A Game Of Thrones

As an experienced gamer who has tried out a wide range of strategy-oriented products, I have found the Game of Thrones to be an especially strong one (which is fairly surprising given that it was not designed as a stand-alone product but instead grows out of a series of genre novels).It is a nice game in all of the superficial ways: gorgeous board, sturdy and attractive pieces, strong box in a convenient size to add to shelf and with attractive artwork that would make you proud to have it there.But what especially impressed me is the overall unity of the design.

Most niche board games come with extremely thick manuals filled with idiosyncratic rules to govern every situation.They may be enjoyable, but they take forever to learn and you generally cannot get non-gamers to invest the time.We feared this game would be the same, but I sat down with my wife, kids, and a family friend so that we could walk through the manual and we quickly realized that the rules were especially consistent and logical.Even my 12-year-old daughter picked them up quickly.

If you're looking for a comparison, I'd say that among the traditional war games this one most closely resembles Diplomacy, and anyone who has played Diplomacy will find the rules particularly comfortable to learn.The action choices are similar, and determined in advance in a similar fashion.Randomness plays little role in battle outcomes.And, like Diplomacy, the game even permits the addition of a negotiation session as players make non-binding deals with one other.

But don't take these comparisons too far.This isn't Diplomacy with a new thematic overlay.It would take too long to go into all the unique features of this game, but I'll highlight three big ones:

(1) Different territories offer different resources: Troops, Supplies, Power.If you also factor in whatever direct military advantage taking a territory might bring, the result is that players must make uncertain choices about which advantages to pursue and when to pursue them.

(2) Players periodically bid for positions of political influence that can help them out later, producing a nice tension between saving your resources vs. investing them in gaining potentially useful advantages.

(3) A group of savages called "wildlings" will attack occasionally, threatening all the players at once.The rules set up an intriguing collective-action problem: Contribute too much to repelling the invasion, and your rivals will have gained a relative advantage.Contribute too little and the marauders roam the countryside, killing your people before they return home.

Does the game have problems?We've noticed one: The arrival of troops and supplies is governed by event cards, so sometimes a strategy will be stymied not because of any strategic error but because the needed card stubbornly refuses to pop up.But, by the odds, that kind of difficulty would only appear in a small percentage of games.

Finally, please note that I have not read the George R.R. Martin novels that served as a point of departure for this game.I cannot testify to its level of success capturing the world depicted in the books, only its success at creating a fun and exciting gaming environment.At that task the game designers have succeeded brilliantly.

The wonder of this game is matched only by it's complexity. To compare it's similarites with Risk, the only other strategy board game I have played, is to say they both have armies. The differences then take flight with an innovative battle system which involves no luck only strategy, ships to give a whole new element to consider with the transport and aid they offer, a system of bidding for three seperate offices which greatly affect the players ablities to operate on the field of battle. Consider before purchusing the depth of the game, as not only dose it take time to memorize the rules but the game itself takes time to set up with its many pieces. Yet there is no board game I have ever played that rewards skill rather than chance the way this one dose. Simple games are fun to pass the time, but to play A Game Of Thrones is a rich and rewarding exsperiance. All in all it takes one game to fully comprehend the game and it's workings and after that things go much smoother as exsperiance grows. To me worth every cent.

Buy A Game Of Thrones Now

This is a great game. If you like games of strategy with a great story behind it, this is the game for you. The game doesn't require that you have read the books though. If you've read the books then you'd probably agree with me that this board game really brings out the best of the books. It's a very well designed game. Honestly this game is very balanced and it's hard for one player to run away with it. It's fun. A lot of fun. And yes... Winter is coming...

Read Best Reviews of A Game Of Thrones Here

This game is the definition of strategy game. Gone is the dice mechanic of Risk and having one guy in Indonesia defending Australia from the invading horde. Gone is the marches across entire continents with improbably large forces from Asia. This set speedily reduces the diplomatic dealings of Diplomacy while still retaining the elements of mystery and subterfuge. This game has ruined me for playing Risk and Diplomacy and has replaced them both on my game shelf.

