Castle Dukes Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Game Turn Summary
• Room Phase
  • Bonus Items
  • Example
  • Inventory Limits
• Room Cards
  • Upper and Lower Levels
• The Castle Barbican
• Building Phase
  • Example
  • Placing Floor Tiles
  • Roof Tiles
  • Bridge Tiles
• Drawing From the Construction Deck
• Guest Phase
• Dragon Attack
  • Resolving a Dragon Attack
  • Example
• Collapsing Penalty
• Game End
  • Extra Hard Variant
• Scoring
  • Victory Points
  • Quick Guide: End-Game Scoring Chart
  • Quick Guide: Actions and Costs
  • Quick Guide: Placement and Limits
• Variants
  • Solo / 2–Player Game Board
  • 5–8 Players
  • FAQ
• Single Player Mode
  • Random Thought
  • AI Room Selection
  • AI Guest and Dragon Behaviour

Components

• 4 Player Boards
• 4 Castle Barbicans
• 1 First Player Marker
• 1 Game Board (two-sided: 1–2 player side and 3–4 player side)
• 1 AI Die
• 50 Floor Tiles
• 18 Ballistae
• 12 Guest Cards
• 1 Draw Bag
• 10 Tables
• 10 Kings
• 10 Princesses
• 10 Knights
• 22 Boiling Cauldrons
• 15 Dragon Damage Chits
• 5 Yellow Trackers (cubes)
• 20 Black Coffers (cubes)
• 50 Rooms
• 100 Pillars
• 20 Serfs
• 20 Construction Cards
• 12 Crumble Tokens
• 20 Braziers
• 12 Battlements
• Vine components (used only in the Extra Hard variant; see Extra Hard Variant)
• 1 Game Manual

Setup

1. Give each player 1 'Castle Barbican' and 1 'Player Board'. Players should place the Player Boards in front of themselves, and the Castle Barbican behind the Player Board, as shown in the picture above. The Barbicans should be clearly visible to all other players.
2. Set all 3 values (Comfort, Defence, Offence) of each dial on the Castle Barbicans to zero.
3. Decide the first player and give him the First Player Marker.
4. Place all Floor Tiles into 2 even stacks with their bridge sides facing up, and all 15 Damage Chits into the draw bag.
5. Shuffle all the Construction cards facedown into 1 deck.
6. Sort all the different other components (pillars, braziers, coffers, the 4 meeple types, tables, boiling cauldrons, ballistae, battlements) into their own groups within easy reach.
7. Put the main Game Board in the middle of the play area, and put a Black cube on 'Turn 1' of the Turn Track. If this is a solo or 2–player game, remember to use the reverse side of the main Game Board.
8. Shuffle the Room cards into a stack facedown. Take Room cards from the top of the stack and place them in each of the 'Room' slots on the main Game Board until all slots are filled with 1 Room card face up.
9. Each player except player 1 then gets free Coins before the game starts. Player 1 will get no Coins, player 2 will get 1 free Coin, and player 3 will get 2 free Coins and player 4 will get 3 free Coins. These free Coins must now be spent immediately between Pillars (in pairs) and Floor Tiles — see page 6 Building Phase. The items go straight into each player's inventory to be built later.

Game Turn Summary

The game is played across 9 turns, which are further broken down into 3 phases each. They occur in the following order:

1. Room Phase
2. Building Phase
3. Guest Phase

Room Phase

Every turn players begin with 5 Coins. Starting from the player with the First Player Marker and then in clockwise direction, each player may take any of the Room cards available on the main Game Board by paying the appropriate cost of the Room cards. The cost of the Room cards depend on their positions on the Game Board. Picking a Room card from specific slots on the Game Board also allows players to draw extra bonus items. (Tables, Serfs & Coffers) These go into one's inventory first, which the player can then use to place onto his castle later in the Building Phase. The bonus items are stated on the Game Board itself, depicted beside their appropriate slots. It is intentional that the lowest slot has no bonus item.

Bonus Items

Table: These add 1 Comfort rating and 1 Defence rating to the castle. They can only be placed on Room cards, at a limit of one Table per Room card.

Serf Meeple: They can only be placed on Room cards that have specific Serf slots for them. Every 2 Serfs in a castle is worth 1 VP at the end of the game.

Coffer: These add 1 VP at the end of the game for every 3 in a player's castle. They can only be placed atop Room cards, at a limit of one Coffer per Room card. Coffers are represented by wooden black cubes in this game.

