''Down With the King'' is a political

card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ga ...

for 2-6 players produced by

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. Each player takes the role of a

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

in the fictional nation of Fandonia during the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an " Baroque age" (roughly 1600-1750), and by diplomacy, betrayal, and political maneuvering, attempts to depose the current monarch, and place his lackey on the throne. The game was designed by Glenn Rahman, Kenneth Rahman, and

Alan R. Moon Alan R. Moon (born 18 November 1951) is an author of board games, born in Southampton, England. He is generally considered to be one of the foremost designers of German-style board games. Many of his games can be seen as board game variations on ...

. It is sometimes described as a "

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

Political Game", but has no inherently supernatural elements.

Gameplay

Each turn consists of a sequence of random events and player actions. Player actions include trying to increase their character's skills, influence, and prestige, gain the loyalty of non-player characters, political offices for characters, destabilize the current king, and interfere with other players' factions trying to do the same. Eventually, when a player feels his faction has enough power, and the current monarch is sufficiently destabilized, they may try to ''usurp'' the throne, and replace the monarch with a royal character (or pretender) under their control. A player controlling the monarch for three consecutive turns wins the game. Besides characters, represented as cards, a player controls a certain number of Influence Points, or IPs, spent as "money" to accomplish actions, and Prestige Points, or PPs, which serve as a limit to the number of characters they can control. The player also has a set of cards and opportunity counters that restrict the actions they can take. Actions include a vast array of options, including Dueling, Assassination, Travel Abroad, Advising the Monarch (requires an office), Escape (from abroad or hiding), Extradite a Wrongdoer (from abroad), Expose a Scandal, Intrigue (try to steal an opponent's card), Recruit a Character, Court Monarch's Favor, Fill a Vacant Office, Recruit by Treachery, Seduce a Character, Hold a Wedding, Consult Prestige Tables, and Solicit Bribes (requires an office). All these actions tend to award or take away PPs and IPs.

Reception

Paul Manz reviewed ''Down with the King'' in ''

The Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the ...

'' No. 48. Manz commented that "''Down with the King'' is a pleasant change of pace, and a very enjoyable group game."

References

External links

*
''Down with the King''
Fan site contains the rules and a Windows program for the game, with source code

Rules notes, and political parties variant {{Avalon Hill Alan R. Moon games Avalon Hill games Card games introduced in 1981 Dedicated deck card games