2026 · Novel-based
Queen Alice
A mid-heavy eurogame about preparing a coronation banquet in a chesslike fantasy court. Players recruit and persuade chess-piece characters, use card-driven activations tied to chess movements, and build engine-like upgrades that enhance actions and grant passive or instant benefits. Turns involve activating actions with piece movements, taking improved cards into hand, and advancing influence toward one of two royal colors. Players score points by fulfilling selected objectives and by shaping which color crowns the new queen, while monitoring opponents’ influence and timing their own advances.
- Players
- 1–4 best 3
- Playing time
- 30–120 min
- Age
- 14+
- Complexity
- 3.9 / 5
About the game
- Art
- Publisher
Photos from Ludoya tables
All photos in Ludoya
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 42
- Plays logged
- 58
- Players
- 1h 59m
- Average play
- 21
- In collections
- 9
- On wishlists
- 8
- Pre-ordered
9.2/10
from 7 Ludoya reviews
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
Can I Invite cards from my discard pile or only from my hand?
You may Invite cards from your hand or your discard pile; Invited cards are removed from your deck for the rest of the game and score Influence at final scoring. You cannot Invite a card if doing so would leave you with an empty hand before you play or fewer than 3 cards combined in hand and deck (see p.7).
Do I have to move the chess piece shown on the card, and what if it can't move?
You must play the chess piece indicated on the card (you may either move it or rescue that type from jail), but if the piece is blocked and cannot move you may play it in place to activate the effects of its current space; Pawns may never move more than one space (see p.11).
What happens when I capture or rescue a piece—where does it go and who gets Time?
Captured pieces are placed in the capturer’s jail on their courtier board and capturing grants bonuses by piece value (Pawn: 1 Time; Knight/Bishop/Rook: 1 resource + 1 Time; King/Queen: 1 paw-print + 1 resource + 1 Time). If you rescue a piece from another player’s jail, place it on an appropriate respawn space and activate that space, and the owner of the jail receives 1 Time as compensation (see p.11).
How does pawn promotion work?
When you move a Pawn into the farthest row you immediately gain 1 paw-print of that Pawn’s colour, then move the Pawn to a respawn space of its colour and activate that space’s resource and action to end the move (see p.11).
How do the card market slots and costs work, and when do purchased cards arrive to my hand?
Each market row has three slots: left = free, middle = pay 1 Time, right = pay 1 resource of your choice; acquired cards are added directly to your hand and can be used immediately, and the market is refilled only during the Rest phase (see p.9 and p.12).
What do crowns do and how do they trigger the end of the game?
When you gain a crown take a crown token from the display, place it ahead of Alice on the active path and immediately score double the Influence on that space (crowns cannot go on Wish spaces); when the last crown is removed from the display the final round is triggered and end-game scoring follows (see pp.9, 19).
Free, on web, Android and iOS
Play Queen Alice with Ludoya
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- Settle rules questionsAsk anything about the rules and get an answer from the rulebook, with the page to check it on.Ask the rules assistant
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.