Java-Klingsburg (2008)

This is an independent developers take on the 2007 dice-allocating, worker placement game by Andrea Chiarvesio and Luca Iennaco. In Kingsburg, players are Lords sent from the King to administer frontier territories. The game takes place over five years, a total of 20 turns. In every year, there are 3 production seasons for collecting resources, building structures, and training troops. Every fourth turn is the winter, in which all the players must fight an invading army. Each player must face the invaders, so this is not a cooperative game. The resources to build structures and train troops are collected by influencing the advisers in the King's Council. Players place their influence dice on members of the Council. The player with the lowest influence dice sum will be the first one to choose where to spend his/her influence; this acts as a way of balancing poor dice rolling. Even with a very unlucky roll, a clever player can still come out from the Council with a good number of resources and/or soldiers. Each adviser on the King's Council will award different resources or allocate soldiers, victory points, and other advantages to the player who was able to influence him/her for the current turn. At the end of five years, the player who best developed his assigned territory and most pleased the King through the Council is the winner.

Storyline

In the fantasy realm of Kingsburg, King Tritus has chosen his most trusted and talented governors (that’s you!) to oversee his newly acquired territories, at the very edge of his realm. To be successful, you will need to call upon the help of the King’s trusted advisors. Some of them might not be nice people, but they have skills and resources that could be very helpful to you. You must construct buildings, strengthen your defenses, and train your army to defend your territory from the frightening enemies that mass on the border. After five years, the King will reward the most successful governor with a position among his most trusted advisors!