King of Dragon Pass

The game is not exactly role-playing, and it's not exactly TBS. It's more like 'The Oregon Trail + Master of Orion in the 7th Century AD'. It's almost all about chance. The sort of chance that comes with drawing a 'random event' card during a tabletop game (like the 'Community Chest/Chance' cards in Monopoly). Indeed, random events are what this game is all about. Managing resources and looking after the happiness and well-being of your villagers are only conducive to continued play, not unlike making sure you have enough quarters to finish an arcade game. They merely dictate how hard a bad event will hit home when it occurs, or how well a good event effects your game (vis. If your people are already angry, and you're suddenly struck by a plague of undead, you might very well face a revolt of some sort or another). There are a tonne of events that are sequential, meaning you may never see them if you don't first encounter the events that precede them. Furthermore, they branch out in different directions based on your decisions, but not every decision has the same result. More often than not, one decision simply has the highest chance of resulting in a particular outcome. It all comes down to how well you know what the subject of a particular event (such as a group of traveling acrobats or a wandering madman) favours, and what entities might favour that particular subject. Which brings me to my next point, and subsequently the reason for taking OFF one point out of a five-star review: Politics. There are loads of politics to be dealt with, whether you choose the road of diplomacy or the path to total war. You need to figure out which clan likes what other clan, and which ones hate each other. You need to know how far-off civilizations and savage peoples will react to your decisions and any treasures you might have on display. And so on. But on the other hand, I suppose this, as well as the incredible illustrations and story-telling, keeps the game from being little more than fiddling with a probability calculator. Excellent re-playability and lots to discover make this a game to buy. Here's looking forward to a 2-4 player version.

I'll admit that I randomly found this gem. Very randomly but the reward, OH MY. It's a very interesting fantasy game, you could feel some northern vibes in some of the art, but oh boy, this is replayable. Try it, you will not regret.

Nobody will ever make games as good as this again. In depth tribe management mechanics with intense battle sims which genuinely make you care about the members of your tribe more than you would expect. One of the evergreen all time greats.

Despite its complete lack of animations, King of Dragon Pass has both a visceral and intellectual satisfaction to it, at once giving you the thrill of raiding your neighbors for cattle (and maybe slaves?) and letting you deluge your brain with the epic god stories of Glorantha. There is never any one way to victory, and even at its easiest it is a difficult game to master, with a somewhat unforgiving learning curve, but the payoff is great.

This is a one of a kind game, which has had a lot of imagination, love and craftsmanship go into it. The hand-drawn artwork gives it real character, and the interactions with your advisors have a lively and engaging tone to them. It can be a tricky game to work out, as most of the 'workings' or mechanics are not visible, so you make a lot of decisions unaware of exactly what the consequences will be, but this adds to the fun and challenge, and I have respect for the writers of the scripts, stories and plotlines, as it always feels like the results of your decisions are fair and plausible, even if they seem harsh at times. You control a clan of settlers in a semi-explored land, people by other clans who share culture and mythology with you, and also by various fantastic beasts who can be harmless or aggressive, depending on chance and how you interact with them. Everything feels mystical, and decisions are made not just based on the material benefits - such as how many cows you can gain in a trade, a raid or a farming decision - but also based on how the Gods and spirits might react. Your survival always feels perilous, and things often start to go wrong, so it's a real challenge, but a satisfying one.