I guess it should include Cole Wehrle’s take on the subject (which I’ve not watched, but am now curious about).
I find myself wondering what the difference is between a game with a “king making problem” and any game where the player interaction enables players to interfere with one another’s goals. Offhand, I feel that if you can adversely affect another player in any significant way, then you can wind up in a king-making end-game. Potentially.
One way to prevent it is to run away with the victory so resoundingly that no one can possibly do anything about it. Games which are commonly competitive and close, though… the potential for king-making might just be a common outcome of those other attributes? And “competitive and close” sounds like a good thing?
I’m just musing, though… I haven’t really thought about this in any detail. How do the rest of you see it?