Watch “The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era | Shelfside Review w/ Valenwood Expansion,” a board game review on BoardGameVideo.
Description provided by Shelfside on YouTube:
We finished multiple campaigns of this popular IP becoming a board game! This Chip Theory games production (partnered with Bethesda) is about customization a character and dungeon crawling through a 3 session campaign (about 10 hrs). It's in Tamriel's second era, as you can go from Skyrim to Morrowwind. The hexes for combat remind us of Gloomhaven, yet this game's skill and combat system is much different, it's more like Too Many Bones! As you go through your choose-your-own-adventure with the Gazeteers, what will happen as you fight against the nefarious Deslandra? How does the game hold up to multiple approaches? Is it worth the Gamefound tabletop back, or should you just wait for the second edition or more expansions?
Games featured: Frosthaven, ISS Vanguard, Primal: The Awakening, Eldritch Horror, Descent 2nd Edition
Table of Contents:
Intro - (0:00)
Overview - (0:56)
How to Play - (3:00)
Pros - (6:08)
Component and Gameplay Cons - (20:03)
Overland and Campaign Cons - (40:46)
Recommender Score - (49:34)
Alexander''s Personal Score - (57:54)
Ashton's Personal Score - (1:06:34)
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2025·Josh J. Carlson, Michael Gernes, Logan Giannini, Ryan Howard, Salem Scott, Josh Wielgus
Videos
254
Creators
76
Mainly playthroughs and how-to-play. The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 52 reviews, 68 how-to-play guides, 92 recorded sessions, 23 unboxings, and 19 other videos.
1 - 4 players
120 - 240 min
Very heavy weight: Rules-dense, long sessions
About The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era, from BoardGameGeek:
The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era is a cooperative tabletop adventure set during Tamriel's Second Era - specifically during the events of the Planemeld, as the Order of the Black Worm plots to secure the Amulet of Kings. As the dark cult schemes, however, one of its members is planning an even darker betrayal, one that will tie Tamriel in with Oblivion forever. Adventurers work to uncover her machinations and stop her plot amid a bevy of endlessly replayable content. As in The Elder Scrolls video games, players will travel on an epic journey, balancing exploration, character building, dungeon diving and close quarters combat.
Each adventure in the game takes place over the course of three gameplay sessions, with sessions being roughly two hours plus an additional half hour per player in length. Players customize and control a single hero throughout all three sessions of an adventure as they manage multiple skill lines, classes and experience the many regions of Tamriel, each with their own unique flavor and mechanics. Experience points are handed out generously, allowing players to build interesting and unique characters in the consolidated timespan required in a tabletop experience. Session to session progression is meaningful, but players are not required to remember complex narrative points or play with the same group forever.
Designers
Josh J. Carlson, Michael Gernes, Logan Giannini, Ryan Howard, Salem Scott, Josh Wielgus
Artists
Chris Beck, Yoann Boissonnet, Anthony LeTourneau, Federico Pompili
