Geek Syndicate Issue 5 | Page 91

Geek Syndicate BOARD GAME REVIEW A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (2nd Edition) ily entertainments were three channels of TV, a ramshackle back garden and a box full of plastic toys. They have never been cheap things, so households around us would only ever have a few each, purchased around Christmas time every few years. It was always a treat to go round someone’s house and discover something new in their games cupboard. Fast forward thirty years, and home entertainment is an allyou-can-eat buffet. Tastes vary for everyone (as you’ll have seen in the pages of Geek Syndicate) but it gives me joy to discover that there’s a segment of Geekdom who have continued to develop, produce and play board games in spite of the dominant force of digital entertainment. I’m a huge fan of George R.R. Martin’s “Song Of Ice & Fire” books (televised by HBO as Game Of Thrones) so I waved my hand like a lunatic and Image ©Fantasy Flight Games, 2012 put on my biggest puppy-dog eyes when the chance came up to review the Fantasy Flight board game. There’s a variety of such games out at the moment, of varying complexity and quality, so be careful when you make your purchases. Fantasy Flight are a company renowned for their high production values and treasured for the variety and depth of the games they put out. I’ve had a little experience with them before, having played their Mansions Of Madness board game and their Elder Sign app. A Game Of Thrones is true to their previous form – which is both a good and bad thing. Part of the glory of a good board game is the physical design and the tactile qualities it has. The weight of the box promises much, and the contents truly deliver. The board is a map of Westeros, a Risklike playing zone filled with gorgeous detail. It’s enorImage © Dion Winton-Polak, 2012 Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Based on the best-selling novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition lets 3-6 players take control of the great houses of Westeros in an epic struggle to claim the Iron Throne. The updated second edition brings a host of enhancements to your A Game of Thrones experience. It incorporates elements from previous expansions, including ports, garrisons, Wildling cards, and Siege engines, while introducing welcome new innovations. Convenient player screens will hide your underhanded dealings from prying eyes, while new Tides of Battle cards convey the uncertainty of war. This, along with updated graphics and a clarified ruleset, means the time has never been better to claim the Iron Throne. Board games are a rare pleasure for me. I always see them through the prism of nostalgia: as artifacts from a distant time when the only other fam- 91