A free family boardgame about the last Tudors
For four or more players. As recommended by America's PBS network and referenced by the Wikipedia in its articles on Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I, sovereigns of England.
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Download Bloody Mary: Further Intrigue in the Tudor Court for free!
The History Behind the Game
Good King Hal is dead. The realm looks to his golden son, Edward—Sixth of that Name. He is his father's boy; with the incandescent Tudor intelligence, the earthy Tudor instinct for survival, and the Tudor steely resolve. His sisters Mary and Elizabeth will be married off of course—footnotes to history. Edward will live long, and complete the Protestant reforms his own mother, Jane Seymour, had dreamt of.
Good Hal had begun the journey, but only haltingly. Henry vacillated.
Edward and his good uncles, the Seymours, see a clearer path. England shall be a Godly Realm, a Protestant Realm. Nor shall it be a tyranny. No: in his last years Henry had become a capricious and turbulent monarch. This is a new time: Edward and his uncles shall make a kingdom where all subjects may voice their grievances. This shall be the Golden Age of Good King Edward, and the Golden Age of England.
But do the Fates have other things in mind? What if Edward should die before his time? His eldest sister, the obvious heir to the throne, is as Catholic as her mother, Catherine of Aragon. Surely England could not return to Rome? Unthinkable!
Perhaps Edward should secure his Godly Realm through a Protestant succession, perhaps to his closest Protestant relatives, the Greys. But is this lawful? What did Henry VIII's will say? And what of the ancient rules of succession…and the claims of his younger Protestant sister, Elizabeth?
What the Game is About
In this game you get to relive the politics of middle Tudor England as you strive to secure your candidate for the Throne... and keep your own head.
The game starts at the coronation of Henry VIII's son Edward. It follows the history of mid-Tudor England for a further 25 years. You must plot to place your favoured candidate on the throne. You play the part of a faction of courtiers trying to preserve your power and influence. The game is solidly based in history (well, as solidly as I can make it). It is meant to be educational as well as entertaining.
The Game Board
Who might be interested?
If you liked my earlier game Henry VIII: Intrigue in the Tudor Court, you will like Mary. It has quite different victory objectives, and a different card mix (not too mention a whole different cast of characters).
Designer's Notes: After Henry
A Court card.
Bloody Mary is a continuation of the Henry VIII: Intrigue in the Tudor Court game. However, you do not need the earlier game to play Mary.
I learned a lot from doing Henry, and incorporated this experience into the Mary game. The board is a lot smaller, tighter and better designed. The minimum number of players is four not five. Some of the mechanisms have been simplified and improved. Unlike Henry, the object of the game is to control the sovereign. I think the game plays faster and more hectically than Henry.
I hope you enjoy it.
Bonus File: A Tudor Family Tree
I have included in the downloadable zip file what I think is a quite natty family tree of Henry VII's descendants, in PDF format. It shows you who is who in history and in the game, and just why I have included the Tudor heirs that I have. It explains why such oddities as Mary Douglas are there!
Request for Information
As you can see, the game uses many portraits of the people of the time. If anyone has portraits of the following people, I would be grateful if you could make them available to me. You will be acknowledged in the next edition of the rules:
George Day, Henry Grey, John Hales.