A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (2nd Edition)

Zach Goodier

This board game sets 3-6 players in the world of Westeros, playing as the major houses competing for control of the 7 kingdoms.  Favorites, such as houses Stark, Lannister, Baratheon, and Tyrell, all appear (except for house Targaryen, since they don’t reside on the same continent at this point) in this faithfully adapted strategy game.  Houses all compete for influence, which they can acquire by consolidating the regions they control.  This influence can then be spent to help the Night's Watch, or to bid to become the dominant house in King's Landing.  However, houses must also keep up with armies, and the supplies needed to maintain them.  The game only lasts 8 rounds, as players struggle over control over the various castles and strongholds, as well as bid on various influence tracts to gain slight advantages in various categories, all to hopefully take control of the Iron Throne.

Here's the full setup, if you've never played, then I'm sure you're probably reeling at the complexity of it all.  However, if you're fan of the franchise, and don't mind a learning curve, then the rewards are well worth the effort.

Right from the start, this game is intimidating.  It’s complex, and requires an extensive learning curve to figure out.  Fortunately, some of the mechanics are optional, making the game somewhat easier to pick up, but it’s still a toughie.  However, I must say that what you get after that steep and head-crushing (Season 4 pun intended) learning curve, is a game that allows players to truly feel like the lords of Westeros.

As you can see, the board can get very busy, which is part of the inherent difficulty in picking this game up and getting it all down.  It will likely take a couple game before it all makes sense.  Reading the manual is like reading a GRRM book in itself, by board game standards.

Each house really feels authentic, with Houses like Stark starting out with larger territories and better positioning, but with fewer supplies, which limits the size of your armies, while houses like Lannister have no problem keeping ample supply lines to marshal larger armies to dominate the continent, but contend with potential enemies on many fronts.  Navies are also important, and houses like Greyjoy start out with plenty of ships to move troops around the western coast at their leisure, giving them more troop mobility than other houses, but their low supplies and little control on the mainland mean they have to fight hard just to expand their initial foothold.

Influence tracts (above) allow houses to bid, and by leading in influence, you can move before other players, decide ties, and use special orders that grant bonuses to whoever receives them.

Battles are relatively simple, with units each having assigned battle strengths.  Infantry have 1, cavalry 2, and siege engine are 4 when attacking a region with a castle or stronghold, otherwise they only count as 1.  You can include the Tides of War cards, which we didn’t do, that can really affect how battles play out, allowing for smaller armies to potentially devastate larger ones.  You can only muster new forces when an event card prompts it, and supply counters are only adjusted when a resupply event is drawn at the start of the turn.  This all means that players can never be certain when or if they will be able to gain new troops, and the supply track may not change for a while, whether you gained or lost resources.  This can all be a 2-edged sword, with some houses eagerly awaiting fresh troops while others are thanking the Old Gods and the New that their enemies aren't getting the fresh troops needed to push forward.  It's really all luck of the draw, but if you skillfully use your forces, you'll have a major edge by not depending on the luck of the draw to defeat your enemies.

Each house has a different color, but these are the shapes of units.  Siege engines, infantry, fleets, and cavalry.  I'm sure you can figure out which is which.

The biggest game changer for battles, however, is house cards.  Each house has its' own small deck of cards, which consist of prominent characters from the house, or who support it in some way.  House Stark has Ned, Cat, Robb, Greatjon Umber, and other important figures.  Baratheon has Mellisandre, Stannis, and others.  These cards can add combat strength when played, and can often use text abilities to manipulate the tides of battle by negating other abilities, or negating combat strength.  This is how battles can surprise players, and large forces may find themselves victims of smaller ones. 

The numbers at the top left indicate the combat strength the card adds to your forces when played.  Some of the House Cards have swords at the bottom, which mean that the card will result in however many casualties as there are swords, towers negate swords, and other cards have text abilities that can affect the battles in various ways.

The easiest way to win is to hold 7 castles or strongholds; otherwise, after 8 turns, you tally up the scores of supplies, armies, etc.  And the house with the highest score is deemed the winner.  Since there can only be one winner, houses that support the winner really don’t win at all, so if your partner wins, you don’t get a consolation prize.  “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die, there is no middle ground.”

At the bottom, from left to right, is the round tracker and Victory tracker, Supply tracker (as well as how many armies of what sizes your current supply level allows), and the influence tracker.  On the upper part of the track is the Wildling Tracker, and if it gets too high, it can cause troubles in Westeros, demanding all the houses shift their focus to quelling the threat.

Overall, this is a complex game of intrigue, strategy, and domination.  Houses may have different strengths, but all need to work on these elements to compete for the Iron Throne, and the experience is truly worthy of the name it bears.  However, the hefty learning curve can really set you back at the initial pickup, and the intricate nature of this game means that you really can’t enjoy this with most casual board gamers.  This is meant for die-hard fans of the franchise, people who can’t get enough of it, and want to take on the roles of their favorite houses (except for the Targaryens) and battle it out for the Iron Throne.  On that note, it's all worth it.  The game really makes you feel like a lord of Westeros, and the tense relationships with the other players can foster alliances or cause bitter rivalries.  And the limited number of turns means that you can never really settle down and be too patient, forcing players to resort to more assertive tactics to control the Iron Throne.  The game requires a certain balance between patience and assertiveness, challenging players to neither work too fast, nor too slow.  The right balance is impossible to know, because player skill is only part of this, with random events making the game unpredictable enough to the point where even the smartest, most cunning player isn't immune to major setbacks.  The game is far to complex to fully explain here, the only way to learn it is to pick it up and throw yourself into it, it all makes sense but takes a while to wrap your head around.

Good:

-Really captures the feel of each house, and makes the experience feel like a faithful adaptation.

-Plenty of depth in game-play to make replay value high.

-Chance to rewrite Westeros history.

-Brilliant artwork on all around.

Bad:

-Very large learning curve, making initial pickup very difficult.  Plus, there are a lot of pieces to keep track of, making setup and cleanup a somewhat lengthy process.

-No Targaryens.  It makes sense in terms of playing solely on Westeros, but a great number of fans will feel alienated without their favorite house.

Scully Rating: 9.2 out of 10