Multiplayer Minute: For the King

Why this board-game-like RPG is perfect for your next game night — no cleanup required.

Multiplayer Minute highlights bite-sized multiplayer games you can jump into fast. This week: For the King (2018, Iron Oak Games), a tactical RPG that blends the depth of Gloomhaven with the convenience of digital automation.

Quick Setup, Zero Cleanup

Grab up to two friends on Switch (local or online), pick your classes, and dive into a hex-based, procedurally generated overworld. Combat is turn-based, but the real magic is the board-game feel — every playthrough is different, and the game handles all the rules and bookkeeping for you. No setup, no cleanup, just fast, repeatable fun.

Fail Fast, Learn Faster

The game literally greets you with a dialog you have to confirm when launching — you are meant to die. A lot. Death is part of the loop — each run teaches you new mechanics and earns you Lore Points, a persistent currency you spend in the Lore Store between runs to unlock new character classes, map encounters like the Night Market and Dark Carnival, powerful weapons, and more. Once you get the hang of it, it plays like Gloomhaven or D&D Lite — tactical, rewarding, and endlessly replayable.

Ran Great on Switch 2 (Mostly)

@PohnDip and I played on Switch 2 over the weekend — originally a Switch 1 title, it ran buttery smooth on the new hardware. We only hit maybe two crashes the entire weekend, which is pretty minor for a roguelike marathon. No DLC needed; the base game ships with all the expansion content baked in (Dungeon Crawl, Frozen Expanse, Gold Rush, Into The Deep).

Perfect for Game Night

If you love tactical RPGs but hate the fiddly bits of physical board games, For the King is a no-brainer. Up to three players, local or online co-op, strategic hex-based exploration, and dice-roll combat that keeps things tense without bogging you down in rulebooks. It's like a board game — but fully automated, so there's zero cleanup when you're done.

Pick it up on the eShop and start stacking those Lore Points!