It’s a Wonderful World spin-off takes the civilisation tabletop series on a flight of fantasy for two players
Called It’s a Wonderful Kingdom
Seize the throne as one of two rival houses in It’s a Wonderful Kingdom, an upcoming spin-off to the civilisation board game that takes place in a fantasy world.
The next entry in the It’s a Wonderful World series, It’s a Wonderful Kingdom switches up the modern-day setting of the original for sword-fights and dynasties. Set in a crumbling empire whose previous rulers have failed to produce an obvious heir to the throne, the fantasy board game sees players taking command of one of two warring duchies in a race to become the next monarch.
Players can choose between the duchy of Valados or Teressie, with the aim being to establish themselves as the dominant house by the end of the game. However, as they develop their respective cities and empires using the power of a resource called Krystalium, they’ll have to face the consequences of utilising it.
A board game for two players, It’s a Wonderful Kingdom is played over four rounds, each of which are split into three different phases. The first phase sees players drawing seven cards from a shared development deck, before also taking a calamity card - which results in players losing points at the game’s end. The development deck contains four types of card: structures, specialists, monuments and discoveries. These cards can be used to acquire the resources needed to grow a player’s duchy and acquire victory points.
Once players receive their cards, they must choose two from their hand to place in the ‘offering area’, with their opponent needing to decide which of the cards to take into their hand. Players can also use trap tokens to trick their opponent into potentially taking a calamity card or to protect a card they want to get back - with the trap tokens enabling players to put cards face down on the table. This process continues until both player’s hands have been emptied.
With the cards they’ve collected, players can then gain instant resources by recycling or can keep them for the beneficial effects they might offer. Constructed cards can then produce resources during the production phase, which can be used by the player later in the game. Whichever player has the most victory points by the end of the game is the winner.
It’s a Wonderful Kingdom was created by Frédéric Guérard, the designer behind the original It’s a Wonderful World as well as the sci-fi themed game Titanium Wars, and co-creator of the tile-placement title Meeple Land.
La Boîte de Jeu is set to publish It’s a Wonderful Kingdom, after releasing the first entry in the series and other tabletop games such as the post-apocalyptic worker-placement game Outlive.
The Kickstarter campaign for It’s a Wonderful Kingdom is live until May 6th, with a pledge of €30 (£26/$36) getting backers a copy of the English language version of the game in January 2022.