Il dilemma della Regina
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Someone betrayed. Someone forgave. Someone built an empire on the ashes of an alliance. And no one will forget that round eight vote.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
The sequel to Hjalmar Hach and Lorenzo Silva's political legacy masterpiece
The Queen's Dilemma is the sequel to The King's Dilemma, the narrative legacy game nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres. Set one hundred years after the dramatic events of the first chapter, it introduces a completely new story, enhanced legacy mechanics, and a system of political ideologies that defines the kingdom's moral identity. Martin Mottet returns to illustrations with a mature style that accompanies the new era of the Queen's Council.
Take your seat on the Council as one of six unique characters: a master of subterfuge, a ruthless military leader, a greedy merchant, a progressive philosopher, an aristocrat tied to the occult, a criminal lord. Each game is a Council session: Dilemma cards present impossible political choices, secret votes determine resolutions, and every decision leaves permanent traces on the map, territories, and relationships. Your actions build an unrepeatable campaign that no other table will experience in the same way.
What they say abroad
The Queen's Dilemma presents itself as a profound evolution of the Dilemma Card system, with more intertwined mechanics and an even more branched narrative.
— FroGames
A game that promises to turn every vote into a memorable event, where the moral consequences of choices weigh as much as the strategic ones.
— FroGames
The Queen's Dilemma
FrogScore · FroGames editorial rating · based on rules, international reviews, and play sessionsThe Tools of Power
What you manage in the Queen's Council
Unique Character
You are one of the six personalities on the Council: each has exclusive abilities, territories under control, secret objectives, and a founding ideology that guides your moral choices.
Dilemma Cards
Each card presents a political crisis: invasions, revolts, scandals, discoveries. You vote for or against, negotiate secret votes, and the resolution permanently changes the kingdom and unlocks new narrative branches.
Territories and constructions
You control Duchies or Marches on the kingdom map. You can build buildings to gain new abilities and resources, but you must defend them: Dilemmas can destroy them or transfer them to other players.
Political ideologies
Tradition vs. Progress, Strength vs. Diplomacy, Order vs. Freedom: six moral axes that define the kingdom's identity. Each of your choices shifts the balance, and the keyword system records your actions to recall them later.
In a few months, you'll have a political story that no other table has experienced. And probably at least one former ally who no longer speaks to you.
📜 REGOLAMENTO
A game in five moments
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
The Settlement
You draw your hand of secret objectives, discover which territories you control, and read your character's founding ideology. Other players don't know what you really need. The first alliances are formed on vague promises, diplomatic smiles, and coincidental votes. No one betrays yet.
The First Crisis
A Dilemma arises that directly involves one of your territories. If resolution A passes, you lose resources but gain political influence. If B passes, your Duchy is safe but another player gains a permanent advantage. You begin to understand that every vote has a price.
Open Negotiation
Someone proposes a deal: 'I'll vote with you on this card if you support me on the next one.' But the next card is a Dilemma that harms a third player, and they offer double the resources to make you change your mind. Alliances begin to crack. The kingdom map fills with permanent markers: buildings constructed, wars declared, revolts suppressed.
The Inevitable Betrayal
A Dilemma arises that would allow you to complete a secret objective and unlock a huge narrative branching. But you promised your vote to someone else three turns ago. You vote for your own interest. The other player looks at you, then permanently crosses your name off their list of trusted allies. The keyword system records your choice: from now on, some cards will treat you as 'the Traitor'.
The Kingdom You Built
The game ends. You count your personal victory points (someone won), but everyone looks at the kingdom map: the dominant ideologies, the devastated territories, the surviving buildings, the decisions that changed everything. You seal envelopes, write names on legacy cards, update the chronology. The next game will start from here, with the consequences still alive.
How to play
The flow of each round
Each round is a Council session: a Dilemma is drawn, negotiations take place, a vote is cast, and permanent consequences are applied.
A Dilemma card is revealed from the deck. It has two possible resolutions (A and B), each with different consequences on resources, territories, ideologies, and narrative. Some Dilemmas directly involve specific territories: those who control them have strong interests.
Free phase: exchange resources, promise future votes, make secret agreements, offer bribes. You can play personal ability cards to influence the vote or modify the consequences. There are no limits to diplomacy: you can lie, betray, honor pacts.
Each player plays face-down vote tokens (for A, for B, or abstentions). They are revealed simultaneously, and values are summed. The winning resolution is applied immediately: resources gained/lost, ideologies shifted, territories modified, legacy cards unlocked.
Update the kingdom map: place constructed buildings, war tokens, ideology markers. If a Dilemma unlocks a legacy envelope, open it immediately and read the narrative. The keyword system records key choices: pardons, radicalisms, betrayals, acts of courage.
