For The Queen allows players to spend an hour telling a short story of a dangerous but necessary … [+]
Games like Dungeons and dragons return to a simple activity. Underneath all the dice and rules friends sit at a table and tell each other a fun story. It can be dramatic, funny, romantic, scary and probably a bit of everything.
Next up is roleplaying in D&D‘small Steps are everywhere when it comes to rules and complexity. Games like Pathfinder and Shadowrun give players plenty of rules to describe their characters in challenging ways. Games like The zone and Fiasco focus on a story structure to let players bounce ideas off each other.
For the Queen, by designer Alex Roberts, is a fantastic example of the latest style game. The game was first released in 2019 by Evil Hat Productions to critical acclaim and popularity. Darrington Typeits publishing arm Critical rolea second edition was released this week.
“Collaboration with Darrington Press for revision For the Queen it was an opportunity to delve even deeper into the themes of love, loyalty and betrayal that have always been at the heart of the game,” said Roberts. “I think fans will appreciate the improved instructions and new question cards, and I hope this version will help the game reach even more people. Especially people who are intimidated by traditional role-playing games. My focus has always been on making an engaging experience for anyone, anywhere.”
For the queen’s rules
The deck has three types of cards. There are the rules of the game that are predetermined to teach the game as the players pass it around the table. There are 25 Queen cards to inspire players with illustrations from multiple artists. Most of the deck consists of question cards that act as story prompts for all players to use.
Players draw a question card in their turn, which asks the player to fill in the details of the story. The queen embarks on a dangerous journey to form an alliance with a rival kindgom and has asked players to accompany her on the journey. The questions can be anything from why the Queen chose the character for the trip to why the Queen thinks the character is ugly.
Each turn can be a cooperative process, although the person who drew the card has the final say on what happens. Sometimes a player will ask for options, other times they will lean forward because they have a strong idea from the prompt. The game also includes an X card that allows any player to veto content without having to explain why.
The final card is always the same. someone attacks the Queen and the players finish the story by describing why their characters do or don’t defend her from the attack. This tells the players when to end the story for everyone. The card also works as a timer. put it in the middle of the deck for a short game, while placing it at the bottom makes the story longer and more detailed.
What’s new in The Queen Second Edition?
The most obvious change is the new double-sided queen cards that offer many more images to inspire the main character of the story. The entire deck has been revamped graphically, but the new Queens really stand out in a variety of art styles. They also suggest that the Queen and her story may be a completely different genre than expected, like a CEO or a bloody prom queen.
Prompts have been improved and updated. While the narrative is cooperative, prompts are often subtly crafted to create friction between the player characters and the Queen. Roberts received feedback to adjust cards that didn’t create the story beats she wanted to tell.
For The Queen Impressions
There are two main times I break this game. The first is when my regular roleplaying group gets together and one or two members are late. It works great as a warm up and a way to pass the time until the main event.
The second shows people who aren’t interested in RPGs exactly what they can do. Everyone loves to tell a good story. For the Queen it gives everyone a chance to say something great together.
