Heart of Crown: Fairy Garden Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Box Contents
• Outline
• Back Your Princess
• Get Succession Points
• Rules Summary
• Understanding the Cards
  • Princess Cards
  • Common Cards
  • Basic Market Cards
  • Rare Cards
• Card Types
• Symbols and Special Terms
• Preparing to Play
• Turn Procedure
  • 1. Main Phase
    • Special Actions Available During the Main Phase
  • 2. Second Phase
  • 3. Cleanup Phase
  • 4. Draw Phase
  • 5. Market Refresh Phase
• Victory Conditions
• Other Rules
• FAQ
• FAQ by Topic
• Combining with the Base Set
• Variant Rules
• Recommended Card Sets (Fairy Garden Only)
• Credits

Box Contents

• 350 Cards
  • 6 Princess Cards (6 Types), 1 of Each
  • 2 Rare Cards (2 Types), 1 of Each
  • 150 Common Cards (30 Types), 5 of Each
  • 48 Basic Succession Cards (4 Types), 12 of Each
  • 48 Farming Village Cards
  • 30 City Cards
  • 20 Large City Cards
  • 16 Curses
• 30 Randomizer Cards
• 41 Dividers
• 87 Counters
  • 4 Twin Counters
  • 36 Succession Point +1 Counters
  • 12 Succession Point +5 Counters
  • 20 Guild Counters
  • 12 Conquest Counters
  • 3 Contraband Counters
• 1 Rulebook
• Room for 2 Expansions

Outline

Heart of Crown: Fairy Garden is a standalone expansion to the Heart of Crown Deck Building Card Game, providing new types of cards based on the coming of the fae to the Empire. You can use it by itself, or combine it with other sets. However, there are some caveats if you wish to combine it with the original Base Set (see the Combining with the Base Set section).

Heart of Crown is a deck building card game. Each player starts with the same deck, but over the course of the game you will build up your deck with the aim of achieving ultimate victory: getting your princess on the throne.

Each player starts with a deck containing 7 Farming Villages as their only territory and 3 unreliable Apprentice Maids as their only followers. Use the tax revenue (Coins) from your Farming Villages to buy cards that fit your particular strategy and add them to your deck!

Back Your Princess

Your goal is to get the princess you've chosen onto the throne. Start by getting City and Large City cards to get more Coins as tax revenue, so that you can get a Princess Card.

There are 6 Princess Cards to choose from: five lone princesses and one pair of twins. Each has a special ability that can help you, but it's first-come, first-served. Be the first to get the princess that best suits your strategy!

Get Succession Points

In order to get your princess onto the throne, you will need to earn her the support of people of influence as well as the common folk, represented by "Succession Points."

Your princess can be crowned once your Domain reaches 20 Succession Points. On the turn when you declare a coronation ceremony, if you have at least 20 Succession Points in your Domain and none of your rivals can declare a coronation ceremony, you win the game!

Rules Summary

1. The objective of the game is to back a princess and hold a coronation ceremony.

2. Each player starts with a deck containing 7 Farming Village cards and 3 Apprentice Maid cards. Each player shuffles their deck and places it in front of them to create their own draw pile.

3. Players take turns, proceeding clockwise around the table.

4. Each player has a hand of 5 cards. At the start of the game you draw your hand of 5 cards from your draw pile. When your turn ends, you must discard all the cards you've used and any cards remaining in your hand, then draw a new hand of 5 cards. If your draw pile runs out, shuffle your discard pile and make a new draw pile.

5. Coins from cards you play can be used to buy cards from the Market and add them to your discard pile, thereby strengthening your deck.

6. In order to back a princess, you need to pay a number of Coins equal to the Princess Card's backing cost.

7. Once you back a princess, place her card in front of you without adding it to your deck. The area where you place your Princess Card is called your "Domain." On the turn when you back a princess, you must move 3 Territory cards that you played that turn (or as many as you played if it was less than 3) to your Domain, in descending order of cost.

8. Then you can set Succession Cards in your Domain to increase your Succession Point total. You can obtain Succession Cards by buying them from the Market.

9. If you have not backed a princess, you cannot set Succession Cards in your Domain.

10. Also, you cannot both set Succession Cards in your Domain and buy cards from the Market in the same turn.

11. To win the game, you must have at least 20 Succession Points worth of cards in your Domain and declare a coronation ceremony.

12. Once you declare a coronation ceremony, each of the other players takes a final turn. If none of them declare a coronation ceremony themselves, you win the game.

13. If multiple players declare coronation ceremonies, the game goes into sudden death overtime!

Understanding the Cards

Broadly speaking, there are Princess Cards (6), Common Cards (5 each of 30 types), Basic Market Cards (8 types), and Rare Cards (2 types).

