It’s funny though, because you’d have thought that it would have been a frontrunner for Game of the Year, at least here at Gameshark.com. I can’t help but think too that some of the lack of enthusiasm stemmed simply from it being yet another well-produced competently designed “dudes on a map” game without really anything novel, interesting, or compelling to serve as differentiators. It all just felt too obvious- “meh” as the youth of today would say- after the initial “what the hell are auction tiles doing in here” shock. I also wonder if it was such a smart idea to have so many numbers to consider, so many particular rules and exceptions. I also wonder if part of the disconnect with the audience had something to do with the fact that Conan is really a small (but significant) player in the scope of the game- it’s really not about Conan at all. It’s a multiplayer wargame.

Truth be told, it makes me wonder if a game based on the Howard stories is even possible outside of a role-playing game. After all, Conan stories are about a particular character, not so much about warring nations. But there again, it is AGE OF CONAN, not THE ADVENTURES OF CONAN or anything like that.

Regardless, I can’t help but think that maybe AGE OF CONAN got the short end of the stick, that it never really had a chance to find an audience or really make its case despite whatever expectations we might have given our own opinions about what the Conan license means. But I can totally see where gamers could have been left cold by a single play of the game, even if only the surface of its depth was scratched. I’m a firm believer that one play is all you need to know if a game is worth playing again, and I thought AGE OF CONAN was.

But many gamers don’t even play the games they like more than once. They respond to the never-ending onrush of new titles and the sense that time has to be budgeted out between a number of players to actually play these games, and if it ain’t the new hotness or a bona fide “classic”, it’s off the table. I don’t recall what the next “hot” releases were after AGE OF CONAN hit shelves, but the fact that they too have been left in the dust says a lot about how quickly games turn over in the hobby.

Or they don’t. It’s almost as if games move into “immortal classic” status or they drop off and are forgotten- and you can usually tell within six months which way it’s going to go. In contrast to AGE OF CONAN, WotR is still widely played and discussed six years after its release, and odds are that it will be for another decade. There’s even a big $400 collector’s edition coming out. Hell, even lowly MARVEL HEROES still has fans that make variants, add rules, and actively play the game. But Conan’s one big shot at breaking into the board game market appears to have been an unfortunate fumble. At this point, I can’t imagine anyone choosing to play it over CHAOS IN THE OLD WORLD or even older titles like WARRIOR KNIGHTS or NEXUS OPS- all games that do the “dudes on a map” thing way better, and without the lingering sense that it’s not the Conan game you always dreamed of.

In a sense this column is in part an apology to Mr. DiMeglio and Nexus- I’m really sorry that I haven’t reviewed AGE OF CONAN after you guys comped me a copy but in all fairness, I can’t review the game with only this one, tentative play on the books. I’d love to play it again sometime and get a better handle on it as well as what does and doesn’t work, and I’d still love to cover it for the Cracked LCD readers who might be wondering what my take is on this oddly low-key, apparent misfire. I’m sure it needs two or three plays for its quality to show through its complex assortment of rules, cards, player powers, and situations but without willing parties it just won’t happen.

Questions or comments for Michael? Send them along to wabner@gameshark.com .

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