Crown of Emara
Crown of Emara Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Scoring Track
- 4 "Countryside" Locations
- 4 "Town" Locations
- 1 Game Board "Nobility"
- 4 Player Boards
- 16 Books
- 12 Signet Rings
- 12 Gold Coins
- 12 Breads
- 12 Favor Tokens
- 4 Donation Markers
- 4 Gift Markers
- 1 Bread Marker
- 1 Stone Marker
- 1 Statue (assemble from 3 parts before your first game)
- 36 Action Cards
- 20 Nobility Cards
- 14 Event Cards
- 22 Advisor Cards (16x A, 6x B)
- 4 Turn Overviews
- Resources: 11 Wood, 11 Cloth, 11 Grain, 11 Stone
- 16 Craftsmen
- 8 Councilors
- 4 Citizens
- 4 Buildings
General Notes
Double-sided cards
All cards, except for Action Cards, are printed with English on the front and German on the back, specified by white (German) or black (English) borders. Before playing, simply turn them to the appropriate side.
Double-sided Locations
For purely cosmetic reasons, all Locations are printed with either a lighter or darker background. Choose which one you like better and turn all Locations to the respective side.
Rules depending on the number of players
The Solo Mode is explained on page 11. In addition, there is only 1 rule that depends on the number of players. During setup, placing of Donation, Gift, Stone, and Bread Markers on the Castle, Cathedral, and Construction Site Locations (steps 4, 5, and 7, marked with green circles) varies. All other rules remain the same.
One side of each of the markers shows a symbol of two figures. Use that side in 2- and 3-player games. Otherwise, use the other side.
Unlimited Game Components
There is no limit to how many Resources, Breads, Books, Signet Rings and Gold Coins you may have. If you, unexpectedly, run out of the given resource, please use an appropriate replacement.
Setup
1. The Countryside: Randomly combine the 4 Countryside Locations (Forest, Grainfield, Quarry, Weaving Mill).
2. Place the 4 kinds of resources on the corresponding locations (Wood, Grain, Stone, Cloth). Place the Breads on the Grainfield.
3. The Town: Randomly combine the 4 Town Locations (Castle, Cathedral, Construction Site, Market).
4. Castle: Place the Signet Rings on the designated space.
Turn the 4 Gift Markers to the appropriate side for your number of players. Place them on the designated spaces with the black number facing the resource.
Exception for 2 players: Rotate the markers for Stone and Cloth, so that the "2" faces the resources.
5. Cathedral: Shuffle the Favor Tokens to form a face down stack. Place the Books nearby.
Turn the 4 Donation Markers to the appropriate side for your number of players. Place them on the designated spaces with the black number facing the resource.
Exception for 2 players: Rotate the markers for Wood and Grain, so that the "2" faces the resources.
6. Market: Place the Gold Coins on the designated space.
7. Construction Site: Turn the Bread Marker and Stone Marker to the appropriate side for your number of players. Place them on the designated spaces with the black number facing the Stone and Bread symbols.
Exception for 2 players: Rotate both markers clockwise, to the next number.
8. Advisors: Shuffle all Advisor Cards A (see image) and place 8 of them randomly on the designated spaces on the Town Locations (i.e. 2 per Location). Return the rest to the game box.
9. Shuffle all Advisor Cards B (see image) and place them as a face up stack next to the game boards.
10. Sort and stack the Nobility Cards according to their title. Sort each stack by Citizen Point value in descending order. Place the stacks on the Nobility Board.
11. Place the two-piece Scoring Track next to the other game boards.
12. Shuffle the Events and place them as a face up Event Deck on the table.
13. Take 1 Player Board and 1 Turn Overview, each. Also take your other game materials: 8 wooden components (4 Craftsmen, 1 Citizen, 2 Councilors, 1 Building) and 9 Action Cards (1 of each type).
14. Place your Citizens on the "0" on the Scoring Track. Place your Buildings on the number indicated by the top card of the Event Deck (e.g. "30", see image).
