Duress The Game

This was NOT a word game as I was expecting, but was more of a modified chess game (such as Hive).This is a two-player game where each player aims to land the most of their letter tiles on the matching one in the center of the board. Players draw a move piece each turn to determine how to move their letter tile, adding an element of randomness to the game. As both players race to fill the matching lettered spots, the strategy shifts towards using your useless pieces (ones your opponent already successfully matched) to actively block your opponents moves. [This has lead to much competitive banter between my roommates]. Similar to chess, the play time varies — you can spend a lot of time mentally mapping your moves or agree to play quickly.One of the best parts about this game is the flexibility in the board setup. This has allowed us to greatly change up the strategy. There is also a series of optional, alternative rules. I’d suggest allowing for pawns to move diagonally into their final spot as it speeds up the game and allows for more strategizing.Overall, it was fun and challenging. The element of chance gave it a similar feel to Settlers of Catan for me, where players can greatly improve their strategy but it keeps one person from dominating the game every time. I’d highly recommend it, especially as a gateway game for chess or those like me with little chess experience who want an even strategy playing field with chess playing friends.

I am an avid chess player. It's fun to solve the puzzles and think through the strategy of different situations. When a friend recommended Duress, I was very curious to check it out!Duress is a board game that is one part chess and one part tile game. You have 16 lettered tiles, and you're using chess moves to get them to matching spots on the board. You win the game by getting more of your tiles to the landing than the other player. The strategy depends on your own plans, the other player's moves, and a bit of luck. There is no one way to win. So far, most of my games have been pretty close!What's great about Duress is how flexible the concept is. You can put your pieces in different designs. There are also some nice alternatives to the rules that can make the game more interesting. My friend and I used the extra pieces to take turns building blocking walls before we started moving. There are a lot of possibilities here. I would highly recommend Duress!

I just love this game! This is the rare two player game that's fast paced (you don't have to wait ages for the opponent to do her turn) and the game generally takes 30 minutes to play, which is perfect. It's really easy to learn if you already know how to move Chess pieces, since instead of rolling a dice, you pick a random brick of a Chess piece, whose movement you'll need to follow that turn.For such a simple game, it also has a surprising depth of strategy as you can aim to block opponents, and you have to constantly decide between going for early points or plan ahead for achieving later points. My friend's 8 year-old daughter and my wife equally enjoyed playing it.Simply put, this is a gem of a game for anyone of any age and well worth my first Amazon review.

Was looking to get something for my 8-years-old niece that she and I could enjoy playing together. Wanted to get her something intellectually stimulating without any stereotypes attached to it. It was hard to strike a balance on all those criteria, and this game came up after some search. Took a chance on it. Must say it doesn't disappoint. It's been good to watch her struggle and learn during the course of the game, and I had fun as well. Hopefully this will help her phase out the Barbie dolls :)

Duress is a fast-moving, intellectual game with multiple variations, making it accessible to a wide variety of ages. Highly recommended.

A very fun game

Duress is a fun abstract strategy game. You can’t beat the price especially for how much fun I had with it. I’ll have a full review on my website shortly.