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WARNING:
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Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com
King Robert Baratheon is dead, and the lands of Westeros brace for battle. Can you claim the Iron Throne? Designed for ages 14 and up, A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition is a classic game of warfare, diplomacy, and intrigue for three to six players. Taking control of the well-known characters from George R.R. Martin's beloved fantasy series, players must fight for dominance of the realm. Will you take power through force, coerce your way onto the throne with persuasive speeches, or rally the townsfolk to your side? With opportunities for strategic planning, masterful diplomacy, and clever card play, this game gives you a host of ways to spread your influence over Westeros.
Claim the Iron Throne
Based on the bestselling fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin (now a hit HBO series), A Game of Thrones: The Board Game draws players into a war-torn world of sun-scorched sands, lush forests, and chilling northlands. Each player takes control of one of six Great Houses of Westeros, then sets out on an epic campaign of combat and politics to secure total dominance.
This board game includes clear, detailed rules to guide you through setup and gameplay. Play begins when each person receives an army of footmen, knights, siege engines and ship units as well as a set of order tokens and other necessary components. Each player also receives a deck of unique house cards, which represent important characters from A Song of Ice and Fire and are used as leaders in battles against rival houses.
Vibrant Art and Intricate Detailing
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game captures the most memorable elements of George R.R. Martin's popular series. The detailed board represents an accurate map of Westeros, and the tokens and cards convey many of its most significant locations and characters. Attractive marbled plastic figures shaped as footmen, knights, ships, and siege engines display your military might to the realm while contributing to the game's overall medieval aesthetic.
Raise Your House to Dominance
Game play proceeds over the course of ten rounds, after which the player who has claimed the most areas containing castles or strongholds is declared the winner. If at any time throughout the game a player controls seven such areas, that player may immediately claim victory.
Each round in the game is made up of three phases: the Westeros Phase, the Planning Phase, and the Action Phase. The Westeros Phase represents special events and the day-to-day activities in Westeros. In the Planning Phase, players secretly assign orders to all of their units. This portion of the game emphasizes diplomacy and deduction. Can players trust their so-called allies, or is a timely betrayal in the making? Finally, during the Action Phase, orders are revealed, alliances crumble, and fierce battles decide the players' fates.
A Song of Ice and Fire. View larger.
your strategic planning. View larger.
A World of Intrigue, Diplomacy, and Warfare
Fragile alliances will form and break over the course of each game, as players promise support to neighboring Houses only to betray them for their own selfish ends. But beware; as the war unfolds, the barbaric Wildings (which are controlled automatically by the game) work to amass their forces in the far north. Players must occasionally set aside their differences to face a common foe--or face the consequences together.
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game draws you into a vibrant gaming world, bringing your favorite characters to life. The board resembles paint on distressed parchment for an old-world look, while the token and card art exhibits intricate detailing fans of the novels will recognize and enjoy.
What's in the Box
Game board, rule book, 138 plastic units, 105 cards, 6 player screens, and 266 tokens and overlays.
Product Description
Customer Reviews
This game is incredible and has made me interested in playing more serious board games in the future. I will not attempt to explain the complex rules of this game. Fantasy Flight Games's website has very helpful resources for this, including the complete rules PDF and a tutorial video.
I recommend that any group intending to play this has each individually watched that tutorial video. On top of that, at least one person will need to read (at least two times probably) the rule book. Trying to explain this game to others is a tall order. However, once the game is understood and a few practice rounds done, the game takes on a life of its own.
The six houses available for play are extremely well balanced and each has its own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to geographical board position, supply, influence, and unit types. These houses really each lend themselves to different play styles, but nevertheless challenge the players to do something outside of this comfort zone.
For example, the Starks have a near unconquerable hold on the snowy North (as in the books). Based on the geography, if the Stark player chose he could easily defend his homeland against all comers. However, Stark will never win the game this way and it is only when he stretches his resources thin that his land is more vulnerable. Other houses such as Tyrell are thrown into the fray from the beginning and have no such defensive strategy available to them. Greyjoy has absolute dominance over the sea and if played well can serve as a naval raiding nuisance that others must band together to defeat. I suspect that players will quickly see which houses are ideal for the way they wish to play.
