Tiny Epic Game of Thrones

We've lost count of the number of titles in Gamelyn Games' Tiny Epic series. True to their name, they all come in compact boxes but some have turned out to be more epic than others. There's no doubt that Tiny Epic Games of Thrones delivers on all counts - for sure, it's tiny but it's definitely epic and, despite the size, it very strongly evokes the Game of Thrones saga that will be familiar to players from the HBO TV series and George R R Martin's books. The game's art from Nikoletta Vaszi is original but it's clearly inspired by the TV series.

The game is played on a map of Westeros formed by placing together six map cards. The map is divided into regions, some of which contain castles. Each player represents one of the Great Houses (noble families) of the kingdom; each with their own leader and asymmetric powers. Over the course of play you'll be recruiting armies, forming alliances and invading other territories. Like the books and TV series, Tiny Epic Game of Thrones is a game of war, intrigue and diplomacy.

Designer Scott Almes uses a surprisingly effective action selection device whereby custom dice are rolled and players select the die with the action they and all other players will take, but where they place the die determines the action that will be taken only by them. In our plays at Board's Eye View we've encountered many occasions where a player uses their dice placement not so much for the direct benefit to them but rather to block the action off so another player cannot take it. This further evokes the cutthroat atmosphere of the GoT saga.

There's scope for bluff and counterbluff over combat. The strength of armies, leaders and castles is obvious from the board but if a force is moved into an opponent's territory the attacker can play a 'plot' card for its value in augmenting the attack. The defender too may play a card but they will generally have to pay to place a high-value defence card; gold will often be in short supply in the game and each player's treasury is public information visible on their individual player boards...

The Houses not used by the players are still in play; the players will be competing to ally with them because having a majority gives you control of that House in addition to your own... Part of the joy of the game is seeing how these alliances shift.

Among other actions players can use their plot cards for the effects set out in the card text. Again these strongly evoke the ethos of the books and TV series, and the distinct characteristics of each of the various Houses. Part of the strategy of the game involves determining when to use a card for its text effect and when to hold it for use in attack or defence.

We've been hugely impressed with Tiny Epic Games of Thrones as a highly competitive 2-4 player game. However, with the Ice & Fire expansion you can play it as a 1-5 player cooperative game with players collectively defending Westeros from the seemingly relentless march of the Night King and his army of White Walkers. And there's scope for even further variety if you add in Gamelyn Games' Heroes Pack. This comprises an alternative leader card and miniature for each of the Great Houses; so, for example, House Lannister can play with Cersei instead of Jaime and so with different leader powers. If we had just one gripe with this game it's that we'd have liked the option of map that's not quite so Tiny: with a bunch of castles, armies and leader miniatures in situ, the map can get very cramped. Gamelyn Games have produced neoprene mats to go with some of their previous Tiny Epic games (for example, Tiny Epic Tactics). Tiny Epic Games of Thrones is a game we expect to bring back to the table for a lot of plays so it's one where we'd love the option of a scaled-up neoprene mat.

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