Il Trono di Carte!
March 6, 2026 2 Comments
Yesterday saw the introduction of my card game Il Trono di Carte (The Throne of Cards) at a special event at the National Museum of the Risorgimento in Turin. Originally our title was Castelli di Carte/ Houses of Cards, I mentioned it a couple of times here in the past and now it’s out in the world!
What is it, for those who missed those mentions?
A simple, fast card-driven game for two players set in southern Italy in 1861-65, in the immediate aftermath of the Risorgimento. After his defeat, Francis II of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies, has taken refuge in Rome and attempts to reclaim his kingdom or subvert the new order by any means at his disposal—diplomacy, intrigue, propaganda, guerrilla warfare by adventurers, criminal patriots and thousands of demobilized soldiers at a loose end! Meanwhile, the newly unified nation of Italy under the leadership of the House of Savoy must address the great challenges of restoring law and order and bringing southern Italy into the 19th century with modern infrastructure and new legal, administrative and landowning codes. This period of Italian history is called Il Grande Brigantaggio, or “The Great Brigandage” but also has some parallels with the Reconstruction period in the United States. Players have hands of cards that represent individuals and social groups or forces with both “hard” and “soft” power projection, and they play them in different regions of southern Italy seeking enduring influence. The game plays quickly.
Boardgamegeek entry: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/466858/il-trono-di-carte
I will let Direttore Alessando Bollo of the museum explain about the event (translation by LinkedIn, from his post there):
Yesterday at the museum we experienced a wonderful special day.
Totally dedicated to the game.
We presented “Throne of Cards”, the new game created by Blacknight Editions in collaboration with the Museum, inspired by the exhibition on the Brigands and built from iconographic materials and historical research from our collections. We tested it directly in a symbolic place, the Chamber of Deputies, transformed for a day into a space for play and experimentation. It was a fun and participatory moment, but above all very stimulating also to think about the potential of this language.
Our mediators have in fact identified the game as a powerful educational tool: starting next year we will offer high schools a structured path in which a visit to the museum and the game will intertwine, offering students a new and engaging way to discover and understand history.
The Throne of Cards will be present in the museum library to be played by those who like it and sold in the bookshop…
Let’s play!
This panel of experts introduced the game, in the hall of the Museum (which is full of these huge paintings). From left to right they are: Giuseppe Tamba, publisher, Blacknight Editions; Riccardo Fassone, University of Turin; Carmine Pinto, historian who consulted on the game and wrote the background material; and Giaime Alonge, University of Turin.
There was also group play of the game, facilitated by friends Mauro and Fabrizio… the cards are Tarot size and the Museum opened its archives of images to the publisher so it’s really beautiful.
Most encouraging of all is that not only will the Museum be selling the game in its bookshop, they will also possibly use it as educational material for when students visit the museum – combine study with field trip with game play!
The game will be generally available after May of this year, it will be introduced at a game convention in Bologna in that month. It will be available both from the Museum bookshop (link below) and from Blacknight itself. I have been told that it will include an English language version!
This all tied in with the Museum’s exhibition Briganti! which started in November 2025 and concludes at the end of this month.
I’m so happy to have this one see the light of day!
brtrain 
Recent Comments