Example

If player 1 takes a Room card from the lowest slot, she must pay 1 Coin. This leaves her with 4 Coins for the rest of the current turn. She can take as many rooms as she wants, provided she has enough Coins to pay for them. This means she can also take another Room card that costs 3 Coins. If she does so, she will have 1 Coin left for her Building Phase. She will also get a bonus Serf item from that 2nd Room card she took. Alternatively she could just take the Room card from the highest slot, which is exactly 5 Coins in cost — leaving her with no Coins for the Building Phase. She would get a bonus Table item though. Or she could take none at all, leaving her with 5 full Coins for her Building Phase.

Inventory Limits

Each player has his own inventory that stores items and Room cards acquired throughout the game. As long as an item is not built onto a player's castle, it is considered to be in the player's inventory. Examples of these items include Braziers, Tables, Serfs and even Floor Tiles etc. There is a limit of 3 of each type of item in a player's inventory. If a player already has two Room cards in his inventory, he can only take 1 more. In order to take more than 1 Room, he must first build his existing Room cards in his inventory to make space for more. Similarly, if a player already has 3 Coffers in his inventory, he cannot claim another bonus Coffer until he places his Coffers from his inventory onto his castle. The only exception to this rule is the Pillar, which is counted in pairs. The Pillar inventory limit for all players is 3 pairs (a total of 6!).

When all players have had a chance to take Room cards, the Room phase ends. Move down all Room cards remaining on the Game Board, as per the arrow direction. Fill any empty slots with new Room cards from the stack, in bottom-up order. Remember that Room cards on the Game Board should always be face up so everyone can see the Rooms' details. If all Room cards still remain at the end of any Room Phase, the Room card on the lowest slot is removed, then all other Room cards slide down and a new Room card is drawn to fill the now-empty slot at the top. This ensures that the Rooms are always cycling, even if no one took any Room card.

Room Cards

The game revolves around these the most. They have various values that will increase the ratings of a castle, namely Comfort, Defence and Offence. These are indicated by symbols on the bottom right area of the card. Rooms also have slots for specific guests, which is important for housing the right ones when they appear. This information is also depicted in symbols, at the bottom left area of the cards. Room cards can never have Pillars placed over them. Room cards must be built on Floor Tiles that have available room space. Note that Room cards can be kept in inventories just like all other items, but up to a limit of 3.

Upper and Lower Levels

Room cards sometimes have a specific placement rule. This is when the 'Upper' or 'Lower' arrow appears on the Room card itself. Rooms with 'Upper' arrows depicted on them can only be built on Levels 3 or higher in a castle, and rooms with 'Lower' stated on them can only be built on Levels 2 or lower.

The Castle Barbican

Every player also has a Castle Barbican that shows 3 dials. These dials must always be updated 'live' at all times, and clearly visible to all other players in the game. If a player places a Room card in his castle with a Comfort rating of 2, he must turn up his Comfort dial value by 2. If he places a Brazier onto his castle (which gives 1 Defence), he must turn up his Defence dial value by 1. In any event that a player loses items from his castle due to Dragon Attacks, the dial is also updated immediately to reflect that loss (such as reducing the Defence dial value by 1 if he has to discard 1 Brazier). The reason why the Castle Barbican must be visible to all other players is because it is very important for others to strategize their castle building styles based on their opponents' castle rating values. After all, the Kings, Princesses and Knights go only to the castle with the highest rating of their preferences. At the end of the game, Victory Points are also awarded for the top 2 in each rating!

The side showing a field should face the owner.

Building Phase

Unlike the Room phase, there is no 'player order' in this phase. All players can concurrently do their own stuff. This also ensures that the game has minimal downtime. In this phase, any player with remaining Coins may do any of the following by spending their Coins:

• Draw a Floor Tile from one of the 2 stacks. (1 Coin)
• Take 2 Pillars. (1 Coin)
• Draw a card from the Construction Deck and receive the items stated. (4 Coins)

Players are allowed to take multiple actions of the same type as long as they can pay for the cost of the actions.

Example

Player 2 has 3 Coins remaining after the Room phase. He can draw 2 Floor Tiles, and take 1 pair of Pillars. Or he can simply draw 3 pairs of Pillars instead. Remember that player inventories have limits of 3 per item type. If player 2 had 1 pillar still in his inventory, he must first build that pillar from his inventory or he would only be able to draw 5 Pillars as his inventory limit for Pillars is reached.

