A Game of Thrones: The Board Game allows players to control
those houses and fight great battles themselves, each for the ultimate purpose
of ruling Westeros once and for all.
Sit, and let me tell you of A Game of Thrones!
Overview
AGoT is a territory acquisition game, a genre you should be
familiar with if you’ve ever played Risk, Small World, Axis & Allies, or
similar games of attacking, defending, and controlling spaces on a board. In
AGoT players are competing to be the first house to control seven castles
and/or strongholds, which are in territories strewn across a beautiful map of
Westeros. If no player is able to control enough castles/strongholds to win,
then the player who controls the most of them after ten full game rounds is the
winner.
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| Image left enormous for maximum awesomeness |
I’ve played A Game of Thrones about a half-dozen times, and each time I’m infatuated with the quality of the pieces, board, and cards that go in the game. The board is absolutely beautiful – this really can’t be overstated. The cards are linen, the pieces are heavy, marbled plastic, and the art, design, and shapes painstakingly accurate. The quality of the components lend to a generally “epic” feel when AGoT hits the table.
Teaching the Game
Teaching AGoT is a chore, even for a practiced game-teacher
who knows the rules well. I’ve never played a game that I didn’t have to begin
by teaching at least one player, so I’ve got my spiel down pretty well. It
always takes about half an hour, at least, to set up the board, distribute the various
and sundry components to each player, and teach the rules to the newbies (and
refresh the veterans). While this would normally be prohibitive, I actually don’t
mind it much, because it gives me a chance to literally and figuratively “set
the table” for what should be an epic struggle of wills for the next 3-4 hours.
A word of advice, for all you teachers out there – if you
pick up AGoT, read the full rulebook cover to cover before you try to play the
game. I generally feel that trying to teach a game while playing it for the
first time is bad form for everything but the simplest games, and this is absolutely
a game that could get bogged down in rulebook-referencing very, very quickly if
not controlled well. Unless you’ve got a terrifically patient play group and a
ton of time to play, I’d worry that you’d lose your group and they’d be
hesitant to come back and try the game again, which would be an absolute shame.
Phases
A Game of Thrones is played over the course of 10 rounds,
each of which consists of 3 phases, the “Westeros” phase, the “Planning” phase,
and the “Action” phase. The phases are distinctly separate and provide three
different kinds of drama in the game:
1) Westeros Phase: A card is drawn off the top of
three separate decks. The cards have varying effects, from granting additional
power tokens (the currency of the game), to allowing players to “muster”,
creating new units on the board, to forcing the players to bid on the “tracks”,
which I’ll explain in a moment.
2) Planning Phase: Players place an action token (face
down) on the board for each territory in which they have units. These action
tokens are how players order their units to attack, defend, gain power, support
other units, or raid adjacent territories.
3) Action Phase: When all action tokens have been
placed, players flip them all over simultaneously and begin to resolve the
tokens. I’ll explain the action phase in detail in a moment.
The three phases are repeated for 10 full rounds, or until a
player has control of 7 territories with castles or strongholds, at which point
the game immediately ends, as stated above. Each of the phases allow players to
strategize, negotiate, and make and break alliances that tend to determine the
victor.
Actions
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| Lannisters, always hiding behind the Baratheons. Typical. |
1) Movement: Pieces in the territory can move to
another adjacent space, or through boats (called a boat chain) to non-adjacent
tiles across water territories. If movement causes pieces from two families to
be in the same territory, combat occurs and is resolved immediately (explained
below). Movement tokens are flipped over when used (one-time use).
2) Defense: Pieces get a bonus to combat if the
territory is attacked. These units can defend any number of times in the round,
and the piece is only removed from the board if the units are routed and forced
to leave the territory.
3) Support: Pieces can lend their combat strength
to any combat in adjacent territories, friend or ally. Units can support any
number of times per turn, but only once per combat.
4) Consolidate Power: Units perform no action and
get no bonuses for the turn. Instead, the player collects power tokens based on
the properties of the territory. If the “special” Consolidate Power action
token is played, the player may instead choose to “muster” and place a unit or
two on the board.
5) Raid: The units may raid a neighboring
territory, cancelling out a support token, another raid token, or a consolidate
power token. If a consolidate power token is cancelled, the raiding player
receives a free power token, and the player raided removes one from his or her
pool.
Each player is given 15 action tokens, 5 of each type. Each
type has one “special” token that provides a bonus or special action, and
players use these special tokens are determined by their rank on the “King’s
Court” track.
The Tracks
There are three “tracks” in A Game of Thrones, and these
tracks provide a great deal of the structure of the game. Places on these
tracks are assigned when the game begins, and are only changed when players bid
on them during the Westeros Phase, as prompted by certain cards. The “Iron
Throne” track, which represents the houses’ power over the throne and
determines turn order in AGoT, the “Fiefdoms” track, which tracks players' combat prowess and determines the winner of ties in combat, and the “King’s
Court” track, which ranks families' secret influence over the happenings in Westeros, and gives players access to
specific numbers of “special” action tokens.
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| Sadly, the Raven token can't tell you when an ally is about to turn on you. *shakes fist* |
Each of these tracks has its benefits afforded to players
high in ranking, and each provides a unique ability for the player at the head
of the track. The house that holds the first spot on the Iron Throne track
receives the Iron Throne token, and decides the winner of all non-combat ties
(like players bidding on their spaces on the tracks, or determining who gets
helped or hurt after fighting Wildlings).
The house that holds the top place on the Fiefdoms track
receives the Valyrian Steel Blade token, which affords the player the right to
add one point to combat once per round. The player also wins all ties in
combat, based on having a higher rank than any other player on the track.
