allboardgames.com
Lord Of The Chords: The Geekiest, Punniest Music Theory Card Game box art
2019 Ranked #19,761

Lord Of The Chords: The Geekiest, Punniest Music Theory Card Game

This music-themed drafting game has players collect notes, form chords matching a key signature, and claim three key tiles first. Variable instruments, shared-card drafting, and actions let players alter notes or steal progress from a rival harmony.

Card Game Educational Open Drafting Set Collection

Players

2-4

Play time

25-45 min

Age

14+

Complexity

3/5

Rating

6.04

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.3/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 3.9/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.7/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

Lord of the Chords is a classical music themed, card drafting set collection game for 2-4 players that has real music theory cleverly woven into its game mechanics. Prepare for augmented fun, major geeky learning, and diminished boredom!

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

Lord of the Chords is a classical music themed, card drafting set collection game for 2-4 players that has real music theory cleverly woven into its game mechanics. Prepare for augmented fun, major geeky learning, and diminished boredom! Players begin by choosing 1 of 13 musical instruments that grant variable player powers. To win the game, players must draft the right Note cards to their hands, according to the active Key Signature tile. Notes are then played to the field, and combined to form Chords. When a Chord that matches the current Key Signature is completed by a player, that Key Signature Tile is claimed! The first Player to collect 3 Key Signatures is the Bringer of Harmony, the Destroyer of Dissonance, the Lord of the Chords! On your turn, you first draft 3 cards, then make 3 moves. You may spend your moves by (1) playing a Note card, or (2) playing an Action card. Other ways to spend moves include: (A) Moving a Note card from one chord to another, (B) buying Accidental Tokens, or (C) spending 2 moves to draft 1 additional card. Note cards must be diatonic to be played, according to the active Key Signature. Action cards range from punny composer cards like “More-zart”, which allows you to draw 2 more cards, to powerful music theory concepts like “Major 7th Steal”, which allows you to turn the tables by stealing another player's hard earned Key Signature tile! Accidental Tokens make it easier to complete chords. They are placed on Note cards to raise or lower the note by a semitone/half step, depending on whether the sharp or flat side is facing up, respectively. Accidental tokens are bought by selling a dotted quarter note/dotted crotchet worth of Note cards. All cards are drafted from a pool of 6 cards, so memory, prediction and counter-strategizing are key to victory. Every play is noteworthy - you can't miss a beat! The player who most recently practiced music goes first, so go practice! —description from the designer

Browse all classifications

Shopping

Where to buy

No verified retailer offers are available yet. The references below may still help you continue your search.

Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
No editions imported yet.

Player resources

Rulebooks, player aids, FAQs, and solo resources.

No files imported yet.

Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
2–4
Best with
3–4
Play time
25–45 min
Age
14+
Complexity
3.0/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

3
Jonathan Ng Keith Teo Phang Jun Yu

Artists

1
Keith Teo

Publishers

1
Lord of the Chords LLP

Linked items

No published linked games yet.