Like Nine Knights and King's Crown, Great Kingdom is designed by Go Grandmaster Lee Sedol and is part of the WIZSTONE series from Korea Boardgames. Along with the other games in the series, it's an abstract strategy game that's produced to a high standard - in this case, with impressive-looking plastic buildings that the two players are placing out on the very solid 9 x 9 grid plastic board.
Of Lee Sedol's WIZTONE designs, this is the game that's most Go-like because players are placing their buildings with the aim of capturing unoccupied territory by surrounding it. In capturing territory you can make use of the edges of the board and the neutral building in the centre of the board. If at any point you completely surround an opponent's building then you immediately win the game. Otherwise the win goes to the player who has captured the most territory.
Tho' the buildings give Great Kingdom a thematic look, this plays like 'Sudden Death' Go. It's a game where you'll need to think a few moves ahead, especially to avoid your defensive plays putting you into a trap... For example, it can be an effective tactic in Great Kingdom to corner off a segment of the board: building a diagonal line from the top row to the side will capture you all the squares between your line and the two edges of the board. Your opponent can scupper such a plan by placing one of their pieces inside that area before the line is completed to segment it off. Placing a piece in this way tho' could be setting yourself up for capture...
Seasoned Go players will probably find Great Kingdom too light but if you've not yet been initiated into the subtleties of Go, this game may well make a good primer. With its simple rules and quick setup, this 20 minutes should scratch that itch for a filler-length abstract strategy game.
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