Lowenherz

Overview

The old King is dying, and the princes consolidate their positions and power to eventually take over the Kingdom.

Game Description

The game board is divided into a grid of squares representing towns, forests, hills and mines. At the start of the game, each faction places three castles and three knights on the board.

Each turn, three out of four actions are available for players to choose from. These are:

• Collect gold pieces
• Place walls
• Place knights or invade an adjacent realm
• Draw a Politics card

Which of the three actions available each turn is determined by a card draw. The card also determines how many times the actions can be performed by the player.

Each player secretly chooses one of the actions to perform. If more than one player chooses to collect the gold, it is split amongst them. If another action is chosen by more than one player, players may offer each other gold to perform that action. If that fails, they bid gold to perform that action.

Politics cards allow players to perform one of four special actions:

• Cause another player's knight defect to oneself
• Increasing the number of gold in your possession
• Force peace between two neighbouring realms
• Increase victory points

The aim of the game is to have the greatest number of victory points when the king dies. The King dies when the "King is Dead" card is drawn. This card is in the last section of the cards, ensuring the game does not end too soon, while at the same time, giving some randomness to beat the "last turn" effect. Players get victory points for:

• Walling in areas with only their own castle in them; thereby controlling the area
• Increasing their controlled area by invading opposing lands
• Controlling silver mines at certain points of the game
• Owning parchment cards at the end of the game

Comments

This game combines a good bidding system with strategy of a simple board "wargame". It should appeal to a wide audience.

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