Introduction
‘Eleven’ is a football manager board game produced by Thomas Jansen and Portal Games, originally released in 2022. I am going to tackle this game from the viewpoint of a single player as it has a lot of material to make it one of, if not the best solo campaign football manager tabletop games out there.
I think one of the biggest challenges when translating football management into a tabletop game is capturing all the different aspects of running a football club without making the game feel overwhelming. This game has a lot of depth to it, and I really like the fact that it removes much of the luck element often found in board games. Decision making is intense and the matchdays are much more realistic, making you feel like your decisions really do translate onto the pitch.
What is in the Box?
There are a lot of components in this game so if you have small children, this one is best played when they are asleep. The overall quality of the components and the game mats is top drawer and there has been a great deal of thought that has gone into the detail of the game, all the components have their purpose.
The playing board is three separate mats which will make up your club and house everything needed to play. The stadium mat is the first one and this gives you various options where improvements can be made such as adding more advert space, building another stand for the fans, improving the merchandise shop, upgrading the offices etc. The second board is the club mat which goes in the middle and showcases your resources and the directors, this is where the board meeting is held every week. The third and final mat is the pitch where you will assemble your match day squad and keep a track of the opponents. There is additionally a small board which illustrates the league table you will be competing in against other clubs.
As you would expect the game comes with player cards which include youngsters for developing and earning special tokens, veterans to help get you over the line in games and regular players which will be used strategically to win games.
There are lots of colour coded sets of cards which are all used in conjunction with one another to help you build the ultimate football club. You have to choose your directors from one deck and they will dictate certain club decisions and actions when it comes to the weekly board meeting. You can hire staff to give your club certain advantages and perks, contract sponsors to generate resources, choose from various formation tactics and get assigned season objectives to earn special tokens. There is a separate deck of cards for the opponent teams which will reveal to you the strength of their team sheet for matchday.
There are lots of tokens which have been included to help you keep track of resources, injuries, suspensions, player boosts and special tokens which are totalled at the end to determine what level of manager you are operating at.
How does it play as a solo campaign?
Now with the standard game, it comes with 6 scenario’s which all have different objectives, restrictions and additional functions that must be monitored within the game. They vary in difficulty and each one is more different to the last, a great foundation to build on.
The game itself spans across 6 weeks with all 6 weeks following the same format. You begin the week by collecting resources which can be spent across your club in a variety of ways later in the week. The next step is the board meeting which gives you a difficult circumstance to navigate with the board of directors. The following three days give you an opportunity to perform different actions each day which may include buying a player, hiring staff, building infrastructure etc.
Then we get to the weekend where we must prepare the club for the rigours of matchday. Fill up your stadium stands, choose your starting lineup based on the scout report of the opponent, boost your squad using player abilities. After the match a consequence roll will be conducted to give you a helping hand or a hinderance.
What It Does Well
The main thing that sticks out for me is the general aura of the game which makes you feel somewhat like you are running a football club. All decisions have a ripple effect of consequences, you need to choose where to apply your efforts and resources whilst having one eye on the weekend fixture.
The number of decisions you have to make is incredible and you only have a finite amount of turns to get everything you want done.
What impressed me most was the fact that very few decisions felt meaningless. Whether I was investing in infrastructure, hiring staff or improving the squad, I always felt like I was making genuine trade-offs. Resources are limited and you simply cannot do everything, which creates some wonderfully difficult decisions throughout the campaign.
From a solo experience its brilliant, you can get set up for whatever the challenge that lies ahead of you and then use your mind to analyse and tinker with the club to push it to glory.
The game has encompassed the overall football feeling and left very little out in my opinion that you can do to change your clubs fortunes, it also for me has a great replay ability with so many things that can change over the course of the 6 week season.
Weaknesses
As a solo player I feel like there is a lot to monitor and watch out for which at times can be overwhelming if you're not on the ball or it's quite late on in the day.
The setup can be tedious as there are as I mentioned earlier a lot of components to the game, I also find the packing up time to be significant too, as I like to put everything back in some kind of orderly fashion. The box is completely hollow so there is no chance of using it segregate the small pieces from one another, I ended up using some old money bags to keep everything organised.
I have played the game quite a number of times and have found myself suffering from analysis paralysis as there are so many different things you want to do and tough decisions that ultimately have to be made. If you like a fast paced game with black and white options, this may not be one for you.
Final Verdict – Overall Score: 82/100
So, is Superclub worth adding to your collection?
I would absolutely recommend Superclub to board game enthusiasts who are also football fans. There is a lot that the game gets right, and overall, it delivers an engaging and surprisingly authentic football management experience on the tabletop.The playing time is slightly longer than many traditional board games, but that is largely due to the meaningful decisions players must make throughout each phase of the game. The highs and lows of matchday, the intensity of the transfer market, the satisfaction of improving your club's infrastructure and the excitement of ultimately lifting the Super Cup all combine to create a compelling experience.
While it may not offer the tactical depth of Football Manager, Superclub successfully captures the excitement of building a football club and competing against rivals. For football fans looking for a board game that combines strategy, competition, and club development, Superclub is an easy recommendation and a worthy addition to any collection
