Lady Richmond Review

Do you have a living will? If there’s anything to learn from HABA’s kid-friendly game of squabbling beneficiaries it’s that having one is critical. Poor Lady Richmond has recently passed away and her relatives (and lover) have descended like a pack of vultures. Who was supposed to get her riches and who was supposed to get her dentures? We’ll never know. She didn’t have a will.

HABA has a sterling record with their children’s games. Not a day goes by that my almost-two year old doesn’t drag one of his yellow boxes off the shelf and play with the bright pieces or throw them at my head. While often lesser known, their more family oriented titles are equally good. Lady Richmond is definitely for older kids (recommended for 8 and up) but this much older kid found it to be quite the hoot.

It’s an auction game; at stake are Lady Richmond’s desirables and not-so desirables. In the absence of a will, an auctioneer has been hired to put all her goods up for bid. Players assemble themselves around a lazy-susan style board and prepare for action. And action there will be as this is a real time game as well. Items are dealt face-down onto the auction table 7 at a time. As items are revealed, players have to race to snatch the auction block from the center of the table. First person to grab it gets to open the bidding and has the first shot to use some sneaky special abilities.

If no one grabs the auction block the next player in turn reveals the next item and this continues until someone decides they can’t wait any longer. Items are worth varying points. Some, like Lady Richmond’s psychotic poodles, are worth negative points. Deciding when to grab that auction block is a critical decision. Mixed in with the possessions of the deceased are special auctioneer items. One of them wipes away all revealed cards which means that waiting too long to open bidding could result in those paintings and jewels disappear. On the other hand, bid too soon or too aggressively and you’ll see your pile of coins quickly dwindle.

Those auctioneer cards apply pressure in another clever way. 4 of the cards in the deck act as a soft reset; all coins are redistributed so that everyone has 10. These cards add a clever element of push-your-luck to Lady Richmond. You know that you’ll see one of those cards soon-ish; ideally right after you’ve spent your last coin. It’s a really fun way to drive players to bet early and often and keeps the game from dragging or becoming too strategic. It’s perfect for the weight of the game.

Another fun wrinkle are the player powers. Each player has three special abilities that can be triggered during betting. The opportunity to peek at a few facedown cards can give you information on card value during blind bets or give you the freedom to bid heavily when you see one of those reset cards. It also provides the opportunity for a devilish bluff. Convincing someone to bid heavily against you because they think a rest card is next feels great, even if it results in popcorn being thrown at you from across the table.

The other powers can be used judiciously or aggressively. One lets you take a coin from any other player, a coin you can immediately use in your next bid or simply to deny the next player the opportunity to raise. The meanest is the Swap power. Did someone just raise to 7 coins in the hopes of getting that powerful 6 point card? Activate your Swap tile to trade it out for a jar of pickled eggs instead. Glee and anger will rise in equal parts.

Lady Richmond is not the deepest auction experience for Serious Gamers, but it isn’t meant to be. I’m sure you could find faults with it if you approached it strategically; indeed I find myself wishing there were more negative cards or more opportunities for blind bids. This a minor complaint however. I’m not going to play Lady Richmond when I’d otherwise play Modern Art. I’m going to play over a few beers or when it’s 3 AM and I’m not wasting any time at a convention by going to sleep.

Play Lady Richmond if you like simple games punctuated with hollering and icy glares. Play if you like watching grown adults wrestle over a wooden block or kids give a sly grin when they manage to outwit their parents. Or play if you just like good games. Lady Richmond is a very good game.