King's Court

Review by Kerry Lloyd

Designed by John Johnson
Janjohn Games, Inc. PO. Box 7405, Louisville, KY 40206
Released: August, 1983
Catalog No. 2101
Price: $5.00
Complexity: Beginner
Solitaire Suitability: None

Knights clash, kings command, fair maidens abound, and magic prevails in King's Court, a family oriented card game loosely based on the old children's game, Crazy 8s. Play is rapid, since most of the cards contain directions or explanations of their purpose, and the winner of a given hand is the first person to rid himself of all his cards. Two to eight can play, and the eventual winner of a session is the person with the lowest score when someone crosses the 500 mark.

King's Court comes packaged in a deep burgundy double-deck box with an illustration of several of the actual cards on the front. inside are two 54-card decks, a quick reference card, and a rules folder. The decks are good quality playing cards and are shuffled together to play the game with a 108- card supercleck. The rules folder is a five- sheet accordion fold with concise and relativelv clear information on the game, a complete description of the function of the scroll cards, strategy hints, and some special circumstances that may occur in a game. The reference card is helpful, hut it is not a necessary component.

The cards themselves fall into two categories: suit cards and scroll cards. A picture of a knight in the center and a number in the left corner are on the numbered suit cards. The color of the knight's shield sets the suit of the card. The suit cards are not provided in the normal distribution because there are fewer of them.

The interesting parts of the game, though, are the scroll cards, but suit cards (white backgrounds), and the kingdom cards (colored backgrounds). Several types of suit oriented scroll cards are included: knights (reverse the direction of play), jesters (skip next player), fair maiden, (requires the playing of a proper escort), drawbridge (requires the next player to draw two cards and lose his turn unless lie can play another drawbridge immediately), and the queens option (determines direction of play and one of two specified suits). The kingdom cards, whose general function is indicated by the background color, are even more varied. For example, a gold background indicates a suit change while a burgundy background makes a player draw a card. If he draws the dragon the next player draws three and loses a turn, or if he draws the wizard he plays an extra card and the next player draws five and loses a turn.

Play of a hand is simplicity itself. Two to eight can play, although four to six seem to provide the most interesting game. The dealer distributes seven cards to each player, then turns over the top card of the draw pile; the player to his left follows the directions on this card (if any), and the hand is off to a rousing start. Cards must match either suit or number to be played.

When a player holds only one card at the end of his turn (it is possible to go out with several cards in one's hand at the beginning of a turn), he must announce "En Garde!" or "On Guard" or be required to draw two penalty cards and lose his next turn. Hands are usually quick, five to eight minutes, but may occasionally last much longer; deal rotates to the left for each new hand. A multi-player session of King's Court is normally quite boisterous and is always lots of fun. Plenty of opportunities for strategy are available because of the many options of the scroll cards. As mentioned, it is possible (and not all that unlikely) to go out on the first play of a hand done has the proper cards.

Although similar in concept to Uno, King's Court is definitely a game which can stand on its own. ihe element of medieval fantasy is a strong attraction, and the expanded options of the scroll cards make the game almost a new experience. There is considerable strategy allowed in play, and the game should appeal to anyone with a sense of fantasy and adventure.

At the price asked, a mere $5.00, this game is a steal!

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