House Of The Dragon: Dark Dealings Will Officially Tide You Over Until Season 4

Published Sep 24, 2026, 8:28 AM EDT

Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond. 

House of the Dragon's third season ended up being quite divisive among longtime fans of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire universe, with several controversial moments and major changes from Fire & Blood that proved contentious among book readers. While there were certainly high points to the season, such as Aegon II's reunion with Sunfyre, the showdown at Tumbleton proved far different from what many fans of the source material were expecting.

Regardless of where you land on season 3, which was still one of the most-watched television events of 2026, it's likely viewers will be tuning in to see what happens in season 4. The Dance of the Dragons has reached its bloodiest and most exciting point, with several major players now positioned for the conflict's final stretch and plenty of unresolved storylines still hanging over Westeros.

After the sheer number of departures from Fire & Blood last season, fans are very curious about how closely the series will follow Martin's history from this point forward. With the endgame drawing closer, season 4 has the opportunity to deliver on some of HOTD's biggest battles and most shocking deaths in the book, but only time will tell. If you can't hold off until season 4 releases, however, House of the Dragon: Dark Dealings will hopefully tide you over in the meantime (via BGG).

House Of The Dragon Fans Can Rule The Realm In Dark Dealings

For House of the Dragon fans looking for something to kill the time between seasons, House of the Dragon: Dark Dealings offers a fittingly treacherous way to return to Westeros. Designed for three to six players, the card game takes roughly 30–45 minutes and revolves around the same sort of political maneuvering, alliance-building, and deception that define the HBO series.

Players compete for influence across three areas (economic, military, and political) using decks containing standard influence cards, characters with special abilities, and deceit cards capable of misleading opponents. Each round, players secretly contribute cards to a central vault while stating aloud what they played.

Those claims don't necessarily have to be true, however, opening the door to bluffing, deal-making, and opportunities to connive against supposed allies. Once everyone has contributed, the vault is opened and the strongest influence type determines who scores.

That setup effectively lets players decide how honorable they want to be, and you can cooperate with another player, keep your word and push the same influence type together, or deliberately deceive them when betrayal offers a better route to victory. There are six playable characters with individual abilities, including some connected to dragons, which give Dark Dealings the same sense of uncertainty surrounding alliances in the show itself.

House Of The Dragon: Dark Dealings Is Available Now

Like House of the Dragon itself, Dark Dealings hasn't exactly received universal acclaim since arriving in 2024. The game currently sits at 5/10 on BoardGameGeek, although that number needs some important context: the site presently lists only a single user rating, meaning it isn't representative of a large critical or player consensus. If anything, the game simply hasn't generated the same attention as many of the larger Game of Thrones tabletop releases.

The game hit retail with a suggested price of $24.99 following its appearance at Gen Con back in 2024. More than two years later, copies remain relatively easy to track down, although prices and stock vary significantly between retailers. GameStop has recently listed Dark Dealings for just $11.97, down from its original $24.99 price, while tabletop retailers have offered copies closer to the original cost.

Copies can also be found through online marketplaces such as Amazon, making Dark Dealings a relatively inexpensive curiosity for House of the Dragon fans willing to give its bluffing-heavy gameplay a chance, especially while waiting for the show's fourth season.

House of the Dragon