Cool Mini or Not's Richard the Lionheart is a board game for two to six players in which factions compete with each other to gain advantage even as one player struggles to get the most victory points. The game is set in the world of medieval England, where King Richard has gone off to the Crusade and Robin Hood battles the evil Prince John for domination of the Kingdom.At the beginning of the game players choose to either join the faction that is trying to help King Richard (Red), or the faction that is trying to maintain Prince John in power (Green). In games with three or five players, the old player is either Austrian, three players, or French, five players (Blue). The game board is a series of towns and villages throughout England. Each town lets you do take a specific action light draw cards, gain victory points, gain money, exchange these things for others, and more. There is also the track board, which consists of four different tracks that each contain ten spaces. The first track is Richard's track, how it is faring against Saladin's army. The second track is Saladin's track, and how it is faring against Richard. The third track is the King's Return track, measuring how Richard is trying to get back to England, and the final track is the King's Treasury, measuring how much money Richard has in his coffers. Over the course of the game, players will try to collect faction cards, which are either in Red or Green, to influence the track up or down. If ever one of the tracks reaches the end, a member of that faction will win the game. The faction cards are available face up (six cards- three for each faction), and a random deck face down that players can draw from as well. Players will also draw an Event card each round which will set up specific conditions for the round, as well as controlling the Merchant and the Mercenary, two NPCs in the game. After each player has moved their character to a new town, players may buy new items to help them on their quest like a horse which will let them move farther between the towns, a ship which will allow them to move through waterways, victory points, cards, and more. Then, each player must contribute two cards (under threat of a victory point penalty) to the Crusader deck. The initial Crusader deck has one of each card in it, but that will change over the course of the game. A number of cards in the Crusader deck are revealed depending on player count, and then the tracks are adjusted accordingly. As all this is playing out, the Blue faction player, if it exists in the game, may decide each turn which faction to support, and may have some control over the cards played at this time. As soon as one of the figures reaches the end of their track, the game is over. Only a member of the faction who's figure made it to the end can win. In that case, whoever of that faction has the most victory points wins. If no figure has reached the end of the track by the end of the 10th game turn the game ends. In that case, whoever has the most victory points is the winner.Richard the Lionheart is a great looking game, which is not surprising because it came from Cool Mini or Not, the company that brought us Zombicide, The Others, Blood Rage, and more. There are a number of plastic figures, brining a real toy box feel to the game. The figures along the four tracks could easily have been tokens, but they boast cool miniatures as well. The artwork and the cards all look really good, and are of a high production quality. The game itself is really a lot of fun. (At this point I should point out that I've only played the five player game). I really love the neutral Blue faction, which is playing both sides throughout the game in order to drag it out and win after the full ten rounds. That player can throw a monkey wrench into a faction's best laid plans. What I think is really cool about this game, however, is that players on a faction look to each other for help in the early game- it feels like a team game. But as the game nears its end, you see that other player as a competitor. You need to get more victory points that him, but that may limit your ability to do other things, and that may cause the other faction to get the upper hand. It's a lot of fun- a team game but only one player can win! I also really like how the Crusader deck functions, somewhat reminiscent of the way you resolve Crises in Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game. Richard the Lionheart is also somewhat similar to Cool Mini or Not's The Godfather: Corleone's Empire, in the way it blends worker placement mechanics and hand management. The production values and aesthetic are also reminiscent of the Godfather as well.I do have some criticisms of Richard the Lionheart, however. The tracks are somewhat confusing. Two of them go from 1 to 10, while the others go from 10 to 1. Some of the actions you can take mention going up or down on the tracks, and it is difficult to remember without looking it up what it means for each track. It would have been simpler if they all went from 1 to 10. Also, it's easy to get the rump Crusader deck mixed up with other facedown faction cards around the board. It would have been nice if there was a dedicated Crusader deck spot somewhere on the board. These are minor complaints, however, if what is generally a very fun game.With Richard the Lionheart, Cool Mini or Not has created yet another outstanding game. The theme is awesome, the production is top notch, and gameplay is a lot of fun. If you've got a game group that is looking for something new, I think you should give this one a try. I don't know of any other game that has a neutral faction mechanic that works quite like this. Of course, that means you'll have to play with only three or five players, but I think it's worth it. In fact, I don't think I'll play with any player count other than five. I'm pretty sure that's the sweet spot. In any event, check this one out for sure!The Discriminating Gamer