A Board Game of Thrones: Redux

I’ve created a total overhaul for the Game of Thrones Board Game, including all new cards, materials, and rules! The game is currently in Beta 1.01.

What It Looks Like

  • Note: this is a placeholder picture.
  • Note: this is a placeholder picture.
  • Note: this is a placeholder picture.

Back in November 2018, I decided to do a total rules overhaul for the Game of Thrones Board Game, which I jokingly titled A Board Game of Thrones: A Game of Thrones Board Game. Beginning with a single ten-hour brainstorming session that ended around 3 AM, I started laying out everything I wanted to do with the new game.

At the heart of the original Game of Thrones Board Game was territory control: you build armies, you capture territories, and you fight other armies. My first task was retooling this aspect of the game so that it was one element among many that the player had to manage, partly inspired by this exchange between Tywin and Tyrion Lannister:

Tywin: You really think a crown gives you power?

Tyrion: No, I think armies give you power [but] Robb Stark had one, never lost a battle, and you defeated him all the same.

This conversation made me think about how clever rulers had to juggle multiple aspects of power, not just managing armies. The new pillars of the game became:

  • Territory control (creating and moving armies and capturing territories)
  • Kingdom management (managing resources and public approval)
  • Sabotage (damaging other players’ resources and game position)
  • Socializing (making deals, threats, and alliances between players)

Many of these pillars are the same as the base game, but were reimagined to more closely fit the spirit of Game of Thrones (or, at least, my favorite parts of it).

The game includes the following features:

  • New Battle and Scheme cards
  • Redesigned Battle and Resource mechanics
  • New Character Cards
  • Eight Playable Houses (including Arryn and Tully)
  • New Rules, including Victory Conditions and Phases
  • Revamped House Greyjoy to be Competitive (now S-tier House)

You can check out the full Rules doc (including the materials list) here on Drive.

Check out my thoughts about the development and testing of the game on my blog, The Occult Triangle Lab!

Let’s build something together.

Get in touch!