Why it's different from other legacy games
Six mechanics that make a difference
Characters with exclusive narrative branches
Each character has a deck of personal secret objectives that evolve throughout the campaign. Your choices unlock unique narrative branches: the merchant can start a criminal guild, the philosopher can unleash a cultural revolution. No other player will experience your story.
Political ideology system
Six moral axes (Tradition/Progress, Strength/Diplomacy, Order/Liberty) define the political identity of the kingdom. Each Dilemma shifts the balances. Dominant ideologies alter the rules of the game: a progressive kingdom unlocks technologies, a traditionalist one reinforces old noble families.
Keyword system: choices follow you
The game records your actions with permanent keywords: Clemency, Radical, Corrupt, Hero, Oppressor. Subsequent Dilemma cards can recall these keywords: 'If you have the Traitor keyword, you suffer -2 influence.' Your moral decisions come back to haunt or reward you.
Asymmetric territorial management
Each character controls different Duchies or Marches, with unique resources and vulnerabilities. You can build buildings on your territories to gain permanent abilities, but Dilemmas can destroy them, transfer them to other players, or trigger local revolts. The map is alive.
Personal abilities and secret cards
During the campaign, you unlock new exclusive ability cards for your character. Some allow you to manipulate votes after they've been revealed, others give you secret resources, still others change the consequences of a Dilemma. Each character becomes increasingly powerful and specialized.
Branching narrative with permanent consequences
There is no 'canonical story'. Each table builds a unique chronology through choices: wars avoided or unleashed, historic alliances, legendary betrayals, political reforms. Legacy envelopes open based on specific conditions. At the end of the campaign, you write the history of the kingdom you have shaped.
How it ends
How to win and how to lose
The Queen's Dilemma has two levels of victory: individual (personal points) and collective (the fate of the kingdom).
Personal Victory
- Complete personal secret objectives drawn during the campaign
- Build buildings on your territories and defend them until the end
- Accumulate resources and political influence through strategic voting
Collective Failure
- The kingdom collapses due to political instability: too many extreme ideologies simultaneously
- The Queen's army is defeated in the southern war: insufficient military resources
- Uncontrolled popular revolts: discontent exceeds the critical threshold for too many consecutive rounds
The Queen's Dilemma is for tables that want to build a unique political story, where every vote has permanent consequences and no alliance is sacred. It requires commitment, but in the end, you will have a chronology that only you have experienced.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ about The Queen's Dilemma
Is it necessary to have played The King's Dilemma beforehand?
No. The Queen's Dilemma is set one hundred years later and tells a completely new story. Knowing the first game enhances the experience (there are narrative references to past events), but it is not required. The mechanics are enhanced and modified, so even veterans will find substantial novelties.
How long does a complete campaign last?
A typical campaign requires 10-15 games of 60-90 minutes each, so about 15-20 total hours. It's a legacy game: once the campaign is finished with one group, a new group is needed to replay it from scratch. The replayability lies in the narrative branches: each table will experience completely different events and consequences.
How does the keyword system work?
Some of your choices during the Dilemmas assign you permanent keywords (e.g., Clemency, Radical, Corrupt). These keywords remain written on your character sheet for the entire campaign. Subsequent Dilemma cards can recall them: 'If you have the Traitor keyword, you suffer -2 influence' or 'If you have the Hero keyword, you gain +3 resources'. It's a system that makes your past actions return to reward or punish you.
Can I play with fewer than 3 or more than 6 players?
No. The game is strictly designed for 3-6 players. Below 3, the political tension is lacking and negotiation becomes predictable. Above 6, downtime becomes unsustainable and some voting mechanics break down. The ideal is 4-5 players: enough for variable alliances, not too many to slow down the flow.
Is it available in Italian?
This edition is in English. It includes Dilemma cards, character sheets, rulebook, and narrative materials all in English. The game is heavily text-dependent (each Dilemma card has paragraphs of narrative and detailed consequences), so a good understanding of the language is required from all players at the table.
The Queen's Dilemma is a narrative legacy game for 3-6 players aged 14 and up, lasting 60-90 minutes per game. Designed by Hjalmar Hach and Lorenzo Silva (The King's Dilemma), it introduces a system of political ideologies and permanent keywords that record your moral choices and recall them later. Each game is a session of the Queen's Council: you vote on impossible political Dilemmas, negotiate alliances, build buildings on your territories, and shape a unique campaign through permanent decisions. Published by Horrible Guild, with illustrations by Martin Mottet. Available on FroGames.it.
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