Really, though, A Game Of Thrones is about stabbing your mates in the back. The adaptation even includes the Mother Of Dragons expansion, letting you fill out smaller player games with neutral 'vassals'. Along the way, however, you're fighting for a space on three influence tracks - determining your place in the turn order, or resolving ties for all other forces in the game.
The goal is to be the first to overtake Westeros with your castles and banners. Named characters are thrown into the mix as wildcards during combat, and every so often the wildlings will descend to wreak havoc, forcing cooperation between the warring states - if only for a moment. Once everyone's made their plans, everyone reveals - and we see where each kingdom has chosen to raid, rally, assist or reinforce. Every round, each player lays down a series of hidden commands on each region they control.