Ready Review: A Game of Thrones the “Living” Card Game Second Edition

This week we got a little something different for you. While awaiting the release of Star Wars: Destiny Spirit of Rebellion, we decided to pick up the Core Set for the above-referenced AGoT 2.0. We had a great time learning how to play and are bringing you our top 5 favorite mechanics after our initial impression of the game.

REMINDER! We’ve also decided to extend our GIVEAWAY. It will now end once we reach 100 Likes on Facebook. Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, Subscribe to us on YouTube, follow us on Twitch, and/or share the original Facebook post for a chance t o win a full set of the Star Wars Destiny Spirit of Rebellion prerelease promos. The more things you do, the more chances you will have to win! Sorry, continental U.S. only this time.

#1: Plots

Plots are easily the coolest mechanic. Each plot represents an event that occurs during the storyline. Some Plots, such as Wildfire Assault, represent major events during the GoT storyline. At the start of each game round, each player looks through their plot deck of 7 cards and chooses a plot. Each player’s plot is then revealed and the effects, as well as the initiative, gold, and claim values have a last effect on the game round. That plot cannot be used again until you have gone through the entire Plot deck once (which has yet to happen to me, as games end beforehand) so you must carefully choose when to use each Plot, as you only get one chance!

#2 Completeness

This game is ready to go out of the box. You guys know me. I play CCGs. I’m addicted to buying, selling, trading, negotiating, and tracking secondary market prices. So you can imagine my surprise when I found all of my favorite iconic characters across 8 different “houses” in the core set. There is no hunting through packs and packs for your Tyrions, Tywens, Jon Snows, or Arya Starks (we like the dire wolves). Instead, you get 1x of every major character and you even get duplicate copies of the flip-floppers such as Littlefinger and Varys. Finally, the houses are balanced and thematic. The Lannisters are expensive. The Nights Watch can take control over your opponent’s neglected, forgotten, or exiled (discarded) family members. The Greyjoys, whose family motto is “What is dead may never die,” can appease the Drowned God and revive dead characters.

#3 Very few “Removal” cards

The emphasis of this game, much like the books/show, is on the characters and building up your network of allies in order to secure your seat on the throne. With that being said, there are very few “removal” spells events or attachments.

#4 “Duplicate” System

In this game, you can always make use of your unique characters. This is very different from the “unique” system in other games, where you can only have one copy of a card in your deck or perhaps you can have multiple characters in the deck but only one in play at a time. You can’t have two Red Vipers fighting side-by-side, but you can place a copy of a unique character under that character as a duplicate to give it an extra life.

#5 Tokens

Finally, the game includes tangible Gold and Power tokens. Gold is the resource which which you play characters, attachments, and events. Power is the win condition. The first player to accrue 15 Powers wins the game. You will feel like Scrooge McDuck swimming in a sea of tokens by the time the game is over. And it feels great.

Takeaways

For $40, this game is a steal. It’s a fun, casual board game to play right out of the box. It’s also a very competitive game with a ton of Organized Play (“OP”) support from Fantasy Flight Games. GNKs, Nationals, Regionals, and Worlds have taken place for years. If you don’t enjoy the game, the crux of a competitive player’s collection is 3x copies of the Core Set, so you shouldn’t have a problem unloading the set on the secondary market once you’re burnt out from it.

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