Game of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue is a quick-paced game of cards and intrigue at court, created by renowned game designer Reiner Knizia. Every game is played over several rounds, as you and your opponents play character cards trying to claim the Iron Throne for yourselves.

In each round, you pursue your own plans and look to foil your opponents by playing character cards. On a turn, you will play a character card from your hand, adding to the court at King’s Landing. You can advance your own prospects by playing your character cards, but certain rules dictate exactly where you can place your character cards.

The first character cards must be played in a single row, creating the bottom row of the court. Once there are two cards in a row, you can play a card in a new row above them. The card that you play in the new row though must match the House of one of the two cards below it. In Game of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue, character cards are split between House Stark, House Lannister, House Baratheon, and House Targaryen, and each player can have character cards from any of these Houses in his hand.

The court develops as you and your opponents play cards, but a player will soon discover that he can no longer legally play a character card. Once this happens, that player is eliminated and the round continues. A round is completed when no one can play another character card, and whoever played the last character card wins the round. In Game of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue, you play rounds equal to the number of players.

If you win a round of Game of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue, you get the rewards by drawing an Iron Throne card, that cancels a number of your penalty points. Your opponents, on the other hand, take penalty points equal to the number of character cards that they have remaining in their hand. Over the course of the game, players earn penalty points from having character cards at the end of the round, and reduce their penalty points by winning a round and drawing an Iron Throne card. At the end of the game, the player with the least penalty points is the winner.