Kings of Sun Tzu

Kings of Sun Tzu is a 2-4 player competitive game played in rounds centered on situational strategies, resource management, and calculated gambles. Each player is a king of a powerful military state, vying to unite and rule all of China. Players start each round by rolling dice and placing them on the battlefield. Each player must then puzzle out the best move they can make by evaluating dice positions, resources on the battlefield, and the opponent’s goals. Troops, heroes, tactics, and strategies can all be used to alter the outcome as players try to defeat their opponents and be declared the first emperor of China. Kings of Sun Tzu is inspired by the history of China from around 475 BC through 221 BC known as the “Warring States” period. The rulers of many powerful states were embroiled in war to determine who would emerge as the conqueror and king of a unified China. This is the era in which many military innovations occurred in China; the use of iron weapons over bronze and the modernization of armies with mass infantry, crossbowmen, and cavalry. Around this time, many intellectual developments were also taking place, such as the Hundred Schools of Thought, which included philosophies like Confucianism and Taoism that were being cultivated and spread across the land. This period also saw the utilization of many great Chinese military classics, including the most celebrated of them all, Sun Tzu’s treatise on military strategy, The Art of War.