THIS week I’ve discovered something so geeky that I’m appalled and enthralled in equal measure.

Now, it may surprise you to learn, I have been known to describe myself as a bit of a geek.

I’ve read The Lord of The Rings a few times, and I’ve seen a fair few episodes of Star Trek. And I once queued for more than an hour to meet Bruce Boxleitner, star of Tron and Babylon 5.

Anyway, even for someone of my geekiness, what I discovered this week is too exciting, and at the same time, too ridiculous.

I want to condemn it, but at the same time, I kinda love it.

Have I hyped it up enough yet? Here it is anyway.

Anyone who has read George RR Martin’s fabulous A Song of Ice and Fire novels, now better known as Game of Thrones thanks to the TV series, will know — or at least they will if they have been paying attention — that there exists, in this fantasy universe, a game called Cyvasse.

The rules of Cyvasse are never fully explained, but it is described as a two-player board game that pits two armies against each other.

It is a game of strategy and requires intelligence to play well — in other words, it seems to bear a lot of similarities to chess.

It features most prominently in A Dance With Dragons when Tyrion Lannister plays a game against Aegon — a fascinating battle of wits loaded with clever symbolism and plot shadowing.

Anyone who read this and didn’t secretly wish they could play a game of Cyvasse while sat in the sun outside a dirty back-street tavern in Pentos is basically dead inside.

Well, now you can. But not in Pentos, because it’s not real.

But if you take your smartphone or tablet to somewhere exotic like Istanbul or Lhasa, then you can get as close as you’re ever likely to get.

Because you can now download a Cyvasse app, created lovingly by a fan, who has obviously studied the books and created an interpretation of the rules to form an exciting two player game of strategy.

The app allows you to place your heavy horse, trebuchets and dragon — and all the rest — on a chequered map board, complete with mountain and river squares, then battle it out to the death.

Unfortunately, at the moment, you can’t play online, so you will need a real life friend to play it with — which, if you meet all the criteria (1. A strategy game fan; 2. Someone who has read all the George RR Martin books; 3. A fantasy recreationist), could be a problem.

Fortunately, I do know someone who meets all these criteria, and will be forcing them to play very soon.

Congratulations if you’ve read this far — you’re probably almost as big a loser as me. So go download it and pretend you’re in Essos.