A game of intrigue and influence for three to five players.
King Robert Baratheon is dead. The line of succession is in dispute, and the Seven Kingdoms stand at the brink of war. Amid the chaos, the Lords and Ladies of five Great Houses maneuver for supremacy... Soon, their struggles will extend to all of Westeros, as well as to your tabletop.
Using game systems from the legendary board game Cosmic Encounter, The Iron Throne offers uniquely satisfying interactions with the themes and characters of HBO's thrilling television series, Game of Thrones. You and your friends each command one of the Great Houses of Westeros, pitting iconic characters against each other in epic battles and schemes. Negotiate. Bluff. Forge alliances. Threaten your rivals. Use every tool at your disposal to spread your influence, establish supremacy, and claim the ultimate prize: the Iron Throne!
Challenges and Alliances
Battles, alliances, and betrayals lie at the heart of The Iron Throne. Each turn centers around the resolution of an encounter between two players. These encounters can result in hostilities, startling conquests, and the spread of influence, or they can result in the formation of temporary alliances. And though only two players in any encounter will be the "active" players, your friends might offer you their support... or turn around and offer it to someone else.
The Lannister player reveals the top card of the event deck, which indicates he should make a challenge against the Stark player. He assigns Joffrey Baratheon, and the Stark player chooses to defend with Arya.
The encounters of The Iron Throne resolve quickly, but they are full of opportunities for cunning strategy, devious intrigues, and brokered alliances. Each features a challenger and a defender, and after these players assign characters to resolve the encounter on the behalf of their Houses, other players may offer their support to either side. In this way, an encounter that starts as a contest between the Lannisters and the Starks may escalate and draw in the support of the Tyrells or other Houses.
Joffrey's five power gives him the advantage over Arya and her two power, but when the Tyrell player offers Olenna Tyrell's support, Stark accepts. Now the combined power value of Arya and Olenna is six, giving them the advantage.
However, there's more to the encounters of The Iron Throne than this initial jostling for power, even with all the alliances and betrayals it can entail. There are still schemes within schemes, and the bluffs, negotiations, and hidden information that color these encounters as the active players discuss the House cards they intend to play. Of course, there's a very good chance that one or both of them may be lying, but they can offer and even agree to a truce. Or they can bid cards from their hands, hoping to win hostilities with the higher total power.
In the event of a truce, the active players discuss what they may give each other in order to maintain the peace. In the event of hostilities, however, one side will win, and the other will suffer. You might seize influence or take hostages, or you may even have your characters put to the sword.
There is talk of a truce, but the Starks suspect the Lannisters of treachery and select a hostility card with a value of eight. The Lannisters also play for hostility, adding a card worth six to Joffrey's five power. With Olenna Tyrell's aid, the Starks win the hostility with a total of fourteen power to the Lannisters' eleven.
Win enough of these encounters, though—and find the right ones to lose—and you might find yourself in position to seize the Iron Throne. The goal of the game is to spread five of your influence to your opponents' House cards and take the crown for yourself.
A War of Five Houses
The encounters of The Iron Throne are so heavily layered with potential for diplomacy, intrigue, and betrayal that the game would be a rich and rewarding experience even if the different Houses were all the same. But they aren't. And the game is richer for their differences.
Each of the five Great Houses in The Iron Throne gains strength from five unique characters. At the beginning of a game, you will choose one of them to be your leader, placing its leader sheet before you and setting aside its character token. Then you'll array the tokens for others before you, and they will help you during your challenges. Still, no matter whether they're represented by a leader sheet or a character token, all these characters come with unique abilities.
Even when you play the game multiple times with the same House, your experience will change with each different leader. Because your leader's unique ability is always available to you—and visible to your opponents—it makes a massive impact on the shape of your game. For example, within House Stark, you're bound to enjoy different game experiences when you play with the Honorable Eddard Stark than when your House is led by the Vengeful Arya Stark.
Meanwhile, your House deck—the deck of cards that you use during your encounters—contains ten character cards. Divided evenly between your five unique characters, these cards allow you to take advantage of your characters' unique talents whenever they participate in an encounter. No matter whether you're the active player or lending your support to another House, Daenerys Targaryen's Inspiration could provide a significant boost to your side's power value. Or Tyrion Lannister's Instinct for Politics could alter the outcome of a hostility in your favor.
Because each character's personality is reflected multiple times in your House deck, the result is that each house features a distinctive personality, but one that will still change slightly, depending upon the character you choose to lead it. And this means you can experiment with different Houses and leaders to enjoy a nearly limitless variety of play experiences.
You Win Or You Die
You can have up to five players, but there's only one Iron Throne. Can you bluff and battle and scheme your way to victory?
• A board game of lies, diplomacy, battles, and betrayal in the Game of Thrones setting
• Features core mechanics from the well-loved and best-selling Cosmic Encounter
• Play as any of five Great Houses: Stark, Lannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, or Tyrell
• Unique characters come with abilities that recall their portrayal on the show
• Fast and bloody action—complete with the ability to take hostages
