Folks

Here's a review for you to post on the site.

Peter Barrett
(previously reviewed "Arriba Espagna"[not "Viva Espagna" as earlier
mentioned], and just sent in a review for "The Tigers Are Burning")

= = = =

Credo (Chaosium)

Reviewed by Peter Barrett

Credo is one of the more unusual games I've ever played. Simple
mechanics and a simple concept support a game of subtlety in which
friends and enemies change constantly.

Background

In the 4th century, Christianity emerged as the state religion of the
Roman Empire. But the church was often split by arguments and scandals
as it tried to define what it was to be a Christian. Civilian and even
military officials played an integral part in these conflicts, in the
same way that religious authorities became involved in secular matters.

In Credo, players represent factions within the empire, struggling for
control of church and state, within the context of creating Christian
doctrine.

This game may offend some people on religious grounds, in which case I
advise you to read no further. It is, however, a reasonably accurate
recreation of what occurred in Roman world in the 300 years following
the conversion of the Emperor Constantine the Great. Incidentally, it's
also a fun and interesting game to play.

Components

Credo is a card game, and it wasn't produced by one of the big game
companies. The result is that the cards are thin and serrated on the
edges (you have to separate them yourselves). Given the large number of
cards which have to be shuffled together, this is less than
satisfactory, but it's probably unavoidable. The information on the
cards is generally clear, with only a couple of corrections required.

The rules are quite short, with most of the information needed to
explain how to set the game up. Once again, they're reasonably complete,
though I had to write away to get some matters clarified. The rules
contain a couple of charts, and some extensive background information.

Concept

As mentioned above, players represent factions in the late Roman Empire.
The object of the game is to gain the largest following of people within
the Empire (known as "flock" in the game). The way to achieve this is to
be on the winning side of votes at the Ecumenical Councils which decide
church doctrine. The way to be on the winning side of these votes is to
have a large number of bishops and secular authorities with votes at
these councils. To get large numbers of bishops and secular authorities,
you need to make good use of the action cards you pick up each turn, and
be a little bit lucky.

To some extent, play revolves around getting control of the Emperor. Not
only does he have a lot of flock on his card and a few votes, but
usually only he can call Ecumenical Councils. And naturally, he'll only
want to do so when he thinks he can win the vote.

To understand how Ecumenical Councils work, it's necessary to delve into
one of the more exotic subject matters ever presented in a game.

Playing the game

For most Christians, the statement of faith is the Nicene Creed,
historically developed early in the 4th century at a Council held in the
Greek city of Nicaea. For the purposes of the game, the Creed is divided
into 10 articles. People had different interpretations of every one of
these 10 articles, but the versions which became official church
doctrine were the ones voted up at the Council of Nicaea (yes, that's
how it worked!).

Credo includes a mix of versions of each article, printed on cards, with
both the wording of that version and the name of the heresy which
supported it. Some versions of articles differ dramatically from each
other, while in other cases the differences are hair-splittingly small.
The names of various factions range from the well known (Catholic,
Orthodox) to the slightly known (Arian, Nestorian) to the virtually
completely unknown (Donatist, Monothelite, Athanasian,
Homoean/semi-Arian and the truly amazing Pneumatomachic). The cards of
the unusual heresies occur less frequently than the plain old Orthodox
versions, which are available for each article.

At the start of the game, you receive a random selection of 9 article
cards, from which your faction must build a doctrinal plan. The result
will usually be a theological dog's breakfast, but you're likely to
receive at least a couple of Orthodox articles. (It follows that as
there's more copies of Orthodox versions of articles around, they're
more likely to be voted up. Therefore, it's always good to have some
Orthodoxy in your doctrine).

Your turn consists simply of drawing a card from the pile of action
cards, then playing any action cards you wish. You can use action cards
to do things such as exile other players' bishops, gain control of extra
flock, cause another player's bishop to die a horrible death, take
control of the Emperor, accuse another player's bishop of apostasy
during the last great persecution and refute and teach the other
players. Refuting is an attempt to make another player discard one of
his articles, if his version of that article is different from yours.
Teaching is an attempt to make a player without any version of a
particular article accept your version of that article. Some event cards
must be played immediately, such as barbarian invasions and plagues,
both of which can decimate some players' forces. Other cards must be
removed from play once they're used, representing more ephemeral events,
such as the intervention of the Western Roman Emperor (the Emperor in
this game means the Eastern Emperor in Constantinople).

When the Emperor calls a Council, its sole purpose is to determine which
version of an article is to be adopted. The first Council deals with
article 1, the second with article 2, and so on up to article 10, at
which point the game ends.

Players can make all sorts of threats and promises during a council
prior to the vote, and can play cards to affect the vote. If you have a
particular version of an article, you must vote for it. If you have no
version, you can vote for whoever you like. Whichever version of an
article gets the most votes wins, and all players who voted for that
version get extra flock cards. Everyone else loses flock cards. The
Emperor can then enforce the vote on one of the losing players - sort of
kicking a guy while he's down - though this can backfire with a bad dice
roll.

The result is that the balance of power can shift a lot from one Council
to the next. Also, players who voted on opposite sides in one council
will find themselves on the same side in the next, or the reverse,
because of their mix of articles.

Once the last article has been voted on, players total up their flock.
Whoever has the largest flock is the winner.

Conclusion

As with many multi-player games, where there's plenty of player
interaction, there's plenty of fun. Turns take a minute at most,
although some councils can drag on a bit with posturing. Players can't
be eliminated, and can still affect a vote, even if they have no
bishops. The result is a breakneck dive into a remarkable and
little-known world which I can highly recommend.

You really need at least 4 players for the game to work, though it's
better with six. Even then, you'll probably be finished inside 3 hours -
this game is one which is unlikely to go on for ever and ever. Amen.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at:
peter.barrett@afp.gov.au



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