For The Queen Review - Pure Storytelling

It's so interesting that when you pick up something that is a game you intrinsically think about winning, or competition, maybe points to keep track of. That's what I expected opening up For The Queen, a Storytelling Card Game by Alex Roberts. What I got though totally relaxed my definition of a game and I was so happy for it.

For The Queen is an improvisational character and world-building game where questions are posed to you about a fictitious Queen and your relationship and history with them while you journey to a foreign land.

You can decide on the Queen you're travelling with from any of the twenty-five included Queens, or make up your own.

Choose Your Queen

I loved the selection of Queens. You have traditional Disney princess-styled queens, 21st-century pantsuit queens, high-fantasy, edo, and even futuristic Queens. While there are some Queens that immediately build a friendly aura, there are others that you likely wouldn't dare talk back on.

The game does recommend picking a Queen as a group, for a planned session with a theme and approach in mind this makes a lot of sense but I ended up enjoying letting fate decide by shuffling the Queens around and having to adapt.

Players will then begin to pull cards from the shuffled deck of questions. These questions will prod you with character and world-building questions forcing you to be introspective of a character you're creating on the fly.

Examples of these questions include "What question do you wish you could ask the Queen? What keeps you from asking it?", "The Queen trusts you, but no one else in the royal court does. Why?", or "What promise did the Queen make to you before this journey? Do you think she'll keep it?"

There are certainly no simple questions to be found in this box, and as you continue to build up the idea of who the players are and what kind of person their Queen is each question can become increasingly complex.

The tone of the game can also change as different players reveal new things. My answer to "What makes you want to abandon the retinue, and who, besides the Queen makes you stay?" was wildly influenced after another player revealed something they had been ordered to do by the Queen that they regretted.

The Unplayed Character of For The Queen

The focus of the game, the Queen, is an unrepresented entity at the table and is shaped by the stories. I was really intrigued by a narrative game about a character that's a blank slate for everyone to craft in their own way. The same Queen may end up entirely different depending on who you're playing the game with.

The game ends as the question "The Queen is under attack. Do you defend her?" is drawn. Each player makes their decision and with that the game is over.

Each game can last for as long as you wish to place the attack card into the deck making it as short as a 15-minute game, or it can go on for two hours. 

For The Queen Review | Final Thoughts

Playing For The Queen was an incredibly refreshing experience. From it's lack of innate competitivity, to it's simple setup and premise this is a fun exercise in worldbuilding and introspection that I have yet to experience before.

Understandably if the idea of roleplay isn't something that you are a fan of then this certainly isn't going to move your dial, but if you're looking for a fun storytelling game that can be set up in seconds and that can have wildly different outcomes you should keep this in reach.

The copy of For The Queen used in the creation of this review was provided by Darrington Press.