So, we played a round of Aye, Dark Overlord! this weekend, and I thought I'd give a brief summary and ask for your opinions here.

I really liked the game in itself, but a couple of things threw me off, and I wanted to ask if they're normal, the result of a really bad Overlord or a misunderstanding of rules:

1. Several players just barely made up a story. They continued for a couple of sentences but instead of accusing, they usually laid the blame on others. I found this quite frustrating as the story-telling part took a back seat behind "yes, I did that, but HE did something far worse!" *plays lay blame and gives turn to another player*
2. Interruptions and arguments from players whose turn it wasn't. There were times when I couldn't even hear a player's story and excuses, because others were shouting into the round and interjecting at every second.
3. The way we played it, you would eventually run out of action cards because whenever the Overlord asks you directly, you don't draw an action card.
4. The game took awefully long to play - I am fairly certain that this was the Overlord's faults.

Your thoughts? Other experiences?

I didn't knoiw the game was released. Is it available in a foreign edition or put another way, is FFG's version a reprint of another publisher's previous edition?

I wasn't aware it was not available... How interesting.

I do have the game here in the German version, which, by the way, is called "Ja, Herr und Meister!". Not only that, but I also have the expansion "Gnade, Herr und Meister!" - which will probably translate to "Mercy, Dark Overlord!".

At the Essen Game Fair, I got it from Heidelberger Spieleverlag who are FFG's German publisher. This leads me to believe that the German version might be the original, and "Aye, Dark Overlord" is the translated version which FFG is at the moment working on.

"At the Essen Game Fair, I got it from Heidelberger Spieleverlag who are FFG's German publisher. This leads me to believe that the German version might be the original, and "Aye, Dark Overlord" is the translated version which FFG is at the moment working on."

Seem like it!

Both german versions will arrive today and i am really looking forward to play this game this weekend.

I haven't played it, but I've read the rules and it feel similar to "Once upon a time" which is another storytelling game. My experience with that game is that it is very group dependent and usually works best with a group of role players. Trying to win the game isn't the purpose, but to have a fun time, which is very different from other games. I guess it is the same with this game.

As far as I know, it is a spanish game or italien game...

But it is out quite some time in Germany (about a year) and we had a lot of fun on parties with it.

I personally like it very much, because its a fast game, you do not need much preparations and the stories that develope are hilarious, especially when you send then o a stupid mission from the start (I send then once down the street to get fresh eggs and they ended up in another dimension).

On the other side it really depends on the people you are playing with... or how late it is...or how much you had to drink...

Ahriman said:

That is sooooo true. When people get tired they start to tell really weird stories and next time we should try to play it drunken

So it would appear this is a boardgame that plays best with roleplayers? That would be nice, I could then introduce this game to my rolplaying groups.

It's indeed an italian game. And it's better with roleplayers.

Mike, about your comments:

1: if you are the Overlord, don't let your players do that.

2: give them a "deathly look" (I don't know the exact english term). They shouldn't speak while the Overlord is trying to listen to someone. Well, they shoulnd't speak at all, unless you give them the autorisation.

3: generally, you should try not to do this. That's my point of view. If you do, do it to the good players.

4 : the Overlord is the Big Bad Guy. He should give "deathly looks" for any good reason. You should put preasure on your minions.

Essentially capi-chou has it entirely right. The Dark Overlord is the one responsible for keeping the game moving and fun. If a goblin can't explain away a failure before handing off to another, the Dark Overlord is entirely within his rights to either say "I don't care what *he* did with the water-soluble sword, I demanded to hear about *your* actions with the ancient artifact!" or just dole out a Withering Look outright.

I've played "Once Upon a Time" before and I thought it was awesome, but there are usually a lot of arguments. So if that's whats happening in "Aye Dark Overlord" I wouldnt be suprised.