Plenty of board games are licensed from books. It is rarer for the novelist to design the game themselves. Enemies & Lovers: The Crown of Elfhame is exactly that, a card game built by bestselling fantasy author Holly Black, and it is coming to UK Games Expo 2026 with Van Ryder Games.
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Start organising for freeBlack is the writer behind The Cruel Prince and the wider Folk of the Air series, along with the dark faerie novel Tithe and the adult fantasy Book of Night. Enemies & Lovers is set in Elfhame, the treacherous faerie court at the heart of the Folk of the Air books, and it leans hard into the scheming that makes those stories tick. It is a quick card game for 2 to 4 players that runs 20 to 40 minutes, so it sits comfortably as a game-night opener or filler.
The goal is to be the first to assemble a complete Court: one Prince, one Conspirator, one Coercion, and the single most coveted card in the deck, the one and only Crown. You play cards face down while your rivals throw Attack, Intrigue and Interrupt cards at you to stall your plans and snatch what they need. It is a game of bluffing, betrayal and a little luck, with art from Frostbite Studios. You do not need to have read the books to follow it.
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Find events near youThe game was originally crowdfunded on Kickstarter, and the retail edition tidies up and improves on the backer rewards. It is in stock now at $29.99 (around £23), and UK fans will be able to get hands on it at the Van Ryder stand when UK Games Expo runs 29 to 31 May at the NEC. A neat one to spot if you are planning your trip to the show.
Sources: Van Ryder Games | Bonus Action | UK Games Expo