Exception: Place your buildings on "35" if playing for the first time. The lower the number, the harder the game. You can also decide on the starting space of your buildings.
15. Place your Craftsmen on the indicated spaces of your Player Board.
16. Randomly select a starting player. They take the Statue and place their Councilors on the Locations indicated by the top card of the Event Deck.
Clockwise, all other players place their Councilors on the Locations following in clockwise order.
Take 1 resource corresponding to the location of your Councilor in the Countryside.
Note: Both figures serve the same roles.
17. Shuffle your 9 Action Cards and place them as a face down stack next to your Player Board.
Draw the top 3 cards.
Overview
In Crown of Emara you each aim to satisfy as many citizens as possible. The Citizen tracks your current Citizen Points on the Scoring Track.
However, at the end of the game, all your citizens need housing to be content. Correspondingly, your Building tracks the current Building Points on the Scoring Track.
So, to win the game, you need to mind both, the number of citizens and their housing. Finally, your score will be the lower of Building and Citizen Points and the player with the highest final score wins.
Throughout the game, you will perform different actions:
On the one hand, Action Cards will provide you with resources and a variety of other actions.
On the other hand, playing Action Cards always triggers movement and an action of 1 of your Councilors. Movement and actions in the Countryside will give you further resources that you can spend in Town.
You can also use collected resources for Bonus Actions: to hire Craftsmen, to recruit Advisors, or to increase your noble rank. The former two provide support throughout the game, whereas the latter increase your reputation and attracts citizens.
There are several ways to collect Points.
You receive Building Points for delivering Stone and Wood to the Construction Site. You can also collect Building Points for spending Books in the Castle and thanks to some Advisors.
You receive Citizen Points for delivering Bread or Stone to the Construction Site. You can also receive Citizen Points by increasing your noble rank, by donating Books on the Market, and thanks to some Advisors.
Course of the Game
Crown of Emara is played over 6 rounds, in which each player takes 3 turns. Each round has the following phases:
1. Event
Return the topmost card of the Event Deck to the game box. Announce the new top card to all players and apply its effect. Some Event cards have an effect at the end of the round (see below).
The Events are explained in detail on page 10, "Event Cards".
2. Player turns
Beginning with the Starting Player, take turns in clockwise order.
On your turn, play 1 Action Card from your hand onto an empty slot of your Player Board. Then perform the associated Card Action, Movement Action and up to 3 different Bonus Actions in the order of your choice.
The actions are explained in detail on the next page, "A Player's Turn".
3. End of the round
The round ends after each player has taken 3 turns, i.e. after they have played all their 3 Action Cards:
- If the current Event refers to the end of the round, apply its effect.
- Pass the Statue to the next player, in clockwise order.
- Flip the 3 Action Cards played this round to "empty" the slots of your Player Board.
- If this is the end of the 3rd round, shuffle all 9 Action Cards to create a new stack.
- Draw 3 Action Cards.
After 6 rounds, the game is over. Continue with the end game scoring and determine the winner.
A Player's Turn
Play 1 Action Card from your hand onto any empty slot of your Player Board.
The Card determines which Card Action you take.
The slot determines your Movement Action, i.e. the amount of steps (1, 2, or 3) that you move 1 of your Councilors.
You may also perform each of the 3 Bonus Actions 1x, if you can pay the associated costs (see later).
You may perform all these actions in any order but you must finish each action before starting the next.
Card Action
Perform the action shown on the Action Card you just played:
- (Wood / Stone / Cloth / Grain / Signet Ring cards) Take 1 Wood/1 Stone/1 Cloth/1 Grain/1 Signet Ring.
- (Gold Coin card) You may pay 1 resource to take 1 Gold Coin OR pay any 3 resources to take 2 Gold Coins.
- (1 step card) Move 1 of your Councilors to the next location in clockwise order (1 step). You may perform the action associated to that Location.
- Note: This action is identical to a Movement Action that allows 1 step (see below).
