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Oriflamme is an absolute gem. It's a taught, interactive, small-box card game that has overtures of Coup and Love Letter. There is a Game of Thrones thematic vibe, and a tendency to hit the table as filler and then stay there as the group decides to play ‘just one more hand’.
Introduction
In Oriflamme, you play as noble houses vying for power in a succession crisis. You all have identical decks of 10 cards. You will play with 7 of these, each randomly discarding 3 in setup.
In each round, you add a card face down to either end of a growing common queue. Once everyone has placed a card, you will start to work along the queue from left to right. As you get to one of your cards, if it is face down, you can either add an influence marker or flip it over and play its power, pocketing any accrued influence on it. If the card is already face-up (from a previous round), you just activate its power (again). Influence is vitally important, as the player with the most at the end will win.
Powers
Powers are important as they typically either generate more influence in some way, kill other cards, or change the order of cards in the queue. And killing a face-down card typically means any influence on it is lost to the supply. You are trying to generate revenue, eliminate rivals’ revenue generators, and also eliminate threats to your cards. All while dealing with the opponent cards in the queue, which will be a combination of blind and open by the second or third round.
To give you a bit more meat, some of the card powers are:
The Archer, who eliminates the first or last card from the queue (even if it is yours!)
Conspiracy, which doubles the influence on it when flipped but is then discarded.
Royal Decree, which moves any card to anywhere in the queue and is then discarded.
To add a bit of spice, you can also play new face-down cards over your existing face-up cards instead of adding them to the end. You might do this for a range of reasons - like if the card you are covering is becoming a problem, or the position in the queue is less vulnerable or more beneficial than the ends. Without going too much into the weeds, it adds some welcome tactical depth.
Gameplay continues until the end of the 6th round and then you total up the number of coins in front of you. The player with the most wins.
Thoughts
So why has Oriflamme become such a hit with my gaming group? Well, it's quick to teach and to play. In just 10 minutes new players will be tucked into their first game. Tactical nuances are pleasantly iterative, as the group starts to pick up how cards interact and the placement and play choices. And this iterative nature starts to drip, drip into players’ awareness at a satisfying rate. By the end of the first game they will have a sense of growing familiarity, but also the awareness that there is more to understand. Hence a second game and maybe a third or fourth.
Sure the game is bitey, but the take that is at the core of what it is. It’s a quick tactical game, so no one has the level of investment for that to be a real problem. It only takes 20 minutes to play – so if it feels like you are getting a drubbing, it’ll be over before you can be too sad.
Equally, the art and production are sumptuous and strong. It looks great on the table and the ‘small tarot’ card size and shape are pleasing to play with.
We really liked the scalability too. It’s great with 3, 4, or 5, and feels enjoyably different with each player count. Queue sizes vary, and that really affects some of the tactical choices you make from turn to turn.
All of this with a price-point of £15, and the chance to then buy a standalone expansion Oriflamme Ablaze with 11 new cards that can be played separately or combined with the base game. Lots to love in this brisk bout of medieval backstabbing – I heartily recommend it.
