Ichor – A Battle of Gods & Monsters

Greek mythology has shaped Western culture. Everyone knows Medusa was ugly and turns people to stone; that the Minotaur was half-man, half-bull; that Zeus was the king of the Greek gods. But what could happen if the most famous Greek gods faced off against the most famous mythological Greek monsters?

Ichor is a game for two players, ages 10+, by Reiner Knizia. It’s published by Bitewing Games, with gorgeous illustrations by Tyler Miles Lockett and Brigette Indelicato.

This asymmetric game plays out as a battle of wits: Greek gods versus Greek monsters. Which can more effectively defend their sacred ground?

How to Play

Begin by laying out the cloth board: use the 6×6 side for a shorter game, or 7×7 for a longer game.

One player starts as the monsters, the other as the gods. Shuffle the eight power cards for your team, then lay them out, one per space, along your side of the board.

Now that you have your starting lineup, place the corresponding standee figure on the space in front of each power card.

Each player takes the tokens for their team.

The goal of Ichor is to get all your tokens onto the board. The monsters go first.

Take a Turn

On your turn, choose one of two options:

Move

Move one of your pieces in a straight line – any number of unobstructed spaces. After moving, place a token on the space where the figure started, and on each space they passed through this turn. If a space had one of your opponent’s tokens, return it to them, then place a token of your own.

Your figure may not move onto or over a space with another figure.

Activate a Power

Instead of moving a figure, you can activate its power. Each of these break the game in some way, and each can only be used once in the game. After using a power, flip over that character card to remind you their power is no longer available.

Ending the Game

At an end of a player’s turn, if they have all their tokens on the board, they win. Make a note of how many tokens the loser has left; this is the winner’s score.

The game also ends if a player cannot make any legal moves on their turn. Then their opponent wins.

After the first game, reset the board to its first setup (including putting all characters in the same starting places). Then switch sides and play a second game. Whichever player has the higher score after two rounds, wins the game.

Impressions

I really wanted to like Ichor, especially after how much we enjoyed Iliad. The art, the simplicity of play, and the feeling of “anyone can win” are carried over from its game sibling.

The stylized art brings out aspects of the gods and monsters, especially with their unique powers. It brings players into the theme of Ichor, when it so easily could be just another abstract game. Meanwhile the graphic design keeps it clear what each piece does, and who it belongs to.

Actually playing the game is simple. But the special powers mean lots of options to consider on every turn. Once you include all your opponent’s powers that you might need to defend against, it feels like too much.

Once, or Twice?

And while we’ve enjoyed playing the game in general, we usually don’t want to play it twice in a row – which is what the “second round” is. Playing with the exact same setup – but swapping sides – adds necessary balance, because certain character combinations can be very powerful. But it feels lazy. Why can’t one round be balanced already?

But give me a few hours or days, and I’m ready to play again. The beauty of the pieces, the simplicity of the play, and the powerful ways to sneakily place a few more tokens keep me coming back.

This combination of area-control and asymmetric powers may be singing a siren song to you. If so, you can get Ichor on Amazon, direct from Allplay, or ask for it at your local game store.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of Ichor from Bitewing Games for this review.

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