Components and Setup

The players in Fealty are potential heirs to the throne of a vaguely mediaeval kingdom whose king has just died. The theme in the game is minimal. Each player has an identical deck of 18 cards in their color. There are two sets of cards in each deck, one labeled with “missive” symbols and one labeled with “sun” symbols (used for a more advanced game). Each player also takes a set of 9 wooden discs labeled on both sides, and turns each disc to the side which corresponds to the sun deck or the missive deck, depending upon which they are using. Each card in the deck has one corresponding side of a wooden disc of the same name.

The board is assembled out of a random selection of 12l square panels called “duchies” (the number duchies used equals of players plus one). Each duchy is divided into 36 square spaces, made up of different terrain types (forest, mountain etc.), and secondary attributes (cities, roads). I wont belabor the description of the component quality, since what I have is a desktop-printed pre-release version of the game that Asmadi had for sale at Origins. It is not clear exactly what the components will be like in the finished version of the game. The artwork by Sarah Farooqi is reminiscent of Asmadi’s earlier game Innovation, more a utilitarian set of icons than real illustrations. A little more effort at creating theme and flavor in the game would have been welcome. However the artwork is very clear, and allows for quick and easy recognition of the terrain and card features. Each player also has a set of plastic tiddly winks, “influence markers” in her color.

Gameplay

Each turn, players select and simultaneously reveal one card from a hand of 3. Numbers on the played cards determine the player order, with lower numbered cards playing first.

In turn order, the active player takes the wooden disc corresponding to the card she played, and places it into a space in one of the duchies. Several rules limit where the disc can be placed. Pieces can never be played on mountains, or over other player’s pieces. Each disc has to be placed in a row and column on the board not currently occupied by any of the active player’s other discs. It also has to be placed in duchy not played into by any preceeding player in the current turn.

Having placed her disc, the active player then uses the special ability of the card-disc she just played. Each card-disc in the game has a special power of limited scope, allowing for movement of a previously placed piece, the placing “conflict markers”, etc. After all players have played, the “presumptive heir” marker, which breaks player order ties, passes to the player who moved last.

Game End and Winning

After 8 turns, the game ends. Wooden discs on the board now exert their influence by placing influence markers into the open spaces around them. The discs exert influence in numerical order, with lower-numbered (and less powerful) discs going first. Discs with of the same type exert influence simultaneously, and contested spaces go unclaimed. Each disc has terrain type(s) it is allowed to place influence on, and a range it is allowed to place influence markers within; that range is obstructed by enemy pieces, mountains, and conflict markers. Players calculate the range of their influence by counting open and friendly spaces they must move through to reach open spaces on which to place. While the higher numbered pieces generally have much greater range and more varied terrain types they can place on, their surroundings are often occupied before they get to exert their influence. City spaces take two influence markers, all other spaces take one. The player with the most influence markers on the board wins.

Game Design

This is a highly distinctive game design. I cannot think of a game in my experience which is strongly reminiscent of it. The novelty of the game comes from having a large set of unique pieces that correspond to cards, creating an interesting intersection between board and card game mechanics. I would say that Fealty fits into what I consider to be a positive recent trend, of games that get challenging decision making out of a short set of rules, making for a quick game that still feels satisfying (7 Wonders and Rattus are good examples of this trend). The straightforwardness of placing one disc, and using one small special power each turn belies the trickiness play. Evaluating how good one’s placement really is, or is likely to be for the endgame is complex. Overall the game is fast, about 30-40 minutes, with little down time. Some players may succumb to analysis paralysis trying to work out exactly where their pieces can exert influence, but the game does not really reward this except on the last turn or two; because too many factors govern where and how your influence exertion is likely to be interfered with. The aesthetics of the game are practical rather than pretty, but this is the only thing I can say to the game’s discredit. Fealty is a fast-playing, challenging and original game.

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