Queen by Midnight - Quarter Past
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Someone builds the perfect deck. Someone betrays their alliance at just the right time. Someone is eliminated one minute before midnight. And everyone remembers that one move that changed everything.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
A deadly tournament for the throne of Twelvefold
The Midnight Queen is dead, and four new contenders enter the arena for Rule by Midnight: 24 hours of combat, cunning, and betrayal to decide who will sit on the throne of Twelvefold. Designed by Aaron Shaw, Kyle Shire, and Alexandre Uboldi for Darrington Press, Quarter Past is a standalone expansion that introduces four new princesses and works perfectly for two players as well.
Choose a princess with unique powers, build your deck by acquiring cards from the Bazaar, accumulate influence and health, and try to survive until midnight. You can form temporary alliances with other players for a shared victory, or eliminate them one by one with brute force or tactical superiority. Each princess has a distinctive strategy, and each game tells a different story of power and vengeance.
What they're saying abroad
A battle royale where cards are weapons and alliances are as fragile as glass
— FroGames
Each princess has a personality, a strategy, and a way to ruin others' plans
— FroGames
Queen by Midnight: Quarter Past
FrogScore · FroGames editorial rating · based on rules, international reviews, and play sessionsYour weapons in the fight for the throne
What you build during the game
Princess Cards
Your personal deck, unique to each contender. Some princesses build devastating combos, others accumulate resources, others sabotage opponents. Each princess has a different power curve.
Bazaar Cards
Cards acquirable by everyone during the game. They offer immediate actions, permanent effects, or tactical enhancements. The more Clout you generate, the more powerful cards you can access. The new Quarter Past cards change the strategies of the base game.
War Chest
Your secret arsenal: unique cards for your princess that you unlock as you accumulate power. These are your decisive moves, those that turn around a lost game or seal a victory.
Loyalty Pledges
You can pledge allegiance to another princess to share victory. It's a true alliance until you betray them. Or until they betray you. Midnight promises are written in sand.
At 11:59 PM someone will be on the throne. The others will remember exactly when they realized they had lost.
A game in five moments
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
The calm before the storm
Everyone builds their economic engine. The first Clout points are generated, the first cards are bought from the Bazaar. Each player studies the opposing princesses and tries to understand who will be the first target. Someone already proposes an alliance; nobody truly believes it.
The first cards from the War Chest
The strong powers begin to emerge. The princesses reveal their strategy: some accumulate defense, some strike immediately, some sabotage the Bazaar. Someone suffers the first direct attack and must decide whether to retaliate or build up further. The first real tensions arise.
Alliances and backstabbing
One or two players pledge mutual loyalty. Perhaps it's sincere, perhaps it's tactical. Meanwhile, someone else silently builds an advantage. The leader becomes the target. The one in last desperately seeks a way back into the game. The clock advances, health drops.
Someone gets eliminated
A coordinated attack or a devastating combo knocks a princess out of the game. Or a well-timed betrayed alliance turns the tide of the game. The table realizes that time is running out and every turn becomes vital. Those who have accumulated Clout must decide whether to attack or defend. Those with low health seek one last desperate blow.
Midnight
The clock stops. If someone has eliminated everyone, they win. If there are active alliances and the allied princesses have more combined Clout and health, they win together. Otherwise, the player with the highest total wins. Often, the one who betrayed at the right moment wins. Someone immediately asks for a rematch.
How to play
The flow of each round
Each round follows a simple rhythm: generate resources, buy cards, attack or ally. Repeat until midnight.
Play cards from your hand to generate Clout, the currency that allows you to buy new cards from the Bazaar. Some cards also generate health, direct attacks, or special effects. The more your deck grows, the more options you will have.
Spend the accumulated Clout to buy cards from the central market or your personal War Chest. Stronger cards cost more, but they change the game. You must balance between economic engine and offensive power.
You can spend actions to directly attack other princesses, reducing their health. Or you can pledge loyalty to another player to share the final victory. Alliances can be broken, but breaking them costs.
At the end of the turn, discard your hand and draw new cards. The game clock advances. When it strikes midnight, the game ends and Clout and health are counted. The one left standing wins.
