König von Siam (2007)

Overview

Siam 1874: A power struggle has broken out. Siam's king has initiated reforms that have resulted in a clash between the Malays, Lao, and Royalists. The appearance of unity, however, must be preserved or the British might move in and make a colony out of Siam. Will the Siamese succeed in this tightrope walk and maintain the nation of freedom?

In King of Siam, the players use action cards both to compete for influence of the contending factions and to tip the power struggle in favor of the faction where their own influence is the greatest – but the players must be careful. In each of the eight rounds, players may play as many from the 8 action cards to add or move followers in the regions or general supply or followers (personal stack). A n action card, once played, cannot be replayed for the game. Once all players pass for a round, A specific region is then resolved for the faction with most followers according to an order that can also be manipulated. The player with most followers of the faction with most regions controlled wins. Any region resolved without a majority of one faction gets invaded by the British. Too much conflict will result in a British intervention in Siam and new victory conditions are immediately resolved. In this case, the players with most sets of followers from all 3 factions wins.

After the initial setup King of Siam has no random elements and no luck. The game is playable by 2-3 players individually or four players in partnerships.