This game is for five players (six with the Clash of Kings expansion) set in the world of the novels, Westeros, and deals with five of the royal houses seeking the throne after the death of Robert Barratheon. The houses are; Greyjoy, Stark, Barratheon (Stanis), Tyrell, and Lannister. Scattered about the continent, each house is tasked to capture and sway other feifs to their cause, through conflict if needed.

Actions are determined by tokens that are placed face down on the board with your armies. You can try to ally and bargain but, never, are you allowed to reveal your marker until it is time to flip them all. Never are you allowed to be 100% sure of your alliance! Once all tokens are down, they are revealed and resolution takes place by order of influence within the court of Westeros. Army size is regulated by supply limits in areas taken and held, the ability to recruit more soldiers limited by the tides of the Westeros Deck draw at the start of each turn. This one random action in an otherwise planned game forces players to carefully consider conflicts since (as it is really) casualties are hard to replace with more trained soldiers.

Actual conflict is won or lost based upon the size of the armies involved, support from flanking players (if they decide to answer the call), and the general leading the army. Players have a deck of 5 cards of leaders from the novels. These cards are selected by the players in the conflict and will decide the total combat effectiveness and total casualties in the conflict. Generals are balanced in special abilities and power among all players and it now becomes a matter of deciding how powerful a leader you must select versus how powerful a leader your opponent will flop down. Once used, the general is set aside until all generals in a players deck is used anf forcing players to carefully gauge when to use the 'big guns' and how important regions are to hold.

Players, amid all of the conflict, must also bid for influence within the lands they occupy. This is important for two big reasons. The Black Watch on the Wall is undermanned and at a moment's notice may attack. When this action takes place, players must secretly bid influence to drive back the invaders or suffer the consequences. There is also the influence within the courts that must be bid on. The areas of influence are the Iron Throne, Messengers, and Feifdoms. The Iron Throne track determines order of resolution with the person in the highest position breaking all ties of influence. Messengers provides players with the ability to use more 'high end' orders (March +2, Defense +2, etc) and access to the Ravens to switch an order after they are revealed. Feifdoms determines winners in ties of conflict (higher seat assures victory) and the player at the top can use the Valyrian steel once a turn to grant a combat bonus to his army.

A focus on a strategy of cards rather than dice means that actual battle tactics and army size determies victory. No more is the opposing player slicing through your mass of troops because he rolled higher than you. Gone is the single soldier holding off an entire invading horde. More importantly, allied players can lend you help in battles or betray as suits their goal. Unlike Risk, this game permits cooperation and even encourages it as the lone player will be taken down by allied forces.

If you are a fan of strategy and military war games, you will want to pick this up. If you come to enjoy this game, I highly reccomend getting the expansions.

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I haven't read all the books in the Song of Ice and Fire series but I don't think that is necessary to enjoy this game.The game is easy to setup and the rulebook and rules aren't as complicated as other Fantasy Flight Games.And this game is ideal for over three players but still enjoyable enough with just three.

Each player plays as one of the major houses from the book and the objective is to control the most strongholds by the end of the game.The game is divided into ten rounds and each round is composed of phases.The first phase is a martial phase followed by a planning phase where players place their orders for the current round.In the next phase players take turns executing their orders and in the final phase players make arrangements for a new game round.Most of the action takes place during the execute orders phase where players can move troops, attack to control territory, collect power tokens, as well as other strategic orders such as raid, defend, and support nearby troops in combat.There are other rules such as drawing cards at the beginning of each game round.When cards are drawn, they can trigger specific events and conditions that affect the overall game.Cards can also allow mustering of troops and reinforcements, voting on the three power icons of the game: the Iron Throne, the Valyrian Sword, and the Raven, whose name I forget at the moment.Each power icon grants special abilities for the player who controls them.There are other situations where players must vote and give power in order to prevent changes in the game.

This game is as much of a tactical strategy game as it is a negotiation and game of voting with power tokens.Players for the most part are competing against one another but in certain situations can cooperate to gain an advantage against other players.The game is not overly complex and is a must for fans of A Song of Ice and Fire series.The game can last around 3 to 4 hours and as previously stated is ideal for more than three players but still enjoyable with just three.