Unicornus Knights: The Story of a Warrior Princess

Jul 4, 2023 | Sessions | 0 comments

March across the lands of Astoria to guide the princess in a memorable battle against the empire in Unicornus Knights.

There are some random games I’ve come across over the years, often only in passing. Most are fairly unknown and not the most popular choices… But they stick with me! When I spotted a copy of Unicornus Knights at a local board game swap, I remembered it from ages ago. With such a low price and an intriguing premise, I was excited to try it out solo!

Game Overview

Game Name: Unicornus Knights
Publication Year:
2016
Designers:
Seiji Kanai and Kuro
Artists:
Many (15 Credited)
Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)

Dangerous empire characters patrol the lands where the princess launches a campaign to take back the capital. She may be deadly in battle, yet her sights are set on victory. Other kingdom characters must guide her, managing troop logistics, defending, and telling an epic story!

A Very Unique Set of Map Tiles for Unicornus Knights
R

First Play

July 3, 2023

Complexity

4

Latest Play

July 6, 2023

Expansions

0

Setup Time

15 Minutes

Lifetime Plays

3

Play Time

2 Hours

:

High Score

N/A

1

Game Area

48" x 30"

;

Low Score

N/A

A Helpful Tutorial

Note that this session is all about the tutorial mode, which is a heavily stripped down version designed to get used to the mechanics. I’ll be back with the full game mode soon!

However, I tend to take my time getting into new games. Don’t let this one fool you: It’s not a simple walk in the park and has a fair number of moving parts.

What a unique play area! Rounded tiles make it impossible to have a perfectly organized area, but it does look nice.

Solo is possible with a minimum of 3 characters, which I randomized from a large stack. Onto the tutorial I went!

Looking Out Across the Land of Unicornus Knights

Good ol’ Godfried

In the back of the rulebook, character profiles are provided for both the kingdom and empire. There are lots of story hints in there, which immediately had me interested.

My characters were Godfried, Ilsahati, and Annelie. Each was very unique with different abilities and combat charts.

This is a dice-based combat game, yet there are some ways to affect the odds or roll more dice. And Godfried was only a single character… Everyone was a little different!

I struggled a little bit with the rulebook, which has a lot of typos and isn’t the clearest, yet I was ready to roll.

An Example of a Kingdom Character to Find in Unicornus Knights

A Strong Princess

There are 4 different princess types, which add variety and can affect the overall difficulty level. For this tutorial, she was a warrior who took less damage from any battles.

She isn’t simply a royal who needs protecting and escorting, though. The princess is the most powerful unit on the field, and she’ll fight anyone in her path!

However, this means she can put herself in danger, so the characters must carefully carve out a path for her.

It’s a unqiue premise, and one I like because she’s driven by a desire to protect others, yet she doesn’t require help.

Starting Off with a Tutorial to Help the Princess Escape in Unicornus Knights

Fighting the Empire

Whereas kingdom characters form the allies spread across Astoria, the empire consists of the invading forces that have taken hold. They vary wildly, too… Dragon alert!

Note that the tutorial is extremely simplified and uses about 1/3 of the usual map tiles and empire characters. 

Different behaviors, like aggressive or defensive, help define how each one acts. Some have their own powers, yet do you see what’s possible? That’s right: Allies!

Not everyone can easily become an ally, but there are ways this can happen and give kingdom characters new powers.

Taking a Look at the Empire and Defensive Characters in Unicornus Knights

Watching a Story Form

I was mainly focused on getting through the rules and understanding the flow of gameplay, yet I was kind of surprised to see a story emerge from this tutorial.

The princess needed to head to the southeast, which took her through dangerous areas. Dorgas was ready to attack anyone foolish enough to come close to the mountains.

Godfried went in to draw the attention away from the princess, forcing her to move due south instead.

A fate card came up when Godfried was nearby… Suddenly, there was a bitter rivalry that would only end in death.

A Terrible Fate for Godfried Against Dorgas in Unicornus Knights

Storytelling Without… Storytelling?

There are a lot of solo games that are billed as being narrative adventures, and they live up to that name. But every so often, I enjoy finding those that aren’t designed specifically to tell a story. In this case, the story moments come through the decisions. There is a fair amount of strategy, too, and the lore is at the very back of the rulebook.

