A Game of Thrones: Genesis

A Game of Thrones: Genesis is a Real Time Strategy Game/Western RPG for the PC based on the backstory of the Fantasy Doorstopper series A Song of Ice and Fire, also popularized by the HBO series adaptation Game of Thrones. It was developed by Cyanide and published by Focus Interactive.

The game covers 1,000 years of Westerosi history leading up the to the first novel in the series, begining with the arrival of the warrior-queen Nymeria.

The object of the game is to win the Iron Throne, and that eight of the major houses will be playable and each has at least one special unit and ability. The game is won by building Prestige for your chosen house, which can be accomplished peacefully, by laying waste to your rivals, or anything in between.

The game has a Versus mode with up to eight players and a Campaign mode for single players.

The game was released on September 29, 2011.

This game contains examples of:

 * Animal Motifs: As in the novels, most of the great houses have an animal as a symbol of their house.
 * Arranged Marriage: Noble Ladies are sent to allied towns to marry one of the leaders there, which guarantees the city will send back any enemy envoy. If the Lady is murdered, diplomacy can be used again.
 * The Archer: The Martell special unit is a mounted bowman. There are also standard archer units available.
 * Big Badass Wolf: The Stark's special unit is a direwolf, which is fiercely protective of the unit it is assigned to.
 * Bizarre Seasons: Summers can last for years. Winters can last for decades.
 * Dragon Rider: Aegon is a playable unit riding on the back of Balerion the Black Dread. Whether his sisters and descendants will be featured on their dragons has yet to be seen.
 * Instant Messenger Raven: The Targaryen special unit.
 * The Medic: The Tyrell special unit is a maester, who can heal other units.
 * Medieval Stasis: For all 1,000 years, from the looks of it.
 * Musical Assassin: The Tully special unit is a bard which mesmerizes enemy units with their singing.
 * The Mole: Your forces and cities can be corrupted, infiltrated or secretely turned against you by invisible units. These traitors still follow your orders, but everything they do will be fake or actually on behalf of your enemy. It is also the name of the Lannister special unit, which does exactly what the name and trope would suggest.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Where do we start?
 * Violence Is the Only Option: Averted. You can win the game through diplomacy and secret pacts, without ever going to war. Assasinations and mercenaries slaughtering peasants do not immediately result in war, but it comes quickly.