I've played a lot of the Game of Thrones LCG by Fantasy Flight Games. Recently, they published an inexpensive two-player game with (mostly) the same mechanics using art from the HBO series. I think you can find it at Target in the US, but my own copy came from a game importer in Australia. The cards are incompatible with the main LCG, but they will allow two players to learn the rules.
I played this game with Garth - another very experienced player of the LCG. I hope it allows you to get something of a feel for the game.
The cards have a different graphical style to the LCG, of which I'm not a fan; the design of the icons just seems to flat and simple. The pictures look nice, though, and the house "cards", really cardboard banners, are very nice. In particular, the backs of the cards look great. The cardboard tokens a nice and thick, but the graphical design isn't inspiring.
For this game, I played Lannister and Garth played Stark. We used the predetermined seven-card plot decks, although there is a plot-drafting option I'll try in my next game. (32 plots are included in the game).
Set-up:
Each player draws 7 cards, can mulligan (reshuffle and redraw) once, and then plays up to 5 gold worth of cards face-down to the table, revealing them simultaneously. Then both redraw to seven cards in hand. We both played two characters and one location.
Garth played Hodor, Sansa Stark and The Iron Throne.
I played Ser Gregor Clegane, The Hound and Lannister Encampment
Turn 1
Stark Plot: Calling the Banners (6 gold, 3 init, 1 claim; the cost of cards you play this round cannot be lowered).
Lannister Plot: Hear Me Roar (5 gold, 6 init, 1 claim; each character without an {I} icon gets -1 strength this round).
Each turn starts with both players selecting a plot card and revealing it simultaneously. This sets the amount of gold you have to play cards this turn, who wins initiative (and thus who goes first: the winner chooses), and the "claim" value on challenges: the higher the claim, the more effective the challenges. Most plot cards have additional text, as these two did.
One of the odd things about my plot selection was that I didn't actually have any characters in play with the Intrigue Icon! It's just that it had the best gold value, and I needed it to play my cards. I had the higher initiative, so I let Garth be the first player.
We both drew two cards in our draw steps.
Marshalling:
Garth took his six gold and played Robb Stark, Septa Mordane and the Winterfell Heart Tree (which he couldn't use this turn due to his plot card).
I played Janos Slynt, triggering his come-into-play response to kneel (tap) Robb Stark, and also played The Westerlands for the extra gold it would produce.
Challenges:
There are three types of challenges: Battle (red), Intrigue (green) and Power (blue). You can normally initiate one of each type in a turn. All characters are rated for which types of challenges they can participate in, with the icons on the lower-left displaying this. Characters are first knelt (tapped) who are attacking and then knelt by the other player to defend against the challenge. Each character has a strength score (middle-left of he card), and the totals on each side are compared. Attackers win ties.
The results of the challenge depend on which type it is: in a successful battle challenge, the defender must kill characters equal to the claim value on the opponent's plot card; a successful intrigue challenge discards cards from the defender's hand at random, the number equal to the claim value, and a power challenge steals power from the opponent. As the objective of the game is to get 15 power, this can be quite effective.
Garth went first, initiating an Intrigue challenge against me with Septa Mordane. I chose not to oppose, discarding a card at random. If a challenge is unopposed, the attacker gains a power regardless of its type, so Garth place a power token on his House card to signify this.
His second challenge was a Power challenge with Sansa Stark. Again, I didn't oppose, and he took a power for it being unopposed, although he couldn't steal my power for the claim value - I didn't have any power of my own, yet!
He was unable to start a Battle challenge as Robb was knelt and Hodor can't attack.
I then started my challenges; Ser Gregor initiated a battle challenge against Garth. At this point, he had the opportunity to oppose with Hodor, but that would have killed Hodor (due to Ser Gregor's text). Garth selected Hodor to die from the battle challenge, but played Not Today, an event card in hand, to prevent Hodor dying.
My second challenge was Janos Slynt in an Intrigue challenge, which Garth was unable to defend as he controlled no standing characters with Intrigue. He discarded a card at random, and I gained a power.
Domination, Standing and Taxation
As Garth had the Iron Throne, he won the domination phase easily; it's special text says "While you are the only Iron Throne in play, you automatically win dominance. If he didn't have it in play, whoever had the most strength in standing characters plus gold would win dominance. The winner takes one power.
Score at the end of the round was 3 to Garth and 2 to me. We stood our characters and I discarded my remaining one unspent gold.
Turn 2
Stark Plot: Crossing the Trident (4 gold, 3 init, 1 claim; when revealed, each player with more than 4 cards in hand must choose and discard cards from his hand until he has 4 cards in hand).
I was forced by this card to discard two cards from hand, including my copy of the Iron Throne.
