Der König des Waldes
Der König des Waldes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Take the setup card that matches the number of players.
It tells you which follower cards you must put back in the box. For example, in a 3-player game, 1 Assassin, 1 Guard, 1 Scholar, 1 Fool, 1 Treasurer, 1 Knight, and 1 General are removed from the game.
Then shuffle the remaining follower cards. Next, also set aside face down the number of follower cards indicated on the setup card. They do not appear in this round. Take care that no one accidentally looks at them.
Then deal the cards out evenly to all players until the stack is used up. This game has no draw pile; every card is either directly in play or sorted out. In addition, each player receives one overview card.
Course of Play
A game is divided into several rounds.
Whoever has most recently seen a stag or a doe goes first.
On your turn, you must play exactly 1 card from your hand to any court — that is, you lay it in the open display in front of a player. You have 2 options:
a) You play the card to your own court, laying it down in front of yourself, and gain its influence value for your court. Some abilities are also useful to you when you play them to your own court.
b) You play the card to the court of another player, laying it down in front of that other player. That player then receives the influence shown on the card, but you benefit from its unique ability.
Then the next player clockwise takes a turn. The round ends as soon as no one has any hand cards left. Because of the followers' abilities, this may happen sooner for some players and later for others.
What a Follower Card Looks Like
Here you find the influence of the follower on the court where they lie. Influence values range from 0 to 7.
Here you find the ability of your follower, which is carried out when a card is played. Example shown: General — Intrigue: Swap your hand cards with this player.
An Intrigue ability only has an effect on a foreign court, but you may still play the card at your own court purely for its influence. Other abilities also have an effect on your own court. In principle, you may play any card anywhere.
End of the Round and the Game
At the end of a round, add up the influence points of the followers at your court and note the running total. Then begin a new round with the player who won the last one. The game ends as soon as a player has accumulated 42 or more influence points in total. Whoever has the most points may henceforth call themselves King or Queen of the Woods for the current season!
Round-Win Variant: Instead of noting points, you can also play until one player achieves 3 round wins. We recommend this variant for games with two players. In that case, play until the first player has won 2 rounds.
Beginner Variant: Remove the somewhat more demanding follower cards "Scholar" and "Priest." Each player receives 1 fewer hand card than indicated on the setup card. The cards left over are set aside face down.
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The Followers in Detail
The venomous Viper (Assassin) has nothing good in mind. If she slips into your court, one member of your following is soon in for a bad time. Lay an Assassin on top of a follower card, covering it up. The new influence is 0 and it loses its ability. If you play an Assassin on top of another Assassin, you remove both from the game. They have fought each other to a standstill, and the original victim regains its ability and its influence. The Wild Boar Guard can protect you! If a Guard is already present at a court, an Assassin must attack it instead.
The cheeky Squirrel (Trader) is only interested in her own profit. "I'll give you this, you give me something better!" If you play the Trader to a foreign court, you give that player one more card from your hand (without the others seeing which one). The affected player must give you back a different card of higher influence in return. If they have no valid card in hand, it must be the card with the highest influence.
What would a proud Knight be without his loyal squire? If you play this Bear Knight to a foreign court, the affected player must show you their hand, and you may take 1 card from it. If a Squire is among that hand, you must take it. Rabbits are sociable animals and don't like being alone. If a Rabbit Squire is already present at any court, you must also play a Squire on your turn if you have one in hand. If you have 2 in hand, you play one now and one on your next turn.
With her clever words, the Owl (Scholar) has no trouble persuading other followers to leave their court. If you play the Scholar to a foreign court, you may take any one follower card from there onto your hand. The card's influence value must be 4 or less. If no such card is present, you may instead take a card with an influence value of 5 or higher. It is not permitted to take an Assassin or another Scholar with the Scholar! If you play the Scholar to your own court, you cannot use the ability, since it is an Intrigue.
When the pious Raven (Priest) arrives at your court, nothing is quite the same as before. If you play the Priest to any court (including your own), you may play a further card from your hand to that same court as the Priest. If you do, you must take a card of lower influence value from that court onto your hand in return. This way you cannot take the Assassin or the Fool, nor can you take back the Priest you just played! If you want to play the Princess as the additional card, remember that before your turn there must already be 3 uncovered cards at that court.
The Lord of the Toads (Treasurer) is interested only in well-filled treasure chests — watch out when the Treasurer comes to visit, taxes are due! If you play the Treasurer to a foreign court, you draw a random card from the affected player's hand. Unlike with the Knight, you do not get to look at their hand here.
The merry Weasel (Fool) always spreads fun and good cheer, but not least also plenty of chaos and destruction, when too many of these fools gather at one court. A court that has exactly 3 Fools present at the end of a round loses all its standing! A Fool that is covered by an Assassin does not count toward this. If 4 Fools are present at one court, the influence of the entire following counts completely normally. Madness reigns here now!
No one dares defy the harshly barked orders of the battle-hardened General Wolf! If you play the General to a foreign court, you and the affected player must swap your entire hands of cards with each other.
The graceful Fox (Princess) is a welcome guest at every court. But she only deigns to appear once enough people have gathered to admire her. A lady knows how to make a grand entrance! You may only play the Princess to your own court once at least 3 follower cards are already present there. These may not be covered by an Assassin. This rule may also not be circumvented by the Priest's ability. If the Princess is the last card in your hand, you may play her to your court even if the condition is not met. If you play Der König des Waldes with the Round-Win Variant, in the event of a tie the round is won by whichever player has welcomed the Princess to their court. However, if the Princess is covered by an Assassin, this ability no longer applies.