It isn’t an easy task to merge storytelling within a more strategic game. Maybe this one is a little easier to build a narrative from, but I didn’t expect to find connections between characters in this way. The fate cards really are pretty awesome for changing each play, too: An empire character might be more or less liked depending on the drawn cards.

Time will tell how different these stories may be from play to play, but the fact that different characters are used means that I can see some interesting interactions. Just a nice surprise to see an emergent story when I wasn’t expecting it!

Dice Battles

I probably got a little lucky with my random characters, as I had a good mix of strong fighters and Annelie, who was one of the best support characters. Send those resources!

Dahaka would be a thorn in the kingdom’s side if he was left to follow the princess. Ilsahati despised the evil that coursed through the empire, and gladly attacked.

However, the fate card for Dahaka indicated he could be persuaded to become an ally when defeated… And he was!

This turned Ilsahati into an even more formidable fighter, and he was ready to continue thwarting the empire.

Heading Into Combat with Ilsahati Against Dahaka in Unicornus Knights

Rozie, the Automaton

Without the lore, Rozie might look like a standard empire character, yet she’s not! This is actually an automaton that is more like a neutral character than a true enemy.

Being defensive, she wasn’t a threat… But it was her ally power that was extremely valuable. Her one-time ability turned all rolled dice into hits, which is amazing!

Note that battles often result in lost health or troops, especially on misses. Logistics can’t fix everything.

Ilsahati detoured to gain this ally. He took some damage going against the Black Knight twice, but triumphed!

Making an Automaton a Powerful Ally in Unicornus Knights

A Successful Run

The princess made it! I could have chosen to send her in against the Black Knight since she was deadly, but with already depleted health from the start, that was too risky.

I didn’t go into all of the details, yet there was a lot going on. Annelie, seen on the far left, might not have taken a lead role, but she was responsible for all of the logistics.

Collecting or sending troops and resources is an easy idea, but with limited actions, it takes careful planning.

In short, I enjoyed watching the story unfold and making sure the princess took the safest route to the castle!

A Successful Tutorial to Save the Princess in Unicornus Knights

Session Overview

Play Number: 1 and 2
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)
Play Details: Tutorial Mode with Warrior & 3 Characters 
Outcome: 2 Wins

The support cards helped provide more story moments, too, like when Godfried used forged orders to put himself in a strong defensive position… The empire was then forced to attack, which went over poorly for them! I ended up playing twice to get the hang of the gameplay steps and battle rules. I can’t wait to get into the full game and see what might happen with a huge map… Exciting!

Watching a Story Come to Life with the Support Cards in Unicornus Knights

%

1 Play

Affordability

Price & Value

10

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

9

Originality

Design & Theme

9

Quality

Components & Rules

8

Reusability

Achievement & Enjoyment

7

Variability

Distinctness & Randomness

8

+ Pros (Positives)

  • Strategy and storytelling combine in a very interesting way that brings characters and their actions to life.
  • The princess doesn’t need protecting since she can destroy enemies, yet her path must be carefully guided.
  • Characters all function very differently, especially with the addition of support cards and possible ally powers.
  • Fate cards bind kingdom and empire characters together and provide story moments for even more intrigue.
  • Actions offer plenty of options, yet overall, the rules are fairly straightforward and the focus is on the strategies.
  • Despite offering only about 1/3 of the full game experience, the tutorial mode is excellent for learning how to play.

– Cons (Negatives)

  • There are a lot of art styles that aren’t very cohesive, along with some female characters in need of more clothing.
  • Map tiles can get pretty busy with the tokens, which can sometimes obscure the important iconography.
  • Keeping track of a character’s available actions can be quite tricky without something like a die to count down.
  • The rules are written in a somewhat non-intuitive way and can be difficult to learn without online resources.

More Unicornus Knights

Explore related posts about Unicornus Knights!

Victory Conditions

Complete the Objective

  • Overall Goal Progress 100% 100%

Goals and Milestones

R

Win at least 1 game in the standard mode.

R

Win at least 1 game in the tutorial mode.

R

Win at least 1 game with the warrior princess.

Continue the Conversation

What do you like about Unicornus Knights? Are there any other solo games that surprised you with storytelling? The tutorial is not really indicative of full gameplay, so I fully expect to lose. Ha! However, this is a really unique sort of game in my collection that combines strategy and narration. I’m very much looking forward to playing the full game!

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