Kalewala: Tale of Sampo

Kalewala: Tale of Sampo is a hidden movement game that delivers all the brain-teasing and multi-layered deception that the genre is known for. The design is kept tight enough to avoid any of the idle trawling or uninspired guesswork that can be a risk with this kind of game.

For one player/team, the objective of the game is to transport a powerful artifact, the Sampo, from one of three starting locations in the mountains to one of the three goal-locations by the sea. The Sampo is held by one of the leaders and can swap hands during play to distract the opponent and aid in the goal to return home with the artifact.

For the other player/team, the point is to prevent them in reaching their goal, by means of laying traps and attacking with their own leaders.

Each leader has a special ability and is equipped with powerful items, mastering these is key to ensuring victory. The Pohjola side, tasked with capturing the Sampo, starts the game by setting up traps. When a trap is later provoked in the game, a devastating effect happens to the leader that triggered it.

Combat in Kalewala: Tale of Sampo is resolved using a ”rock, paper, scissors”-model, though modified with cards that allow for much deeper strategic encounters. When a Leader bearing the Sampo is defeated, it is broken into pieces and will have to be captured again for the Pohjola side to win!

The board also holds various scenarios that let players gain new leaders and resources, and the Tuonela, the Land of the Dead, is a place on the board where players venture to restore spent cards. Thus the game rewards going off the shortest route, adding further layers to the puzzle of deception that is the game’s heart.

Tale cards are what make the game’s innovative Journey system. Each game copy starts with 7 Prologue Tales, available on each of your gaming sessions from the very first play. After each session, one new Tale card gets added and shuffled to the deck of available Tale cards. This is determined by how a team won the game session. Think of it like achievements or leveling up in a video game.

As with all design choices of Kalewala: Tale of Sampo, the dual game effects in Tale cards (one for each side) follow accurately the events from the epoch of Kalevala. Just like the Trap cards, the back-side of the card consists entirely of the direct excerpt from the corresponding rune of Kalevala. There are 50 runes in Kalevala, with the capture of Sampo being just one of them, the Tale cards are the perfect way to introduce the players to the other highly fascinating runes of Kalevala.

The Tales are divided into 7 categories aside from the Prologue Tales: Magic, Muse, Heroism, Gatherings, Aggression, Yearning, and Tuonela (expansion), each category title hinting at a certain playstyle. As you might realize, unlocking all Tales takes some effort, even possibly going out of your way to win in a certain way in order to unlock a cool new Tale card for your future games.

There are other ways how Kalewala: Tale of Sampo grants its owners replay-value but your Journey is the primary guarantee. Currently, there are 29 Tales and 7 more are waiting to be designed and added into the mix by the means of Stretch Goals. As you start with 7 Prologue Tales, gaining the remaining 29 will take at least 29 play sessions! It is unlikely that all of them would be added throughout your history of owning the game. But the game comes with a sheet where you can track the dates and teammates of your play sessions and it instructs you how to find the right Tale to add. The game will be your own. Your Tale of Kalevala, not ”just” a Tale of Sampo. You will take your Journey to the ancient North-Eastern European oral tradition that is at the core of Kalevala, just like Elias Lönnrot did when he traveled to the region of Karelian to compile the mythological epoch that Finland recognizes as its national epic.

Number of players: 1-6
Playing time: 30 min - 60 min
Language: English
The game must not be given to children under three years of age due to the risk of suffocation! Contains small parts.

More informations https://www.taleofsampo.com/