When a player does not wish to perform any more of the actions stated above, the player must openly declare to all other players that he is done with acquiring Items for that turn. He may not do so until the start of the next turn. He will then transit into the actual building of the castle. This is also the ONLY time in the game that players are allowed to take items from their inventories to place down onto their castles. Once a player begins placing items onto his castle, he can no longer use Coins for that turn. It is therefore recommended to use all your Coins before you begin building up your castle for that turn. All items are permanent once placed. A player cannot shift items in later turns, or move guests around and between Rooms. While building one's castle, a player is allowed to use both hands. With the exception of the base Floor Tiles, all other items that touch a Player Board will trigger a penalty for the player (see Collapsing Penalty). Even a single pillar rolling off a Floor Tile and touching a Player Board will trigger this penalty. This is after all, also partially a dexterity game! Only Items placed in castles are considered. Items still in players' inventories are safe from this rule of not touching Player Boards.

Placing Floor Tiles

There are 4 ways a player can place a Floor Tile:

1. Foundation. Placing a Floor Tile onto any of his 3 Foundation spaces on his Player Board, also known as Level 1. Each of these 3 spaces on the Player Board is known as a Tower. This also means a player can only build up to a maximum of 3 Towers.
2. Stacking. Placing a Floor Tile on top of another Floor Tile with at least 1 Pillar standing between them, effectively forming a higher level of the castle. There is no limit to the number of Pillars used to hold the higher levels of Floor Tiles. It is entirely up to the player. Of course, more Pillars used also means a more stable castle. However, Pillars cost Coins and the more dexterous player can inch out an advantage by building upwards with less Pillars. There is a rule to this though — All cobblestone markings on a Floor Tile must contain at least 1 Pillar each, before the next Floor Tile can be built atop it. Cobblestone markings are allowed to contain more than 1 Pillar if the player wishes to do so. This is also the fun and creative part — Players are allowed to place their Pillars ANYWHERE on a Floor Tile except on Room spaces or Bridge Ends. Get creative with your Pillar placements! It's your castle after all.
3. Roof. Place as a Roof Tile. (See Roof Tiles below)
4. Bridge. Place as a Bridge Tile. (See Bridge Tiles below)

Roof Tiles

A player can decide that he has built his castle high enough for one of his Towers and declare he will cap a Roof over that Tower in particular. Simply flip over a Floor Tile in your inventory and place it over that Tower. This tile will no longer be able to hold any Room or Pillar. Instead, it can now hold Items from the Construction deck. Roof Tiles need to be at a minimum of level 3 or higher. All Roof Tiles naturally have Bridge ends (see Bridge Tiles below).

Bridge Tiles

A Bridge Tile is very similar to a Roof Tile – Simply flip over a Floor Tile in your inventory and place it on top of (and between) the two of your front Towers. This tile will no longer be able to hold any Room or Pillar. Instead, it can now hold items from the Construction Deck. A Bridge Tile can only be placed between two Floor Tiles that have Bridge ends. From level 3 onwards, be alert to build your side Towers with Floor Tiles that have Bridge Ends. If you do not do that, you can no longer build a bridge on that level. Bridges can only be placed on level 3 or higher. Each bridge is also worth 1 VP at the end of the game!

Drawing From the Construction Deck

Whenever a player draws a card from the Construction Deck, he will immediately gain the items stated on the card, placing them into his inventory. Remember that players are only allowed to store as many as three of the same type of Item before they must either start to place them onto their castle or discard them. In this manner, if a player already has 2 braziers in his inventory, and he draws a Construction Deck stating he can get 2 more, he will only get 1 more as he has already hit the limit of 3 braziers in his inventory.

The various Items that can be found in the Construction deck are listed here, and each of them can only be placed onto Roof or Bridge Tiles:

Brazier: These add 1 Defence rating to the castle. Place them anywhere (except on Bridge Ends) on Roof or Bridge Tiles at a limit of two per Tile.

Battlement: Found only in the Construction deck, each Battlement awards 1 VP at the end of the game. They can only be placed on Bridge and Roof Tiles, at a limit of one per Tile. They are also required for placement of Boiling Cauldrons and Ballistae, at a limit of three per Battlement. A player can mix the ratio of Boiling Cauldrons and Ballistae on a Battlement any way he wants, as long as the limit is three per Battlement. A player is allowed to pick up an existing Battlement from his castle to slot in new Ballistae and Boiling Cauldrons, so that he does not risk collapsing his castle. But he must place it back on the same Roof/Bridge tile.

