THE LCG CONCEPT

The LCG concept (Living Card Game), if you haven't heard yet, is to release a large, playable, self-contained core set, with premade decks and player aids. One need never buy another card to enjoy the game. Then, once a month or so, a "Chapter Pack" will be released that includes every card of a set. No hunting rare cards. Every card from the set will be included in every pack of the set. The only monetary commitment needed is the core set and then just add any chapter packs that interest you. Right now "A Game of Thrones" is the only LCG available, but Call of Cthulhu is in development (due hopefully in November) and there was a teaser at GenCon of another LCG in development that I would bet money is going to be based in the Warhammer universe.

Since "A Game of Thrones" is being advertised as a complete, self-contained game, I am reviewing it as such, as I would Runebound (even though it has expansions, the base game should stand on its own).

BITS

The Good

This core set comes with everything that 2-4 players need for the game. There are 4 preconstructed decks representing a separate faction (or "house") involved in the struggle for power. There are house cards included for 2 other factions, but their preconstructed decks are not available yet. There are strong, pretty, plastic minis representing the 6 offices that may be chosen in multiplayer games. There are counters for gold pieces and power tokens; plenty enough to be used in the game. There is a board that also has places to put the tokens and spaces for each office on a track that shows how each office supports or opposes the others. This is an especially helpful aid to those who have been trying to play multiplayer with the CCG as it clears up much confusion regarding the position of offices to each other.

The Bad

I saw several copies opened at GenCon, and many had warped boards. This could have been a shipping issue.

Also, the box itself is designed with holes large enough for the cards to slip through the insert into the bottom of the box. The owner is going to have to figure out a way to keep the decks separated (rubber band, etc.) or sift through the cards, looking for the letter of the faction, to sort decks every time they play. These are minor issues, but were avoidable.

GAMEPLAY

The Good

The gameplay is very intricate and in-depth for a card game. Mechanics such as picking offices every turn (with different bonuses for each and different supporting and opposing offices), picking plot cards each turn(usually with a rule making, or rule breaking advantage on it) and having three separate ways to challenge another faction (military, intrigue, and power struggle) add lots of depth to each turn.

The person who wins initiative each turn picks who goes first. Do you want to go first to make sure you get to do things you want before anyone else, or want to see what other people do and/or wait until some of their resources are depleted to make your move(s)? This can be one of the most important decisions a player makes.

The goal is to gain 15 power tokens. They can be gained by winning an undefended challange, winning a power struggle against an opponent (taking one power directly from their house), or through special abilities of your characters. This is different than most other card games where the object is to destroy your opponent. You can win this game without ever attacking militarily, and I've seen it happen.

This power goal helps keep the game from becoming "beat up on the weak guy" as well. It becomes instead a game of "stop her from winning." "Weak" positions by factions can change quickly, especially with the help of plot and event cards that I call "reset cards." These cards are most often plot cards, but can also be abilities of characters or events. What these cards do is force EVERY faction to either discard or kill some or all of their characters. This keeps someone who got lucky in an initial draw from being able to run roughshod over everyone and helps keep one feeling they are in the game to the end.

Another interesting mechanic is that you have to "kneel" (i.e. expend) your character in a challenge on offense or defense. Then when each faction has had an opportunity to try 3 challenges, the person with the most strength points in characters left standing gets a free power token from the bank. So do you defend against that intrigue challenge so your opponent doesn't get through undefended, or save the strength points for your own challenges and/or dominance phase? These sort of decisions get even tougher after someone just played a plot card that reduced you to 3 total characters (against 9 possible challenges from your 3 opponents and then the dominance phase).

The mechanic that will be new to players of the old CCG is the use of gold. Players gain gold from their plot cards and locations and take gold coins to place beside them. These gold coins are used not only to bring out new locations, characters, events, etc., but also to trigger character abilities or may be needed to pay for an ability or card. For example, one plot card called "Uneasy Truce" requires that if you want to initiate a military challenge against another player you must pay them 2 gold. No gold=no military challenges. Then there is a taxation phase at the end of the turn where all gold is returned (unless, of course you have found a way to miss the taxation phase like the sneaky Lannister's have been known to do).

The factions have their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as an overall "feel" to them that is different from all the others.

The Bad

The biggest weakness of the set is that it advertises as being able to be played by 2-4 players, but the way the decks are constructed are definitely for 3-4 players. When one of the plot cards you must play says "pick another player and you cannot initiate challenges against each other" it can slow down a 2 player game. This could be easily remedied by picking plot cards from unused factions to replace these for a 2 player game.

Also the intricacy of the game may be more than someone playing a CCG-like game is looking for. It takes a lot of thought, and strategy, to try to perceive, and take advantage of, the many options available to you during a turn, much less anticipating other players' moves. This is not a "light" game.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I like this game. I am a big fan of cards games, collectible or otherwise, and this is one of my favorites. It is intricate as well as fun. As a boardgamer, I appreciate the self-contained and preconstructed decks ready to play. As someone burned on other CCGs, where no matter how good a player I thought I was, I seemed to be getting beaten by people who spent more on the game than I wanted to, I find the LCG concept appealing as well. Many times it doesn't even feel like a card game and fortunes change every turn.

If you are looking for a good multi-player game that has many options to win, plus lots of surprises and "got ya!" moments, this is the game for you. It's not a "light game." It's going to take you a couple hours to play and give your brain a workout. But you don't have to sift through (or buy) lots of cards you don't need.

And you get all that plus: diplomacy, deceit, assassinations, epic battles, brave men and women, bribery, greed, consorts, poison, nobles, black market fences, armies, mercenaries, renown, infamy, intelligent wolves and even baby dragons! What's not to like?