I like Game of Thrones. I love the fantasy setting, the characters and
maybe best of all the story. This may sound a bit silly as most of the
world seems to be on the same page when it comes to GoT that's the
reason its one of the biggest TV shows right now, the problem that comes
with having a show so big is that everyone wants a piece of the action.
Today I'm going to take a look at a Fantasy Flight game, Game Of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue, a game where players attempt to capture the Iron Throne because what else is there to do in Westeros. I'll say now that there are no spoilers in this review so you don't have to worry about reading on to accidentally come across some huge plot point or death or whatever.
I'll get the gameplay out of the way quickly as there isn't much to it. There are four houses all colour coded: House Stark (Grey), House Lannister (Red), House Targaryen (Black) and House Baratheon (Yellow). Each house has nine cards each representing a member of that house, these cards will make up the Character deck. Shuffle these cards together and place the pile face down. Next shuffle the Iron Throne cards and place that pile face down next to the Character deck. The amount of players will dictate how many rounds you're going to play, each player then draws cards from the Character deck, the number of cards drawn will change depending on how many players are playing.
Players then take it in turns to place a Character card from there hand into what is called the Court. The Court is a communal play are that all players are playing into and will build up in a pyramid. The first player places their first Character and then going clockwise other players can place a Character card either side of that Character, when the second Character card is played it goes directly next to the first one and any others played after that into the same row have to go either side of the first two, it cannot be placed in between them, depending on the amount of players denotes the amount of Character cards that can be placed in the bottom row. When there are at least two Character cards in the first row, players can then start building the up the Court by placing a Character card above the two on the row below, this Character card must share a colour with one of the cards on the row below. For example: Jon Snow (Grey) and Stannis Baratheon (Yellow) are on the bottom row, only a card from House Stark (Grey) or House Baratheon (Yellow) can be places above these two cards. The game proceeds like this until all players are eliminated. A player is eliminated when they cannot place any Character cards in their hand into the Court.
The last player to place a card in the Court then draws an Iron Throne card, these cards determine how many points that player receives and these should be kept hidden from other players. Players with cards left in their hand take Penalty points equaling the number of cards they have. Shuffle the Character cards up again and repeat this process for how many more rounds you're playing, at the end of the final round players total up their Iron Throne cards they've received and minus the Penalty points they may have also picked up. The player with the lowest score wins with there being a tie breaker if tied for the lowest with another player, the player with the fewest sword icons on their Iron Throne cards wins.
That's it, simple colour matching game play. Well that's not really fair, there is some small amount of tactics but they only really pay off if one player has been really unlucky with their cards. The tactics can only really be applied near the end of a round when more Characters have been placed in the Court and even then it depends on how many players are playing as a number of the Characters may not be played with. Obviously because of that fact Westeros Intrigue is meant to be played with more people which is the first reason I don't like it. I feel that games playable with two or more players should provide a good experience at the minimum amount of players and I don't feel Westeros Intrigue does that well. A lot of the time with two players you're both just putting cards into a pyramid with very little consequence, other than the aforementioned screwed on the cards drawn factor, and then its just a crap shoot for the points you've gained. No reward for any skill or smarts shown during the game, just pick a card and hope for the best.
Which brings me onto the second reason Westeros Intrigue isn't for me, the gameplay challenges it presents. It's a simple game all around: simple to play, simple to understand, simple to explain and simple to learn. I'm all for games taking it back to basics, because sometimes you do get stuck over-thinking things which can make it harder for yourself, and as a design this is very basic, its just matching colours I learned that in Primary school mastered it thanks. As good a company that Fantasy Flight are with some of the games they've produced, I wouldn't say Westeros Intrigue is up there on that list in any aspect, you wouldn't even look at it if it didn't have the Game Of Thrones name on it.
Which brings me nicely to my last point. I understand that people are more likely to gravitate towards the thing they know best because its familiar and comfortable and I understand that companies like money. This is the reason why we have lots of sequels of popular games and movies because no matter how bad it is, the people that bought into the first one that may have been alright are still going to consume it because its easier than trying new things. As I said at the start of this review, I like Game Of Thrones. I am not a fan of Westeros Intrigue because of the lack of challenge and the fact that it's just another thing to slap the Game Of Thrones brand on because people loved the show so why wouldn't they love everything else with Jon Snow's depressingly bland mug on it.
Westeros Intrigue isn't my type of game, but that's not to say others wouldn't enjoy it. If you want a short game to tide you over in between your turns playing another, more substantial games, then go for it, or maybe you need a present for your friend who's so into the show they've renamed their house to King's Landing and put swords around his toilet, this will be perfect.
