Over a Cup of Tea

The monarch is dead, under suspicious circumstances and without an heir, leaving the succession unclear. The grieving consort and the monarch’s closest adviser sit down to try to sort out where the country goes from here.

This is a storytelling game of backstabbing and disaster for two players. The game takes 35 to 60 minutes, depending on how much time you spend in the world building phase. At the end of the game one of your characters will die from poison in their drink and the other will take up the reins of power. Who is to die is partly random and partly determined by your choices during the game. 

This game was written because of a dream I had while working on the Golden Cobra Challenge in October of 2015. I already had a game I wanted to finish for the challenge, but this one came to me mostly formed, so it seemed a shame not to finish it.

The dream didn’t specifically include hot beverages, but there is scientific evidence that suggests warm drinks make you feel more warmly to another person and that seemed an interesting way to interpret the touch part of Golden Cobra. 

Cover image is based on "Tea pot" by Rebecca Siegel, used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.