Boiling Cauldron: Found only in the Construction deck, these add 1 Defence rating and 1 Offence rating to the castle. They can only be placed on Battlements, up to a limit of three per Battlement. Note that this limit is shared by Ballistae Items. Slot them onto any of the three taller protrusions of a Battlement.

Ballista: Found only in the Construction deck, these add 2 Offence rating to the castle. They can only be placed on Battlements, up to a limit of three per Battlement. Note that this limit is shared by Boiling Cauldrons that are also required to be placed only on Battlements. Similar to Boiling Cauldrons, slot them onto any of the three taller protrusions of a Battlement.

Guest Phase

The first 3 turns of the game are known as the Build-Up period, and this phase will be skipped completely. From the 4th turn onwards, this phase will occur after the Building Phase of each turn.

Draw the top card from the Guest deck. On it there will be a big symbol of a visiting Guest, and a small symbol of another Guest. In a game of 2 players, the big symbol shows which guest type has appeared. Ignore the smaller symbol. In a game of 3–4 players, both symbols are used – yes, two guests appear at the same time!

All players must check their rooms in their castles for available space for the type of guest passing through. If a player does not have any room that has space for the specific guest type, he will have to sit out for that guest. Any players who have space for the guest type will then have to compete for the guest:

• The Knight always seeks out the castle with the highest Offence rating.
• The Princess always seeks out the castle with the highest Comfort rating.
• The King always seeks out the castle with the highest Defence rating.

In the event of a tie for castle rating, the guest will leave without going into any castle.

Upon successfully acquiring a guest, players must immediately place the guest into a room in their castle with space for that guest type. The player then gains a benefit from the guest depending on its type:

• The King has no benefits, but he is worth a hefty 3 VP at the end of the game.
• The Princess can be sacrificed during a Dragon Attack to reduce damage taken by 2, to a min. of 1.
• The Knight immediately adds 1 Offence rating to the castle AFTER it has been placed. If the Knight is removed for whatever reason, this additional Offence will be lost.

For players' potential planning purposes, there are 12 Guest cards in total, half of which will be left unrevealed at the end of the game. For the main guest symbol there are 3 Kings, 5 Princesses and 4 Knights. The smaller symbols appear an equal number of times at 4 each. There are only 4 Fire icons in total across all 12 cards.

When all guest types have been resolved, the current turn ends. Guest cards are always discarded during a game and are never reshuffled into the deck. The First Player Marker is then passed to the player sitting to the left of the current First Player. Move the Turn Marker (yellow cube) forward by 1 on the Turn Track of the Main Board. Start a new turn with the new First Player, beginning from the Room Phase again.

Dragon Attack

During the game, a dragon will appear twice and attack all castles. It might also appear a third time on the last turn of the game. To check if the dragon has appeared for the current turn, simply look at the Guest card revealed during the Guest phase. If there is a fire icon at the top right corner, then the dragon has appeared! (only on turns 4, 7 and 9)

When the dragon attacks, it must be resolved immediately before any of the guests appear. The game only continues to the Guest appearances after the Dragon Attack is resolved.

You do not check for the dragon's appearance on every turn. You only check for a Dragon Attack for the first time on Turn 4 of the game. If there is no Dragon Attack on Turn 4, then during the Guest Phase of Turn 5, a Dragon Attack is automatically triggered. If this is the case, resolve the Dragon Attack before drawing any Guest card on Turn 5's Guest Phase. If the dragon had appeared on Turn 4, it will not appear again on Turn 5.

The second time you check for a Dragon Attack is on Turn 7's Guest Phase. If it appears on that turn, it will not appear again on Turn 8's Guest Phase. If it did not appear on Turn 7, then a Dragon Attack will automatically trigger at the start of Turn 8's Guest Phase before drawing any Guest cards. Fire icons that appear during turns 5, 6, 7 and 8 are promptly ignored.

At the last turn of the game, on Turn 9's Guest Phase, check the top right corner of the Guest card for a final Dragon Attack. If there is a Fire icon, resolve a Dragon Attack for the last time.

Resolving a Dragon Attack

Each player resolves a Dragon Attack separately in the following steps:

1. Each duke may decide which way they will handle the current Dragon Attack: use his castle's Offence rating to repel the dragon, or use his castle's Defence rating to defend against the dragon.
2. When all dukes are ready, each duke checks his chosen rating against the Dragon Damage Chart (found on the Game Board) to determine the amount of damage taken.

