# Reigns: Crusader Kings meets Tinder **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 10, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343 "2016-08-10T14:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/1 "2016-08-10T14:42:18Z")
[Is being released on PC, iOS and Android tonight](http://techraptor.net/content/reigns-gets-release-date) and I’m excited. I’m a mature man approaching 40 but I’m going to stay up past midnight for the sole purpose of downloading this silly app. Why? Let me explain. [Reigns](http://www.devolverdigital.com/games/view/reigns) is a very simple game, you have 4 stats to be concerned with and you simply go through a deck of cards making a decision with ‘swipe right’ or ‘swipe left’ when each card appears and that decision affects those statistics and in the mean time tells the story of your characters reign. Depending on the decisions that you make the deck is modified, cards are taken out, put in or changed and not only does the story grow the decision space does as well. The game may end up being a disappointing trifle, but I’ve been waiting for something like it my whole life. Medieval court intrigue has interested me since I was a child. The secrets, the back stabbing, lust for power, the complicated web of consequences pulling at every decision a monarch makes is dramatic and is just naturally fertile ground for games. It started with **Castles II** for me, while the design focus was on building mighty castles and sending your armies off for conquest the interesting part was the plot lines your leader had to navigate. Simple things like peasents asking you to adjudicate a dispute, spies sending you word, or bandits ambushing travelling townsfolk. Sure, after awhile you learned to min/max the handful of plots possible to get the best result, but that part made the game come alive. Later, it was **Europa Universalis** , **Crusader Kings** but I never found that intimate court drama I was looking for so I turned to board games\*\* Republic of Rome\*\*, **Down with the King** and **The King is Dead** where the closest I could get but just required a lot of people with patience and acting flare to work. So yeah, they never saw the table much in my house. Anyway, thought someone here might be in the same boat and would want to know about this. I sure hope it doesn’t suck, but who knows, if nothing else it might drive another developer to improve on the idea. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/2 "2016-08-10T16:07:38Z")
Off to the Game Room ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/3 "2016-08-10T16:12:31Z")
Sounds interesting. Not sure if it’ll be on Amazon but I have some app credit there so I’ll grab it if I can get it for ‘free’. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/4 "2016-08-10T16:13:56Z")
Hmm. I’ll take a look at this ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/5 "2016-08-11T17:08:50Z")
Only three bucks? Sold! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/6 "2016-08-11T17:50:05Z")
So how is it? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/7 "2016-08-11T18:19:28Z")
It’s … interesting. Just finished my first game; played five minutes and got exiled within 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/8 "2016-08-11T22:29:45Z")
Okay, above the cards are four icons. I assume they’re for the church, the people, the military, and the budget. All four can either be green (good) or red (bad), get any one either too green or too red and you’re gone. Second game lasted 19 years, then the church decided to dismember the king and make him a martyr. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/9 "2016-08-11T22:31:01Z")
Are things completely arbitrary? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/10 "2016-08-11T22:49:38Z")
Not exactly. Each game builds on the last and each decision has an indicator of what the effect, if any, would be on the four icons. These indicators are in the form of small dots and large dots but I haven’t played enough to work out what’s what. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/11 "2016-08-11T23:01:57Z")
Ah, the indicators are vague because there’s an opportunity later that makes them more specific. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/12 "2016-08-11T23:41:23Z")
For some reason it’s not compatible with a Nexus 5X ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/13 "2016-08-13T00:10:11Z")
Got it installed. So far I’ve got my arm cut off, had my dog possessed by the devil, and got lost in a crypt and killed by a skeleton. This is lots of fun. I don’t understand how to properly duel at all. ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reigns-crusader-kings-meets-tinder/762343/14 "2016-08-15T19:58:58Z")
It’s a fun little game you can play when you have a couple of minutes… Since I have over $85 in Google Play credit (from Google Opinion surveys) I might as well download it…