Maid Knight Saga: The Story of Faltisia Preview: Addictive Gameplay That Boasts Multiple Paths to Victory

Lion Wing Publishing is bringing Maid Knight Saga The Story of Faltisia to the states thanks to a new Kickstarter campaign, and we've got all the details you need on the anticipated game right here. Maid Knight Saga The Story of Faltisia is a school-life sim board game that has players choosing a character and working their way through three rounds on their way to becoming one of the nation's most esteemed protectors, the Maid Knights. A unique and ever-shifting card drafting system shakes up each round and necessitates adaptability while managing your Student Registration Board and important goals requires an eye toward the long game. There are a few things that could be weaved into the experience to make it even better, but even without those additions, Maid Knight Saga: The Story of Faltisia's addictive and satisfying core loop and bevy of avenues to achieve your end goals is without a doubt worth your time.

There are two main boards players will need to pay attention to as gameplay progresses, which are the Class Schedule Board and the Student Registration Board. Each player gets their own Registration Board while the Class Schedule is followed by everyone. Your Registration Board is where you track your individual Attribute Points, which are broken up into four categories, including Strength (Red), Intelligence (Blue), Beauty (Yellow), and Purity (Green). You'll need to get to a certain level to be able to obtain a Provisional Maid's License, giving you access to an impressive ability or a high number of MP points, which are factored into your score at the end of the three rounds.

The manipulation of your Registration Board is where much of the strategy reveals itself, as cards in your deck will require you to sometimes spend an attribute point to gain another benefit, and you'll have to figure out if the cost is worth it, considering what type of lectures are scheduled throughout the other rounds and other factors like how much money you have on hand and Graduation Requirement cards, which will either count towards your final score or subtract from that score at the end of the game.

Each round gets a little jolt of chaos thanks to a drafting mechanic that has you drawing cards from a deck and then passing them to your right or left and doing so until all cards are drawn. Because the cards are being passed around you'll have to prioritize what you want to do on the fly, and you will most likely not get everything you want. This was prevalent quite a bit in rounds 2 and 3, and that means you might need to skip some classes to jump into off-campus activities that allow you to get money, rainbow tokens, and more, though this might not be preferable since you might have already played several cards that reward you for attending lectures of a certain color.

For instance, at one point my character Giulia had several Organization cards on the board, which are ongoing cards that give you an Attribute Token when you attend a Lecture of a certain color. Thing is not all rewards are the same color as their lecture, so I had several cards that were tied to Blue Lectures, netting me several colors at once every time I attended a Blue Lecture. Since there were more on the schedule, I was able to move up the board quickly and gain the License early in round 2, and it was all tied to cards I purchased and played early in round 1. You can chain these together and create a lethal domino effect if you play cards right, but that doesn't mean you can't also come back if someone else is out to an early lead. You'll just have to think more out of the box in how you approach each turn.

The artwork of the Maid Knights is vibrant and colorful, as are aspects of the Registration Board. I do wish there was more Knight-styled visual flair in the other boards and cards, as while there are large images on the individual cards and Items, they aren't nearly as eye-catching or as vibrant as the Knight designs. Once you've reached Knight status you'll typically gain a powerful action as well, but after one use that card is just like any other (unless it has a larger MP value attached), and I would have loved to see them play a bigger role as you move through the game. If an ongoing effect isn't possible, perhaps some sort of unique skill that has them start the game with a different attribute effect would've helped in this regard. Again, nothing game-breaking, but those might have just made the Knights even more powerful and special.

Even without those additions I truly enjoyed Maid Knight Saga: The Story of Faltisia, and that's not even weighting the new elements that The Battle for London expansion adds into the mix, which is also included in the Kickstarter Campaign. For those looking for an experience that requires thinking on the fly and long-term strategy to achieve ultimate success, Maid Knight Saga might just be the perfect game for you.

Maid Knight Saga: The Story of Faltisia is available on Kickstarter starting on June 28th, and you can find the Kickstarter campaign right here!

What did you think of the preview, and will you be checking out Maid Knight Saga? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things tabletop with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!