and take.
The whole honor system also ties in thematically, too. These are battles not just of sheer force, but also political undertones and calculated planning for each clan.
I was disappointed. The Shadowlands made sense, but took a lot away from the core elements of the game.
Champion of the Clan
The battle had its moments of going back and forth, yet I never attacked… Poor strategy? Maybe. Some comments indicate this is a very difficult solo mode, and so it is.
To see this artwork and know I won’t see it more than once every few years is painful! Yet solo? Not for me.
The play area was an absolute mess and it was impossible to keep every card close enough to read its text. Some turns, I needed to read close to 20 cards. Just too much.
I can see how the cooperative mode might be better, yet I even tried playing a second time to see if it would improve.
Gorgeous Artwork
Have I mentioned how much I love this artwork and setting? A few too many times, I believe. Ha ha! Yet it truly is a masterpiece to see the characters and landscapes.
It would take ages to explain exactly how to play and what the solo mode lacks. At the end of the day, there was no sense of progress nor a reason to play that I could find.
No campaign. No specific scenarios aside from 3 different Shadowlands bosses, and that’s not a lot of variety.
It was even possible to win by emptying out the dynasty deck… Hence the focus on the slow-burning defense.
Pondering Over the Target Audience
If you know this game system and the complex ways that dual decks must be built, you likely know that it’s more than enough to keep track of your own ability synergies! Adding in the Shadowlands introduces more complexities that must be understood from across the table, both within the standard rules and the expansion rules. It is a lot. A LOT.
Granted, maybe I’m not the target solo player. My knowledge of the rules and cards is quite limited, yet this also shows how it’s difficult to get a new solo player into the system. Seasoned players might have the best time here, although I would imagine the 2-player game is the ideal playing solution. So who would enjoy this expansion the most?
My rambling isn’t all that helpful, and it’s a curious situation. I almost feel like playing cooperatively with others or using the challenge mode to have someone play the Shadowlands deck might be the best alternatives. Solo is there, yet it’s a far cry from adjacent products like Arkham Horror: The Card Game or Marvel Champions: The Card Game.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 and 2
Expansion: Under Fu Leng’s Shadow
Solo Mode: Included in Under Fu Leng’s Shadow
Play Details: Crab Clan vs. Akuma no Oni (Stronghold)
Outcome: 2 Losses
Even in my rematch, I managed to uncover a single province. The Shadowlands conflict deck was littered with free cost events that added +5 military, and sometimes also offered a boost to the political side. Not a great time at all! Perhaps this would be good for someone familiar with every intricate rule, yet it’s not a solo mode I’ll play again.
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
1
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
3
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
3
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
8
+ Pros (Positives)
- There is an amazing amount of lore tied to the setting, clans, and individual cards to bring everything to life.
- Each of the 7 clans has a very different backstory and play style that can be explored in-depth with many cards.
- Both the dynasty and conflict decks can be thoroughly customized to find the best synergies and special abilities.
- All of the artwork is amazing with unique card illustrations for each clan that showcase iconic characters.
- Battles may be military or political, adding a level of decision-making that can best utilize the available cards.
- Balancing attack and defense with limited units is always a challenge, often made more difficult by the opponent.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The complexities within the rulebooks and on the individual cards are plentiful and difficult to memorize.
- Even with a huge play area reserved, so many cards can make for a messy space where tiny text is hard to read.
- Honor is completely omitted for the Shadowlands and emptying out the dynasty deck to win feels anticlimactic.
- All of the fun of deckbuilding requires tons of expansions, yet many cards are nullified by the expansion rules.
Victory Conditions
Defeat the Shadowlands Faction
- Overall Goal Progress 0%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game against Akuma no Oni.
Win at least 1 game as the Crab clan.
Continue the Conversation
What are your thoughts about Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game? I wasn’t too surprised that converting it into a solo mode didn’t work, because it shines the best as a 2-player game. Do you have a particular clan you prefer to play as? My disappointment is mostly over the fact that this will still rarely get to the table. Forever in… The Shadowlands?!
I had a similar experience trying Android: Netrunner on-line: even playing with a friend who was similarly a novice (I don’t know if it’s soloable, but certainly wasn’t on the site we were using), and using standard starter decks, there was a constant feeling that there was a huuuuuuge mass of complication out there and we were just dipping our toes into it and hoping nothing bit them off.
Interesting artistic combination of standard fantasy stuff with feudal Japan…
Some games do seem to work better multiplayer, yet the layers of complexity can be quite frustrating. When I’ve played this with my husband, I often think I have a fantastic turn planned, only to find out that a card I can’t see across the table has some special keyword that invalidates everything.
It’s almost like every card has its own set of rules. Multiply that by the roughly 70 cards in each deck, and it’s overwhelming for me. I agree about the artistic combination, though! Really lovely illustrations, although this is the only expansion that gets more into the fantasy realm.