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How to Play Oath board game?

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Have you tried learning how to play Oath: Chronicles of Empire & Exile board game? The game outlines the path of history in an ancient land with the rise and fall of empires. 

Players take the role of agents or schemers to bolster the old to bring the kingdom back from ruin. Reading the Oath board game rules can get long winded, so let’s summarize the key points for you to walk away victorious.

How do you play Oath board game? One player takes the role of Chancellor and others are Exiles, or they can also become Citizens of the Chancellor in future gameplay. 

Each turn has three phases: Wake, Act, or Rest. The Wake phase is where to check for victory conditions or activate certain powers from cards and relics. The Rest is where you return favor to faction banks or used secrets to your inventory. The Act is where players take both major and minor actions. 

Take turns as players obtain powerful cards to hold fast to an advantage. Travel the playmate campaign for rules or relics, and seek places to leverage secrets or gain favor from opposing factions.

The winner of the game decides the landscape of the next game as the sites they rule will remain and the advisors they use will change the layout of the next World Deck.

A mess during any round will affect the subsequent games that follow by changing the kind of resources and actions taken for the future players, and more so, changing the game core winning conditions. 

Future players contend the game with lands being overrun by warlords and thieves when the previous players seize control through courting anarchy and distrust. In a future game, a warlord may attempt to find a dynasty. 

This creates a line of rules that lasts for generations and can only be crushed if the terrible arcane cult raises. The Oath board game can be reset at any time, and different groups can play from one game to the next, it doesn’t have to be the same group all the time. 

Oath can also support a full-featured solo mode, where a single player can play the same generation over weeks. There are no specific narrative scripted or pre-determined end game points in the Oath board game, so the options are endless. 

Oath comes with a playbook that summarizes what is in stores and the first-round walkthrough for new players. However, to learn more in-depth and simplified way to play Oath board game, we’ve got you covered with answers to frequently asked questions. Let’s dive in!

Is the Oath board game popular?

No, Oath as a board game is not very popular. However, it is a game about popularity where the decision made by the present players determine what will transpire in the future. 

At the end of every Oath game, players consider what occurred and record events during the chronicle phase.

On another note, the oath game is a board game that creates ambitions for the player and creates an unforgettable memory. Generally, board games provide two types: they give stories, and others are stories themselves. 

Oath game, unlike other board games, shows the two experiences to its player. It remembers the ancient stories the same as the players who had experience with it, which includes players’ actions and decisions during the game. 

The Oath game has fixed multi-season, which comprises the endless cycle, with a set up modified depending on the way previous game results such as who won and the rules applied. This results in changes on the main deck that might have a subtle taste of popularity.

What are Oath board game rules?

Prior to playing the board game Oath, we highly recommend to take time and read through the rules. Here is a brief compact version for you to scan through quickly:

  • System building are derived from the ground, which becomes responsive and adaptable.
  • Decisions made in the game reverberate to other subsequent games in the future, which involves actions and resources the future player have to follow.
  • Players spend their rounds adventuring within both the chancellor’s realm and lands in the surroundings.
  • When a player becomes exiled, they wins after directly challenging the chancellor powers.
  • The chancellor has to maintain the grip on the empire to win the game.
  • There are no pre-determined narratives or final results.
  • A fall of the empire in a game result in the smoldering ruined empire for the next game.
  • Players take into account decisions they made during the game at the end of each session.
  • During the chronic phase, the board should re-center within the territory of the game to define victory conditions.
  • Each game takes an average of 45 minutes to one hour, depending on the player experience.
  • Players can play a single round and clean up the game to resume later.
  • After playing for easy setup for the next game.

How do you play the Oath in Chronicles of Empire and Exile?

The Oath chronicles are played through an action point mechanism, done in terms of turns. 

In turn, a player performs the following actions: moving around the map, mustering troops, campaigning for other players, drawing new Denizen Cards, and taking relic cards. 

Players have derived powers with asymmetric winning conditions. 

Some players begin as exiles and others as citizens who have small force and influence on the board. One player act as a chancellor who controls several locations on the board. 

Players start building their power and armies, gaining the dominance over victory conditions that applies to their faction. The victory condition changes depending on the role a player plays in the game. 

The common win victory condition for all the players is when the player rules most of the sites on the map or holds most relic cards. 

The chancellor wins by land the victory condition at the end of the game, which runs for either six to eight rounds. The exiled player wins by holding the chancellor’s victory condition at the end of the game.

How to play Oath board game for two players

Oath board game is perfect for up to 4 players, however it is still enjoyable to play for two players as well. In order to play Oath board game for 2 players, you need to make an adjustment.

One player becomes the chancellor who maintains the oath keeper conditions. In contrast, the second player becomes the exile who becomes the citizen and focus on successor conditions to fulfill the other vision.

The exile depends on a powerful combo that allows the second player to go for super Saiyan for many turns, giving the exile time before the chancellor builds up forces to counter. 

Alternatively, the exile or second player applies all the pressure at the front to a point where the chancellor can’t deal with the threat.

If the exile is unlucky to perform the above moves, the chancellor counters all activities and takes the darkest secret before the exile takes it. The chancellor has four winning conditions, in addition to winning through die roll of war exhaustion. 

How to play the Oath board game solo

A single-player version of Oath uses a fully-featured sole mode to play several generations. 

The solo rules of an oath game works, where the single-player takes the exile role, and an automatic player known as Bot takes a chancellor role. 

The Bot act as Wakhan in Pamir such that it fights external and internal terrorization. 

The solo player runs the Bot, and the Bot runs through the question to determine the strategy to take. In every turn, the Bot plays a single card pulled from the top of the deck. 

Once the card is played, the solo player adjusts the tracking relationship, and the Bot advances the suit maker relying on the relationship track. The solo player then follows the suit matching card with the first card suit by the Bot, which the process allows the Bot to participate as a combat system.

How to play Oath board game

Playing Oath Board Game: Conclusion 

Whether you are playing Oath: Chronicles of Empire & Exile board by yourself, with 2 players or more, the biggest challenge is fishing cards takes more turns, which makes removing cards from the economy take extra time.  

The game starts by selecting who is going to be Chancellor and Exiles. For each turn, every player will phase Wake, Act or Rest action that needs to be solved wisely.

These actions include travel around the map, assembling troops, campaigning for other players, drawing Denizen cards, and choosing relic cards.

Use powerful cards to look for places, win the game to determine the landscape for the next game and change the layout of the next World Deck.

The main idea is that players continue to build power and armies to dominate victory on the sites on the map or hold the most relic cards. Depending on the gameplay, the chancellor or the exiled player may win.

So, what are you waiting for? Find out the winner of the Oath game and use these gameplay rules and tips to strategize your next round.

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