Damage Tier	Offence Rating	Defence Rating	Damage
Vulnerable	0–4	0–6	4
Slightly Defended	5–7	7–12	3
Moderately Defended	8–12	13–19	2
Heavily Defended	13+	20	1

3. After determining his damage taken, a duke has the choice of sacrificing 1 Princess residing in his castle to the dragon by returning her to the pool. If he does this, he will take 2 less damage from the Dragon Attack, to a minimum of 1 damage.
4. Starting from the First Player, do a blind draw for FIVE Damage Chits from the draw bag. All 20 Damage Chits should be in the bag. These Chits all have a fire icon in their backgrounds. The types are Floor Tile, Room, Decor, Character, and Pillar. If there is a '2' in the top left corner, it means 2 of that item.

For every damage taken in the chart, a duke must choose from his pool of 5 Damage Chits and resolve that many Chits. The chits taken out are not returned to the bag until the current duke is done with all his damage resolutions. A duke who has zero Decors in his castle is allowed to choose to resolve the Damage Chit that destroys Decors, thereby getting away without losing anything. Before the next duke draws chits for his damage taken, replace all chits completely into the draw bag.

It is completely possible for a duke to take NO damage at all if he has not placed many Items on his castle, and is in fact a strategy. However, he must balance it against his inventory limit as he would not be able to take anything if his inventory is already full — limit of 3 per item type.

Example

There is only 1 Floor Tile damage chit in the game. If a player already drew out the Floor Tile damage chit, he will not get that damage type again for his other 4 draws from the same Dragon Attack. However, the chits are reset back into the draw bag again when the next player draws, which means that the other player will have a chance to get the Floor Tile damage chit now.

If the Damage Chit shows a Pillar, then the player must remove a Pillar from his castle. If it shows a Room, then the player must remove a Room from his castle. Sometimes there is a number '2' on the chit, which means 'Remove 2' of that item type instead of '1'. When removing items, dexterity is also required and any collapses will be penalized. See also FAQ for Extra Item Removals.

The following Items are considered Characters, for purposes of resolving Dragon Attack damage:

• King
• Princess
• Knight
• Serf

The following Items are considered Decors, for purposes of resolving Dragon Attack damage:

• Ballista
• Battlement
• Boiling Cauldron
• Brazier
• Coffer
• Table

Collapsing Penalty

Just like the part when building up one's castle, a player is allowed to use both hands to remove Items during a Dragon Attack. With the exception of the base Floor Tiles, all other items that touch a Player Board will trigger a penalty for the player. The duke must take a Crumble token (which is a -2 VP at the end of the game) and then he is allowed to replace the item in its original place, or he can choose to put it somewhere else. This is the ONLY time a duke can relocate an item as they are usually permanent upon placement. A duke only needs to take 1 Crumble token for each accident, even if multiple components fall off in the same incident. However, if two instances occur at distinctly different times, then the duke must take another Crumble token for the second accident. Dukes are ALLOWED to deliberately take a Crumble token to relocate an unlimited number of components in their castle. However, all changes must be made in the same instance. After that, any change of mind will require the duke to take yet another Crumble token in order to relocate components again. Deliberately taking a Crumble token to rearrange Items in one's castle can only be done during the Building Phase. It cannot be done when resolving a Dragon Attack.

Game End

The final turn of the game is 'Turn 9'. Once the Guest Phase of that turn is resolved, the game concludes. Remember to check for a final Dragon Attack at the start of that Guest Phase. All players then tally their victory points using the chart in the Scoring section below. If players wish to play a longer game, simply play to 12 rounds instead of 9. Do this by putting the Track cube back to Turn 7 after Turn 9 ends. The Dragon does not attack on Turns 10 and 11, but does a guaranteed attack on Turn 12.

Extra Hard Variant

This variant is only for those who want an extreme challenge in dexterity! This is NOT the recommended game mode. Take the 'Vine' components out of the box. When a player places a Floor Tile on level 2 or higher, that player must also take a 'Vine' and hang it anywhere on any of his Floor Tiles above level 1. There is no limit to how many Vines can be hung from the same Floor Tile or which side to hang. Vines that drop onto player boards are left as they are. At end of game, a player loses 1 VP for every 2 Vines on his player board.

