A player's pass applies to that turn, not the entire power struggle: if a player passes, and another player acts, the first player may choose to play within that power struggle when their turn comes around again.

The King is Dead is both the name and opening line of this game, designed by Peer Sylvester and published by Osprey games. It’s a two to four player area control game where you win by exerting influence over three factions (English, Scottish and Welsh) to determine the future King or Queen. After eight power struggles across the regions of the British Isles, the winner is the player who uses their cards to influence the power struggles in each region to unite the kingdom once again. To be crowned winner, you must gain the influence of the most successful faction, or unite the factions against a French invasion. In the event of a French victory, then the winner of the game is determined by whoever has the most sets of influence from the other three powers. As they become The Great Uniter, stopping the war and getting the three factions to fight against a common frog-eating foe. In this case Phil must execute the action and instead use the Ambassador card to swap the available Followers between the two regions which are not empty. He then summons a Follower, which can be a piece he has just swapped. He’s dead, and what awful timing. There is a power vacuum in Medieval Britain, and you’ll want to be one the right side of the scuffle when the mud settles. And that’s what we’re going to be doing in The King Is Dead– now presented in a beautiful and occasionally gold foiled second edition.The English, Welsh, and Scots are fighting to gain control over Britain in The King is Dead. As a noble, you’re doing your best Aaron Burr impersonation and attempting to gain favour with the eventual victors.

The only issue I can see for The King is Dead is getting past its rather drab looking exterior as a really great game lies underneath. Long Live the King! Play The King is Dead The last card is the ambassador, which is a weakened version of Garrison, allowing the swapping at a ratio of 1:1.At the end of eight rounds the player with the most cubes of the nation in control of the UK wins. Although if there are four draws for control the Saxons win those territories and then the player with most complete sets of all three nations wins. He's Getting Better... If, at any point, there are four Saxon Control Tokens on the board, the game ends immediately. The Saxons have invaded and gain the throne. The winner is the player with the most complete sets of Followers. I'm absolutely entranced with the game and highly recommend it. The three-player limitation doesn't bother me that much because my game nights often end up at three players! Yes I wish the components were better particularly the punchboard, but it doesn't detract too much from a brilliant experience.

The King is Dead comes with a simple board showing the eight regions of Britain that players will vie for, faction symbols being present foreach of their power bases. The detail on the map is limited, showing a city in each region as well as a few hills and trees,but this plays into the theme as apart from major cities it is unlikely that you would have much else on a map during the dark ages. Choices like this make up the character of the game. Because power struggles are only resolved when both players pass, the game can feel very asymmetric. You can pass, your opponent can play a card that changes the state of the board, and now you have to think about whether it’s worth committing another action to the game at this point. You can end up playing reactively, caught off-guard by an unexpected move or bluff from your opponent, or be left playing out everything early, and letting your opponent play their hand for the final few moves of the game.It’s area control, but you don’t have a fixed horse in the race unless you go all-in for one faction. The problem with that is your strategy is too obvious to your opponents. Plus, removing cubes from the board to your court weakens that faction. Meaning you might end up with a court full of Englishmen in a nation conquered by the Welsh! Æthel-steady! I prefer face-up as then it is a game of total perfect information. You know how many cubes are on the board, how many in the supply and how many in front of players. You know all the cards player and what options players have going forward. The game can end in two ways - if three regions become unstable then the French invade. In that case the player with the most sets of cubes in front of them (yellow, blue and red) wins. If all 8 power struggles are resolved then the nation with the most controlled regions is crowned. Then the player with the most cubes of that colour wins the game. After the building of your court you will now draw followers from the bag until each of the eight regions are occupied by four of them, this includes the cubes placed for each of the home regions. The remaining cubes will now form a common pool on the board.