Sounds simple. right? Well don’t mark this down as a victory just yet. There are plenty of underhanded tricks up your opponent’s sleeve. Luckily for you, you can use these same tricks.
An assassin can sneak into an enemy town and assassinate a noble woman or envoy. This can be done by knife blade, which instantly reveals you to the enemy, or through poison, allowing you to escape unnoticed. Just as quickly as he can attack, he can get back onto allied territory and blend back into invisibility.
With the spy, your enemy (or you) can make secret alliances. A secret alliance will make the opponent thing that they have an ally, but they will receive no resources from the alliance. The only way to uncover this form of betrayal is to have your spy investigate an alliance to see if it remains true. The spy can also infiltrate their enemy’s castle. In doing so, when your enemy hires an envoy, every treaty they make will be false. Likewise, if they hire an assassin, the spy/assassin will fake assassinations, leaving your people unharmed.
A Game of Thrones: Genesis Variables
If this was all that you could do in A Game of Thrones: Genesis, it would be worth purchasing. But Cyanide Studios threw in a lot of other variables. Heirs and illegitimate children throw a monkey wrench into the equation. Every House has a Lord. And as with all medieval lords, they like to sleep around. If you marry them off quickly, they will only produce noble heirs. But if they stay single too long, they will start to have bastard sons. If you end up having a bastard son, you can declare them an heir (costing you some gold); but if an enemy finds a bastard son, you will lose prestige among your people.
There are also certain things that you can do to increase peace. At different points in the game, you will capture enemy units. If you will release them from your prison without being asked, then you do a lot to increase both the peace in the land and add a little prestige to your meter.
A Game of Thrones: Genesis Multiplayer
In A Game of Thrones: Genesis’ multiplayer mode, you go head-to-head with people around the world. This can be one-on-one, 8 player every-man-for-himself, or teams of 2 (up to 4 teams). Gameplay is essentially the same as single player. The major difference is that human opponents are not as predictable or forgiving. Really, the only thing lacking in the MP area of the game is players. So far I have not found many challengers online. I hope that this review will cause a few of the readers to purchase this game so I can have somebody to destroy!
Conclusion on A Game of Thrones: Genesis
I really have no 
complaints about A Game of Thrones: Genesis other than a long initial load time, but I am sure that this will be patched soon. I’ll be honest; this game can look intimidating at first. But if you are willing to just dive right in, you will pick it up quick. Of course, don’t expect to master this game in a day. Every time I play, I find more abilities and more thought provoking strategies. And as an added bonus, this game has made me realize that I need to make time to read the Song of Ice and Fire books if they are filled with this kind of plotting, treachery, and deceit.
Lay Claim to the Iron Throne Giveaway Winners!
Congratulations to the following who have won a free copy of A Game of Thrones Genesis from Gamers Daily News and Focus Home Interactive:
- Lord Herp of House Derp - Craig Sykes - Who garnered the support of 58 noble people
- The Nights Watchman - who pulled together 29 allies to support his claim
- Rhaegon Targaryen - who mustered 23 votes for his bid to the throne
All winners will be notified separately via email and awarded their prize.
