Royal Visit 👑
Designer⚙️: Reiner Knizia
Artist🎨: Karl James Mountford
[ @iellogames ] 2 players
Everyone wants the King's attention, but only one will get it. Now's your chance in this tug-of-war game of wits!
This game snuck up on me. For the most part I knew what I was getting into. A tug-of-war type game where you manage your hand of cards while fighting to get the King to your side. After our first game, I lost, and I sat there thinking I lost due to card draw. (Which wasn't the case). We played it a second time and I lost again. Should I use the wizard more? Or should I block in the king with the guards so he can't move as much?
The whole next day I kept thinking about this game. I couldn't wait to try again. This time I wanted to try a few things. I played around with using up as many cards as I could to gain more that I wanted. This in turn would also run down the timer of the game. I won. We played again and I tried some more things. I won. For some reason this game really started to click!
And that's what I love about it. I won't spoil any strategies or nuances I found in the system, because I feel it is absolutely part of the game to discover for the player. However, I will say that this can be a much deeper game than it seems at first glance. As is with most Knizia games, the more time spent with it the more enjoyment that comes from the game.
And this is something I think many of us board gamers fall into. We want the new, we want the hotness, we want more games constantly! And what this little Knizia game reminded me of lately, is to sit with a game. Be engaged with it long enough to see the intricacies of it. Explore it. Don't hope for the next new game while you're in the middle of the one on the table.
This small game reminded me why I love games in the first place: Discovering joy with people. My hope is that you too remember to find joy in your games with others. Be with them, be with the game, and enjoy.
