Agents of Kingdam (2020)

What kind of game is it?

The game is played by moving the pieces on the board in the manner of Shogi or Chess. 7 different secret orders are dealt face down, and the player who moves his pieces the fastest to fulfill his secret order wins the game. The secret orders can be as simple as occupying three red squares (which can be occupied by moving pieces and entering red squares), or as complex as having the hero piece, which is one's alter ego, defeated first among all players (usually, the player loses when the hero piece is defeated).

Therefore, for example, if you forcibly aim at a red square that is not necessary, other players may find out about your secret order and interfere with it, and if you unnaturally leave the pieces that protect the heroic pieces empty, they will also find out and it will be difficult to achieve your secret order. The key to the game is how to approach the secret mission secretly and inconspicuously.

The board may be unfavorable, but...

There are two special squares on the board: the red square is a recruiting base and the yellow square is a treasure base. When you occupy a recruiting base, you can add your own pieces to it every turn. When you occupy a treasure base, you can draw strategy cards that allow you to perform special moves such as double moves.

These recruiting bases and treasure bases are the conditions for many secret orders, so you have to guess whether other players are simply occupying them to gain an advantage in the game, or whether they are actually close to achieving their secret orders. Of course, you can use your own pieces and strategy cards to interfere with other players, but it is also very effective to make use of the fact that the secret orders are undisclosed to encourage other players to interfere without getting your hands dirty.

In addition, since all players want to have a useful base of troops and treasure, alliances will be formed early in the game, either by using pieces and strategy cards to fight for the base, or by spontaneously forming alliances to share the base. There are no penalties for betraying alliances, so don't hesitate to betray an alliance if you think you can fulfill a secret order and get closer to victory.

Repeatable and fun!

At the start of the game, in addition to the secret mission card, seven different hero cards are dealt to the player in public, and each of the seven heroes has various characteristics: some are good at power play by sending out many pieces, some are good at trick play by making use of strategy cards, and some are good at slowly accumulating strength in a safe area. Since seven types of secret mission cards are combined with these unique heroes, the fighting style changes every time, so you can enjoy the game for a long time without getting bored.

Also, the initial placement of the hero pieces is determined by the hero cards. It is quite advantageous if the initial placement is close to the base which is the victory condition. However, if other players think that the victory condition is too early, you will be attacked from many directions or receive a concentrated fire of strategy cards, and it is not easy to win. Try to avoid letting your opponent know your victory condition.

On the other hand, you will be at a disadvantage if the base that is the victory condition is far from your initial placement. Use all possible means to achieve a victory on thin ice, such as boldly attacking and destroying the opponent's heroic pieces, making alliances with other players using the opponent with an advantage on the board as a common virtual enemy, or forcing them to fight each other.