Blood on Your Table! No, You Don’t Have to Watch A Game of Thrones, You Just Have to Play the RPG

By Staff Writer

Apr 16 2015, 13:43 PM EDT

This time around, how Game of Thrones ends is in your hands. No, we're not kidding. You could be gripped by the drama of the ever so popular HBO series, but before TV made a fan out of everybody, there was an equally-addictive adaptation of the GRR Martin saga: a tabletop RPG (role-playing game).

For this role playing game, however, you won't need any computer or an iconic iPad to get your hands and mind into it; all you need is just the board, players and a table.

Those GoT fans who have just rejoiced of the recent return of the series, followed through episode after episode, watch the Lannisters and the Starks battle it out, draw first blood after first blood, mayhem after mayhem over the Seven Kingdom of Westeros, are bound to be entertained.

But fret not. If you think that the board game would bore you death it's actually far from it.

War and Politics Intertwined

To be precise, the board game is A Game of Thrones: The Board Game.

First published in 2003, long before HBO made waves in its GRR Martin's A Song of Ice adaptation and elicited rave reviews and lessons in marketing, A Game of Thrones is precision-engineered to be addictive, one adrenaline rush after the other.

And yes, this one takes all the gory twists, the betrayal and intrigues of the iconic novel and puts it all smack right into your living room tabletop.

A Price to Pay

For war junkies and strategy fanatics, this is the Art of War at its finest and Sun-Tzu would be proud.

Like a general overseeing an attack or a wily politician finding the best timing, this tabletop RPG is not for the half-hearted.

To boot, it boasts of a steep learning curve and playing time could last up to six long hours.

Added to that, its rulebook is 30 pages long. The game itself carries an overwhelming number of cards - 500 in all.

That only shows you how intricate and increasingly diabolical are the plots in the game.

Nevertheless, the experience should be immensely gratifying.

As one Paul McLachlan revealed in TheGuardian: "The components and artwork and production values are great, but more importantly it does a really great job of capturing the spirit of the series. You see a lot of licensed games that just have a theme tacked on - the publishers just want to capitalise on a popular intellectual property. But A Game of Thrones really feels just like the books."

But beware, you could lose a friend because of the game. McLachlan explains: "You can really lose friends over it. At the end of the day it's a game and you shouldn't take it seriously, but it's such a long game and you put so much time and effort into positioning your troops and securing the resources you need, when an ally turns on you you just ask: how could you do that to me?"

Let the backstabbing begin and remember: A dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

Sounds like classic Cersei Lannister - a true Game of Thrones beauty.