King's Blood is an anime-themed card game in which players compete to empty their hands by playing character cards into a royal lineage. King's Blood is published by Steve Jackson Games, and is the English language edition of the original Japanese card game published by Kadokawa Shoten. The English edition features the original manga artwork, which provides much of the game's charm. The game comes in a tuck box with a deck of 83 cards, 4 reference cards, 3 blank cards, and a rules sheet.

The deck consists of two types of cards, character cards and event cards. Character cards are the more numerous, and playing them is the focus of the game. All character cards contain four types of information, though some have five. First, each cards features the name of the character, usually followed by some kind of clever epithet such as "Jannu the Black Goddess." The card also features the symbol for their gender, a number value between 1 and 9, and one of four colors (green, yellow, blue, and pink). In principle, the number is supposed to represent the character's clan, while the color represents their philosophy, or guiding passion, but this, along with their names, is largely irrelevant for gameplay. There is not an even distribution of numbers; there are four ones, five twos, six threes, and so on. Each color has exactly 18 cards. Some character cards have a fifth type of information-these have one of three special effects: Ship, Reverse, or Draw three.

The point of King's Blood is to be the first player to empty your hand. You do this by playing character cards from your hand into a royal lineage. You begin the game by dealing each player a hand of seven cards, then turning over the top character card from the deck to begin the lineage. On each player's turn, she may play one card into the lineage. For a legal play, the card has to be played next to an active card that it matches in either number or color. What is an active card? In order to be considered active, a card must have no cards overlapping it on the bottom, and must not have another card on both sides. The concept of what constitutes an active card is one of the most confusing of the game, and new players often stumble over it. Fortunately, the reference cards that come with the game show examples of what constitutes an active and an inactive card.

If a character card is played next to a card of the same color and the opposite gender, this forms a marriage. The player immediately draws one card from the top of the deck. If it is another character, then the marriage produced a child, and the player lays it beneath both parents so that the child's top edge overlaps the parent's bottoms. The player then has the option of playing one additional card, on the child only. If they play a character that forms another marriage, that marriage is resolved the same way. This is the heart of the game-forming many crazy chains of marriages that go on for three, four, or five generations. The point of the game is to empty your hand, and each marriage is a chance to play an additional card, so most strategy involves making as many couples as possible. If a marriage draw produces an event, that card must be played immediately on any active card in the lineage.

If a character has a special effect, the effect only takes effect if it is the last card played on a turn. This means that if a card with a special effect forms a marriage, a child is drawn, and play continues ignoring the special effect. If a child with a special effect is drawn, the player may choose to play on the child card as normal, in which case the special effect is ignored, or she may end her turn and let the special effect resolve. If the card is played into the lineage without making a marriage, the turn ends and the effect is resolved. A Draw Three effect can be avoided, however, if its target is able to legally play another character with a special effect into the lineage. Playing a Skip causes the Draw Three to pass over them to the next player, a Reverse turns it back upon its originator, and another Draw Three passes the cumulative total on to the next player in sequence. All players can do this, so potentially this can keep going for some time.

In play, we found that using the special effects was almost always secondary to making a marriage. Special effects are basically something to do when you have no better options on your turn, or when you are really trying to stop someone from winning. The problem is that you have very little control over when you can play your special effect card. Likewise avoiding a Draw Three is actually quite difficult, because you need to both have a special effect card of your own, and the lineage needs to have a matching active card where you can play it. Special effects are fun, and can really change the game, but they are not dependable enough to strategize around.

Instead of playing a character, players may choose to play an event. Events have potentially game-changing effects such as assassinating characters, exiling them, or enthroning a new monarch. Some event cards allow another play while others end the player's turn. There are not a lot of event cards in the deck, but they significantly alter the game. It is often beneficial to play an event on a child when a new marriage cannot be formed, but it is frustrating to draw an event as a child, as this ends the chain and often the turn. We found that events can flummox others' or refine one's own strategy when played intentionally, but were quite random when drawn as a child.

The King's Blood card is a special event that is not shuffled into the deck. Instead, it is awarded to the first player to use an Enthronement event. Once she plays an Enthronement, she can place thing King's Blood card in her hand or on the table in front of her and use it normally. King's Blood allows a player to marry any card to any other card, regardless of color or gender (it's good to be the king...). If another Enthronement is played before the cardholder plays King's Blood, then the card goes to that player. King's Blood is a lot of fun, and is often a game winner. While it does add an additional card into your hand, this card can almost always be played to one's own benefit.

There are several other details that make the game interesting. If a player cannot play a character or event, she draws one card and may play it immediately, if able. Players must call "King's Blood" when they only have one card left, or they receive a three card penalty. Also, the last card you play must be a character. If you empty your hand, and the last card is an event, you must draw another card.

Games of King's Blood can either be played as one hand, or in tournament style. In tournament, you play multiple games, and the cards left in your hand count against you. When one player reaches the predetermined point level, then the player with the lowest score wins. Tournament play is far more satisfying than single hands, as it gives a chance to see how strategies develop over a series of hands, and takes out the luck factor somewhat.

My final impressions of King's Blood are that it is a light, fast, and fun card game. There is some strategy involved, but nothing too complex. In my playtesting experience, King's Blood is simple enough to be accessible to all ages, and is even attractive to many non-gamers. The converse is that hardcore gamers sometimes do not find it challenging enough or offering enough tactical diversity to keep them interested.

This game is great to look at-the art is nice, the design is good, the reference cards are handy, the rules are clear, and the concept is fun and fairly fresh. Therefore, I give it a 4 for style. There are no serious flaws or detriments to gameplay, and I have played many games with people ranging from children to the elderly and it always goes over well. Perhaps lacks tactical nuance and complexity that would truly make it a classic, but it seems clear it was designed as a fast, accessible party game. As such, it is on part with Uno, Skip-Bo, Fluxx, and others in that category, so I give it a 3 for substance. Anyone looking for a quick playing card game for all ages that offers a little something different could do far worse than King's Blood.