- (Discount card) You may perform the Bonus Action "Hire a Craftsman" or "Recruit an Advisor" at a Location where 1 of your Councilors is present. Pay any 1 resource less than required.
- Note: The Bonus Actions are explained in detail on page 7, "Bonus Actions".
- (Town card) You may perform the action associated to any Town Location (Castle, Cathedral, Construction Site, Market) irrespective of your Councilors positions.
- Note: The Town Locations and their actions are explained in detail on the next page, "Town Location Actions".
Movement Action
Move 1 of your Councilors as many steps in clockwise order to a new Location, as indicated on the slot to which this turn's Action Card was played (1, 2, or 3 steps). You may not move less!
There is no limit to the number of Councilors on a Location.
You may then perform the action associated to that Location.
The Locations and their actions are explained in the following sections.
Countryside Location Actions
Weaving Mill, Grainfield, Quarry, Forest
Take 1 resource indicated on the Location: 1 Cloth, 1 Grain, 1 Stone, or 1 Wood.
Additionally, for each of your Craftsmen on the Location, you may choose to either:
- Take 1 additional resource of the same type OR
- Pay 1 Grain to take 1 Bread.
Town Location Actions
Cathedral
You may make 1 donation:
Choose which kind of resource you want to donate. Pay the number of resources currently indicated by the corresponding marker. Then, turn that marker clockwise to the next number*.
You receive 2 rewards for the donation:
- Take 1 Book.
- Note: Books represent knowledge. Books can be used to obtain Building Points in the Castle or Citizen Points on the Market.
- You also receive 1 Favor Token: Take 3 Favor Tokens from the stack and look at them. Place 1 of them face up next to your Player Board to keep it. Discard the other 2 to a face up discard pile. If at any time the Favor Token stack is empty, shuffle the discard pile and place it as a new face down stack.
- If your Councilor finishes its movement on a Location indicated by 1 or more of your Favor Tokens or if you perform its Action, you may discard any or all of these Tokens to receive the indicated reward(s).
- The Favor Tokens are explained in detail on page 9, "Favor Tokens".
Example: The Donation Marker indicates 1 Cloth. You pay 1 Cloth and turn the Marker, which now shows "2". The next donation "costs" 2 Cloth.
Castle
2 Actions are available in the Castle. You may perform each Action 1x.
You may make 1 gift to the king:
Choose which kind of resource you want to give. Pay the number of resources as currently indicated by the corresponding marker. Then, turn that marker clockwise to the next number*.
You receive a reward for the gift:
- Take 1 Signet Ring.
- Note: Signet Rings represent your influence on the King. They can be used to increase your noble rank and for several Events.
Discard 1 Book to receive 5 Building Points.
Market
2 Actions are available on the Market. You may perform each Action 1x.
Pay any 1 resource to take 1 Gold Coin.
- Whenever you pay 1 resource, you may always discard 1 Gold Coin, instead.
- Note: Gold Coins can be used to increase your noble rank.
Discard 1 – 5 Books to receive Citizen Points according to the following table:
| Books | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citizen Points | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 21 |
Construction Site
3 Actions are available at the Construction Site. You may perform each Action 1x.
Pay 1 Stone to receive 5 Building Points and a number of Citizen Points as currently indicated by the Stone Marker. Then, turn that marker clockwise to the next number*.
Pay 1 – 3 Breads to receive a number of Citizen Points for each as currently indicated by the Bread Marker. Then, turn that marker clockwise to the next number*.
Pay 1 or 3 Wood to receive Building points:
- For 1 Wood you receive 5 Building points.
- For 3 Wood you receive 10 Building points.
Note: If you would turn a marker on the Castle, Cathedral, or Construction Site to the black number or the symbol indicating the player number, return it to the game box, instead. Until the end of the game, use the value printed on the board.
Bonus Actions
In addition to your Card and Movement Action, you may perform each of the 3 available Bonus Actions 1x at any time during your turn. You must be able to pay the costs to do so.
