Games like Dungeons And Dragons harken back to a simple activity. Underneath all the dice and rules friends are sitting at a table telling each other an entertaining story. It can be dramatic, funny, romantic, terrifying and most likely a little bit of everything.
Role playing game following in D&D’s footsteps are all over the place when it comes to rules and complexity. Games like Pathfinder and Shadowrun give players plenty of rules to detail their characters in exacting ways. Games like The Zone and Fiasco focus on a story structure to let players bounce ideas off of each other.
For The Queen, from designer Alex Roberts, is a fantastic example of the latter style game. The game was first released in 2019 by Evil Hat Productions to critical acclaim and popularity. Darrington Press, the publishing arm of Critical Role, has released a second edition this week.
“Working with Darrington Press to revise For the Queen was a chance to delve even further into the themes of love, loyalty, and betrayal that have always been at the heart of the game,” said Roberts. “I think fans will appreciate the streamlined instructions and new question cards, and I hope this edition helps the game reach even more people. Especially people who are intimidated by traditional roleplaying games. My focus has always been on making a compelling experience for anyone, anywhere.”
For The Queen Rules
The deck features three types of cards. There are the rules of the game which are preset to teach the game as the players pass it around the table. There are 25 Queen cards to inspire the players with illustrations from multiple artists. The bulk of the deck is made up of question cards which act as story prompts for all the players to use.
Players draw a question card on their turn which asks the player to fillin the details of the story. The queen is partaking a dangerous journey to form an alliance with a rival kindgom and she’s asked the players to accompany her on the trip. The questions can be about anything, like why the Queen picked the character for the journey to why the Queen thinks the character is ugly.
Every turn can be a collaborative process though the person who drew the card has the final say on what happens. Sometimes a player will ask for options, other times they will lean forward because they’ve got a strong idea from the prompt. The game also includes an X card which allows any player to veto content without having to explain why.
The final card is always the same; someone attacks the Queen and the players end the story describing why their characters do or do not defend her from the attack. This tells the players its time to end the story for everyone. The card also acts as something of a timer; slip it into the middle of the deck for a short game while putting it on the bottom makes the story longer and more detailed.
What’s New In For The Queen Second Edition?
The most obvious change are the new double sided queen cards which offer several more pictures to inspire the central character of the story. The whole deck has been given a graphic design refresh but the new Queens really stand out in a diversity of art styles. They also suggest that the Queen and her story might be an entirely different genre than expected such as a CEO or a bloody prom queen.
The prompts have been refined and updated. While the storytelling is collaborative, the prompts are often subtly built to create friction between the player characters and the Queen. Roberts took feedback to adjust cards that weren’t generating the story beats she wanted to tell.
For The Queen Impressions
There are two main times when I break out this game. The first is when my regular role playing group gets together and a member or two is running late. It works great as a warm up and a way to pass the time until the main event.
The second is showing folks not interested in RPGs just what they can do. Everyone loves telling a good story. For The Queen gives everyone a chance at telling a great one together.
