While a number of games which fit the mechanic of players
having unequal forces have come out over the years, in broader terms it remains
a rather small segment of the gaming experience.
In the case of King and Peasant from designer Poon Jon,
artist Chia Pek Fann, and publisher nPips Games we find a new
offering that fits, and it’s just a bit different from most.
This one is an asymmetrical two-player – everyone I know is
two players I believe -- 18-card microgame.
When a game is only 18 cards you never know just what to
expect. Some rise to the level of ‘very good’, while others fail often from the
simple fact there is not enough variety in such a small package.
King and Peasant overcomes the scant card deck by giving
players cards which have a dual purpose effectively almost doubling the deck to
36 cards. It’s not the first small card game to go that route, but here it
works nicely adding some depth to card play.
In this game one plays the king and the other the peasants –
and of course when you think about how decidedly different the king and
peasants were in Medieval times it’s rather easy to see where an asymmetric
approach makes perfect sense.
The peasants are unhappy with the king – not surprisingly
and have employed an assassin, so the peasant wins when the King draws the
assassin from the deck.
The King has found out about the plot, and must try to
protect himself, winning when the deck is out of cards or when the assassin is
discarded.
The art here is nice, perhaps a better word is functional,
so it won’t attract players.
But the rules are well-done, and as you might expect with
only 18 cards, the game plays quickly – 15 minutes will do it, maybe a tad
quicker as you become familiar with game play.
In the end it’s the differing goals which make this one
interesting, and well worth a look as a coffee break, or ‘brews’ game.
Check it out at npipsgames.com
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