Scoring

Victory Points

If more than 1 duke ties for the best rating or height of their castle, add the VP reward of the 1st place and 2nd place for that category, then divide it by the number of tied dukes, and award each duke the result, rounded down. If more than 1 duke ties for the second place, divide the VP reward of the second place, to give each duke an equal amount, rounded down. If Dukes tie for highest VP in the game, the tie breaker is the one with more total levels built in all three towers of his castle. If it is still a tie, the next breaker is the one with more rooms built. If still tied, they win together.

Quick Guide: End-Game Scoring Chart

Printed on the final page of the manual (Quick Guide). The Condition column is shown as icons; the Condition is written out below.

Condition	VP
1 Bridge Tile	1 VP for every Bridge Tile
2 Serfs	1 VP for every 2 Serfs
1 Battlement	1 VP for every Battlement
3 Coffers	1 VP for every 3 Coffers
1 Room on level 5 or higher	1 VP for every Room on level 5+
1 King	3 VP for every King
1 Princess	2 VP for every Princess
1 Knight	1 VP for every Knight
1st / 2nd most Comfort	6 VP / 3 VP
1st / 2nd most Defence	6 VP / 3 VP
1st / 2nd most Offense	4 VP / 2 VP

The Quick Guide right-hand column states the same rewards in words: 6 VP for most Comfort, 3 VP for 2nd; 6 VP for most Defence, 3 VP for 2nd; 4 VP for most Offense, 2 VP for 2nd; 6 VP for tallest castle, 3 VP for 2nd.

Quick Guide: Actions and Costs

Action	Cost
Take a Room card	1–5 Coins, depending on Room position
Take a Construction card	4 Coins
Take a Foundation Tile	1 Coin
Take 2 Pillars	1 Coin

Quick Guide: Placement and Limits

• Brazier: Per Roof/Bridge Tile can hold up to 2.
• Battlement: Per Roof/Bridge Tile can hold 1.
• Ballista: Per Battlement can hold up to 3.
• Boiling Cauldron: Per Battlement can hold up to 3.
• Coffer: Per Room can hold 1.
• Table: Per Room can hold 1.
• Serf: Can only place on Rooms with Serf slots.

Variants

Solo / 2–Player Game Board

For a solo or 2–player game, use the reverse side of the main Game Board (the 1–2 player side).

5–8 Players

If you own 2 sets of Castle Dukes, you will be able to host a game session of 5 to 8 players. For 5 or 6 players, put the 1st Game Board in play on its 3–4 player side, and put the 2nd Game Board adjacent to it with the 1–2 player side face up. For 7 to 8 players, put both Game Boards with their 3–4 player sides face-up.

During Guest Phases, draw 2 Guest Cards. Resolve both Guests on the 1st Guest Card. For 5–6 players, only the top Guest depicted on the 2nd Guest Card will be resolved. For 7–8 player games, both Guests of the 2nd Guest Card are resolved.

For 5+ players, there are 2 very major rule changes in order to cater to the large player count:

• Room Phase: Players take turns buying up to ONE Room at a time. If a player wants to acquire a 2nd Room, he has to wait till the turns come around back to him again. When all players no longer wish to buy Rooms, the phase ends.
• Guest Phase: When players tie for a Guest, they no longer cause the Guest to leave. Instead, each player who tied will get one of that Guest type.

FAQ

Can a player add an Item later in the game onto lower levels? A player can always add Items onto any part of his castle at later points in the game, such as laying a Room card onto a Floor Tile that was placed much earlier. He must be careful not to topple the rest of his castle while doing so. Pillars can also be added in this manner to increase the stability of a castle, but excellent dexterity will be required here.

What is Extra Item Removal? When a player must remove a Room card due to a Damage Chit result, any other Items on that Room card he chooses to remove are also destroyed (including guests residing in that room!) Similarly, if a player has to remove a Floor Tile due to a Damage Chit and he chooses to remove a Floor Tile with a Room card on it, that Room card and everything else on it are also discarded. Another terrible situation is if a player has to remove 1 Pillar, which also happens to be the only Pillar supporting an entire Floor Tile full of Items. Everything has to be removed in this case, besides just the Pillar itself. The duke will not have to suffer the 2 VP penalty of a collapse in such a situation. The key lesson here is that it is good to build buffers as dragon fodder. This includes Pillars on top of a Floor Tile on standby for removal, or simply stocking up on Serfs just to be fodder and protect the more valuable castle guests. Even a deliberately 'useless' Room card can be acquired and built to prevent a duke from having to sacrifice a more precious Room during a Dragon Attack! If you are caught off–guard in a Dragon Attack, the results may be very dire indeed!