The house with the most influence over the King’s Court receives
the Raven token, which provides the player with additional information in the game
(Ravens are the messengers, and bringers of omens, in Westeros). The holder of
the Raven token may, once per turn, switch one of his or her action tokens after all action tokens have been
revealed at the start of the Action phase. Alternately, the player may instead
choose to secretly view the top card of the Wildling deck, which affords a
particular advantage when players are forced to band together to protect their
mutual interests.
Wildlings
During each Westeros Phase, it’s possible that cards could
be revealed with the Wildlings token symbol on them. Each time this happens the
Wildlings token is pushed up the Wildlings track, and in the event that the
token reaches 12, Wildlings immediately attack Westeros from the north. Players
each bid power tokens (the same tokens used to bid on the influence tracks),
and if the combined total of all bids is equal to the current number on the
Wildlings track, the barbarians from the north are repelled and players
rejoice, possibly sharing in some mutual benefit. It’s also possible that the
player who bid the most could receive a special bonus, though not guaranteed.
On the flip side, if the players fail to beat back the
Wildlings, bad things almost surely happen to everyone, the worst of which
happen to the players who helped the least. This semi-random combat with
Wildlings provides the only true cooperative moment in A Game of Thrones, and
lends itself to some interesting moments of self-preservation. I’ve found that
it’s usually discarded as unimportant until it happens, and the players who
plan well for it are occasionally awarded with benefits – like extra units,
extra power tokens, or a new place on an influence track – that materially
change the game.
Combat
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| Don't let the rose fool you, House Tyrell can get thorny. |
When both players have selected a house card secretly, they
are both revealed and their immediate effects, if any, are resolved. Their
power is added to combat, and the house with the highest combat value wins
control of the contested territory. If there is a tie, the player whose house
is higher (has a lower number) on the Fiefdoms track wins the combat. All
losing units are “routed” and move into neutral or friendly adjacent
territories, and if attacked again in the turn are immediately destroyed.
If the house card played by the winning house had one or
more “swords” printed on it, then that many units is destroyed (the losing
player chooses which units to destroy). This can be countered by playing a
house card with “towers” printed on it, each of which cancels out a sword.
Swords only result in destroyed units if the house wins the combat, and most
often combat simply results in units being routed and retreating to fight another
day.
House Cards
Each house starts with 7 unique house cards designed
specifically to represent the house’s place in Westeros, and they are designed
to encourage players to play the game the way their houses perform in the
storyline. It’s an incredible bit of design and really shines when combat
happens often – it becomes very obvious which houses succeed in being
aggressive, which are defensive stalwarts, and which are cunning and
influential. House cards are discarded after use and are only returned to
players’ hands when the last house card is used and discarded, meaning that the
decision to use a house card is critical and often provides the real drama in
combat.
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| The Greyjoys have the best house cards. Seriously, don't screw with them. Just ask Theon. |
It’s incredibly important to know the cards your friends and
foes have and how and when they’re most powerful, as those cards routinely push
combat to one side or the other. I’d say this is the most important part of A
Game of Thrones – if you don’t manage your house cards well, you’ll get
absolutely crushed in combat over and over again and you’ll be routed before
you have a chance to glimpse that sweet throne made entirely of swords.
My Thoughts
The game is awesome when…
...we have a full six players engaged and battling hard to win
the game. The board and families starting positions are built so that space is
scarce and alliances are incredibly important. It’s very, very hard to maintain
a continuous advantage, and it tends to be true that the first player to become
the obvious leader in the game, particularly early in the game, gets knocked
down by the combined effort of his or her neighbors. The winner is usually the
player who most deftly negotiates and conceals plans until the final rounds.
This kind of subtlety and planning is rewarded well in A Game of Thrones, and
when done well it’s incredibly entertaining.
The game breaks down when…
...players get frustrated and disengage, or lose interest and don’t
pay attention or have to constantly be reminded of their choices and turns.
This is a long game, longer than any other I’ve played, though not of Twilight
Imperium magnitude, and that can make a casual player uncomfortable. I tend to
stress strongly that the game WILL take 4 hours to play, and I don’t often take
AGoT with me to board game nights because it’s a little frustrating to set the
game up, teach it, and not get investment from my friends.
It should also be said that though there’s technically no way to eliminate a player
due to the rules of mustering, if a player is too aggressive early, or plays
poorly in the first few rounds, it can feel like they’re out of the game. I’ve
had this happen to me, and I’ve found that when I stuck it out and played the
game… the game of thrones… I could scratch my way back into contention with a
good plan and the proper amount of begging and pleading. Still, if you’re not
the kind of player who plays well from behind, or if your friends get
frustrated easily, be warned.
Conclusion
If you’ve got a good group of friends who enjoy deep games
and love to negotiate, you should absolutely own A Game of Thrones. It’s simply
beautiful, the game play is elegant and interesting, and the relative lack of
variance (no dice, few random card draws) provides players with real control
over their fates. If you dig territory-acquisition games and can talk your
friends into spending 4 hours learning and playing one, you won’t have a better
time.
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| You're fighting over this. It's made entirely of swords. I assume sitting on it hurts. |
This is a game I will always own and get to the table as
often as I can with the right play group. If you’d like to take a shot at
seizing the Iron Throne, come find me, and let’s play A Game of Thrones!
--
JR Honeycutt is a full-time husband and game-player, and co-host of The Nerd Nighters. You can find him on Twitter at @JayAhre or at a Friendly Local Game Store in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas.
JR Honeycutt is a full-time husband and game-player, and co-host of The Nerd Nighters. You can find him on Twitter at @JayAhre or at a Friendly Local Game Store in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas.
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