The 2022 star-studded Czech film Jan Žižka (or Medieval for international distribution) received mixed reviews from audiences and critics. And while it didn't live up to its ambitions as a globally successful big budget film, it was given the complementary features of a true Western big budget film.
We'll have to wait for the video game Žižka, but the board game from Albi was released just in time for Christmas 2023. I'm not going to lie - I went into the game Jan Žižka: Medieval by Petr Vojtěch and Jindřich Pavlásek thinking that it would probably be some quick-fire crap that wants to ride on the "popularity" of the brand, as it sometimes happens with these games. But to my great and pleasant surprise, it's a really good game!
I'd describe it as feeling like a kind of light Talisman with Žižka. Each of the 1 to 4 players (the game has a solo mode) controls one of the movie's heroes, who starts with a bunch of companions, and your goal is simply to accumulate 30 victory points. These are earned by walking around the map and completing tasks, of which there are several types and depending on their type you have to roll the necessary symbols on the dice.
Yes, symbols, not numbers. The game is fully pictogrammed and thus suitable for children (or foreigners who don't speak Czech). So if you go to a town where there is a talking bubble symbol, you know you have to roll talking on the dice; if there is a sword, there will be fighting; if there is money, you will have to pay.
This allows you to decide in advance where to go on the map, perhaps taking into account the abilities of your character or the squad you recruit during the game (each character can have its own special ability, or you can play a balanced variant with identical abilities). For example, if you have combat bonuses, there's no point in going to the monastery to chat, and vice versa...
So you know what the events will revolve around, but you don't know how difficult they will be. But there's no need to despair, just roll a portion of the events for a partial reward, and if you don't roll anything after all, the game will still give you a universal luck token "for your efforts", which you can later redeem for any success. This is the game's way of making sure that every player is constantly moving somewhere, and not getting left behind just because they're unlucky.
In addition to the main quests, which are constantly changing on the map, there are a few other activities in the game. You can try sieging castles, taking part in a knight tournament or gaining the favour of the king, for a chance to use a special die - Wenceslaus's can "speak better" and Zikmund's can pour gold for a change. In addition, for some events, you can get a warrant for your character's arrest for your actions, where other players will start chasing you with the prospect of a reward, which is also the only time in the game where players go at each other's throats.
As far as the graphic design of Jan Žižka: Medieval is concerned, some of the pieces are probably meant to simulate medieval illuminations, but it's about halfway between an illumination and a child's painting. Likewise, the companion cards look like photos blown through some horrible filter. But the figures for the main four heroes are very nice. They have nice sharp details, they really look like they're from a good western game and like actors from a movie, which can't be said about the cards at all.
In a nutshell, the basic mechanics of the game are really simple: players run around the map, completing tasks by rolling dice to collect money and victory points. Whoever does best wins over time. It's really simple without being complicated, but here it's really true that simplicity is power. It's just simple fun that doesn't surprise you after the first time you play it, so you don't have to flip through the rules.
Plus, one game takes about 30 minutes in two players and each additional player then adds a quarter of an hour, so at full strength you're in for a nice hour. And thanks to the pictograms and the relative accessibility of the rules, it's a great game for a hangout or outing to play with friends who aren't hardcore board gamers. On top of that, it's suitable for kids - the box says 12 and up, but I think you can play Žižka with kids a few years younger than that.
Verdict:
Jan Žižka: Medieval is an unexpectedly fun game that, while tied to the movie license, works on its own as an uncomplicated, entertaining board game in which you take on a medieval hero who must carve out a name for himself on the map. It's a fast-paced game suitable for beginners and younger players as well as advanced players, with its simple principles and dice rattling properly relaxing.
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