Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
The Wars of the Roses were fought between the Houses of York and Lancaster for over three decades during the 15th century in England. The houses were both branches of the royal family, therefore the Wars were originally known as "The Cousins' War".
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Action/Event
Cards can provide player actions, trigger events, or force a choice between them.
Campaign Card Play
Play cards to command conflicts and carry consequences through a campaign.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Read the full game description
The Wars of the Roses were fought between the Houses of York and Lancaster for over three decades during the 15th century in England. The houses were both branches of the royal family, therefore the Wars were originally known as "The Cousins' War". Each player represents one of the houses as they fight battles and gain influence to control England. The Cousins' War is played over a maximum of five rounds, with each round representing between five and ten years of the conflict. Each round involves gaining influence across England and preparing for a climactic battle. In each round, the players decide where the current battlefield will be, playing action cards to deploy troops to the battlefield, while also increasing or decreasing their influence in the regions, after which they fight. Players resolve the battle by engaging in bluff and counter-bluff, using three dice, until only one side has troops remaining on the field. Winning the battle helps to consolidate your house's influence on the board. You win The Cousins' War either by dominating all the regions of England or by controlling the most regions at the end of the fifth round. 2nd Edition is a new version of The Cousins' War with larger components. There are English (Surprised Stare Games, Flying Lemur Game Studio), German (Frosted Games) and Spanish (2Tomatoes) versions separately published. 2nd Edition contains an optional variant, Times of Change. This variant adds in the cards originally published as the Events expansion to the 1st edition. There is 1 extra card, Jura Belli, in the Times of Change variant over and above the Events expansion. —description from the publisher