One has to be living under a rock to not know of Game of Thrones. Based on a book series by George R. R. Martin, the fantasy drama television series went on to make history in its eight-year-long run. The show broke many viewership records and was at its peak the most-watched TV show on the planet. After a few bad ones, finally, the fans now have a great Game of Thrones video game. The board game based on the show is surprisingly good, and it has everything from deception to treachery. Also, the developers didn’t need to put much effort into it, and all they had to do was port a board game to PC.
However, one can’t deny how hard it is to turn a successful board game to a video game. Although there is an option to play it with other players using the online multiplayer option, it is quite challenging to compare it with the experience of playing the board game alongside friends. This posed one of the biggest hurdles in its development, but the developers have done a remarkable job, and the online multiplayer option does not let players feel alone.
Scythe and Terraforming Mars are great examples of how easy it is to mess up a great board game. The developers made the mistake of blurring the difference between a digital and physical experience, which ultimately made the purchase of the video game version pointless. Such a strategy seems always to fail, but by going the extra mile and making fair use of the advantages they already have; developers can make games that do well like Tokaido and Raider of the North Sea. Thankfully, the developers of the Game of Thrones game did not miss out on these insights as they have gone an extra mile to make the video game with a much more immersive experience.
The players are tasked to employ diplomacy, warfare and deception in 10 rounds of the game to gain control of all the strategic positions in the map. Every one of the ten rounds has three distinct phases, namely – Westeros Phase, Planning Phase, and the Action Phase. The Westeros Phase is just everyday activity in Westeros, which can impact all houses. In the planning phase, the players have to give strategic orders to their armies while at the same time take care of diplomatic matters. In the Action Phase, the orders are settled as players have already made use of well-known characters from their house to conquer more land and defeat the enemy.
The Digital version of the Game of Thrones board game allows as much as six players to play simultaneously at once. There is no game other than this that has been able to capture the military and political strategies that play out in Westeros. The game offers the players the ability to use multi-layered strategic moves in which military form is only one of the many other tools aside from deception and diplomacy.
The game also has much more than just the usual free-for-all dash for the throne. There are several additional challenges than one can play; they are also attached to specific strategic shifts in the game, so they also serve as a tutorial or practice. So, the game overall is impressive and requires much less admin work. It manages to include the various tricky aspects of the game like alliance creation with the possibility of treachery. The attention to detail makes the new game much more appealing. However, the only complaints Game of Thrones fans might have with the game is the fact that is only the base, the original version of the game and does not include the fantastic expansions of the game, which is available for PC and Mac only.
So, finally Game of Thrones fans have an excellent game that they can enjoy, and even though it has some flaws, it still manages to be incredibly immersive. No one can deny how fun it is to play with all of its military strategies, alliances, trickery and deception.
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