Nice issues are available small packages. I’ve strived to internalize this message as somebody who’s height-challenged. It’s additionally why the Dwarves are my favourite of the Center-earth species. Regardless of their brief stature, they’re famend for his or her toughness and craftsmanship, this latter trait exemplified by the spectacular labyrinth that’s the Mines of Moria in The Lord of the Rings. German Millan mentioned in his designer diary how the Mines of Moria have been his inspiration for his newest heavy Eurogame, Covenant, regardless that it’s not formally related to the LoTR IP. In Covenant, 1-4 gamers can have the chance to assist Dwarves reclaim their deserted mountain metropolis. Over 100 minutes, they may compete to excavate tunnels, uncover gemstone treasures, combat off lurking monsters, and rebuild their sacred mountain dwelling.

Gameplay Overview:

Covenant is performed over 3 rounds, and in every spherical, gamers alternate taking a complete of 4 actions utilizing Dwarves who begin at energy 1, representing “motion energy.” Dwarves could also be completely upgraded to a most of energy 4 all through the sport, and moreover, their energy could also be quickly boosted for particular person actions via beer tokens.

The primary actions are available 4 flavors:

  • Dig—excavate the shared mountain map, accumulating mining sources within the course of
  • Transport—Contribute mining sources in direction of the crafting of assorted buildings
  • Construct—Add buildings (of 4 unlocked varieties) to already excavated areas of the map, acquiring advantages related to their location
  • Skirmish—Clear monsters from areas of the map (in a zero-luck, mathematical method)
The twin-layered private playerboard, proven right here, begins with one pre-printed copy of every motion sort, however further copies of those actions could be added. Any motion spot can be upgraded with secondary actions (backside left nook of every sq.), making them extra highly effective.

Every of the above actions is related to observe bumps and varied one-time bonuses that present engine-building capabilities and different in-game combos and perks, together with factors.

Closing scores will in the end be composed of:

Recreation Expertise:

There is no such thing as a single component of Covenant that feels fully novel, however the sport positive does cobble collectively some enjoyable mechanics in a manner that results in crunchy, combo-tastic gameplay. A core characteristic is that the actions could be taken at totally different energy ranges. We’ve seen this earlier than with Teotihuacan, Yokohama, and Ark Nova. With every of those, I’ve beloved the engine-building component of getting stronger, in addition to the additional resolution house required to find out which actions require extra energy and the right way to optimally sequence actions. Covenant offers further flexibility with this mechanic as you’ll be able to freely select the place to assign your various-strength Dwarves every spherical, in addition to when to spice up them with restricted beer.

There’s additionally an exploratory component on the shared map the place gamers can excavate one tile at a time to broaden the map. We’ve seen this earlier than in video games like Vindication and Revive/Recall. The important thing distinction in these different video games is that gamers can take 2-3 totally different actions per flip, and thus they will declare first dibs on any thrilling new places that get found. With Covenant, exploration is a extra dangerous proposition, as gamers can typically solely do one sort of motion per flip, so for those who discover one thing good, the following participant can doubtlessly capitalize on it—if they’ve the actions and sources prepared to take action.

Every sport has three distinctive scoring alternatives, proven right here, that get triggered in a cumulative style on the finish of every spherical

One other pervasive mechanic is the triggering of one-time bonuses from all kinds of locations—icons on the principle map, private playerboard, and at varied thresholds on the three tracks. Forestry, Barcelona, and Tiletum likewise provide many such combo-tastic bonuses. In Covenant, many of those bonuses enable buying or buying necessary objects from varied shared-market choices, that are instantly up to date. For higher or worse, a few of these market choices could also be extra interesting than others, and as soon as once more, the following participant in flip order can doubtlessly capitalize on this.

So whereas Covenant will not be vastly interactive—it’s motion choice in your playerboard vs employee placement—the race for the very best market choices, finest constructing places on the shared map, and combating/shifting monsters such that solely your opponents get damaging factors on their properties creates some significant rigidity. Gamers will typically wish to do some of every of the 4 fundamental actions, however they will improve their uneven playerboards with further motion spots, permitting specialization in sure actions. This, mixed with distinctive rule-breaking talents (gamers begin with 1 and may acquire as much as 4, amongst 36 whole), distinctive private targets (2 every sport, amongst 12 whole), and three distinctive end-round shared targets (amongst 18), pushes gamers in numerous instructions every sport.

Undiscovered components of the shared map can been seen right here as red-backed hexes. Gamers can solely assemble buildings on found parts of the map. Rewards for these buildings rely on the kind of tile on which they’re constructed.

Regardless of all of the combo-tastic engine-building goodness, I do have some complaints. First, two of the 4 uneven playerboards provide extra capacity/scoring synergies than others, which creates steadiness points at playercounts 3+. Secondly, the dearth of market-offering turnover at 2-player could be problematic. Lastly, the sport is sort of tight on each sources and motion economic system, considerably punishingly so. You could really feel like your engine hasn’t actually begun to run by the point the sport ends. And I don’t assume I’m the one one who feels this fashion. The BGG dialogue for Covenant as of Could 2026 has 3 threads discussing including a fourth spherical (for 2-players), 1 thread discussing rising the energy of your beginning Dwarves, and three threads discussing how anybody ever scores over 100 factors. I’ll admit that I applied some house-rule modifications for a barely stronger begin after enjoying a couple of occasions, and it remodeled the sport from merely good to nice. Alas, this assessment should replicate the principles as written.

Closing Ideas:

One in all six transportation depots is proven right here. Each the pink and purple gamers have every made 3 deliveries (indicated by wheelbarrows) permitting them to unlock specialised buildings.

Covenant is a heavy, combo-tastic, engine-building Eurogame that casts gamers as Dwarves making an attempt to discover, rebuild, and de-monsterfy their ancestral mountain metropolis. It’s by the identical designer as Males Nefer and Bitoku, and it equally requires ample planning forward to capitalize on synergies of a number of overlapping thematic foci—on this case, digging, transporting, constructing, and skirmishing. There’s no single mechanic that jumps out as fully distinctive, however the sport works properly as a decent Euro puzzle. For this reviewer, I’d rank the above-mentioned video games within the following order: Males Nefer > Covenant > Bitoku.

Participant interplay in Covenant might be the bottom of the three, present totally on the shared map and leaping on market alternatives revealed by your opponents. My largest criticism is that the sport may be a tad too tight, and home guidelines may be required for those who actually wish to see your engine run earlier than the sport ends. Similar to its Dwarven heroes, Covenant is a finely crafted manufacturing, it’s stuffed with a treasure-trove of difficult selections, and it’s comparatively brief (no less than in comparison with Millan’s different heavy designs).

Closing Rating: 3.5 Stars—Rise past your Dwarven stature to construct a mountain sanctuary on this heavy, combo-tastic Eurogame

Hits:
• Variable-power employees that may be upgraded
• Crunchy, combo-tastic Eurogame goodness
• Nice manufacturing

Misses:
• Gameplay presumably too tight
• Participant interplay could also be too gentle for some
• Some luck in market refresh alternatives