A new audience For The Queen

For the Queen is one of those games that has been cited as an inspiration for designers since it was first released in 2019. The premise itself is simple—the Queen is embarking on a long and perilous journey to broker an alliance with a distant power. Each player character has been chosen to accompany her because they love her. Players draw from a deck of questions, answering questions about the queen and her relationship to both their character and others. Questions include; “You once saved the Queen’s life. How?”, “Why are some others at the royal court jealous of your relationship with the Queen?”, “Part of you wants this proposed alliance to fail. Why?”, and “What brings out the Queen’s cruelty?”

All the Questions are meant to complicate the relationships that are naturally built up over the course of the game. It works exceptionally well, largely because of the pointedness of the position. So, when game designer, Alex Roberts. had an opportunity to refine some of these questions for the second edition, she took it. Roberts worked with Darrington Press—the new publisher—to “[refine] prompt cards,” update the visual design, and even add a few new Question cards. The final result is a really beautiful piece of work, and it’s exciting to see Darrington working on indie games like For The Queen. 

I’ll start this segment off with a confession: I’ve never played For The Queen before last week. I’ve played other card-based question RPGs before—A Quiet Year, Hearts Blazing, The Price of Coal, and I Guess This Is It have all made their way onto my gaming table. But For The Queen, for all its accolades and derivatives, never did.