In this case Phil must execute the action and instead use the Ambassador card to swap the available Followers between the two regions which are not empty. He then summons a Follower, which can be a piece he has just swapped. It’s also a game that plays fantastically at each player count, as the rules mutate to fit. At four players it becomes a team game where you’re trying to help your team members win – without communicating with them. This adds new layers of thought, where you’re not just thinking about yourself, and your enemies, but also trying to figure out the best way to help your ally.

As I mentioned these are one use only cards, so you must be cautious in there use, however if the Saxon invasion ends the game it is the player who played their last action card first that wins the game, as the new leader of Britain must be proactive. The game ends when all eight regions have successfully had their battles resolved or three areas are resolved as ties with a French Invasion. In the first scenario, the winner is the player with the most cubes of the faction that was successful in the most regions. In the second scenario, players are crowned King (or Queen) if they can unite the nations against the French by having the most sets of all three colours. Æthel-go! Cards are cleverly balanced between adding cubes and taking them from the board meaning you always have to balance a nation’s power on the board and presence in front of the players. It’s a unique satisfying game and this second edition includes more advanced ways to play! Shuffle the Region Cards and lay them face up beside the board in positions 1 to 8. Whoever set up the game goes first. If the game ends early due to invasion, and only then, the players on each team pool their Followers. The team with the most complete sets of Followers wins.There’s a lot of content in a relatively small box. It’s no wonder No Pun Included gave The King is Dead their award for best game of 2020. I am blown away by both its simplicity and mental complexity. It truly is a fantastic board game and the pinnacle of modern board game design. I haven’t played the first edition or previous iteration of this game (The King of Siam), so my thoughts are about this version only. The components and art are delightful, capturing medieval Britain with a beautiful aesthetic in-keeping with the game’s theme and are I believe updated from the original. However, what makes The King is Dead even closer is the multiple end game scenarios. While we’ve focused on the winner of the warring factions. There’s also the sneaky French. Whenever there’s a tie in a skirmish (i.e. the same number of cubes from each faction) then the French win the battle. If the French ever win three battles, the game ends. A player's pass applies to that turn, not the entire power struggle: if a player passes, and another player acts, the first player may choose to play within that power struggle when their turn comes around again.

He’s dead, and what awful timing. There is a power vacuum in Medieval Britain, and you’ll want to be one the right side of the scuffle when the mud settles. And that’s what we’re going to be doing in The King Is Dead– now presented in a beautiful and occasionally gold foiled second edition. The game consists of 8 power struggles, over each of the 8 regions of the realm. Players use their limited power by playing Action Cards to determine which factions gain control of which regions. Sometimes the actions associated with a card cannot be completed. In these cases the actions described on the card must be followed as much as possible. The region cards are shuffled and laid face up in the positions from one to eight marked on the board. That is the entire board set up, and so far we are looking good on the ease of play aspect, the last thing to mention here is that whoever set up the game will be taking the first turn. Playing the game With only eight actions, and therefore only eight influence gained per player. The game is always very close just from the limited resources on the board.The box for The King is Dead is one of these hinge open affairs that Osprey Games seem to use when ever they can. If you have the new prints of London, or Escape the Aliens in Outer Space you'll know what I mean. Open the flap and you'll find a smallish board, a load of wooden cubes and draw bag, some cards, and some of the flimsiest punch board on God's green earth. Punching the relatively few tokens out of that wafer thin monstrosity gave me nightmares. Jo plays a Settlement card, but there are no blue Followers left in the common pool. Jo still takes one red and one yellow Follower, places them accordingly , and summons a Follower to court.