Narratives and Databases in Game of Thrones - Game Play: Paratextuality in Contemporary Board Games - page 148

Figure 7.2 House cards for “Tywin Lannister,” “Ser Gregor Clegane,” and “he Hound”
from A Game of hrones: he Board Game © 2011 Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc.
to have agency in the game world.” 19 Only through understanding a combination
of both the players and the play does one win the “game of thrones.”
Beyond the mechanics of the game, the actual play experience of he Board
Game ultimately hinges on players' social interactions as well. 20 As Pulsipher
notes, multiple players in games can lead to exponentially more complex social
interactions. 21 Even though players are disparately involved in various aspects of
the game, there is a “sociality pattern” that highlights the interrelated connectivity
of the players. 22 While some players can be more active, other players can “turtle,”
or try to avoid conlict, while others can ally or betray enemy Houses. 23 In this
way, the game seems to mirror how the characters in the novels are constantly
adjusting their allegiances and their connections to other Great Houses. Players
of he Board Game do not retain control over any one particular character ,
but rather negotiate between families as alliances are made and broken. hese
alliances can be formed informally throughout the game, and it is a signiicant
mechanic in the game that alliances should be broken. In his description of how
alliances work in the rules, Peterson notes:
players are always free … to make promises and seek alliances with other Houses.
Promises and alliances, however, are never binding and can be broken for any
reason. Even the staunchest ally cannot be 100% sure of the good intentions of
his partners. 24
By mirroring the multiple alliances within the world of A Game of hrones: he
Board Game highlights these multiple social connections between players.
In these connections, one aspect of the novel that is referenced throughout
the game is the signiicance of the geography and land of Westeros. As Amelia
Barikin notes, geography plays a major role in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire