Characters psychological game royal court cards. Royal Court

A wonderful board game, made in a medieval style, about the life of the royal court. Game author: Bruno Faidutti, who created the hit "Citadel". In the "Royal Court" players will find intrigue with scandals, the opportunity to capture and defend the Castle, as well as other interesting opportunities to tickle the nerves of themselves and their opponents.

The playing field is divided into 4 areas: Approaches, Walls with Towers and Courtyard. In each area, players will place their characters (56 character cards in total). The time of one game depends on the number of participants, which can be 2-5 people, and is approximately 20-60 minutes.

Purpose of the game: each participant strives to be the first to place their character cards on the playing field. The interesting thing is that the card has special properties that force other players to take their cards from playing field back. The player who gets rid of the cards first will win. A situation is possible when there is no free space for cards on the field, then the player with the fewest cards will win.

On his turn, each player must perform any 2 actions or one action two times out of 3 possible:
─ take one of the cards from your deck;
─ replace any of your cards with a card from the reserve;
─ play one card, i.e. place it on the playing field and use its properties.

"Royal Court" is an interesting strategic board game with exciting gameplay, simple rules and a beautiful medieval design, which is perfect for entertaining with family or friends.

In the Middle Ages, the castle personified reliability and was a symbol of stronghold and protection for all people who lived near or inside its walls. Especially if the stronghold belonged to the king. However, only ordinary residents and, perhaps, those servicemen who stood guard on the walls thought so. Those who made decisions knew that behind such strong and reliable walls there was such an unreliable and fragile royal court. Its food is intrigue, gossip, betrayal and other wonderful joys with which humanity has entertained itself since its inception. And, in fact, the well-being of the entire fortress greatly depended on how much the higher ranks were able to agree with each other.

If you have ever wanted to take part in the life of the medieval elite (or perhaps you are a fan of “Game of Thrones”?), then you can experience this without harm to your health or immoral actions entailing consequences. How? It’s very simple - by playing the board game “Royal Court”.

The king is dead, long live the king!

The card game "Royal Court" is a new development by the author of the well-known game "" Bruno Faidutti. Which means it's good game mechanics is quite successfully combined with a high-quality atmosphere and you won’t have to give up the Middle Ages after playing just a few times - the game will drag on for a long time.

How does this work? The principle of the “Royal Court” is known to many card lovers - get rid of the cards in your hand as quickly as possible. However, the process of this deliverance itself is very entertaining and original. The playing field is divided into four areas, simulating some semblance of a real fortress.

Players are dealt cards, each of which represents one character who belongs in the castle: a noble lady, a merchant, a guard, a contract killer. In a word, all those courtiers who can easily be found in any average fortress from the times of the fight against dragons and/or the Middle Ages. By the way, there is a dragon here too. And the king. After all, it’s impossible without him. A card can only be played (placed on the field) in a suitable place and provided that it is not occupied. A court lady wouldn’t even think of being next door to a fishmonger, don’t you think?

Each character card has its own unique actions that are triggered as soon as it touches the field. For example, the queen expels a disgraced courtier, or the poisoned blade of an assassin reaches its target. As a result of “replenishing the yard” with such individuals, many things can happen to the cards - returning to the owner’s hands, ending up in the discard pile, or returning back to the deck. And other, much less obvious options may also well exist.

Add to this the specific properties inherent in many cards (for example, some characters can only be in close proximity to the king), and you get a wonderful card game, in order to win you will have to think quickly, weave intrigues and be prepared for instant changes in the situation on the field.

Board game Royal Court: court affairs

It’s worth buying the card board game “Royal Court” if:

  • You care about intrigue
  • you love unpredictable games with a variety of situations
  • The Middle Ages are dearer to you than starships
  • You need to spend more than one exciting evening in the company of friends.

“Royal Court” will remain on your table and in your heart for a long time, delighting with sharp turns and a charming atmosphere. Welcome home, Milord. Again.

09.03.2016 13:24

Royal court. Role-playing game.

Developed at the Department of Psychiatry of the Russian State Medical University.

Developer M. E. Litvak

Target: This is a psychotherapeutic and at the same time a business game that allows you to acquire management skills and understand your value system, get to know yourself better and understand your role in your misfortunes. Includes the ideas of gestalt therapy, existential analysis, behavioral therapy and the axiological model developed by the author.

Time required: 3 hours, sometimes more.

Special materials not needed.

Preparation: The leader must have the skills of conducting a group process and the ability to stop acute depressive reactions, master the techniques of behavioral therapy, gestalt therapy, cognitive therapy and existential analysis, because playing a game can cause strong negative feelings. If they are not identified and stopped during classes, the picture can unfold at home with unpredictable consequences.

Instructions: Imagine that you are on a desert island. You should organize a kingdom. You must nominate a king, queen, king's favorite, prime minister, minister of power, minister of finance, judge, executioner, jester, prince or princess, whipping boy or girl, and from these roles choose one for yourself or come up with a new one for yourself . He can choose the rest of the roles according to his taste. To do this, one of you must take on the role of leader. When the leader (leader) starts work, he becomes the owner of absolute power. It is impossible not to obey him. The punishment is "death penalty" - removal from this activity. The presenter cannot be given any hints, but should, if possible, distribute roles as quickly as possible.

Usually, after the instruction is pronounced, there is sometimes a rather long pause. Group members encourage each other to take on the role of a leader and ask additional questions. Usually one of the latter volunteers to be the breeder.

When, finally, the person who wants to is found, the leader makes the following comment: “Many of you refer to the fact that you were unlucky in life, since there were no appropriate conditions. Now the conditions were the same for all of you. The pause was significant, but you did not take the risk experience a new experience, live in the unknown. Think about whether all your misfortunes come from the fact that you continually refuse new things, afraid of losing your old disadvantage due to a possible deterioration. But in real life, new experiences can really give you bad ones. results. What are you risking here? After all, you understand that no matter how you play the game, no one will kill you, punish you, or take your money. laugh a little. But don’t you think that you are controlled by unconscious thoughts like: “I am the kind of person who should be liked by everyone, and everything should work out for me the first time,” or “There are bad people all around, and they will not forgive me even a single one.” miss" (taking cognitive therapy). Vera risked taking on this dangerous role. Thank you. After all, you really don’t know what awaits you. Let's greet her with friendly applause before she begins her work, which should give her strength in this difficult task" (positive reinforcement).

After applause, the breeder gets to work. Depending on the state, the leader takes on the role of a whipping boy (girl) high level neuroticism to the role of a king or queen in a relatively prosperous state. An indicator of complete health is behavior when the breeder gives himself the role of “king”, chooses a queen, and then they jointly, without conflicts, choose group members for other roles. This is rarely observed during psychological work in healthy teams where successful people work employees. Then the game goes mainly in line with management training. Production situations are created, and members of the court try to solve them in accordance with their assigned roles. If there are many participants in the game, two royal courts are created, and then you can play “international” relations, choosing foreign ministers for this.

Usually the breeder does not take on the role of the first. The actions of the breeder allow one to draw very reliable conclusions about his personality structure. The main thing is that he himself begins to understand what he is. The rest of the group receives feedback. If a person studies in a group for a long enough time, then in case of successful preparation in subsequent games, he begins to be selected for more prestigious roles. Some had a “career” from “whipping girl” to “queen”.

When the leader begins to think about who to appoint to this or that role, group members begin to intensively prompt him. The manager then makes a remark of the following type: “You had the opportunity to become a manager and do everything as you want. You did not take advantage of this opportunity and want to manage the situation, that is, to be the first, without bearing any responsibility for it. But in real life, do you doesn’t it happen? Remember, there have been cases in your life when you refused the new, the unknown. Next time, don’t sleep, try to be the first.” Remarks play the role of negative reinforcement.

Usually, during the game, the breeder recreates the real situation that takes place in his life, but only it becomes clear to him that he himself is the organizer of his misfortunes.

Here are some examples. R., 37 years old, neuropathologist, mother of three children, lived a seemingly prosperous life in a seemingly good marriage. She was married to a big businessman. For appearances, she worked, or rather was listed as a neuropathologist in a district clinic, but was completely disoriented in real life. The reason for asking for help was her husband’s statement that he was leaving her, but continued to support her financially. She built the royal court in such a way that she first organized a family in which there were three children. She appointed a woman, somewhat reminiscent of her husband’s mistress, to the role of the queen, and took the role of the favorite for herself. She “forgot” to build a government. When she did this, it turned out that the “members of the government” were chosen by eye, without taking into account business qualities. In addition, they were all sitting in different corners and were dissatisfied with their assignment. The majority applied for higher roles, some openly said that they could not cope with the appointments. That is, in fact, the conditions for a “conspiracy” were created.

After it turns out that the “office” is no good, the breeder is given a new attempt. The newly created cabinet is again analyzed and its inconsistency is shown.

If there are conditions, for example, at outdoor multi-day seminars, the breeder makes more and more attempts until he realizes that the only possible successful option will be the one in which you take on the role of the “king” (queen). So sometimes the game lasts up to two days with breaks for food and sleep. Under normal conditions, the leader invites the breeder to take on the role of "king" ("queen")

And here the most interesting thing begins,

Usually, after, for example, the breeder has taken on the role of “queen” and chosen the king, in the most favorable cases she refuses to carry out further work and experiences great relief. It becomes clear to everyone that the main person in this world is me, and in second place is the husband (and, in principle, no one else is needed, at least for a while).

If the leader nevertheless forces the work to continue, then the “queen” refuses to choose a favorite for the “king,” although previously she did this willingly, because she appointed the man she liked as king. The appointment of a favorite was desirable. Sometimes she nominated herself as a favorite. If she chose an indifferent man as king, then there would be no difficulty in choosing a favorite.

Often, having chosen the “king” (“queen”), the divorcer immediately continues to work without pause, without establishing relations with the “king”; this indicates disdain or a reduced assessment of the opposite sex, which serves as material for discussions.

Next comes the stage of establishing relations between the “king” and the “queen”. They are invited to show each other signs of attention: hug, kiss, sit on the “king’s” lap or put the “queen” on their lap. And here many people experience a kind of stupor. They just don’t dare do it in front of everyone.

Then the presenter invites one of the women to temporarily play the role of the “queen” and show signs of attention to the “king,” or a man to play the role of the “king” and show certain signs of attention to the “queen.” When the breeder begins to understand the reality of this threat, he does everything that is required of him. If not, then there are cases when a woman sits on the lap of the chosen breeding “king”, who even outwardly resembles the mistress of her real husband. So, in just 2-4 hours a person lived his life with the same ending. But it is now clear to him that he caused his misfortune with his own hands. In these cases, a group member may develop depression.

I remember the game when the divorcee, complaining about the problem of loneliness, did not dare to show signs of attention to her “king”. I asked her to change the “king” if this one was not to her liking. She didn't do this. I asked all the men who wanted to show her signs of attention to approach her. But she rejected them too. Then I invited all women to approach one or another man. There were fewer men, and I asked that several women approach each one. If only not a single woman was left without a mate. When everyone was finally distributed, the attendant looked at these idyllic pictures in confusion and burst into tears. She was allowed to show activity once again, to choose a “king”. The tension subsided both for the group and for herself.

The disadvantage of the game is that if a group member did not become a breeder when he first participated in this game, then now, no matter how much he participates in it, he will never be able to become a breeder. But this is also its dignity. This feature of the game teaches you to be decisive, because it clearly illustrates that some opportunities not used in time may never be repeated, that every moment of life can turn out to be unique.

Game: Shipwreck (K. Rudestam, 1990)

Target: The game is used to explore the group decision-making process: teaches effective behavior to achieve agreement when solving a group problem; provides information regarding patterns of communication, leadership, and dominance in a group and can contribute to the cohesion of group members.

Time required: 1.5-2 hours.

Materials: Copies of instructions, large sheets of paper and pencils.

Preparation: The leader must have skills in group process research.

Procedure: Each group member is given the following instructions and asked to complete the task in 15 minutes.

You are drifting on a yacht in the South Pacific Ocean. The yacht is slowly sinking. Your location is unclear due to the failure of the main navigation instruments, but you are approximately 2000 km from the nearest land.

Below is a list of 15 items that remained intact and undamaged after the fire. In addition to these items, you have an inflatable life raft with oars large enough to support you, your crew, and all of the items listed below. The property of the surviving people consists of a pack of cigarettes, several boxes of matches and five ten-ruble banknotes.

Your task is to classify the 15 items listed below according to their significance for survival. Put number 1 on the most important item, number 2 on the second most important item, and so on until the fifteenth; the least important of all.

Sextant.

Shaving mirror.

Ten liter canister of water.

Mosquito net.

One box with army ration.

Maps of the Pacific Ocean.

Swimming pillow.

Five-liter canister with oil.

Small transistor radio.

Repellent that repels sharks.

15 square meters of opaque plastic.

3 liters of rum with a strength of 80 degrees.

10 meters of nylon rope.

Two boxes of chocolate.

Fishing tackle.

After individual work is completed, the group is given 45 minutes to make a collective decision. The group must come to a consensus on the placement of each of the 15 items. Achieving agreement is difficult, so not every assessment will receive the approval of all participants. The group tries to give each assessment in such a way that all group members can agree with it at least in part. Use the following guidelines to reach agreement:

1. Avoid defending your individual judgments. Approach the task logically.

2. Avoid changing your mind just for the sake of achieving agreement when solving a group problem, and do not try to avoid conflict. Support only those decisions with which you can agree at least in part.

3. Avoid such methods of “reducing conflict” as voting, compromise decisions in order to achieve agreement in solving a problem, because the truth does not care how many people support it.

4. Consider differences of opinion as a help, not as a hindrance when making decisions. Not with us does not mean against us.

After the group has ranked the 15 items based on importance, look at the correct classification order given in the appendix to this game.

Next, a discussion of the decision-making process is carried out. What behaviors helped or hindered the process of reaching agreement? How did the struggle for leadership and the formation of opposing factions proceed? Who was involved in decision making, who had influence and why? What forms of transactions could you see? What was the emotional atmosphere in the group? How did emotions influence the behavior of group members and the course of decision-making? Were the group's capabilities optimally used? How did the leaders behave? What techniques did the group members use to “pull through” their opinions? How to optimize the decision-making process?

One or more observers who have participated in the game before can provide feedback about the group process after completing the task.

Application to the game "shipwreck"

According to the opinion of “experts,” the main things necessary for a person who has been shipwrecked in the ocean are objects that serve to attract attention and help to survive until rescuers arrive, i.e., capable of satisfying food and defensive instincts. Navigation aids are of relatively little importance, since it is difficult to imagine that one can row 2000 km. And there are no provisions for such a long journey. Therefore, the most important are the signaling means: the shaving mirror and the oil and gas mixture, since they are signaling means. The second most important are water and food. Defense items are in third place.

Below is a summary of the importance of each item for survival:

1. Shaving mirror. Important for signaling air and sea rescuers.

2. Canister with an oil and gas mixture. Important for signaling. Can be lit with a banknote and a match and will float through the water, attracting the attention of rescuers. It is in second place, as it is consumed as it is used. The mirror in this regard is something “eternal”.

3. Canister with water. A person can live no more than 5 days without water.

4. Box with army ration. Provides basic food.

5. Opaque plastic. Used to collect rainwater and provide protection from the elements.

6. Two boxes of chocolate. Reserve food supply.

7. Fishing tackle. It is rated lower than chocolate, because in this situation “a bird in the hand is better than a pie in the sky.” There is no certainty that you will catch fish. And among those present there are often no people who know how to do this.

8. Ten meters of nylon rope. Can be used to tie up equipment to prevent it from falling overboard.

9. Swimming pillow. If someone falls overboard, it can serve as a life-saving device (satisfying the defensive instinct).

