It isn’t often that a title will cause me to spend more time thinking about its system of political succession than its gameplay, but that’s exactly what happens every time I try to break out Leaders. According to designer Hugo Frénoy, these borderline abstract contests serve to keep the kingdom peaceful. Every spring, would-be rulers engage in a bout to capture their foe. Recruiting warriors from the sidelines and calling it quits the instant one potentate has been surrounded, these matches are bloodless, honorable, and prevent infighting.

Sure they do. Because a loser has never decided to stab the winner in the face. Because the court eunuchs have never manipulated the odds to favor whichever weak-willed sycophant will let them do their thing. Because the mercantile class has never said, you know what, annual belligeniture isn’t suitable to long-term economic policy, let’s poison the game-masters.

Am I fretting too much over throwaway details? Undoubtedly. But that speaks to some flimsiness on Leaders’ part. This is a game that ticks so many of the right boxes. All the more pity it doesn’t quite work.

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