
2019 · Fantasy
The King's Dilemma
Players take the roles of rival noble houses on the kingdom’s council and confront a sequence of one-off events that shape a branching political narrative. Each round an event card presents a dilemma; players debate, bargain, and vote to select an outcome that advances the storyline and alters future events. Choices produce lasting consequences—changing resources, unlocking new cards, and steering the realm toward prosperity, unrest, or worse. Players pursue both the kingdom’s stability and their house’s interests, navigating hidden motives, alliances, and betrayals as the shared story evolves over multiple play sessions.
- Players
- 3–5 best 5
- Playing time
- 45–60 min
- Age
- 14+
- Complexity
- 2.3 / 5
About the game
- Publisher
Expansions
See them in LudoyaPhotos from Ludoya tables
All photos in LudoyaWhere to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 384
- Plays logged
- 194
- Players
- 1h 26m
- Average play
- 98
- In collections
- 19
- On wishlists
7.2/10
from 32 Ludoya reviews
Роман Что8.0 It's a great concept, although clearly needs improvement in some areas. Also you really (and I mean it) need a certain group of people to play it, people that will be interested in listening to all the story and world-building details and that can think about each vote as a dilemma and not just the way to score some points. First sessions are a blast, although it gets a little boring closer to end. Finale is cool, but can be disappointing to some people. Overall I think everyone should check it out if you can find 4 people to play it with.
at first the feeling from the game was extremely positive, but after 6 games I was very tired of it. Plus, I honestly don't understand why it was necessary to accompany the choice of actions with resource icons - this kills 90 percent of the atmosphere of the game.
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
If there's a tie in votes, who decides and how is it resolved?
The player holding the Moderator token breaks ties during vote resolution; the Moderator’s tie-break power is applied when tallying AYE vs NAY (see p.9 and p.20).
If I choose to Pass, do I still get Power (or coins), and how does Pass & Gather work?
Passing lets you take the Pass action and optionally Gather Power/coins instead of voting; at voting cleanup the Power on the Balance is split equally among the players who chose Pass-and-Gather (see p.17 and p.21).
What happens to the Power I invest in a vote — does the winner keep it?
Players who win a vote place the Power they invested onto the Balance (it does not return to their pool), while losing players reclaim their invested Power to their pools (see p.22).
When resolving a Dilemma card, how do I read the AYE and NAY outcomes?
Flip the card so the AYE side is horizontal and the NAY side vertical, then apply the outcome text on the winning side (adjust resources, Stability, Momentum, place stickers/envelopes as stated) (see p.23 and p.24–25).
When do we open a numbered Envelope and what happens to its Story card and dilemmas?
When instructed to open an envelope you locate that numbered envelope, read and place the Story card on its Storyline (the leader signs if required), then shuffle the three dilemmas it provides into the Dilemma deck according to the procedure (see p.26).
What exactly triggers the end of the game (abdication or King’s death)?
The game ends either when the Stability track reaches its end (King abdicates) or when the Time counter reaches the final skull/last card condition (King is dead); resolve the final card effects and then proceed to final scoring (see p.24, p.28–29, and p.31).
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.















