Story
The King of Blackthorn rose to power on the strength of his sword, gaining the devotion of the people as he forged a nation and purged the ravages of war. Once a much needed beacon of strength for a foundling kingdom, he has now grown old and is no longer a vital part of a now robust and powerful country. Others have risen to prominence and power within his council. Adept in their machinations and plots, the councilors have their own self serving ambitions. In a shadowy battle of subterfuge they ruthlessly vie against one another for true control of Blackthorn. In this dance of treachery, each must seize as much power as able without drawing suspicion for whispers of treason echo through the halls of the King of Blackthorn. Whispers from fellow councilors designed to implicate and see the competition shortened by a head. The King will call for the axe for any he deems a traitor and there is always the risk that he is not as ignorant of the schemes as he seems.
As a member of the Council of Blackthorn, you must build influence with the kingdom’s factions to expand your political influence. Rumors, bribes, spies and poison are the tools of your trade. Council of Blackthorn is about secretly gaining power while convincing your rival council members that you are not a threat. Deflect all eyes onto your most powerful enemy and take the keys to the kingdom as well as a great seat at his or her execution. Attract too much attention to yourself and the King’s axe will find you!
Gain influence, accuse your rivals, keep your head!
Game Overview and Objective
Council of Blackthorn is a board game for 2 to 6 players. Each player assumes the role of a member of the Council of Blackthorn. There are several different council member characters to play. Each player must build influence with the kingdom’s political factions by playing ally and building cards. Custom dice change the game conditions for each round. As players gain influence and power, they also gain hidden treason points. The players that appear to have the most power will typically gain more treason points. The player with the most treason points at the end of the game is beheaded for treason and is removed from the game. The remaining player with the most total influence points, wins the game.
- interesting game
- just never really took off
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- track movement — Moving up these tracks, scoring points every turn.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Money, the latest updated version of Reiner Knizia's game. I have my ups and downs with this game of about collecting money in groups of it, but this is an up for me. Seven out of 10.
- King and Peasant, a very intriguing two-player game where you're playing cards and the peasants are trying to have a revolution and king's trying to quash that and it's just kind of like guess where the McGuffin is type situation, but I think it works really well. Eight out of 10.
- And Light Speed Arena, this game is so good. This is the game apps were made for. You play the game, you take a picture with the app, and then it that tells you what happens. Spectacular game. Gets better all the time. I'm increasing my initial rating of a nine to a 9.5. Fantastic game.
- That's it. Those are all the games I played one, five, 10, and 20 years ago. Thanks for watching. I'm Tom Vasel.
References (from this video)
- Beautiful artwork
- Theme captured extremely well
- Good player interaction
- Lots of tactical moves and strategy
- Luck factor is well contained
- Components aren't as great but not bad
- Scaling suffers a little (best at 4-5 players, 6 is too long, 2-3 Whisper cards lose value)
- Worried of replay value and shelf stay
- Vying for influence from four different class factions.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Majority — Players score VP for leading or tying on influence tracks and for having the most buildings in play.
- Card Play — Players play cards (Whispers, Ally, Building). When playing a card, players move up the influence track. Ally card effects resolve if minimum influence is met. Buildings remain in front if influence prerequisite is met. Building effects can be used on next turn if influence prerequisite is still met. If a dice shows a three, card text is not resolved and the card is discarded, player draws two treason cards, but still goes up influence track.
- Dice Rolling — Dice are rolled at the start of a round and used for card effects or influence track movement. Dice showing 1 or 2 trigger Ally card effects. Dice showing 3 trigger specific card discard/draw consequences.
- Influence tracks — Players will play as council faction vying for influence from the four different class factions. Players will move up the influence track of the card being played. Players may be on the same space unless it's the last one first who comes there locks it in.
- Resource Management — Players manage influence on tracks to play cards and activate abilities.
- Set Collection — Treason cards are collected, and the player with the most at the end game is beheaded and eliminated.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Council of Blackthorn scores an 8 out of 10