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Kingdom Is Ready to Play

After many, many, many (many) revisions, the second edition of Kingdom is done and ready to play. You can get the PDF right now. Books will be printed as soon as print tests are done, but you can pre-order those now too. If you bought the advance release, you should have already received an email […]

Ben Robbins | April 19th, 2021 | , | 1 comment

Teaching Games

A snippet from the discussion section of the new edition of Kingdom: If you’re reading this, you are probably the person teaching everyone else the rules and how to play: what we call a “facilitator”. First of all, thank you! Learning and teaching other people games is a great public service. You are already a […]

Ben Robbins | March 30th, 2021 | , , , | 3 comments

K2: The Price of Overthrow

Game design journal time! In Kingdom, overthrowing another character and taking their role away falls into that most pernicious category of game rules, “things that rarely happen but are very important”. Which are, my friends, one of the trickiest species of rules. The rule is important, so it has to be robust and fulfill its […]

Ben Robbins | February 7th, 2021 | , , | 3 comments

Watering My Seeds With Tears

True confession: I hate writing seeds. Seeds, playsets, setting templates — whatever you call them, I hate it. I really do. Not because I hate making fiction (I love making fiction) but because, as a game designer, it feels wrong to be making *your* fiction for you. I want the people at the table to […]

Ben Robbins | January 21st, 2021 | , , | 3 comments

Late to the Kingdom

I’ve been hearing from a bunch of people who missed the Kickstarter for the new edition Kingdom. Which is not surprising, given all the chaos and distraction in the world. But there is no way I’m letting 2020 keep people from getting in on the fun as soon as possible. So I added an option […]

Ben Robbins | November 9th, 2020 | ,

Kingdomon: Launching Into Legacy

Last day of the Kickstarter, so of course it’s time to take a break from prepping the advance release for backers to talk more about our Pokemon-inspired Kingdom Legacy campaign. Catch up on part 1 first. Our game ends and we sit basking in the afterglow. “Soooooo,” I drawl with false casualness, “if you guys […]

Ben Robbins | October 13th, 2020 | , , ,

Kingdomon: You Must Acquire Them All!

Caroline has a theory that all games can be used to play Pokemon. Or more accurately, role-play in a Pokemon setting. So when Caroline, Marc, Al, and I sat down (virtually) to play some Kingdom earlier this year, I thought, yeah sure. I’m not as big of a Pokemon fan as soooome people at the […]

Ben Robbins | October 11th, 2020 | , , ,

Kingdom Kickstarter is loose

The Kingdom kickstarter is live. It has broken its chains and is prowling the city streets, possibly looking for a skyscraper to climb, to better swat passing biplanes. This thing is out of control. But if I don’t have Power, I am totally okay with having Touchstone or Perspective.

Ben Robbins | September 22nd, 2020 | , | 1 comment

Kingdom Kickstarter Coming In September

Wait, it’s September now? I better get busy. My plan is to launch the Kickstarter for the new edition of Kingdom on September 22. Of course it is 2020, which means anything that can go wrong will, but that’s my plan so set your alarms. I’m also gathering testimonials and quotes from people who have […]

Ben Robbins | September 6th, 2020 | ,

K2 Playtest Ends September 15

After six months of great games, it’s time to wrap up the Kingdom playtest! I’ve gotten a lot of excellent feedback already, but if you’ve got more, now’s the time to let me know! Playtesters, try to send me what you’ve got by September 15. And don’t forget to include the names of everyone you […]

Ben Robbins | August 27th, 2020 | ,

Your Kingdom’s Legacy

I sent out the June update of the Kingdom playtest a few weeks ago. The vast majority is the same as the previous version, except for the Touchstone changes I already talked about and some clarified language. But tucked in the back is a brand new thing that I’ve been keeping under wraps: Kingdom Legacy. […]

Ben Robbins | July 19th, 2020 | ,

The Trouble With Touchstones

I am very happy with how the Kingdom second edition playtest is going. Kingdom has always been a fantastic game and the new version does a much better job of capturing that magic. But dear reader, let me tell you a secret: the Touchstone rules have been my cross to bear. A game design thorn […]

Ben Robbins | June 21st, 2020 | , , | 2 comments

New K2 for June

Hello, playtesters! I’m working on new draft of Kingdom second edition that should be ready sometime in June. So if you’ve played and you’ve got feedback for me, I can incorporate it into this revision. If not, don’t worry, there will be a call for feedback before the playtest ends. Right now most of the […]

Ben Robbins | May 28th, 2020 | , | 3 comments

Kingdom Duet

Given all the chaos in the world, I’m keeping the K2 playtest open for the foreseeable future. Don’t worry about any deadlines right now, just play and have fun. If you have feedback or posted about your game somewhere, send it my way. But again: just play and have fun. Lots of people have jumped […]

Ben Robbins | April 30th, 2020 | , | 3 comments

Kingdom Playtest Wants You

I played another sweet, sweet game of Kingdom last night, convincing me beyond a shadow of a doubt that the new edition is ready for external playtesting. That means you! Want in? Email me at kingdom-playtest at lamemage.com or leave a comment here. There’s a hidden comment field for your email address that I can […]

Ben Robbins | March 1st, 2020 | , | 110 comments