Lannister Plot: The Killing Cold (3 gold, 6 init, 1 claim; all players skill the standing phase this turn).
I chose to play first this turn.
Draw and Marshalling
I played Ser Jaime Lannister and Joffrey Baretheon, and then attached duplicates to both of them. (I'd extensively shuffled the deck, but still ended up with doubles of both of these cards. I was not unhappy with this). Duplicates can be discarded to save a character from dying or otherwise being removed from play. This is especially useful as once a character is dead, they can't come back save special cards which aren't in this 2-player game.
Garth played Catelyn Stark and then attached a Loyal Direwolf to Sansa, allowing him to draw a card thanks to Sansa's text. He reduced Catelyn's cost by one by kneeling his Winterfell Heart Tree.
Challenges
I initiated a battle challenge with both Jaime and Ser Gregor participating (Jaime doesn't kneel to attack in battle challenges). Garth didn't oppose, and selected Sansa to die, kneeling her Loyal Direwolf to stop her death. I took a power for the unopposed challenge, and Jaime took one power for his Renown ability.
After I declined not to initiate another challenge, Garth attacked with Robb Stark. I opposed with the Hound, but Garth still won the challenge (ties go to the attacker). I had to lose a character, so I chose the Hound, and placed him in my Dead Pile. Garth claimed no power as the challenge was opposed, but took one power for Robb's Renown.
Renown is an ability some characters have: whenever they participate in a challenge you win, they claim a power (either as an attacker or defender). To win the game, you need 15 power - whether it is on your House card or on character cards doesn't matter, although - obviously - you lose power on characters when they are killed.
Dominance, Standing and Taxation
Garth won Dominance by virtue of having the only Iron Throne in play - mine was in the discard pile - and went to 4 power on his House card, a total of 5 to my total of 4 power. Neither of us stood our cards, as we skipped that phase, and neither of us had money to lose to taxation!
Any money you have at the end of the turn is lost to taxation; you generally can't keep it between turns. To make more gold than your plot card says you need locations like mine (with the large "plus gold" symbols down the bottom). Garth had a location he could kneel to make the next card he played one cheaper.
Turn 3
Stark Plot: Spies in their Midst (3 gold, 1 initiative, 1 claim; during {I} challenges this round, each character attacking you gets -2 strength).
Lannister Plot: Valar Morghulis (2 gold, 0 initiative, 0 claim; when revealed, kill all characters)
This was a master play from me: all of Garth's characters died, including Sansa, as her dire wolf had been unable to stand to protect her. Meanwhile, my Jaime and Joffrey survived, as they could discard their duplicates to save themselves. Joffrey's special power then triggered: he gained three power for the deaths of Sansa, Robb and Catelyn Stark (all were Lords or Ladies).
Draw and Marshalling
Garth was surprisingly able to play two characters: Bran Stark and Theon Greyjoy. I played Tyrion Lannister.
Challenges
Garth initiated no challenges. I had Jaime win a Battle challenge that Theon opposed - Garth lost no characters because my claim value was zero this turn, but Jaime still gained a power through Renown. Tyrion was able to win an unopposed intrigue challenge, which gave me a card and a power.
Dominance, Standing and Taxation
Garth won Dominance again, and we stood our characters.
At this point, I was leading at eleven power to five. Fifteen power would give me the game.
Turn 4
I revealed the Detained plot this turn (Gold 3, Initiative 4, Claim 1; when revealed, choose and kneel a character), and Garth then conceded: he had no more characters to play, and I'd be able to win all the challenges I initiated this turn; I also had The Lion's Cunning event in hand, which would kneel another of his characters. At this stage, there was nothing he could do to stop me winning.
So, the final result of the game was a comfortable House Lannister victory!
Thoughts
As a one-off product, the HBO-art Game of Thrones game isn't too bad, but I have serious problems with the choice of plot cards - Valar Morghulis really needs to be in both decks, because it is such a big swing card in the two-player game (and two players is is all this product supports).
Garth was very frustrated by the deck's construction (Sansa Stark, who could draw cards for attachments played on her, only had a couple of matching attachments in the deck!). He's not a big fan of two-player AGOT LCG in any case, preferring to play the multiplayer melee games.
For myself, this is mostly a curiosity. I'll try it with the plot-drafting variant (which, as described, is contradictory), but I doubt I'll play it much. It's mainly useful as an introduction to the LCG rules for a newer player without all of the complications of the full game. As such, it makes a fairly cheap and effective introduction.
This game was unusual for how strongly my military came out compared to Garth's; the Stark deck has more military cards in it. We didn't really get a great chance to see how each of the decks played, as mine came out very strongly compared to Garth's. The game did take about a standard amount of time for a 2-player game of AGOT though: about 4 turns is standard, although better-tuned decks can take longer (due to countering abilities) or shorter (due to insane draws). So, this product will give you a good taste of the full game, though (unfortunately) the cards aren't compatible with the full game.
