From the folks who brought you Citadels – a game set in a fantastical kingdom where persons of extraordinary powers are able to sabotage your designs (sometimes violently) – and Shadows Over Camelot – a medieval mystery game utilizing the Knights of the Roundtable theme (those manly men of yore) comes a game about…collecting jewels to make the queen an exquisite necklace. Right. Some may shun this game’s “lady-like” theme, and, moreover, balk at the necklace that comes packaged with instructions to don said necklace when holding the appropriate card. But, I am here to tell you that real men play Queen’s Necklace.

Queen’s necklace is a card game that relies on set management. The player with the most amount of points at the end of the game, surprisingly, wins. However, it is not as simple as all that – along the way the market for certain jewels will fluctuate given the shifting, random rarity values each scoring round. Additionally, there’s a little Guillotine (one of our favorite card games) thrown in in the form of influence cards (various kinds of characters) that are able to shift the demand for certain jewels, steal cards from your stash, and even, through the propitious use of alchemy, turn some stones into others at the last moment. In all, players will find playing Queen’s Necklace quick and fun enough to get on the table before the “heavy stuff” comes out, but strategic enough to pay it attention as your turn approaches.

The mechanics for Queen’s Necklace are simple enough: on each turn, players may play an influence card and then spend up to ten ducats to purchase cards on the table. This may not sound like much until some of the design enters the picture. Though players are initially dealt four cards, the goal is to amass enough jewels of a type, and hopefully across more than one type to have a shot at scoring well. Here’s how the game works.

There are four jewels: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and amber. There are four fashion values – these are the values indicating which jewels are most sought after. The values are laid out sequentially. However, the four jewel tiles are shuffled and laid out randomly. This bit of randomness introduces a nice element of strategy as you will want to have your eye out for the most desired jewel of the season. But, two factors may throw a wrench into your plans. First, influence cards such as Favorite players to move their preferred jewel to the front, in effect increasing its market desirability. Second, there’s the effect of random rarity values. Three merchants are placed in the deck, separated by a third of the cards. When each of these merchants is drawn, players must commit to sell one, some, or no jewels. However, it is not until after your have revealed your stash that the rarity values are assigned. Admittedly, this may not please everyone as a well played strategy might be undermined. However, if one plays this game in the spirit of accepting luck into a game, then this ought pose no problem. Another way to view it is that the mechanic captures the fickleness of high society and its spurious covetousness.

Another aspect of the design that we appreciate is the fact that cards in the market change in value from turn to turn. There are five card always on display; along the upper right edge of the cards are five values, varying depending on the card. All cards begin at their highest value indicated by a small ring meant to highlight which value the card has that turn. For example, a single amber might have the values 6-4-2-1-0. If you buy this amber card on the first turn, you will “pay” six of your ducats. Let’s say this is the end of your turn, what happens is that the price rings, let’s call them, are all lowered by one and the new replacement card is brought in at its highest value. In effect, your purchase cheapens the remaining wares for the next player. Hence, part of your strategy will be to constantly balance getting that banker card at full price (which allows you to add a value of ten ducats to every jewel sold – not bad) while possibly allowing your opponent to get two or even three cards for a very cheap price.

The scoring in Queen’s Necklace is a sensible affair. At its most basic level, players reveal what hands they intend to put up for sale. The person with the most of a jewel (let’s say 12 diamonds to 2) is said to sell one of that jewel. That jewel’s value is determined, as noted above, by how in demand it is in addition to what rarity value it is assigned. But there are ways to augment these values. If you play a ring card with a jewel you have the majority of, you will be considered to have sold two of that jewel kind. If you play the banker, each sale is increased by a value of ten. Let’s say you are badly beaten in rubies but are only short one diamond to at least tie the leader, the Alchemist card allows you to “transform” your ruby into a diamond. It might even put you over if you transform a card depicting multiples of that jewel (cards come in various denominations). The only restriction is that amber may not be transformed into any other jewel and no other jewel may be transformed into amber. Last, there’s the title card of the game. Hell hath no wrath like that of a queen – you may play a king card which effectively negates the sale of any jewel of your choice. If your Queen’s Necklace card is attached to the jewel that is being blocked, not only can you still sell it, but now the kind loses 50 points, and you gain fifty.

We play Queen’s Necklace as a 2-player affair with the following variant: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/62436. It works very well. Unlike some of our other 2-player favorites, like Ra, Queen’s Necklace rarely ends close, but there are startling come backs when certain card combinations are played. In the end, this is a fun, light-hearted game that deserves your attention. It won’t replace Goa at the top of your list but it, uhm, shines in its own way.

-c-