In Barbarian Kingdoms, an asymmetrical and competitive strategy game, each player controls their own nascent kingdom and competes for supremacy over Western Europe. The first player to control seven territories or to eliminate two opposing kings wins. On a turn, each player chooses and resolves a single action of their choice:

• Recruitment: deploy a warrior from the reserve by paying a cost
• Taxation: collect money from the provinces in their kingdom
• Assault: invade a province or attack an enemy unit
• Maneuvers: reposition their units in their provinces or towards the sea
• Claim: try to take control of a province by paying a cost

Assault and claim actions can be immediately challenged by an opponent and resolved by a battle. During the battle, a bribe may be paid to the opponent to try to reverse the outcome.

Players must be vigilant in positioning their forces (with the constraint of a maximum of one unit per province), keep an eye on their opponents, and take advantage of their two asymmetrical powers: that of their kingdom and that of their king.