Game of Crowns

Game of Crowns Rulebook

Table of Contents

Goal

The player with the most VP at the end of the game wins.

Components

90 House cards (10 cards for each of the 9 houses)
18 Vote cards (9 Attacker and 9 Defender cards)
11 Guest cards
9 Reference cards
1 Round track
37 Raven tokens

Game Overview

Each player takes control of one of the nine noble houses, attempting to seize the crown and rule over the entire Empire. During the game, players can exchange cards and favors through diplomatic relations, or directly attack opponents through warfare in order to take what they want. It will take clever planning, skillful negotiation, and daring confrontations to gain dominance over your rivals.

After three rounds, the game ends and players gain victory points (VP) based on the cards remaining in their hand.

Setup

Setup Players: Each player takes a set of 10 house cards, 2 vote cards (1 attacker and 1 defender), 4 raven tokens, and a reference card. Players should make sure that the banner on their vote cards match the banner on their house cards. Return the unused house and vote cards to the box.
Setup Guests: Shuffle all of the guest cards to form a face down guest deck and place it in the center of the table.
Determine Starting Player: The player who most recently wore a crown is the starting player.
Setup Round Track: Place the round track next to the starting player. Unless players wish to play with the "Longer Games" optional rule, use the side of the round track that features spaces numbered 1-3. Place a raven token on the "1" space. Players are now ready to begin the game!

House Banners

Each of the nine houses features a unique banner on the bottom of their cards. At the start of the game, separate the ten cards from each house using their unique banner.

Guest cards have the same card back as house cards, but do not feature a banner on the bottom of their cards. You can separate the guest cards to form the guest deck by taking all of the eleven guest cards that do not have a banner.

The nine house banners are: House Lyre, House Redtower, House Orlok, House Chiron, House Akroyear, House Midian, House Celestian, House Occultus, and House Ki-rin.

How to Play

The starting player takes the first turn of the game. When a player finishes his or her turn, the next player clockwise around the table takes a turn. Players continue taking turns until the end of the game.

Taking a Turn

When a player is taking a turn, they are considered the active player. During your turn, you must choose to take one of the following actions:

Make an Exchange
Play a Card

When you finish resolving your action, your turn ends and the next player clockwise takes his or her turn.

Make an Exchange

When you make an exchange, you must take the following steps in order:

Choose one card from your hand and place it face up in front of you. This is the card which you promise to give to another player when you make an exchange. You may then declare what you would like from the exchange, more or less clearly.
All other players, in clockwise turn order, must place one card from their hand face up in front of them. Players may negotiate and try to convince the active player that they offer the best exchange.
As the active player, you may now offer an additional card by choosing one card from your hand and placing it face up in front of you. If you choose to do so, all other players, in clockwise turn order, must place one additional card from their hand face up in front of them. If you choose not to offer an additional card, skip this step and proceed directly to step 4.
Players may continue to negotiate by adding one or more raven tokens to their offer until the active player chooses to accept an exchange. The active player must accept one of the players' offers as an exchange. When you accept an exchange, you must then trade the cards and raven tokens offered with the other player as agreed. All of the other players take back the cards and raven tokens that they offered.

Play a Card

Choose a Coinage or Knight card from your hand and apply its effect as described in the "Card Effects" section on page 5.

End of a Round

During a round, each player will have the opportunity to take one turn. When all players have taken a turn, the round ends and a new round begins. The raven token placed on the round track indicates which number is the current round. At the start of the game, the raven token is placed on the "1" space, indicating the first round of the game. When the starting player begins his or her turn (except for the very first turn of the game), the raven token must be moved to the next space on the round track. When the raven token is moved to the "Game End" space, the game immediately ends and players count up their total VP to determine the winner.

End of the Game

The game ends after three rounds, when the raven token on the round track is moved to the "Game End" space.

The game can also end at the beginning of a round if any player has no cards remaining in his hand.

