Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile

Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile is a board game of fantasy politics designed by Cole Wehrle, illustrated by Kyle Ferrin and published by Leder Games in 2021. Between one and six players take asymmetric roles in an invented fantasy realm, and the central role is the Chancellor, whose power passes down from the winner of the previous game, while Exiles oppose the Chancellor and Citizens try to take over the Chancellor's oath. Players search a deck of nearly two hundred Denizen cards, muster troops, trade favor and secrets, and campaign across a modular neoprene map. Each result reshapes the next game, so sessions join into a long campaign without a scripted ending, and a solo or two-player game uses an automated opponent called the Clockwork Prince. The designer has described a long development that began in 2018 and a Kickstarter funded in 2020. It won the 2021 Golden Geek Award for Most Innovative Board Game.