Bonus Action: Increase your noble rank
Nobility Cards are a good source of Citizen Points. The cards correspond to 5 noble ranks that each player can acquire once during the game in the following order: Baron, Count, Prince, Marquess, Duke. You may not skip a rank.
To increase your noble rank, discard the indicated number of Gold Coins and Signet Rings of the next rank and take the topmost card of its stack.
Receive Citizen Points as indicated on the Nobility Card and place it underneath your Player Board.
Bonus Action: Hire a Craftsman
Craftsmen increase your income from a Countryside Location.
To Hire a Craftsman, first choose an empty hut on your Councilor's current Countryside Location. Pay the resource cost indicated on the hut to place the leftmost Craftsmen from your Player Board on it.
Immediately receive Citizen Points as indicated underneath the Craftsman on your Player Board.
Note: You may place up to 3 Craftsmen on the same Location.
Note: Yellow wants to Hire a Craftsman. The hut showing 2 Wood is already occupied, so they choose the hut showing 1 Wood and 1 Cloth, pay the cost and place the Craftsman. They receive 1 Citizen Point, as it was their first Craftsman.
Bonus Action: Recruit an Advisor
To Recruit an Advisor, first choose an Advisor on your Councilor's current Town Location.
Then, pay the resources indicated on the top of the Advisor Card to place it to the left of your portrait on your Player Board.
As long as possible, refill the empty space on the Town Location by placing the topmost Advisor from the prepared stack of Advisor B Cards.
Immediately receive Citizen Points as indicated on the bottom left of the Advisor Card. Some Advisors give you an additional, immediate bonus; others grant special abilities for the rest of the game.
All Advisors are explained in detail on page 8 – 9, "Advisors".
End of the Game
The game ends after 6 rounds, when each player has played all their Action Cards twice. Then continue with the end game scoring:
Receive 2 points for each Signet Ring you own. Receive 1 point for each Gold Coin, Favor Token, Book, Bread, and for every 2 resources you have left. You may use these points as Citizen or Building Points or any combination thereof. Move Citizen and Building, accordingly.
Determine your final score by comparing your Building and Citizen Points. The lower of the two is your final score.
The player with the highest final score wins.
In case of a tie, apply the following rules to determine who of those players is in the lead:
- who scored more points with the second marker (Citizen or Building),
- who has the highest noble rank,
- who scored more Citizen Points from their Nobility Card of their highest rank.
If there is still a tie, all of those players share the position.
Example: Emma has 66 Citizen Points and 68 Building Points, her final score is 66 points, as the smallest value is used. Jacob scored 60 points (69 Citizen and 60 Building Points), Hugo scored 65 (71 Citizen and 65 Building Points). Emma wins ahead of Hugo and Jacob.
Explanation of Cards and Tokens
Advisors
You may Recruit 1 Advisor on your turn by paying the costs as a Bonus Action. Advisors stay with you until the end of the game.
You receive Citizen Points as indicated on the card, immediately after Recruiting. Many Advisors grant special abilities: immediately and one-time, 1x per turn, or permanently. Using the Advisor's abilities is always optional.
The Advisor Card shows: the costs for recruiting the Advisor (top), the Citizen Points you immediately receive, the Type (A or B), the Special Ability, and the timing and frequency of usage (immediately / 1x per turn / permanently).
Type A Advisors (placed on the board during setup)
The numbers in brackets indicate the Citizen Points that you receive once, immediately after Recruiting.
