Kingseat

Kingseat is a quick social party game, designed for large groups and spaces where you don’t have a table.

Each player has a secret allegiance: they win if that team has the most votes by the end. Each round, players stick out a card to vote, and the longest sequence of votes (for the same team) wins. As such, it’s your job to pick the right moments to vote for your preferred party. And to figure out whom of the other players is secretly your ally.

The idea was born from the question: “can I design a game you could play in a queue at a theme park?” That’s why you can play this game while standing (in something that resembles a circle), with just a small deck of cards.

It was also born from my annoyance with hidden role games (such as Werewolf) that relied on player elimination and wishy-washy deduction. That’s why Kingseat eliminates nobody and provides clear reasons to suspect somebody to be on your team (or not).

What’s special?

As mentioned, the game uses one small deck of cards and does not require a table (or any space at all). Turns are simultaneous, the rules are very simple, and it can be immediately paused or resumed.

It’s admittedly not the best game to play in a queue. It ended up a bit longer and more strategic than expected, which means it’s not the ideal candidate. But it was the first idea I had and opened the flood gates to even better ideas for games to play in queues. (Which will surely arrive in the near future.)

Also, a previous game of mine (Sixpack) taught me the power of providing expansions as separate “packs”. I did the same for this game. There are a number of different “political parties” in the game, each with their own color, icon and special action. You decide which you want to include in your game, adding endless variation and replayability.

All of this material is, as always, generated by my website on the fly. So you can even decide what material you want to print, saving paper and ink.