Prestige awaits! As the King is making a visit to your area, it seems the perfect opportunity for you to invite him over to your castle. Unfortunately, your opponent thinks the same way, so your task will be to convince his Majesty and his Court to visit your Chateau, to the displeasure of your neighbour!
2 players
20 minutes
Designer: Reiner Knizia
Artist: Karl James Mountford
Publisher: IELLO
https://www.iello.fr/co.uk
Before starting the game, you place the game board with the characters you’ll be trying to influence between the players, with each of the players having his own Chateau in front of him.
Players have a hand of 8 cards to pick from, each card representing one of the characters on the board. By playing one or more cards of the same colour, you move one of the characters as many spaces as shown on the card, also keeping in mind the King has to stay in between both of his Guards.
Instead of playing cards, you can also use the Wizard’s Power to summon the King or one of the Guards to its space. Or, when the Jester is between the King and your Chateau, you can use Jester cards to move any type of character.
To end your turn, you move the Crown token one space towards you if the King and both Guards are in your Duchy, and an additional space for each of the characters in your Chateau.
The game ends as soon as a player manages to place the King or Crown in his Chateau. When the deck runs out for the second time and this still hasn’t happened, the player with the King in his Duchy wins the game.
Royal Visit comes in a great production, with large wooden pieces and beautiful artwork, and a game board that is made of fabric, which definitely gives a special feeling to the game.
The gameplay itself feels very tactical, with players having to make decisions based on the cards they hold in hands, but also trying to plan their next couple of turns and counter their opponents plans.
Royal Visit definitely gives me a fun and solid two player game experience, and thanks to its short playing time, always calls for a couple plays in a row. After all, who wouldn’t want to be honoured with a visit by the King himself?
Tabletopping 