A Game of Thrones 2nd Edition Board Game Review

I am a huge fan of A Game of Thrones.  My wife bought me the first book in the series on a whim several years ago as a Christmas present and she has regretted it ever since.  I devoured the first 3 books, all that was out at the time, and then waited 3 months to buy the 4th.  I then waited YEARS to read the 5th and got super pissed at George RR Martin.  The HBO show makes up for it slightly, but still he has earned my ire and that should give him pause :)  I bought the first edition board game over 4 years ago and only played it twice.  The first time you played it was long and complicated, then you realized a few things.

1. The Starks couldn't win.
2. The game was super unbalanced if you took 20-30 minutes to really analyze the game.
3. Playing the game with less than the full compliment of players was useless.

So how is this edition different?  More after the break.



Luckily with this edition:
1. The Starks can win.
2. The game is slightly unbalanced but if you take 20-30 minutes to really analyze the game you can mitigate the imbalance to near zero.
3. Playing the game with less than the full compliment of players is not ideal but far from useless.

I got the new board game and  we played it twice over the last 3 days.  With 5 players and 4 players.  It was a really enjoyable experience. Let's start off with a list of scores.  We have never done a board game review on Capture and Control so let's make our scale 0-5. 0 is terrible 5 is amazing.

Learning Curve: 3 it is a bit tough to learn to play the first time if you don't have someone who has played before.  Not insurmountable though.
Clarity of Rules: 4 an understanding of the English language is required but the rules make sense.
Organization of Rules: 5 super easy to use rule book and quick reference materials.

The components for this game are awesome.

Game Components/Pieces/Board: 5, I would have given the last edition a 3.
Fun Factor: 4 it isn't the best game ever (which would be a 5 by the way) but it ranks up there with Catan, and Ticket to Ride as one of my favorite games of all time, thus far.
Accessibility: 1 I think people who have not been exposed to either GRRM books or the HBO series would find the game hard to care about.  They could play it but some of the game mechanics, board set up, and house advantages only make sense if you understand the storyline.

Before I give my overall recommendation let's take a look at our experience with the game.

I played my first game of 2nd ed GoT the Board game with my wife, my 2 brother-in-laws, and her oldest brothers girl friend.  We took about 30 minutes to punch out the components organize everything into houses and figure out the bits.  The first 4 turns took about 3 hours.  They involved several mistaken rules, constant checking of the rule book, and a few arguments.  The arguments weren't based upon poor rule writing or poor game mechanics but they had to do with familial relationships.  All in all the first 4 turns took a long while but they weren't torturous.  The last 4 turns took half as long and felt more in line with what the actual pace of game would be.  The game goes 10 rounds or until someone collects 7 castles or strongholds.  The game ended when my wife had 7 castles/strongholds under her control.

Contemplating a real lack of supplies in the early phase of the game.

Highgarden dominating Southern Westeros.

The game truly is designed to play with all 6 players, although this edition less so than the previous.  Our first game was played with 5 players so House Martel was not used.  The second game we played had 4 players.  My wife and I again plus Disdainful and Lola.  With only four players you play without the Martels and Tyrells.  The second game went really well too.  It took us only 2 hours and ended on turn 6 with Dis claiming 7 castles/strongholds in the South as the Baratheons.  With 2 experienced players and 2 people who understand games we had very little problem breezing right on through the game. Also with 4 experienced gamers (yes I do consider my wife experienced don't get me started about Settlers of Catan) we were able to figure out quickly the strengths and weaknesses of the game and the houses.

While I agree, I am glad if you play as them you can win.

The two problems we have found with the game itself are not game breaking as long as you are aware of them.  Despite the better balance, with out the full compliment of players (6) it is too easy for the Southern houses of Baratheon, and Tyrell to get to 7 fortified locations.  If you are aware of this though it is possible for every house, even the Starks, to intervene.  The other problem that has come to the fore is that with out all 6 houses the Greyjoys and Lannisters can get screwed.  They are super close to one another and are sandwiched between the Starks and the Tyrells who, in lower player games, have the ability to expand quickly nearly unimpeded.  Again though, if you are aware of this it is not impossible for the Greyjoys and Lannisters to do well.  I played as the Greyjoys in the first game and got stuck fighting the Lannisters the whole time.  In the second game my wife played as the Greyjoys and had seen the problems I had and was able to mitigate those problems pretty easily (I told you she was a gamer).  In the second game I played as the Starks and realized just how much better the game is for the Starks in this edition.  Thanks to the way the ships work as transports, access to two ports early in the game, and relative safety behind Moat Cailin (the game play is very faithful to the books in my opinion) it is possible now for the Starks to be well into the middle of the board by the third turn.

Overall I still believe certain houses have major benefits over the others.  In a 6 player game I can see the Starks having a huge advantage and as we discussed the Southern houses have advantages in 4 and 5 player games but if you are aware of these they are no longer the game breaking problems they were in the previous edition. 

Overall Recommendation: If you have read the books, or seen the show (and liked them) you should give this game a try.  It will not disappoint.