Usurp the King (2022)

Overview

The King may be in trouble. The court that surrounds him contains subjects who seek power. Each player represents a family that will vie for control over subjects. Featuring seven victory conditions the path to victory may shift as you gain more information about each subject’s motives and those of the other families. Your allegiances will twist and change based on your interests. The subjects are but pawns.

The game is played over two phases: INTRIGUE PHASE Players will gather information, exert influence, and gather resources. Each member of the court has a role, each player may look at 1 role, place an influence token on a court member and select a Leverage card to add to their hand.

REBELLION PHASE After each player has taken five turns during the Intrigue phase they will keep 5 cards in their hand and set 4 cards aside in their reserve. In order of the Leverage item number, cards will be played to bribe, conspire, stab, poison, and to shift alliances.

SCORING PHASE One of the unique aspects of this game is the 7 different victory condition. Players may change what condition they are attempting to achieve as the game evolves. After all Leverage cards, the winning player will be determined based on the resulting court conditions (which of the following living court members they control).

The Usurper will win if two other court members are disgruntled and the Usurper has not been bribed. The King will win if the King is alive and the Usurper has not won. The Heir will win if the King is dead, the Usurper has not won and the Heir is not disgruntled. The Bastard will win if the King is dead, the Usurper and the Heir have not won and the Bastard is not disgruntled. If none of the above conditions have been met, the player that controls the most undisgruntled court members will win. If none of the above conditions have been met, the player that controls the Anarchist will win If none of the above conditions have been met, no player wins (Anarchy).

—description from the publisher