When the game ends, each player counts up their total VP according to the cards in their hand (see "Card Effects" on the following pages). The player who gains the most VP wins!

If two or more players are tied for the most VP, the player with the fewest cards in his hand wins. If players are still tied, the player with the fewest raven tokens wins. If players are still tied, they share the win.

Scoring Example

You end the game with 2 Princesses, 3 Knights, 2 Coinage, 2 Castellans and 7 raven tokens.

You have 3 Knights so each of your Princesses gains 3 VP for a total of 6 VP.

You don't have any Traders so your Coinage is not worth any VP.

You have 7 raven tokens so each of your Castellans gains 7 VP for a total of 14 VP.

Your total VP is 20 victory points (6+14=20).

Other Rules

Hand of Cards

Each player starts the game with a set of ten house cards. During the game, you may gain, exchange, and lose cards from your hand. All of the house and guest cards you have are considered to be part of your hand, regardless of how you acquired them.

Vote and reference cards are not considered to be part of your hand.

Players should be careful not to reveal their hand of cards to other players. While you may tell other players what cards are in your hand (and lie of course), you cannot show other players your hand.

In the rare event that a player makes an exchange as their action and you run out of cards in your hand, you can no longer participate in the exchange.

If you do not have any cards remaining in your hand at the beginning of a round, the game immediately ends (see "End of Game" on page 4).

Discarded Cards

When cards are discarded, they are removed from the game and can no longer be affected by players. Discarded cards should be placed face up next to the guest deck in order to track which cards have been discarded during the game.

Raven Tokens

Raven tokens score VP at the end of the game based on the number of Castellans you have in your hand. Raven tokens can also be used during an attack to increase your vote (see "Knight" on page 6). If players use the "Negotiations" optional rule on page 8, raven tokens may be used to negotiate with the active player.

Guest Cards

Guest cards offer unique opportunities to gain VP. When a player receives the most votes during an attack and is the victor, he may choose to either take a card from the defeated or draw a guest card.

While guest cards have the same card back as house cards, they do not feature a banner on the bottom of their cards and are not considered house cards for card effects.

Card Effects

The following section describes the effect of each card in the game and lists rules clarifications.

House Cards

Castellan

At the end of the game, gain 1 VP for each raven token you have.

If you do not have any raven tokens, you do not gain any VP from them.

Coinage

Play this card and exchange it with a card taken randomly from the hand of another player of your choice.

Playing Coinage counts as your action for the turn. Choose one card from your hand and place it in front of another player face down. Then take one card from that player's hand at random and place it into your hand. When you take the player's card, be careful not to reveal it to the other players. The player now takes the card that you placed in front of him and places it into his hand.

If you play Coinage and do not have any other cards in your hand, you simply take a card from another player without exchanging a card from your hand.

Feud

At the end of the game, gain 1 VP for each Feud you have if you have the most Feud cards.

If you are tied with other players for having the most Feuds, each tied player gains 1 VP for each of their Feud cards.

If you do not have the most Feud cards in your hand, you do not gain any VP from them.

Knight

Play this card to attack a player of your choice:

Players vote for Attacker or Defender.
Victor chooses to either take a card from the defeated or draw a guest card.
Defeated gains raven tokens used against him.

Playing a Knight counts as your action for the turn. To resolve the attack, you must take the following steps in order:

Target Player: Choose one player to attack. This player is considered the Defender and you are considered the Attacker for the duration of the attack.
Select Votes: Each player must vote for the Attacker or Defender by selecting the corresponding vote card. After players have selected their vote card, they should place it face down in front of them to indicate that they have finalized their decision. Note that the Attacker may vote for the Defender and the Defender may vote for the Attacker (sometimes it is advantageous to lose an attack in order to gain raven tokens).
Reveal Votes: Once all players have selected their vote card and finalized their decision, all of the vote cards are revealed face up.
Spend Raven Tokens: Starting with the Defender and proceeding in clockwise turn order, each player may spend one or more raven tokens to modify their vote by placing them on their vote card. Each raven token is considered one additional vote of the selected card. For example, if a player selects the Defender vote card and spends two raven tokens, the player is considered to have a total of three votes for the Defender.

