Eleven can be played multiplayer or solo. The solo mode includes six different scenarios that challenge players with different starting situations and goals for the season. In the beginning, the task is simple: You have to climb the steps of the football leagues and achieve the appropriate experience. You may have to manage the club in a crisis, and at other times you will have to rejuvenate a football team of players that are not so young anymore. You may also have to fight against time to try to complete the stadium before the deadline! After more than a dozen games, I have found a few things which deserve to be mentioned – if only to help others play the game more easily. First, the stat marker icons and the resource icons are…. Not good. The resources are the icon alone while the stat icon is the resource in a solid circle. This can be really confusing at times as the wooden disc used to represent the resource is a round token. It could have been so much less confusing if the player board used squares instead of circles to denote the stat, and then the icon could have been a square as well. Like I said, I feel like I’m a veteran with a lot of game experience, and I still find myself sometimes making an error with these confusing icons. I would likely not, but one of my friends who played in the three-player game said he would, and he knows nothing about football. Which is another point worth mentioning: You do not need to know anything about football to enjoy this game. This was surprising to me, because the theme comes through so strongly. When we played the terms or concepts that are now ingrained within me, such as tables and scoring, tactical orientations, and buying and selling players, did not trip up my non-football-watching friends. Who knows, maybe getting your non-football-watching gamer friends to play this could even spark an interest in the sport.

Eleven Football Manager Board Game - DEMO - Steam Community Eleven Football Manager Board Game - DEMO - Steam Community

Also, the game can get a bit wonky as the game even allows two humans to play a game against the same AI team in a given week. We try to discourage this by dealing out the cards to prevent it; but it is something that can happen – and while there are rules to deal with it, it is wonky for sure. Then, roll a die and consult the chart in the bottom left of the match board to see the post-game effect. Generally, if you win, better things happen than if you lose, and higher numbers are always better than lower numbers. Again, if you have a red disc, you can discard it to re-roll your die Superclub launched in October 2020, becoming an instant hit among football fans around the world with unprecedented demand. The core gameplay is based on four fictional teams all harbouring aspirations of becoming a Superclub, defined as achieving a 100-points season or winning the Supercup. The rules feel fairly complete, but there are some things which are not clearly spelled out. As I mentioned earlier, there have been plenty of questions asked on BGG (over 120 at the time of this review), and many of them have been answered by the designer. At some point, it would be nice to have a collated FAQ or maybe an updated ruleset put out. The biggest rule that I kept screwing up early on is that you are not allowed to change the side of shirt showing other than purchasing a new player or when an action specifically allows it. I kept trying to put my IRL soccer knowledge into the game, when I should have just been following the rules as written – and in defense of the rules, it tells you explicitly in at least two places that you shouldn’t flip over shirts…Use a Card action – You can take an action listed on a staff or director card; turn the card 90 degrees to show that it has been used this week. Before I start explaining the game, I think it is important to start out by saying that while the game is very thematic, no previous knowledge of soccer/football is required to play or enjoy the game. The game is very much an economic game by mechanism; and knowledge of actual football tactics and strategy will likely not help you win more matches in the game. In fact, as I’ll outline later, knowledge of how football matches are played may actually be a detriment! Additionally, a few production decisions hurt the game, in my opinion. Moving opponents’ club shields on the league table was annoying and fiddly. The cards representing the opponents you play against didn’t match the color of the shields, so it was unnecessarily confusing when you were trying to find the correct shield to move up the table. Whenever the match day arrives, first read the Scout Report on your Opponent card. It will tell you what formation your opponents will play. Then play one Tactic Card of your choice from your hand and place the Jersey markers in the 9 Play Zones on the Match board according to it. At this point, you can assign the Players you have transferred to specific Jersey markers, which will allow you to use their special effects. It's always an excellent service with brilliant products at a very competitive price - will use again!

Football Manager Board Game - Portal Games Eleven: Football Manager Board Game - Portal Games

The next three days comprise the nuts and bolts of preparing your team for this weekend’s matchup. This is done through a traditional action selection system, where each player gets one main action, and can potentially trigger actions on cards in their tableau if they have the resources for it. These main actions include buying a player, selling a player, hiring staff (such as a trainer, an agent, a scout, etc.), bringing on a sponsor, building out your stadium, or using a card ability. Card abilities can also act as bonus actions as well if paid for with the “operations” resource. The central market, where you can hire staff, buy players, and bring on sponsors Monday is unique to the rest of the week, as it primarily focuses on front-office activities. Resources are replenished based on each club’s income, and then each manager draws an event card for their respective clubs that will prompt a board of directors vote. This involves a die roll, and depending on the makeup of your board and how they are inclined to vote, it may lead to good results or a big inconvenience that your club has to contend with for this week.I don’t know whether the box art of Eleven is a knowing nod to Gareth Southgate’s waistcoat and long sleeve shirt look, but it immediately gives me nostalgia of that warm summer night watching events unfold at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow where England won their first penalty shoot-out for what feels like an eternity. Based on that information, you decide which players you’ll have suit up and where to position them. You’ll also play one of your tactics cards to decide your team’s formation. You may have more than one of these, and some have additional powers you can execute after the opponent’s team is fully revealed. You’ll then flip the opponent card, revealing how they’ve allocated their players and what those players’ offensive powers are, and based on that, figure out the score of the match. Once that’s determined, you’ll either go up on the league table (that’s the British term for the league standings) with a win or draw, or you’ll stay where you are with a loss. In addition, you may suffer some additional consequences, such as injuries or suspensions for your players. You then reset and get ready for next week. If you feel your blood boiling at the very idea of such ludological injustice, Eleven isn’t for you. Personally, I’m a big fan of these two mechanisms in particular. Sport is affected by all kinds of things outside of people’s control, and it feels great on a thematic level to have the same chaos sewn into the game’s finery. There’s no denying, it can feel desperately unfair at times, but “that’s football.” Final thoughts Is the game perfect? No. Actually very far from it. There are a number of rules and component issues that have become apparent. I’m on the fence about trying to devise my own home brew rules for the match resolution phase; though for now, I’m happy to accept that it’s not a realistic soccer simulation, and I’m just working with the rules as the designer has written for now… Eleven: Football Manager Board Game is an economic strategy game set in a world of sport. Your task is to manage and grow your own football club over the course of a season. During the game, you hire staff members, including trainers, physical therapists, PR specialists, and directors. You acquire sponsors, expand the stadium infrastructure, and take care of your club’s position in social media. Among the many tasks on the list are transferring new players and choosing the right tactics for each of the upcoming matches.