When you play the A Game of Thrones: Board Game you play to win.

Or you learn how to play until it’s too late and lose Winterfell.

King Robert Baratheon is dead, and the lands of Westeros brace for battle.

In the second edition of A Game of Thrones: Board Game three to six players take on the roles of the great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, as they vie for control of the Iron Throne through the use of diplomacy and warfare. Based on the best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones is an epic board game in which it will take more than military might to win. Will you take power through force, use honeyed words to coerce your way onto the throne, or rally the townsfolk to your side? Through strategic planning, masterful diplomacy, and clever card play, spread your influence over Westeros!

I had no idea what I was doing. The game was not taught to me before playing. I was given House Stark, apparently, a tough one to use and left to get on with it.

Luckily the game is really easy to play and you have a player screen that tells you pretty much everything.

Actions

You basically put tokens next to units, turn them over and act on them.

Raid orders can remove an adjacent enemy order. These are performed first.

March orders allow you to move units and can add/subtract from your attack total.

Defence orders allow you to increase your defence in an area.

Consolidate Power orders give you power tokens and are resolved last.

Why would you give yourself a minus to attack on a March order? Well, this game balances itself well.

Tokens

You only have 3 of each token and in general, one is a -1, one a +0 and one a +1. You also have a number of Stars depending on where you are on a track that I will talk about later.

The better tokens have a star and you can only use up to your star limit so if you’re moving a unit you know won’t be in combat it makes sense to give them the -1 token to allow you to use the +1 and star tokens elsewhere.

Tracks

There are 3 tracks.

The Iron Throne determines play order. The holder of the Iron Throne decides on ties.

Fiefdom is for combat, the highest gets a dagger used to give a bonus in combat.

King’s Court gives you a Raven and lets you look at the top card of a deck of cards.

They’re all good fun.

Combat is OK. Your power vs my Power and each player picks a card with a number/ability on it. Highest Wins.

A Game of Thrones: Board Game Summary

I’m not a fan of these war-type games. I did enjoy Kemet more but I’m still not really a fan. I would give A Game of Thrones: Board Game another chance if a game was looking for a sixth player.

Jesta ThaRogue