You may choose not to spend any raven tokens but note that you only have one opportunity to increase your votes during an attack. Once your opportunity to spend your raven tokens passes, there is no possibility to raise.
Determine Victor: The player who receives the most total number of votes is considered the victor, and the other player is the defeated. If the Attacker and Defender receive the same total number of votes, the Attacker wins the tie.

The Knight card that was used to make the attack is discarded and the next player takes his or her turn.

Important: If you gain a Knight from another player, you cannot play the Knight to attack that player. You may play the Knight to attack any other player as normal. In other words, a Knight that has your house banner can never be used to attack you.

Princess

At the end of the game, gain 1 VP for each Knight you have.

If you do not have any Knight cards in your hand, you do not gain any VP from them.

Trader

At the end of the game, gain 1 VP for each Coinage you have.

If you do not have any Coinage cards in your hand, you do not gain any VP from them.

Guest Cards

Artist

At the end of the game, gain 1 VP for each Princess in both adjacent players' hand.

The player directly to your left clockwise and the player directly to your right counterclockwise are both considered the adjacent players.

If an adjacent player does not have any Princess cards in his hand, you do not gain any VP from that player.

Bard

At the end of the game, gain 1 VP for each Coinage in both adjacent players' hand.

The player directly to your left clockwise and the player directly to your right counterclockwise are both considered the adjacent players.

If an adjacent player does not have any Coinage cards in his hand, you do not gain any VP from that player.

Diplomat

At the end of the game, gain 1 VP for each card you have from a different player.

At the end of the game, look at your hand and gain 1 VP for each house card from another player. In other words, gain 1 VP for each house card that does have your house banner.

Guest cards are not considered to be cards from different players.

Jester

At the end of the game, gain 2 VP for each Jester you have if you have the most Jester cards. Otherwise you lose 2 VP.

If you are tied with other players for having the most Jesters, each tied player gains 2 VP for each Jester they have. If you do not have the most Jester cards in your hand, you must subtract 2 victory points from your total VP gained.

Priest

At the end of the game, gain 3 VP for each set of Castellan, Princess, and Trader you have.

Each complete set must contain 1 Castellan, 1 Princess, and 1 Trader. You do not gain any VP from partial sets. The sets may contain cards from any players' house.

Example: At the end of the game, you have 2 Castellans, 3 Princesses, and 1 Trader in your hand. This completes one set so you would gain a total of 3 VP. If you had an additional Trader for instance, you could have completed two sets and gain a total of 6 VP.

Sentinel

Discard this card at the start of any player's turn to take half of their raven tokens (round down).

At the start of another player's turn, you may discard the Sentinel to take half of the player's raven tokens. This does not count as playing a card so it is not considered to be an action during the turn. After the effects of the Sentinel is resolved, the player continues his or her turn as normal.

Using the Sentinel is optional, however, you cannot use the Sentinel on a player that does not have any raven tokens.

Example: You discard the Sentinel at the start of a player's turn. The player has a total of 5 raven tokens, so you take 2 of the player's ravens and add them to your own.

Undertaker

At the end of the game, gain 3 VP if you have fewer cards than all other players.

At the end of the game, all players count the total number of cards in their hand, including all house and guest cards. If your total number of cards is fewer than all other players, you gain 3 VP. If you are tied with other players for having the fewest cards, you still gain 3 VP.

Example: At the end of the game, you have a total of 7 cards in your hand. The other players have a total of 7, 9, and 10 cards respectively. No other player has fewer cards than you, so you gain 3 VP. If another player had 6 or fewer cards, you would have more cards than another player and not gain any VP.

Optional Rules

The following optional rules are presented here if players want to add a deeper level of interaction and treachery. Players should agree upon which optional rules to use at the start of the game.

