Alright, it’s review time, and today I’ve got my hands on Amazons. If you enjoy blocking your friends, yelling at the table, or pretending you’re smarter than you really are (guilty!), then keep reading. After several nights of laughs, glares, and questionable Queen moves, I’ve got the honest scoop. This review will cover the rules, strategy, player chaos, and whether it’s worth making your friends suffer through another round. Let’s see if Amazons deserves a spot in your game night rotation or if it should be left on the shelf gathering dust with all those half-finished jigsaw puzzles.
How It Plays
Setting Up
First, put the board in the middle of the table. Every player grabs their four Amazons and places them in the corners and designated spots shown in the rulebook (usually corners and near the sides, but check if you’re playing with two, three, or four players). Get the big pile of arrow markers ready nearby, because you’ll need loads of them.
Gameplay
On your turn, pick one Amazon to move. She moves like a chess queen—any number of spaces in a straight or diagonal line, but not through other pieces or arrows. After moving, that Amazon fires an arrow. That just means you put an arrow marker anywhere the Amazon could have landed. This arrow acts as a blocker and helps you trap your opponents. Turns go in order, and the board gets cramped fast—like a comedy club on free nachos night.
Winning the Game
Keep taking turns until no one can move. When all players are fully stuck, the winner is the player whose Amazons have the most free spaces to move on their last turn. Basically, trap your friends and protect your own Amazons to claim victory. Simple, but somehow always ends in at least one dramatic outburst and three minutes of silent, angry thinking.
Want to know more? Read our extensive strategy guide for Amazons.
How To Play Amazons: The Rules (And A Few Tips I Learned The Hard Way)
Alright, so you want to play Amazons! First, grab the board. It’s a 10×10 grid that always reminds me of the world’s dullest picnic blanket. You each pick a color and take four amazons (the pieces, not fierce shoppers with credit cards). Set them up in the marked spots on your side—trust me, I always get one upside-down, but no one really notices.
Every turn, you get to move one of your amazons. You can move it like a chess queen—straight lines, diagonals, far as you want as long as you don’t leap over anything. When I played with my pals, we all kept forgetting this and tried to hop, but no dice. After you move, you must “fire an arrow,” which is a fancy way of saying you place another block (a marker) somewhere the moved amazon could reach. Think of it like setting up a new wall every turn. Now the arrow spot is totally off-limits for the rest of the game—permanently blocked. I never realized how evil this could get until my buddy boxed me in after just five turns.
Turns go round and round. Players drop barriers, close off areas, and (hopefully) trap each other’s amazons. If one of your amazons can’t move or shoot anywhere on your turn, it’s stuck. That amazon is done. When no one can move at all, the game ends, and whoever can move the most amazons wins. The rules sound simple, but this one is sneakier than a raccoon in your kitchen at midnight.
Now that you know how to play, let’s see if your fate comes down to cunning or just plain dumb luck in Amazons!
Strategy vs. Luck: The Brains Behind Amazons
So, here’s the million-dollar question: does Amazons come down to clever moves or dumb luck? After playing this game way too many times (seriously, my friends have started calling themselves “warriors of the arrow”), I can tell you luck barely gets a whisper in this showdown.
Amazons is all about planning ahead. Each turn, you move your queen like a chess piece, then fire off an arrow to block a space. Sounds easy, but every move closes off part of the board. You need to keep your mind three steps ahead, like playing 4D chess but with more arguments about the rules. There’s no dice. No card draws. Nothing random shows up to mess with your genius plan—unless you count your friend mistakenly bumping the table (it was only once, Steve!).
Sure, sometimes an opponent’s weird move might mess with your plan, but that’s just them being clever, not the universe playing tricks. If you lose at Amazons, it’s usually because your opponents outsmarted you, not because you picked the wrong card. That’s what I love! I get to blame myself for losing, which honestly feels much better than blaming dice. You can learn from each loss and get a little better every game, which keeps the competitive spirit alive and actual friendships intact.
If you enjoy games where your brain gets a workout and luck sits quietly in the corner, Amazons will hit the spot. Next up, let’s talk about player conflict—because nothing says friendship like trapping your pals in cardboard corners!
Player Interaction and Conflict: Where Friendships Go to Die (In a Fun Way)
If you love a bit of friendly sabotage, Amazons might be your cup of chaos. Player interaction is at the heart of this game. Every move you make isn’t just about your future, it’s about throwing a wrench in your friends’ plans. Expect the table to echo with groans and evil chuckles every few turns. I’ve never seen so many fake apologies and “accidental” blocks as I did during our playthrough.
You can’t win Amazons by just focusing on your own little corner of the board. If you do, my friend Sally will swiftly box you in and wave from across an ocean of arrows. To stay in the game, you need to keep an eagle eye on what everyone else is doing. Am I targeting Greg this turn, or am I making sure Lisa can’t expand her empire? Most turns, it’s both! The board quickly becomes a crowded, tense battlefield, with players racing to wall each other off and sometimes, just sometimes, forming uneasy alliances for a round or two. Don’t get too cozy, though. Those alliances last as long as the chips at the table.
If you like strategy that’s just as much about reading people as it is about moving pieces, Amazons delivers. But if you hate confrontation, maybe try a gentle co-op game instead. Next up, I’ll talk replay value and game length—grab your stopwatch and maybe a snack!
Replayability and Game Length: Is Amazons a One-Night Fling or Long-Term Love?
Let’s talk about how often you’ll want to pull Amazons off the shelf and how much of your life it’s going to consume each time. In my group, we’ve played Amazons a dozen times, and it’s never felt the same twice. The way everyone places arrows and blocks each other makes every game feel fresh. You could play three rounds back-to-back (not that I’m speaking from a wild Friday night) and still be baffled by new situations in the third game. I guess it helps that the board doesn’t have wild cards or surprise twists; it’s just you and your crew trying to outthink each other with every move.
Now, if you’re hoping for something that wraps up in under 20 minutes, Amazons might not be your best pal. Most of our matches clock in at 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how spicy the trash talk gets and how often someone pops off to make popcorn. I don’t mind the length, but if you’ve got commitment issues with longer games, be warned! Amazons is a thinker’s game, and quick decision-makers might get bored waiting for the next turn when someone is lost in deep thought.
But here’s the big thing: I honestly recommend Amazons if you want a brain-burning challenge that stays fun game after game. Just maybe don’t start a game right before bedtime—you’ll want to finish!
Conclusion
Well, that’s a wrap on my review of Amazons! If you like games that reward planning over pure luck, Amazons could be your new go-to. The rules are simple, but the gameplay turns downright tense as you and your friends trap each other with arrows and clever moves. It has tons of replay value and not a roll of the dice in sight. Just be ready for a longer game and the occasional grudge when someone blocks your best Amazon. Overall, I’d say Amazons is a great fit for folks who enjoy pure strategy and out-thinking their pals. Thanks for sticking with me—now go block someone you love!