I played this game with Garth - another very experienced player of the LCG. I hope it allows you to get something of a feel for the game.
The cards have a different graphical style to the LCG, of which I'm not a fan; the design of the icons just seems to flat and simple. The pictures look nice, though, and the house "cards", really cardboard banners, are very nice. In particular, the backs of the cards look great. The cardboard tokens a nice and thick, but the graphical design isn't inspiring.
For this game, I played Lannister and Garth played Stark. We used the predetermined seven-card plot decks, although there is a plot-drafting option I'll try in my next game. (32 plots are included in the game).
Set-up:
Each player draws 7 cards, can mulligan (reshuffle and redraw) once, and then plays up to 5 gold worth of cards face-down to the table, revealing them simultaneously. Then both redraw to seven cards in hand. We both played two characters and one location.
Garth played Hodor, Sansa Stark and The Iron Throne.
I played Ser Gregor Clegane, The Hound and Lannister Encampment
Turn 1
Stark Plot: Calling the Banners (6 gold, 3 init, 1 claim; the cost of cards you play this round cannot be lowered).
Lannister Plot: Hear Me Roar (5 gold, 6 init, 1 claim; each character without an {I} icon gets -1 strength this round).
Each turn starts with both players selecting a plot card and revealing it simultaneously. This sets the amount of gold you have to play cards this turn, who wins initiative (and thus who goes first: the winner chooses), and the "claim" value on challenges: the higher the claim, the more effective the challenges. Most plot cards have additional text, as these two did.
One of the odd things about my plot selection was that I didn't actually have any characters in play with the Intrigue Icon! It's just that it had the best gold value, and I needed it to play my cards. I had the higher initiative, so I let Garth be the first player.
We both drew two cards in our draw steps.
Marshalling:
Garth took his six gold and played Robb Stark, Septa Mordane and the Winterfell Heart Tree (which he couldn't use this turn due to his plot card).
I played Janos Slynt, triggering his come-into-play response to kneel (tap) Robb Stark, and also played The Westerlands for the extra gold it would produce.
Challenges:
There are three types of challenges: Battle (red), Intrigue (green) and Power (blue). You can normally initiate one of each type in a turn. All characters are rated for which types of challenges they can participate in, with the icons on the lower-left displaying this. Characters are first knelt (tapped) who are attacking and then knelt by the other player to defend against the challenge. Each character has a strength score (middle-left of he card), and the totals on each side are compared. Attackers win ties.
The results of the challenge depend on which type it is: in a successful battle challenge, the defender must kill characters equal to the claim value on the opponent's plot card; a successful intrigue challenge discards cards from the defender's hand at random, the number equal to the claim value, and a power challenge steals power from the opponent. As the objective of the game is to get 15 power, this can be quite effective.
Garth went first, initiating an Intrigue challenge against me with Septa Mordane. I chose not to oppose, discarding a card at random. If a challenge is unopposed, the attacker gains a power regardless of its type, so Garth place a power token on his House card to signify this.
His second challenge was a Power challenge with Sansa Stark. Again, I didn't oppose, and he took a power for it being unopposed, although he couldn't steal my power for the claim value - I didn't have any power of my own, yet!
He was unable to start a Battle challenge as Robb was knelt and Hodor can't attack.
I then started my challenges; Ser Gregor initiated a battle challenge against Garth. At this point, he had the opportunity to oppose with Hodor, but that would have killed Hodor (due to Ser Gregor's text). Garth selected Hodor to die from the battle challenge, but played Not Today, an event card in hand, to prevent Hodor dying.
My second challenge was Janos Slynt in an Intrigue challenge, which Garth was unable to defend as he controlled no standing characters with Intrigue. He discarded a card at random, and I gained a power.
Domination, Standing and Taxation
As Garth had the Iron Throne, he won the domination phase easily; it's special text says "While you are the only Iron Throne in play, you automatically win dominance. If he didn't have it in play, whoever had the most strength in standing characters plus gold would win dominance. The winner takes one power.
Score at the end of the round was 3 to Garth and 2 to me. We stood our characters and I discarded my remaining one unspent gold.
Turn 2
Stark Plot: Crossing the Trident (4 gold, 3 init, 1 claim; when revealed, each player with more than 4 cards in hand must choose and discard cards from his hand until he has 4 cards in hand).
I was forced by this card to discard two cards from hand, including my copy of the Iron Throne.
Lannister Plot: The Killing Cold (3 gold, 6 init, 1 claim; all players skill the standing phase this turn).
I chose to play first this turn.