Hidden Agendas

Using this optional rule will guide you towards certain strategies early in the game.

At the start of the game, each player draws the top card of the guest deck and places it face down in front of him or her as a hidden agenda.

Hidden agendas are not considered to be part of your hand during the game. Therefore, other players cannot take, steal, exchange, look at or affect your hidden agenda in any way. You may look at your own face down hidden agenda at any time.

At the end of the game, when players count up their total VP, each player adds their hidden agenda to their hand.

Negotiations

Using this optional rule will create more opportunities for diplomacy and alliances.

Players may negotiate with the active player by exchanging cards and raven tokens. For example, if another player attacks you with a Knight, you could negotiate to have him attack another player instead of you by offering him some of your raven tokens or a card from your hand.

Note that players may only negotiate with the active player. If the active player agrees to negotiate by accepting an offer of cards and/or raven tokens, he must honor the agreement. All promises for future deals are not binding.

Customized Hands

This optional rule may only be used in 4-player games and will guide you towards certain strategies early in the game.

At the start of the game, each player takes one set of house cards that are not being used in the game. You may then exchange up to three cards from your hand with the other set of house cards. This is done in secret so that other players are not aware of how many cards you exchanged. All of the unused house cards are returned to the box face down.

Longer Games

Using this optional rule allows players to develop greater long-term strategies and alliances.

You can play a longer game of 4 or more rounds by placing the round track card on the "Variant" side that features spaces 1-6. Longer games are not recommended when playing with 7 or more players.

Team Play

This optional rule may only be used in games with 6 or 8 players. Team play allows players to form permanent alliances for the entire game and promotes more dramatic interactions.

When using the Team Play variant, you are teamed with the player who is seated opposite of you. In a 6-player game this forms three teams of two players. In an 8-player game this forms four teams of two players.

The game plays the same using the normal rules with the following exceptions below:

At the end of the game, each team combines their VP and scores them together (so the team with the most total VP wins the game). Note that each player still gains his VP separately, based on the cards in his hand. For example, your teammate's raven tokens do not count towards gaining VP with your Castellans.
You cannot attack your teammate by playing a Knight.
If you play Coinage and exchange a card with your teammate, your teammate chooses which card from his hand to exchange with you instead of taking a card randomly.

Strategy Tips

Choose Strategies Early

Try to choose your strategies to maximize VP as early in the game as possible. Rather than trying to score with a large variety of card types, it's usually best to focus on two or three scoring strategies.

For example, if you exchanged your Princess with another player for a Trader, your Knights will no longer help you gain VP at the end of the game. You can then use your Knights to attack players in order to take their Coinage and enhance your Trader scoring strategy.

While you should choose your scoring strategy early in the game, you must also be flexible when plans change, which is prone to happen when opponents' Knights start attacking.

Form Alliances

Since a Game of Crowns only lasts three rounds, you must make each turn further your goals, especially during your opponents' turns. Using your opponent's turn to your advantage is the ultimate victory when playing the Game of Crowns.

Bluffs and Feints

Deception can be a powerful weapon when playing the Game of Crowns. If a player makes an exchange and is likely to accept another player's offer, you can offer a card that is part of your scoring strategy just to make your opponents believe that you no longer are interested in pursuing that strategy.

If you want to offer a Knight during an exchange, it's usually best to offer one of your own Knights from your house. That way your opponent cannot use your Knight to attack you.

Pick Your Battles

Try to track what cards players attempt to negotiate with during an exchange action. Don't attack a player with a Knight unless you are fairly certain that they have the card you want.

Sometimes it is better to lose a battle in order to gain the raven tokens used against you, especially if the Castellan is part of your scoring strategy.

If you are the victor during an attack, taking a card from the defeated allows you to look at that player's hand. This can be very useful information to determine what the player's scoring strategies are, and how to oppose them.

Quick Reference