The throne sits empty. Nobles from across the kingdom are vying to claim it, but this goal cannot be accomplished by one person alone. Whoever seeks the crown must also seek the loyalty of the people. Only with their support can a noble amass the fortune needed to cement their claim.

Majesty: For the Realm lets you enter the fray and make your bid for the throne. In our preview, we introduced you to the seven characters and eight locations you will use to build you realm. Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at how these characters and locations function within the game. 

During a game of Majesty, you and your rivals are nobles competing for the crown by attempting to build the wealthiest realm. To do so, you must enlist the help of your citizens, who bring unique skills with them. Some produce food that can be sold, some lend their fighting skills to your efforts, and others have special abilities that uniquely contribute to your realm in other ways. But you must act with prudence, for your opponents will always be working to snatch up the best citizens before you can, and some of your rivals may even be planning to march against you. The player whose realm earns the most money wins!

Build Your Workforce

Deftly combining elements of bidding and tableau building games, Majesty: For the Realm features innovative and engaging gameplay that makes it accessible to a large audience. Each player controls their own realm consisting of eight location cards. On each players’ turn, they will select a character from those available and put them to work at a corresponding building in their village.

Each character has different skills to offer your realm, but you’ll have to carefully choose which one to take on your turn. Any character in the display can be taken, but only the character the farthest away from the deck can be taken for free. To take a card in any other space, you must commit meeples by placing one on each card leading up to your chosen card. 

As meeples determine which cards you can choose, you must constantly weigh the value of a card against the number of cards you can purchase in future turns. You might go big and spend many meeples to take a card that scores you big points. Or you could take a card with several meeples on and buy yourself more spending power during later turns. Striking a balance between the value of a card and the flexibility of having many workers lies at the heart of Majesty.         

Serve the Realm

Gaining the loyalty of characters is important, but gaining the loyalty of the right characters is even more important. Each character in Majesty: For the Realm has a different ability that is resolved when you choose them, and rather than simply having the same effect every time they’re played, these abilities interact with the characters currently in play with a variety of results. On any given turn, your characters might generate new wealth and workers, attack other players, or even cause other players to gain points.

Some characters simply generate new wealth for your realm. The Miller, for example, earns you two points for every Miller you have in play. Other characters, however, let you go on the offensive and attack other players’ realms. Not only does the knight score three points for every knight you have in play, it also forces your opponents to remove the leftmost character from their tableau. 

As you choose characters, then, your realm develops its own distinct feel and identity. You could specialize, filling your realm with Nobles to score big points, or you could spread your resources around to build powerful chain reactions. Whatever you choose, the fate of the kingdom is in your hands.

Reign Over All

The crown is a tantalizing prize, but the people will only support the claim of a true leader. You must prove yourself to them before you can rule the kingdom. Rally your supporters, raise your banners, and fill your coffers with Majesty: For the Realm!

Stake your claim. Majesty: For the Realm is scheduled to be released soon. Head to your friend local game store to pre-order your copy today, or place your pre-order through Z-Man Games here.