What happens if Items run out in the game? The game has limited components! When a particular component runs out (eg. Floor Tile or Serf) no players may take any more of this type of Item until they are returned to the pool via one way or another. If there is dispute over who takes the final pieces of an Item type, such as Pillars, the current turn order determines who gets the first priority to purchase the Items before they run out.

What is the biggest tip of the game for new players? Never build 'just enough' for your castle strategy. Always try to place items that flow with your current game's strategy, and then some. The Dragon inevitably destroys stuff! If you find yourself without excess Pillars, Rooms or even Decors and Characters, you just might find yourself losing a very precious piece of item in a Dragon Attack. There is no such thing as a 'useless' Room! It could be used to absorb damage during a Dragon Attack.

What happens to Rooms or Tiles that are destroyed/ discarded in the game? You only reshuffle Items back into the pool when there are completely none left. This means any Floor Tile that has been discarded during the game for one reason or another is left out of the game until all Floor Tiles in the pool are gone. Only then should players reshuffle the discarded Floor Tiles back into the pool to form a new supply. This is true of other components and items like Room cards.

Single Player Mode

Flip the Main Game Board onto the 1–2 player side. Throughout this mode, you will encounter times when the AI chooses a Room based on an attribute. This simply means it will always take the Room with the highest value of that stated attribute type. If there are more than 1 Room with the same value of that attribute type, the AI always picks the lower positioned Room on the Game Board. The AI does not do anything during the Building Phase.

The AI always starts the first turn as the First Player. Unlike a normal game, you do not gain extra Coins as the 2nd player in this mode. You will only need another Barbican to represent the AI, as it will never build an actual physical castle structure. The AI begins the very first Room Phase of the game by performing a Random Thought.

Random Thought

Sometimes, the AI will need to perform a Random Thought, such as during the very first Room Phase of the game, or when it has more than 1 Attribute type tied for highest among its own three values. Roll the AI Die. The AI will pick a Room based on the result. If there are no Rooms with that attribute type, then the AI chooses based on its own lowest Attribute type. If it has multiple attributes tied for lowest, then simply reroll the AI Die again till you get a valid result.

Note: Sometimes all Rooms on the Game Board provide the same single Attribute type. Then there is no need to perform any Random Thought process or AI decision. Simply take the Room with the most attribute bonuses from among the Rooms.

When the AI takes a Room, the attribute bonuses are immediately applied to its Barbican. Discard the Room card after applying it. If there are VP provided by the Rooms, they do not benefit the AI in any way and are ignored. The AI also does not benefit from bonus items (Coffers, Serfs and Tables).

AI Room Selection

Other than the first turn of the game, during Room Phases, the AI always picks a Room based on the following steps:

1. Determine the AI's current highest attribute type known as X, and its second highest attribute, known as Y.
2. Is X equal to or lower than the player's own value? If yes, the AI picks the Room based on X. If there are no Rooms with that attribute type, the AI picks the Room based on Y.
3. However, if X is higher than the player's own value, the AI picks the Room based on Y.
4. In any case if there are no Rooms when the AI is required to pick based on Y, the AI picks the Room based on its lowest attribute instead.

Remember that if the AI has more than 1 attribute type tied for highest among its own three values, it will perform a Random Thought process with the AI die instead.

AI Guest and Dragon Behaviour

During Guest Phases, the AI does not have to ensure it has available slots for the Guest type. It always competes for the Guest with its attributes stated on its Barbican, and it automatically gets any Guest that the player has no slot for. On acquiring Guests, place them beside its Barbican for end-game scoring. If it is a Knight, immediately add 1 Offence rating to its Barbican.

During Dragon Attacks, the AI also takes damage. Roll the AI Die. The AI loses 1 point in the attribute shown on the result.

• BABY MODE: AI takes 2 attribute losses from the Dragon. Roll the AI die twice during Attacks.
• DUKE MODE: No special rule. Play normally.
• I AM AWESOME MODE: On every turn that the AI is NOT the First Player, it performs the Room selection procedure twice. This means on even-turns, the AI always gets TWO rooms.

Instead of tallest castle comparison during end-game scoring, on your tallest Tower, you get 1 VP for every 2 Levels and part-of built.