Review
The Old King's Crown
The Old King's Crown is a hard, fair asymmetric area-control game that asks the group to learn its factions. Once that knowledge is around the table, its sharp edges become the point.
- Published
- 2025
- Designer
- Pablo Clark
- Publisher
- Eerie Idol Games, Delirium Games, Devil Dice Games
- Players
- 1–4
- Playing time
- 120 min
The Old King's Crown feels strange at first, but for anyone who likes asymmetric games, it soon resembles the game Arcs was trying to be.
Each player takes a faction with its own deck and its own machinery. You play one card at a time to contest areas on the board, and those cards also bring their abilities into play.
The Old King's Crown feels strange at first, but for anyone who likes asymmetric games, it soon resembles the game Arcs was trying to be.
TheCuttlefish
This is a game where you get in each other's way. Assassins are brutal the first time they land on you, but once the group understands the factions, decks, and special powers, they stop feeling like a cheap shot and become something you can see coming and answer.
After three plays, I would want more variety in the faction mix, because the same set could start to wear thin. A few power tiles also disrupt the game for little return; “discard two cards” is the obvious offender.
Updated session
Two back-to-back plays confirmed the first impression: the second was noticeably better because everyone had, more or less, learned the other factions' asymmetric powers. It remains a very good game for a regular group: tough, but fair.
It remains a very good game for a regular group: tough, but fair.
TheCuttlefish
Source: BoardGameGeek
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