Review - King & Assassins (2013)

I have been trying to get my hands on a copy of this game for quite some time, The idea of either being a hated king walking through town or killing a hated king i thought was an interesting theme for a game. Naturally when we restarted the blog, this was first on my list to review.

King and Assassins is an asymmetrical fantasy game of strategy and deception for two players. One player controls a vile king and his knightly lackeys who try to force their way into the castle through a mob of wrathful citizens. The other player controls the mob itself and – more importantly – three assassins who hide among the crowd hoping to kill or stop the ruler long enough for the people to deal with him using their bare fists. The king has only so much time before he is overpowered by his own subjects but using guile and swords of his guards he may be able to eliminate the assassins and hopefully escape into the safety of his palace.

The gameplay is based upon Action Cards which show a limited number of Action Points available to both sides. First, the king and his knights move around the board securing their position or eliminating dangers by pushing aside the crowd, then the assassins hidden among the crowd prepare for their lethal strike by killing guards or making the king's progress slower. It's up to the players to make the most of the Action Points available in the current round. The king's player wins if he manages to escape from the board using one of the exits or if his knights eliminate all the assassins. The assassins win if they kill the king by dealing him two wounds or stall him long enough so that the Action Card deck is depleted.

Choose your strategy, hide the assassins among twelve beautifully illustrated citizens and play two different scenarios, each with a multitude of choices, in this simple yet rewarding game. And remember, every familiar face may conceal a sharp blade!

Me and Tyler decided to play 2 games where each of us had a chance to be king. If we both won a game the number of cards it took to kill the king would be the tiebreaker (There is a max of 15 rounds).

Round 1 - Tyler is king....Tyler The Merciless

King Tyler's guard capture two citizens early. He walks through the street pushing people aside. One assassin strikes and takes out two guards before being taken out. And the next turn another assassin is taken out and i am down to one. King Tyler is a mere three steps from the castle when i jump off the roof and deal two fierce blows killing him, ending his tyrannical reign. King Tyler utters something about it being garbage that i jumped off as he dies. It took me 9 rounds to kill him.


Round 2 (Hail King James!)
 In the first round the assassins take my front two guards out right away.  In round two i take him out but then the second assassin wounds the KING! (how rude!). I use my third and fourth turn to move around town, however on their fourth turn the assassin jumps off the roof and wounds the king for a second time. Alas King James i knew him well. Tyler smiles and says "every assassin played their part." Dead in 4 rounds. Tyler wins.

Board Game Geek Rating : 7.1





Dad:
"This game is amazing! The deception that it can be any of the 3 villagers is great. Most of the time your trying to move people that are not the assassins...or are you??? And when your the king you think "did he move that villager because he is an assassin or to make me think he is?" The board is also double sided and that makes replay value is very very high to me."
9/10


Tyler:
"This game is very balanced. Either side i feel has an equal chance of winning. My one complaint would be that when you reveal an assassin it does not take any action points to jump off the roof and it has become our main strategy to attack that way."
8/10