10. Repellent that repels sharks. The purpose is obvious.

11. Rum. Can be used as an antiseptic for any injuries. You should not drink as it causes dehydration.

12. Transistor receiver. It has little value since there is no transmitter. We can only find out that they are looking for the victims.

13. Maps of the Pacific Ocean. Useless without additional devices. It is more important to know where the rescuers are.

14. Mosquito net. There are no mosquitoes in the center of the ocean.

15. Sextant. Without a chronometer and tables it is relatively useless.

The main reason for the higher valuation of alarms compared to life-sustaining items is that without alarms there is almost no means of being detected and rescued. Moreover, in most cases, rescuers arrive in the first thirty-six hours, and a person can live this period without water or food.

Psychotherapeutic game:

Family portrait

(V. Satir)

Target: Identify family relationships of a group member and the I - YOU system.

Time required: 1.5 hours.

Materials: Chairs.

Preparation: The leader must have skills in group process research and group diagnostics.

Procedure: Imagine that you have gathered with your whole family for some family celebration and decided to take a photo. The one who takes on the role of the breeder will have to choose from the group those who remind him of his close relatives (father, mother, brothers and sisters and their wives and husbands, children). Place yourself, your wife (husband and children) and very close people who are invited to such celebrations in this portrait.

A psychologically healthy subject in the center of the portrait places himself, his wife (husband and his children), employees, his parents and his wife’s parents. Next come their brothers and sisters and their family members.

Deviations from this order serve as analysis and a topic for discussion. Placing children, parents, brothers or sisters of oneself or one’s wife in first place allows one to draw a true conclusion about family relationships and its algorithm. During the discussion, the person divorcing talks about the character and his attitude towards this or that relative, thereby unnoticeably giving feedback about his opinion of the group member whom he has chosen to play the role of his relative.

Next, you can use the selected “relative” to build relationships. The divorcer makes claims to the “relative” and explains the reasons for his negative attitude. The “relative” explains his position and makes claims to the breeder. With the help of the manager, a compromise solution is developed. An agreement is established. The communication skills acquired during the training then help to establish relationships with real relatives and help change a maladaptive life position.


Psychological games help us realize what is hidden from us in everyday life.

We all, to one degree or another, manage other people or dream that others will do what we want.

The essence of the game is to create a royal court from a king, queen, executioner, judge, etc., distributing these roles to the training participants. It will be necessary to distribute both good roles and not so good ones. “Guess” how much this or that person can perform the functions that you assign to him.

What will happen to you when you play the role of the executioner? Maybe you will then apologize to the person for a long time or come up with a rationalization that in your kingdom this is a “thinking” executioner.

What role will you give yourself?

The training begins in complete silence, no one talks to anyone, introduces themselves or introduces themselves. Why is this so? After all, we are interested in what impression we make on people when they see us for the first time, before we start talking. And so the participants make up each of their royal courts based on their first impression of the person, and only then does each participant introduce themselves. And the remaining participants note whether the person’s role has changed.

If you want to know how other people see you and how you manage your life, come to the training game.

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"Royal Court"

Castles seem big either when you're outside or when you're a mouse. But in reality, behind the strong walls, a fierce struggle for a place in the Court is raging.

What is the game about?

Plunge headlong into the romance of the Middle Ages with the board game “Royal Court”! Try to conquer one of these castles - by military force or cunning intrigues. Your abilities will help you in this matter different cards, which will allow you to send the enemy’s favorites behind the walls, and put your courtiers in their place. A little strategy, a little arrogance and the castle will fall into your hands. Who would have thought that “crowded, but not offended” - this is not about medieval castles?


How to play?

"Each party member strives to be the first to lay out all of his character cards on the playing field. Most cards have special properties that force opponents to take one or more previously laid out characters. Whoever gets rid of all their cards first will be the winner. The more players, the shorter the game and the more its course is influenced by chance. A game with five players will be quite simple and will take about thirty minutes. But if you play with two players, the importance of strategic planning will increase, and the game can last more than an hour."

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