Immediately and one-time:
- Master of Coin: Take 1 Gold Coin. (+ 6)
- Archivist: Take 2 Books. (+2)
- Goldsmith: Take 1 Signet Ring. (+ 5)
- Carpenter: You receive 10 Building Points. (+1)
Once per turn (even immediately after Recruiting):
- Baker: Pay 1 Cloth and 1 Grain to take 1 Bread OR pay 1 Cloth and 2 Grain to take 2 Breads. (+3)
- Schoolmarm: Pay any 2 resources to take 1 Book. (+3)
- Bailiff: Discard 1 Signet Ring to receive 5 Building Points. (+5)
- Dressmaker: Pay 1 Cloth to receive 2 Citizen Points. (+5)
- Landlord: Pay 1 Cloth and 1 Citizen Point to receive 5 Building Points. (+3)
- Merchant: Pay 1 resource to take 1 other resource. (+2)
Permanent (even immediately after Recruiting):
- Chamberlain: Discard 1 Signet Ring to take 1 Gold Coin or vice versa. (+6)
- Scholar: Pay any kind of resources to Hire a Craftsman or to Recruit an Advisor. You only have to match the required number. (+3)
- Mayoress: You receive 2 additional Citizen Points, whenever you make a gift in the Castle. (+5)
- Steward: You may Hire any Craftsman or Recruit any Advisor, irrespective of the positions of your Councilors. (+5)
- Abbess: Take 1 additional Book, whenever you make a donation in the Cathedral. (+2)
- Toolmaker: Whenever you receive Building points, you receive 2 additional Building Points. Does not apply to the end game scoring. (+2)
Type B Advisors (in the face up stack)
All type B advisors' abilities are immediately and one-time.
- Sir Christiaan: You receive 8 Citizen Points.
- Lady Marie: You receive 8 Citizen Points.
- Sir Carl: You receive 10 Citizen Points.
- Lady Frida: You receive 12 Citizen Points.
- Sir Gustave: You receive 12 Building Points.
- Sir Antoni: You receive 15 Building Points.
Favor Tokens
Each Favor Token shows a symbol corresponding to 1 of the 4 City Locations in the top left corner. This shows you where you can use its ability. The bottom right of the token shows the reward for doing so:
- 3 Citizen Points
- 5 Building Points
- 1 Book
- 1 Signet Ring
- 1 Gold Coin
You may take the token's reward whenever your Councilor moves to the indicated Location or when you perform that Location's action using a Card Action. If you do, discard the Favor Token.
Note: You may take the reward even if you do not use the Location's action.
Event Cards
At the start of each round (6 times per game), you reveal a new Event by removing the top card from the Event Deck and apply the new card's effect. The following Events are in the game:
You each receive 1 resource:
- Clear the old forest (Start of round): Take 1 Wood.
- Bountiful harvest (Start of round): Take 1 Grain.
- Stone from distant shores (Start of round): Take 1 Stone.
- Fine wool, fine cloth (Start of round): Take 1 Cloth.
You can each get a reward at the end of the round.
After each player has finished all 3 turns of the round, you need to pay or discard something (in player order), to get a reward:
- The great famine (End of round): You may pay 1 Grain to receive 3 Citizen Points or pay 2 Grain or 1 Signet Ring to receive 5 Citizen Points.
- Alms for the poor (End of round): You may discard 1 Gold Coin or 1 Signet Ring to receive 4 Citizen Points.
- New lore in old books (End of round): You may discard 1 Book or 1 Signet Ring to receive 5 Building Points.
A game rule is changed for the current round:
- An early winter (This round): Whenever you receive Building Points, you receive 1 point less. Does not apply to the end game scoring.
- Merchants from afar (This round): On the market, you may pay 1 additional resource to receive 1 additional Gold Coin.
- A long summer (This round): Whenever you receive Building Points, you receive 2 additional points. Does not apply to the end game scoring.
- A pious donation (This round): Whenever you make a donation in the cathedral, you receive 3 additional Citizen Points.
- Respected at court, loved by the people (This round): Whenever you increase your noble rank, you receive 2 additional Citizen Points.
- A gift from the people (This round): Whenever you make a gift in the castle, you receive 3 additional Citizen Points.
- Good labour situation (This round): Pay any 1 resource less than required to Hire an Advisor.
Solo Mode
In Solo Mode you play against Victoria, a virtual player. She does not collect Building Points, only Citizen Points. 2 variants are available for the Solo Mode.
Individual Games: Beat the Highscore
In this variant you try to score as many points as possible.
