HBO Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne

Super fun and great quality.

Haven't played it yet but box is damaged some pieces a little bent. But dont think enough to effect the game.

Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne from Fantasy Flight Games is a fun and competitive tabletop game experience. 3-5 players take on the role of one of the great houses of Westeros. Players each have an influence board (that fits together with other houses' in the center of the table), house leader cards, character markers, and 25 house cards. On a player's turn he draws an encounter card which tells him which house we will have an encounter with. The challenger (this player) and the defender (who is being encountered) choose which of their characters they want to add to the encounter. Each character starts the game with four crowns, indicating their power. Next, every other player can support one of the two active players, lending the strength of one of their characters, or can remain neutral. Finally, the two active players play house cards which can either add strength to their total power, declare a truce, or offer unique text that affects play. Players receive different rewards or punishments for winning or loses and encounter, and if both parties agree to a truce (and don't backstab each other), they can reach an accommodation. By winning an encounter, a player may move one of his influence tokens off of his board and onto the board of a loser. The first player to move all five of his influence markers off of his board wins. If more than one player achieves this at the same time, there are multiple winners.Game of Thrones: Iron Throne is based upon Fantasy Flight Games' Cosmic Encounters, and the two games are very similar. With several expansions, Cosmic Encounter has more variety, but the Game of Thrones theme (which features photos from the TV show, rather than artwork) will draw many people toward this version. The game is intense, as players frequently make and break alliance every turn. Players can also take hostages from other players (their house cards), and use them as leverage. Players' characters can die if they lose all of their power, forcing players to be cautious with their resources, yet willing to risk all for the chance to win an encounter.I love negotiation games and this is a game where you are constantly negotiating. Every turn you're looking to make a deal. The unique text for leaders and character cards also provides a fun, unique asymmetrical game every time you play. This is another truly great game from Fantasy Flight Games, and I think at the end of the day I like it better than Cosmic Encounter. The only problem I had is that sometime timing issues came up that were not easily resolved, even though the rulebook gives what appear to be clear instructions on the matter. I really enjoyed this game overall.

good

‘When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.’ – Cersei Lannister.If you have never heard of Game of Thrones by this point, the rock you are living under must be under a rock. Game of Thrones was already popular in the book series (Called A Song of Fire and Ice) but HBO’s hit show put it over the top. It’s literally everywhere. So this game will already have a built in fan base. Especially because it is based on the show itself. So the artwork is already iconic.Now the game itself is based on the classic Cosmic Encounter game rules (with some slight changes of course). Never heard of Cosmic Encounter? It’s an old game actually. Originally created in 1977. Each player would take on the role of different aliens in space, each with its own unique powers that allow you to break a game rule. The game consists of attacking and defending. Allying yourself and betraying that a few turns later. The point is to conquer the universe. The game was a lot of fun. And so popular it keeps being reprinted and kept in print all these years. As you may have guessed, with the mechanics of that game it translates extremely well to this IP.Now there are some changes with this game. But instead of trying to list the differences I’ll just go over some of the game mechanics as if you’ve never played Cosmic before.First off you chose your house and the leader to it. Don’t like Ned leading the Starks? That’s cool. Put Arya or Catelyn in the role. Every character has a specific rule they can use to manipulate the game. Please note that Martell and Greyjoy fans might be a little disappointed as their houses are not included in the game. Perhaps there will be an expansion if the game does well. Maybe?You draw from an event deck at the start of your turn. This tells you who you have to interact with. The person drawing the card is the challenger. The person chosen is the defender. This doesn’t force a battle. But it can. You can ask others for help. You can try to dissuade others from allying with the defender. You have a hand of cards. So no one really knows what you are planning because this affects game play as well. Either adding to the attack, defense, or a truce. If it is a battle, higher number wins. If it is a truce there is negotiation. This seems a little complicated. But trust me it’s really not.There are some nice pros in this game because it’s random who you interact with. But also you can ally yourself with others as well. The cons to the game would be that people who get angry easy might have an issue with this game. After all there is a lot of backstabbing. So the game might not be for everyone. With that being said though, it’s Game of Thrones. So anyone playing should expect some underhanded dealings just based on theme alone!So now that you know about the game is it worth the price tag? Very much so. Fantasy Flight Games makes extremely high quality games. And this one is no exception. Cards and tokens are nice. Artwork (mostly pictures from the show) adds to the game play. And the rules are streamlined as well. It plays best with 5 players. Because it’s always a wild time and you never know who will really win. But even with the lowest amount (3 players) the game can still be a lot of fun.Iron Throne is great for fans of the books or show. It’s a great buy for anyone who likes negotiation type games or chaotic games. I wouldn’t recommend it to people who get angry easy or are poor losers. But overall I’d say this game fires on all cylinders. 5 stars!