Draw and Marshalling
I played Ser Jaime Lannister and Joffrey Baretheon, and then attached duplicates to both of them. (I'd extensively shuffled the deck, but still ended up with doubles of both of these cards. I was not unhappy with this). Duplicates can be discarded to save a character from dying or otherwise being removed from play. This is especially useful as once a character is dead, they can't come back save special cards which aren't in this 2-player game.
Garth played Catelyn Stark and then attached a Loyal Direwolf to Sansa, allowing him to draw a card thanks to Sansa's text. He reduced Catelyn's cost by one by kneeling his Winterfell Heart Tree.
Challenges
I initiated a battle challenge with both Jaime and Ser Gregor participating (Jaime doesn't kneel to attack in battle challenges). Garth didn't oppose, and selected Sansa to die, kneeling her Loyal Direwolf to stop her death. I took a power for the unopposed challenge, and Jaime took one power for his Renown ability.
After I declined not to initiate another challenge, Garth attacked with Robb Stark. I opposed with the Hound, but Garth still won the challenge (ties go to the attacker). I had to lose a character, so I chose the Hound, and placed him in my Dead Pile. Garth claimed no power as the challenge was opposed, but took one power for Robb's Renown.
Renown is an ability some characters have: whenever they participate in a challenge you win, they claim a power (either as an attacker or defender). To win the game, you need 15 power - whether it is on your House card or on character cards doesn't matter, although - obviously - you lose power on characters when they are killed.
Dominance, Standing and Taxation
Garth won Dominance by virtue of having the only Iron Throne in play - mine was in the discard pile - and went to 4 power on his House card, a total of 5 to my total of 4 power. Neither of us stood our cards, as we skipped that phase, and neither of us had money to lose to taxation!
Any money you have at the end of the turn is lost to taxation; you generally can't keep it between turns. To make more gold than your plot card says you need locations like mine (with the large "plus gold" symbols down the bottom). Garth had a location he could kneel to make the next card he played one cheaper.
Turn 3
Stark Plot: Spies in their Midst (3 gold, 1 initiative, 1 claim; during {I} challenges this round, each character attacking you gets -2 strength).
Lannister Plot: Valar Morghulis (2 gold, 0 initiative, 0 claim; when revealed, kill all characters)
This was a master play from me: all of Garth's characters died, including Sansa, as her dire wolf had been unable to stand to protect her. Meanwhile, my Jaime and Joffrey survived, as they could discard their duplicates to save themselves. Joffrey's special power then triggered: he gained three power for the deaths of Sansa, Robb and Catelyn Stark (all were Lords or Ladies).
Draw and Marshalling
Garth was surprisingly able to play two characters: Bran Stark and Theon Greyjoy. I played Tyrion Lannister.
Challenges
Garth initiated no challenges. I had Jaime win a Battle challenge that Theon opposed - Garth lost no characters because my claim value was zero this turn, but Jaime still gained a power through Renown. Tyrion was able to win an unopposed intrigue challenge, which gave me a card and a power.
Dominance, Standing and Taxation
Garth won Dominance again, and we stood our characters.
At this point, I was leading at eleven power to five. Fifteen power would give me the game.
Turn 4
I revealed the Detained plot this turn (Gold 3, Initiative 4, Claim 1; when revealed, choose and kneel a character), and Garth then conceded: he had no more characters to play, and I'd be able to win all the challenges I initiated this turn; I also had The Lion's Cunning event in hand, which would kneel another of his characters. At this stage, there was nothing he could do to stop me winning.
So, the final result of the game was a comfortable House Lannister victory!
Thoughts
As a one-off product, the HBO-art Game of Thrones game isn't too bad, but I have serious problems with the choice of plot cards - Valar Morghulis really needs to be in both decks, because it is such a big swing card in the two-player game (and two players is is all this product supports).
Garth was very frustrated by the deck's construction (Sansa Stark, who could draw cards for attachments played on her, only had a couple of matching attachments in the deck!). He's not a big fan of two-player AGOT LCG in any case, preferring to play the multiplayer melee games.
For myself, this is mostly a curiosity. I'll try it with the plot-drafting variant (which, as described, is contradictory), but I doubt I'll play it much. It's mainly useful as an introduction to the LCG rules for a newer player without all of the complications of the full game. As such, it makes a fairly cheap and effective introduction.
This game was unusual for how strongly my military came out compared to Garth's; the Stark deck has more military cards in it. We didn't really get a great chance to see how each of the decks played, as mine came out very strongly compared to Garth's. The game did take about a standard amount of time for a 2-player game of AGOT though: about 4 turns is standard, although better-tuned decks can take longer (due to countering abilities) or shorter (due to insane draws). So, this product will give you a good taste of the full game, though (unfortunately) the cards aren't compatible with the full game.
Attachments
Last edited:
