If you’ve never played it before, the Game of Thrones board game made by Fantasy Flight is a pretty decent marriage of Risk and, well, Game of Thrones. Up to six players, representing the major houses of Westeros from the books, have to struggle for dominance during the War of Five Kings in the aftermath of King Robert’s death.
It involves bluffing, manipulation, shifting alliances, tense battles, and thanks to Asmodee Digital and Dire Wolf, it has been brought to PC and is available to buy right now.
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game – Digital Edition recreates the look and feel of the original tabletop game, while also allowing for some small digital-only touches to make everything come to life. It’s described by the dev as a “social wargame” – only one person can ultimately win, but no one player is strong enough to snatch victory on their own. You have to strike alliances of convenience and plan for your game-winning move knowing that if you fail, you’ve left the door wide open for someone else to claim victory.
Every turn you secretly submit orders to your armies, bid for your place on the three influence tacks and, if the winds turn, everyone will also need to fight off periodic wilding invasions. There are a total of ten rounds, and the goal is to conquer and control ten strongholds or keeps.
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This represents physical dominance over Westeros, regardless of who actually sits on the Iron Throne.
The game supports online multiplayer for up to six people (with Elo-based ranks), but also supports solo-play against up to five AI opponents. In the tabletop version, NPC factions played a more passive role and this feature has been retained so that you don’t always need to play with all the slots filled with AI. If you’re familiar with the tabletop version, the Digital Edition also includes the vassal system from the Mother of Dragons expansion, which represents a fairer way of dealing with these unplayed factions versus what the original system was like.
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game – Digital Edition is available now for PC via Steam and Mac. It will be available for a 20% discount for the first week, ending on October 13.