Witches of the Revolution and the Fight for Freedom
Revisit the American Revolutionary War from a different and fictional point of view with Witches of the Revolution.
To play a witch in a solo game is a rare occasion for me, mainly because I don’t seem to own many games that feature the group. Well, aside from enemies. Enter Witches of the Revolution! This interesting concept has a coven fighting for freedom and independence. Treacherous events await at every turn as objectives must be earned. To the broomsticks!
Game Overview
Game Name: Witches of the Revolution
Publication Year: 2017
Designer: M. Craig Stockwell
Artists: James Mosingo and Alan Washburn
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Maybe broomsticks are a little off… The witches here are less comical. A starting coven includes a selection of low-level seekers. Recruiting new witches involves an interesting mechanic where it comes down to replacement, rather than growth. The goal is to complete a set of 4 objectives, all focused on the Revolutionary War!
First Play
August 14, 2019
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 3, 2023
Expansions
0
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
9
Play Time
35 Minutes
High Score
7
Game Area
24" x 22"
Low Score
0
The Initial Witches
Never mind the fact that only a single piece of artwork is showing… One of my main issues with the game is the repetitive artwork on the majority of the witches.
Fortunately, the starter decks are unique. I may mix them up in the future, just to maximize the usable artwork!
The most important elements are the icons. These are used to overcome events, thereby moving closer to completing objectives. But don’t forget about recruiting…
Witches with more icons are inherently more powerful. Yet there is a tradeoff in the loss of the basic seekers.
Historical Objectives
Maybe not historical… More like historical fiction! Yet the objectives are interestingly tied into events and people from the 1770s and 1780s. Rather a neat concept.
Just looking at a small sample got me interested in doing a little research. Like Henry Knox. I took a few minutes to find out who he was and learned something new.
In general, though, the objectives boil down to removing the tokens via events. Never underestimate the British!
There’s an underlying theme of war, although outright violence is rarely depicted. Witches work in subtle ways.
Tracking Liberty
Perhaps the most important element to keep track of is liberty. This track is adjusted based on specific events. Allowing them to progress slowly lowers this value.
Near the lower end, recruiting begins to steadily grow more and more expensive. Remember that this is a game of deck replacement, and not growth. Not so good!
Yet overcoming a liberty event increases the tracker by 2, thereby erasing the ill effects. It’s a balancing act, though.
This measurement is also the number of victory points… Should all of the objectives be completed in time.
Lucky Blessings
Within the recruitment deck are 3 special events, though the easier difficulty level allows for all 6 cards to be used. They simply offer either summer or winter effects.
However, this came out at the perfect time! I had the events under control. There was an expensive celebrant waiting to be recruited… So I took advantage of summer!
It’s only too bad the random events in the recruitment deck are so limited. More would have been awesome.
All the same, I felt myself finally getting into a groove. In the past, my plays went horribly wrong!
A Sea of Events
With a deck of 40 cards, the events are never all that predictable. On a side note, I realized I never played the mixed deck correctly before… Set icons are important!
My adventure only included easy events, which still felt challenging. Using the right witches sometimes comes down to luck, though recruiting helps balance the deck.
Although I love the unique artwork and historical setting, my eyes always focus on the icons and little more.
There’s plenty of thematic content, yet my play quickly devolved into collecting and matching symbols.
Fighting for Liberty
At the same time, I enjoyed the objectives! Repairing a cairn seemed easy enough, although those tokens were quite tricky to get ahold of. My seekers came in handy!
Likewise, I loved how another main goal was to summon up some fog along the East River. Most effective, indeed.
That’s something I really like about gameplay. There’s a war going on, yet the witches typically aren’t focused on commiting violent acts. They’re more… Meddlesome?
Still, I felt a bit disconnected with the theme, much as I wanted to enjoy it. Who doesn’t want to summon fog?!
Using Allies and Relics
This was just a sample of everyone and everything I came across! Relics provide interesting options since they’re free to recruit, but may only be used a single time.
Stewards rarely showed up during this play, making the couple in my deck immensely useful! I even held onto a few original witches who made quite an impact.
The icons still took center stage, yet I found myself drawn to the decisions. Going through my deck was undesirable.
Why? Reshuffling advances the moon track, thereby making events harder to overcome. Quite a balance!
A StoryWorld Witch
I love this StoryWorld card! Most appropriate for October and Halloween, although I also liked the white cat.
He or she looked to be in a similar pose to the black cat on the box artwork! Although I imagine both have very different thoughts going through their minds… Ha ha!
Maybe I’m in the minority, yet I like the idea of playing as a witch who isn’t all too scary. Perhaps that originated with nonstop viewing of The Witches when I was young…
Because that never scared me. Although I was quick to check for purple eyes and square toes for a few years!
Session Overview
Play Number: 7
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level
Required Play Space: 24″ x 22″
Setup Time: 5 Minutes
Play Time: 40 Minutes
Outcome: 7 Points (Win)
Victory! I managed to complete all the objectives with the highest possible score on the liberty track. It was certainly fun, though I hope to find a way to feel more thematically connected to gameplay. Witches can be awesome!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
6
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- The difficulty level can be set by making a few adjustments, as well as creating the event deck with specific cards.
- Deck replacement means that recruitment must be done carefully, and using cards too quickly can be costly.
- Many of the events and objectives feature historical moments or figures that warrant a little extra research.
- Events introduce sudden snafus that may lead to a discarded hand or other calamities that must be dealt with.
- Although gameplay is focused on symbols, figuring out how best to use every witch card takes careful planning.
- Random events in the recruit deck add one-time benefits that sometimes occur at the perfect strategic moments.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Although the insert looks quite nice, it doesn’t actually hold the components in place to be stored vertically.
- The theme often gets lost among the mechanics, and gameplay feels more like an exercise in matching symbols.
- Most of the witch artwork is duplicated on up to 15 cards, so the characters don’t feel unique in any way.
- The rulebook is presented in a brochure format that folds non-intuitively and makes looking up rules difficult.
Victory Conditions
Complete All 4 Objectives
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the standard difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
How do you feel about Witches of the Revolution? The theme is very unique, and certainly not something I would have thought to mix together! Are there any other games you enjoy that meld history with fiction or fantasy? I may do some more research in the future to feel more connected to the events… Maybe that’s the secret to having a very fun time!
I like the colour balance in this game, and your pictures bring it out very well.
As you say, it’s a shame they couldn’t manage individual art for the witches. I mean, sure, in game terms they may just be “two green, one yellow, one special power” but since they’re meant to represent individuals it would be nice if that were reflected in the components.
I like the idea of tying it into the American Revolution but if it’s just a matter of getting this many of the right symbols how thematic can it feel? Still, with a short abstracted game one probably can’t push it too far…
Thanks! I hoped I captured the unique style and colors this game offers. Aside from the starting coven, all of the witches technically have unique cards… With their names. I really wish they gave them more unique characteristics!
The theme does tend to feel a little lost at times. I almost wish there was a reference guide that explained each card in a little more detail. You have to go out and do lots of additional research to truly understand what’s going on with some of the cards. Unless you’re well-versed in American Revolution history!