You can set the difficulty by changing the starting position of your Building. We recommend starting between 15 (difficult) and 40 (easy). Note your highscore for each difficulty, separately.
While Victoria participates in the game, her score is irrelevant for your highscore. She serves only to compete for Nobility Cards and the Construction Site (see below).
Campaign: How far can you recede your Building?
In this variant you try to decrease the starting position of your Building in subsequent games, while still beating Victoria. Your current campaign highscore is the lowest starting position that still allowed you to beat her.
To beat Victoria, your final score must be higher than hers. A tie does not suffice. If you manage to beat her twice from the same position, a higher final score is considered "better".
The following changes to the rules apply for changing the starting position of the Building.
- In your first game, start on "40".
- If you win, decrease the starting position by 5 (i.e. 35, for the second game).
- If you lose, increase the starting position by 2 for the next game (i.e. 42, for the second game).
Game Rules
The following changes to the rules apply for both Solo mode variants. All other rules of the regular game remain in effect.
Setup:
- Prepare the game material for yourself and take 1 additional Citizen of a different color. Place this Citizen on the "0" on the Scoring Track to track Victoria's Points, as usual.
- Place the Stone Marker and Bread Marker on the Construction Site, as you would in a 4-player game.
- Place the Donation and Gift Markers on the Cathedral and Castle, as you would in a 2-player game.
- Place the Event "An early winter" back in the game box.
Course of the Game:
Perform the following steps at the end of rounds 2 - 6:
- Victoria receives Citizen Points as though she paid 1 Stone and 1 Bread at the Construction Site. Move the markers accordingly.
- Victoria increases her noble rank. Take the top card of the next rank (see below) and place it next to the game board as a stack. Victoria receives the indicated Citizen Points, as usual.
- Round 2: Baron
- Round 3: Count
- Round 4: Prince
- Round 5: Marquess
- Round 6: no further Card!
At the end of round 6, determine your final score as usual, i.e. the lower of Building and Citizen Points.
You can track your results on the score sheet (on the next page). You can also download the sheet at www.pegasus.de in the Downloads section.
Note: If you decide to use the "Full Selection" variant (see page 12) in Solo Mode, we recommend using a separate scoring sheet, as this variant will result in better outcomes.
Score sheet for solo mode
The rulebook includes a printed score sheet with a Highscores table (Building Points starting positions 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, with a Building Points tie breaker column and columns for Name) and a Campaign table (columns for Building, Name, Points; starting at 40).
Example: 25 | 75 (81) Emma
Variants
If you are familiar with the Crown of Emara base game, you can use the following variants to add more variety to the game.
Random Location Layout: During setup, instead of sorting the Locations into Countryside and Town, shuffle all 8 Locations and create 2 random boards with 4 Locations each. Each player takes 1 resource of their choice, irrespective of the Councilors position.
Note: If the starting player's Councilors would both be placed onto the same set of Locations during Setup, they relocate one of them of their choice to any Location of their choice on the other set. Then, place all other players' Councilors, as usual.
Full Selection: During setup, draw all 9 Action Cards, instead of 3. After 3 rounds, return all cards back to your hand.
Note: This variant is much more strategic and will likely increase the duration of rounds and the game. We recommend trying it in a 2-player game or in Solo Mode, first.
Credits
We would like to thank "Hans im Glück", "Lookout Games", and "Hall Games" for their kind approval to use the tools of the Citizens and the Cloth from "Marco Polo", the Wood from "Caverna", as well as the Grain from "At the Gates of Loyang".
We would also like to thank all playtesters and proofreaders for the fantastic work and suggestions while developing this game.
Designer: Benjamin Schwer Illustrations: Dennis Lohausen 3D-Shot: Andreas Resch Layout: Jens Wiese Realization: Ralph Bruhn Translation: Martin Zeeb
© 2018 Pegasus Spiele GmbH, Am Straßbach 3, 61169 Friedberg, Germany. All rights reserved. Reprinting or publishing of the rule book, game components, or illustrations is prohibited without prior permission.