Sleeping Queens (2005)

About this game

Rise and shine! The Pancake Queen, the Ladybug Queen, and ten of their closest friends have fallen under a sleeping spell and it's your job to wake them up. In Sleeping Queens, players need to use strategy, quick thinking, and a little luck to rouse these napping nobles from their royal slumbers. The twelve queen cards lie face-down on the table. On a turn, you take one action from the cards in your hand: play a king to awaken and claim a sleeping queen, play a knight to steal someone else's queen (unless she has a dragon for protection), play a potion to send a queen to sleep once again (unless she has a wand for protection), use a jester to try out your luck with the top of the deck, or discard one or more number cards to draw more cards. Each queen card has a point value on it, and whenever all the required queens have been awakened or one player hits the point threshold, the game ends and whoever has the most points wins.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 5.
• Rules load. At 1.1/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 8 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.