The game is for 3-6 players and I don't really recommend 3. Without the more Southern houses, Baratheon is able to take over the territory requisite for victory pretty quickly unless the other two players band against him. The manufacturer has made changes in this 2nd edition that have improved this kind of problem over the original, but it's still possible. 4 players is more balanced and quite fun, but 5 or 6 is ideal. The games will certainly take 2 hours at the minimum and realistically probably 3 or 4. The game length could reach up to 6 hours if the group is particularly engaged.
On that note, no other game I've played does as good a job of drawing the players in as this one. The game encourages alliances as well as betrayals. With my group we would talk and roleplay somewhat during the game. Meanwhile, we opened up text messages to each other to facilitate backdoor betrayals so that other players could not hear. This is all made ten times more fun if you are a fan of the series and can get that giddy excitement by virtue of fighting over a familiar city like Harrenhal.
A few other notes:
- Combat is entirely luckless and based on strategy and skill. There is an optional module included that allows you to introduce a small element of luck, which I think is a good idea after a few games.
- The board game components themselves are amazing. Everything feels very well designed and produced. I especially love the army units and their marbled plastic design.
All in all this is just a fantastic board game, especially for those who are a fan of the book and TV series. For those who aren't, it's still an excellent game in and of itself, and it might introduce you to one of the greatest fantasy series of all time.
EDIT 1/12/12:
Thought I'd throw an edit into this review after some time. First of all the game is still great. The main point of this update is to say that there is an issue with the original printing of this game involving warping of the board. My board is slightly affected by this. Others have it worse and some have no issue at all. However, Fantasy Flight Games will be correcting the issue on future printings, and will be sending out free replacements to those who need them. You can contact their support via their website, they are very helpful people.
We have played four games so far. Three of them had six people and the other one had four. First off I want to say that the Westeros cards have made it so each of the four games have gone completely different. Its too hard to explain without explaining all of the rules, but more or less at the start of each round there are a series of cards that are drawn at random. Depending on what those cards do the game will change accordingly. One game it was a while before we were really able to make a lot of troops, another game there were so many troops on the board so fast the map was just one big powder keg. In the games we have played there has been great shifts in power within the games. The latest game we played, we were more than halfway into the game and all six houses still had an equal chance of winning. Diplomacy is the key. You need players who know what they're doing, players who aren't afraid to backstab a good friend. I have never been more addicted to a board game in my life. Just try to make sure you have six people who can think strategically. (We have actually been nerdy enough that we do all of our diplomacy through text messaging so we can communicate while looking at the map and not let the other houses know what our messages are)
So all in all
Pros:
1. Surprising Game balance
2. Awesome replay value. We've played four games, all four games have gone differently not just based on alliances but based on the randomized Westeros cards
3. Forces diplomacy. If you're going against strategic minds you're going to have to make alliances just like in the books.
4. Great attention to detail with house cards - cool powers that change strategies and alter games.
Cons:
1. The rules are a bear. I almost didn't want to put this on cons since I think its also what allows it to be such a great game. But I can see how they can be intimidating. There have been some minor rules that we even initially messed up in one game, fixed it in another game, etc.
2. We feel Tyrion and Melisandre are underpowered in their house card powers. Really minor fanboy problem
Notes:
Better the players, better the game will be
Strategies change when playing with fewer players, people need to adjust
Diplomacy is a must
Get through the rules, play some practice rounds, well worth it
The only problem I had was my copy has a warped board, but after contacting Fantasy Flight I found out there was a cutting issues with some of the first prints. They were quick and responsive and are sending me out a new board.
Living in Brasil, we don't have many cool board games like people in USA, so it was a surprise for me when I got one and played... Read more
I find it quite enjoyable.
The system is not complicated, there is just a lot to do each round. Read more