If you do want to check out Game Of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue, head down to your local games store and they can demo it for you. In the meantime, keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.
Today I'm going to take a look at a Fantasy Flight game, Game Of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue, a game where players attempt to capture the Iron Throne because what else is there to do in Westeros. I'll say now that there are no spoilers in this review so you don't have to worry about reading on to accidentally come across some huge plot point or death or whatever.
I'll get the gameplay out of the way quickly as there isn't much to it. There are four houses all colour coded: House Stark (Grey), House Lannister (Red), House Targaryen (Black) and House Baratheon (Yellow). Each house has nine cards each representing a member of that house, these cards will make up the Character deck. Shuffle these cards together and place the pile face down. Next shuffle the Iron Throne cards and place that pile face down next to the Character deck. The amount of players will dictate how many rounds you're going to play, each player then draws cards from the Character deck, the number of cards drawn will change depending on how many players are playing.
Players then take it in turns to place a Character card from there hand into what is called the Court. The Court is a communal play are that all players are playing into and will build up in a pyramid. The first player places their first Character and then going clockwise other players can place a Character card either side of that Character, when the second Character card is played it goes directly next to the first one and any others played after that into the same row have to go either side of the first two, it cannot be placed in between them, depending on the amount of players denotes the amount of Character cards that can be placed in the bottom row. When there are at least two Character cards in the first row, players can then start building the up the Court by placing a Character card above the two on the row below, this Character card must share a colour with one of the cards on the row below. For example: Jon Snow (Grey) and Stannis Baratheon (Yellow) are on the bottom row, only a card from House Stark (Grey) or House Baratheon (Yellow) can be places above these two cards. The game proceeds like this until all players are eliminated. A player is eliminated when they cannot place any Character cards in their hand into the Court.
The last player to place a card in the Court then draws an Iron Throne card, these cards determine how many points that player receives and these should be kept hidden from other players. Players with cards left in their hand take Penalty points equaling the number of cards they have. Shuffle the Character cards up again and repeat this process for how many more rounds you're playing, at the end of the final round players total up their Iron Throne cards they've received and minus the Penalty points they may have also picked up. The player with the lowest score wins with there being a tie breaker if tied for the lowest with another player, the player with the fewest sword icons on their Iron Throne cards wins.
That's it, simple colour matching game play. Well that's not really fair, there is some small amount of tactics but they only really pay off if one player has been really unlucky with their cards. The tactics can only really be applied near the end of a round when more Characters have been placed in the Court and even then it depends on how many players are playing as a number of the Characters may not be played with. Obviously because of that fact Westeros Intrigue is meant to be played with more people which is the first reason I don't like it. I feel that games playable with two or more players should provide a good experience at the minimum amount of players and I don't feel Westeros Intrigue does that well. A lot of the time with two players you're both just putting cards into a pyramid with very little consequence, other than the aforementioned screwed on the cards drawn factor, and then its just a crap shoot for the points you've gained. No reward for any skill or smarts shown during the game, just pick a card and hope for the best.
Which brings me onto the second reason Westeros Intrigue isn't for me, the gameplay challenges it presents. It's a simple game all around: simple to play, simple to understand, simple to explain and simple to learn. I'm all for games taking it back to basics, because sometimes you do get stuck over-thinking things which can make it harder for yourself, and as a design this is very basic, its just matching colours I learned that in Primary school mastered it thanks. As good a company that Fantasy Flight are with some of the games they've produced, I wouldn't say Westeros Intrigue is up there on that list in any aspect, you wouldn't even look at it if it didn't have the Game Of Thrones name on it.
Which brings me nicely to my last point. I understand that people are more likely to gravitate towards the thing they know best because its familiar and comfortable and I understand that companies like money. This is the reason why we have lots of sequels of popular games and movies because no matter how bad it is, the people that bought into the first one that may have been alright are still going to consume it because its easier than trying new things. As I said at the start of this review, I like Game Of Thrones. I am not a fan of Westeros Intrigue because of the lack of challenge and the fact that it's just another thing to slap the Game Of Thrones brand on because people loved the show so why wouldn't they love everything else with Jon Snow's depressingly bland mug on it.
Westeros Intrigue isn't my type of game, but that's not to say others wouldn't enjoy it. If you want a short game to tide you over in between your turns playing another, more substantial games, then go for it, or maybe you need a present for your friend who's so into the show they've renamed their house to King's Landing and put swords around his toilet, this will be perfect.
If you do want to check out Game Of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue, head down to your local games store and they can demo it for you. In the meantime, keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates.
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