Sarah, Lauren, Mickey, Luis and Morgan play Queen by Midnight, photographed by Alex

February 21, 2024 Twenty Sided

Spotlight MAR 2024 | Queen by Midnight

Alex teaching Queen by Midnight as Sarah looks on

This month, for Meeple March, we wanted to play a game with lots of really cool pieces and a great table presence – enter Queen by Midnight by Darrington Press!

"The clocktower is the best game component I've ever seen!" -Alex

Lauren and Mickey look as Morgan strategizes her move

We all chose our princesses who are vying for the throne and have some pretty familiar origin stories from folk lore/fairy tales. Lauren played Dr. Lux (a version of Belle from Beauty and the Beast), Luis played Rosaline (Sleeping Beauty), Morgan played Boss No (Snow White), Alex played Hephestra (Cinderella), Mickey played Freya (Rapunzel) and Sarah played Erdene (Mulan). Game rounds were tracked by advancing the hour on the clocktower (which is also a dice tower!).

"I love advancing the clock tower. It really builds the tension as the game gets closer to the end." -Lauren

Mickey advancing the clocktower

Each character had their own set of strategies, like scheming and brawling, which made for pretty interesting gameplay because you weren't sure who could do what. At a certain hour on the clocktower, we all had to secretly choose another princess at the table to pledge our allegiance to in the game. This gave a great social aspect to the gameplay and really made it feel like we were competing for the crown.

"I liked when we all argued for who to give our allegiance to." -Sarah

"I got blackmailed! Very cool way of trying to get resources (clout) out of another player without total feel-bad moments." -Luis

Luis and Morgan laughing at how weirdly banishable Copper is

Queen by Midnight is great for anyone looking for an excellent theme with some pretty fantastic flavor text on the cards. We all had a laugh when Morgan figured out that getting rid of her Copper card was a better move– the flavor text on the bottom said “weirdly banishable.”

"For fans of deck builders and players who like some social energy/politicking at the table!" -Mickey

Boss No hand of cards and player board

A ton of cool pieces mixed with multiple strategies and one ever-present clocktower ticking down the rounds of play make this game an excellent addition to our collection of games for Meeple March!