Vatican Board Game, a review

Recently, a professor at Northern Illinois University developed a game called the Vatican Board Game. My friend, being an impulsive shopper had to get it the day he saw it first on the Internet.

The premise of the game is that you start out as a Cardinal, and advance through the ranks, as it were, getting jobs in your local region and the Vatican. You take a stand on the issues and gain or lose points based on your decisions. You can attain spiritual perfection or fall into the cesspool of sin (yes, these are real parts of the board).

My initial reaction is that this game is quite fun. It's not terribly difficult to understand, but it still makes you think. The questions it asks are interesting, and two similarly worded questions can result in quite different outcomes. In general the game tries to be a political game rather than a game of orthodoxy. That said, the game doesn't really get too far away from the orthodox position, but it is impossible to keep an author's opinions out of a game like this.

The game might have some replayability issues, as after having played the game a few times, I've probably seen most of the cards. I'm not concerned yet, as we haven't played enough to see if this will really keep the replayability down. You really have to be Catholic to play the game. Last time we played with one protestant and 5 Catholics, and not knowing the terminology of the Church, nor the orthodox positions put her at a disadvantage.

Overall final thoughts: I enjoy this game, though I probably wouldn't plop down the $40 to get it for myself.

-JG