Sometimes it’s not about game night, and you just want to play a quick game with a friend that isn’t going to wrack the brain or require a full-sized gaming or dinner table to play on. An Empty Throne by Small Box Games fits this bill perfectly. With the rules being simple enough to fit on a single double-sided sheet, the typical playtime is under 30 minutes and it is easy to set up and play a game in most places, as the game isn’t too much of a space hog either. An Empty Throne will engage you and your opponent in a struggle for power as you recruit operatives, known as Kith, and send them to the locations on the table to recruit others to your hand, increase your influence at those locations, and ultimately score points to win you the victory.

The game is set up by first shuffling and dealing two Refugee cards to each player with the fifth being set on the table next to the shuffled face-down Tombs cards. All Kith cards are shuffled and dealt into three face-up piles to the side of the Tombs and each player places one of their three identical Field cards on their side of each of these piles. It really is that simple, and with two starting cards in hand, the first player may begin their turn.

On a player’s turn, they must take two actions, and those actions are to either play a card from your hand to a location or move a Kith from one location to another on their side of the table. The rules overcomplicate this a bit by having two separate play actions that are nearly identical and stating you may only perform each action once, but it is enough to say that you may only perform a move once and cannot play any two Kith from your hand to the same location on a given turn. If you play a Kith to a location, you may perform the top action of the top card at that same location or the bottom action listed on the Kith you played there. If the number on your played Kith is lower than the top card at that location, then you may do both. When playing to the Tombs, you simply perform the action listed on the back of the Tomb cards. Should you choose to move a Kith to a new location, then you will simply draw the top card from that location’s deck into your hand. If at the end of your turn you have a coalition of 3 Kith with the same color or number or 4 with different colors or numbers, then you may flip your field card at that location, if it has not already been, to remind yourself you have earned an extra two points at the end of the game.

If all opposing fields are flipped or there are two empty decks at the end of a player’s turn, then the game ends and scores are tallied. Players will score 1 point for each location where their Kith’s values total at least 12, another point if one of those locations is the Tombs, 2 points for each flipped Field they control, and 1 point for each card in their hand of the Refugee faction determined during setup. The player with the most points wins and if points are tied then the player with the highest total value of played Kith is the winner.

Originally a Kickstarter from early April of 2022, An Empty Throne was funded and fulfilled quickly and has been well received by its audience. It can be picked up at a fairly low price point and is worth every penny. We will admit that it took us a bit of time to get this onto the table with our current schedule, but having finally done so, it is hard to put away. The games are quick, engaging, and fun. The artwork, while repeated on all cards within a Kith, is colorful and unique with a comic book and anime influence that we love. The game is easy to understand and can be taught quickly. There is a bit of intricacy with the card interaction, though few players will struggle with this past their first game or two. The game was designed to be easily learned and quick to play, and it accomplishes that in spades. Designer John Clowdus and illustrator Agum Budianto have truly managed to surprise us with how well this game comes together and managed to appeal to even the pickiest of players in our group. We highly recommend An Empty Throne to anyone looking to pick up a game with this criteria and hope you enjoy it as much as we do. If you missed out on the Kickstarter, the game is available on Small Box Games’ website as a print-and-play or physical copy.

All photos of Small Box Games product were taken and edited by Krista.