Kings Struggle: Review

Kings Struggle: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Trick Taking, Hand Management, Negotiation, Set Collection

Player Age: 14+ 

Player Count: 3 - 6 Players

Time to Play: 30 -  60 Minutes 
Game Designer: Robert Burke
Game Artist:  Weberson Santiago

Publisher: Wizkids

BGG Weight: 2.00

Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

Objective:

Time to negotiate and plan your way to victory. In 'Kings Struggle' you will play one card each round, whoever has the highest card will win the trick and will take every card in the trick, at the end of the game these cards will be used as points based on the run of cards created and sets of the same card. The game is not that simple, each card has a unique ability that will earn gold (victory points), change the number on cards, play new cards or remove cards from the trick.

Game Anatomy:

Card Anatomy:

Each player will have ten cards going from one to ten (each with a unique title and artwork). There is a card class that some cards will reference shown by a symbol in the right-hand side and the card colour ( Apple - Orange, Coins - Green and Crown - Purple). Lastly, each card has a unique ability, remember each player has the exact same cards as you, so keep an eye on what other players have played throughout the game.

Round Tracker:

This will be used so players can keep track of the round as the game goes by, the rounds will be tracked using the crown token.

Tokens:

There are markers used to represent the first player (Star) and the active player (Scepter). As well as markers that will be used to manipulate cards value.

There are coins that will be used throughout the game as a negotiation tool as well as one point per coin at the end of the game.

Set up:

Basic Set up:

- Each player will be given their own deck of 10 cards with the same coloured back.
- Place the coins and modifier markers within reach if all players.
- Place the round tracker on the table with the crown in the starting position.
- Determine the start player and give that player both the starting player and active player marker.

Discarding Cards:

- Decide if the game will be played in day time or night time.
- If the game is day time each player will keep there hand at 10 cards and will not need to discard any.
- If the night is chosen each player will remove two cards randomly and not reveal what cards were removed.

How to Play:

Every round the first player must play a card from their hand face-up, then each player will play one of their cards face down. Each card will then be revealed. Starting with the first player each player will then activate their cards ability and end their turn by passing the active player token to the next player.

When activating a card that has 'negotiation:' in their description that player can now negotiate gold or future promises regarding actions from other players cards. This is to have this action target a certain player or keep the active player from using this action, gold is binding but future promises are not binding.

Before, the trick is concluded each card with equal strength (including modifiers) as another card will be discarded. Whichever player wins the trick will take all the remaining cards in the trick and place them in their scoring pile. After each round, the first player token will rotate clockwise and the round marker will move to the next round. Once all seven rounds are completed each player will start scoring.

Scoring:

Each coin is worth a victory point, the main scoring though is gained with the cards. Each card can either be used in a run or as matching cards. For example, four 2's or a run of 4,5,6,7 will score that player points. The number of points varies based on the number of matching numbers or the length of the run.

Matching Cards:

1 card = 1 victory point
2 cards = 3 victory points
3 cards = 6 victory points
4 cards = 10 victory points
5 cards = 20 victory points
6 cards = 30 victory points

Power Run:

Run of 3 cards = 4 victory points
Run of 4 cards = 6 victory points
Run of 5 cards = 9 victory points
Run of 6 cards = 13 victory points
Run of 7 cards = 18 victory points
Run of 8 cards = 24 victory points
Run of 9 cards = 31 victory points
Run of 10 cards = 39 victory points

Whichever player has the highest score has successfully won the struggle and successfully negotiated their way to victory.

Final Thoughts:

Pros:
- Easy to learn the trick-taking game
- The option between perfect information and imperfect information of the other player's cards.
- Interesting negotiation.
- The scoring system makes what cards to play and when very difficult to measure.

This is possibly the best trick-taking game I have played. It adds interesting layers of negotiation and card counting to try and create the best scoring outcome. Based on the cards you win from players (including yourself). This game really excels in you are keeping track of what cards your opponents are yet to play, so you can have the best possible outcome of cards in your victory pile. It is easier to explain than any other trick-taking game but has magnitudes of depth this will be staying in my collection and gaining a Go-To Golden Seal.

Click...feed the addiction: 

Wizkids
Kings Struggle on BGG
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