Why it's different from others
Six mechanics that make a difference
Four new asymmetrical princesses
Each princess has a unique starting deck, an exclusive War Chest, and a completely different strategy. One focuses on defense and slow accumulation, another on quick offensive combos, another on sabotage and control. It's not just a special power: it's an entire different game curve.
Alliances with shared victory
You can pledge loyalty to another princess. If at midnight you are both alive and have more total Clout+Health than the others, you win together. But the alliance can be betrayed, and often it's beneficial to do so. The timing of betrayal is an art.
Real-time deck-building
You don't build your deck before the game: you build it as you fight. Every card you add must balance economy, defense, and attack. If you only buy strong but slow cards, someone will eliminate you before they work. If you only buy economy, you have no weapons.
The midnight clock
Time is a resource. You can eliminate everyone and win immediately, or accumulate power and win on points. But the clock advances every round, and when midnight strikes the game ends without warning. Those who built too slowly lose.
Direct attack and constant interaction
It's not parallel deck-building where everyone builds their own engine. Here you directly strike opponents' health. If you're in the lead, you become a target. If you're last, you can ally to survive. Every turn you must decide whether to invest in economy or defense.
Standalone and expansion together
Quarter Past works perfectly on its own, but it combines with the base game for a total of eight princesses and a huge Bazaar. The new cards change the strategies even of the original princesses. It's the ideal entry point if you want to try Queen by Midnight, or the perfect refresh if you already own it.
How it ends
How to win and how to lose
Three ways to win, only one way out. Midnight waits for no one.
Victory
- Eliminate all other princesses before midnight (survival victory)
- Reach midnight with an active alliance and the highest total Clout+Health (shared victory)
- Reach midnight alone with more Clout+Health than anyone else (points victory)
Elimination
- Your health drops to zero from direct attacks or card effects (you are eliminated immediately)
- Midnight arrives and you have less Clout+Health than the others (you lose on points)
- Your ally betrays you at the right moment and you don't have enough resources to win alone
Queen by Midnight: Quarter Past is a tense, fast, and vicious deck-building game where every turn could be your last. If you're looking for a game where alliances are weapons and every card counts, this is it.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ about Queen by Midnight: Quarter Past
Can I play Quarter Past without the base game?
Yes, it is a standalone expansion. The box contains everything needed to play: four complete princesses, the Bazaar, the clock, the tokens. If you own the base game you can combine them for a total of eight princesses and more variety in the Bazaar, but it is not mandatory.
How does alliance betrayal actually work?
When you pledge loyalty to another princess, you place a Loyalty token between the two of you. As long as it is active, you share the victory if you are the strongest at midnight. You can break the alliance at any time by paying a cost (usually discarding cards or sacrificing Clout). The moment you betray changes everything: too early and you lose the advantage, too late and the other player wins with you.
Is it too complex for those who have never played deck-building?
The BGG weight is 2.33, so it's a step above Dominion but below Aeon's End. If you've played a deck-building game before (Star Realms, Legendary, Clank!), the basic mechanics will be familiar. The complexity comes from the asymmetrical powers and alliances, not from the game engine. The first game requires a 15-20 minute explanation.
Does it work well with two players?
Yes, Quarter Past is designed to work with two players (the base game started at three). In a two-player game, the duel is more tactical and less chaotic: every move matters more, alliances don't exist (or rather, they exist but are useless), and it becomes almost an asymmetrical game clash. It's a different experience from 3-4 players, but it works.
Is it available in Italian?
No, this edition is in English. The text on the cards is present and relevant (each card has written effects), so a good understanding of the language is required. There is currently no official Italian edition of Queen by Midnight: Quarter Past.
Queen by Midnight: Quarter Past is a competitive deck-building game for 2-4 players, lasting 60-90 minutes, recommended age 12+. Designed by Aaron Shaw, Kyle Shire, and Alexandre Uboldi for Darrington Press, Quarter Past introduces four new asymmetrical princesses to the fantasy battle royale of Twelvefold. Each princess has unique powers, a different starting deck, and an exclusive War Chest. The game combines tactical deck-building, direct attack, temporary alliances with shared victory, and a clock that relentlessly advances towards midnight. Standalone expansion: works on its own or combines with the base game. Available on FroGames.it.
Queen by Midnight - Quarter Past
Frequently Asked Questions
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