Princess Cards

1. Card Name: The princess' name.
2. Backing Cost: The number of Coins you must pay to back this Princess.
3. Card Type: In this case, it is "Princess."
4. Princess Support Ability: The special support ability you get from backing this princess.
5. Illustration

Common Cards

1. Card Name
2. Cost: The number of Coins you must pay to buy this card from the market.
3. Card Type: This will be Territory, Action, Attack, or Succession.
4. Ability: This is the ability you get when you play the card.
5. Link Symbol: Explained later.
6. Illustration
7. Card Frame: The color indicates the Card Type.

Basic Market Cards

There are eight kinds of Basic Cards: Farming Village, City, Large City, Apprentice Maid, Royal Maid, Senator, Duke, and Curse.

1. Card Name
2. Cost: The number of Coins you must pay to buy this card from the market.
3. Card Type: This will be Territory, Action, Attack, Succession, or Calamity.
4. Ability: This is the ability you get when you play the card.
5. Link Symbol: Explained later.
6. Illustration
7. Card Frame: The color indicates the Card Type.

Rare Cards

There are two Rare Cards: Fairy Queen Elrune and the Imperial Crown. Unlike Common and Basic Market Cards, there's only one of each of these.

1. Card Name
2. Cost: The number of Coins you must pay to buy this card from the market.
3. Card Type
4. Ability: This is the ability you get when you play the card.
5. Illustration

Card Types

The card's type is written in the lower left. There are both Main Types and Sub-Types. Sub-Types will be in parentheses.

Main Type: The six main types of cards in this set are Princess, Territory, Action, Attack, Succession, and Calamity. (In future expansions, we will add other types, like Support). Each card will be at least one of these types. Some cards have multiple Main Types, such as "Action/Attack."

• Princess Cards: These important cards represent princesses who stand to inherit the throne. They are handled differently from other cards, and are not added to your deck.
• Action Cards: These are cards that you play on your own turn to use the ability on the card.
• Attack Cards: These are cards that you use on your own turn. These are always also Action Cards.
• Territory Cards: These are cards that you use on your own turn. You mainly use them to collect taxes (Coins).
• Succession Cards: These cards give you the Succession Points that you need to win the game. Once you have backed a Princess, you can set Succession Cards in your Domain.
• Calamity Cards: These represent some kind of flaw or damage caused by some ill event like a curse, misfortune, etc. (In the Fairy Garden set, the only Calamity Cards are the Curse cards).

Sub-Type: Some cards also have a Sub-Type, which will be written below the Main Type in parentheses. Sub-Types include Military, Magic, Maid, etc.

Example: Demon Tribe Warrior is an Action card (Main), an Attack card (Main), and a Military card (Sub).

Symbols and Special Terms

• Succession Symbol: The number on this symbol is a quantity of Succession Points. In this case it means "6 Succession Points." The objective of the game is to get 20 or more Succession Points in your Domain.
• Coin Symbol: The number on this symbol is a quantity of Coins. In this case it means "3 Coins." When this symbol appears in a card's ability text, you receive that many Coins when you play it.
• Draw Symbol: This symbol means you draw the indicated number of cards from your draw pile. The number of cards you draw appears both in the card text and as a number on the symbol.

Deck: A player's entire collection of cards (whether in their hand, draw pile, discard pile, Domain, or in play).

Field: The location on the table where you place cards as you play them is called the "Field."

Draw Pile: Your pile of cards, shuffled and placed face down. At the start of the game, it is the same as your deck. But unlike your deck, the contents of your draw pile are changing continuously during play.

Discard: When a card ability or other effect calls for you to "discard" a card, you move the card to your discard pile, face up. Discarded cards are common knowledge, and both you and the other players can look at them at any time. Also, the order of cards in your discard pile does not matter: You may place them in your discard pile in any order.

Banishment and the Outskirts: When a card ability or similar effect calls for you to "banish" a card, you move it to the "Outskirts." The Outskirts is an area shared by all players where banished cards go. These cards are no longer considered to be "in play" and can only be affected by an ability that specifically affects cards that are in the Outskirts.

Acquire: When a card ability or similar effect lets you "acquire" a card, you move the newly acquired card to your discard pile.

Domain: This is the area where you can play cards that give you Succession Points once you have backed a princess.

Opponent: Any player other than yourself.

Buy: Buying a card from the market lets you acquire it by paying its cost in Coins.

Preparing to Play

1. 2-4 players sit down to play. Turns always proceed clockwise around the table. Figure out seating however you wish.
2. Set Out the Princess Cards. Set all of the Princess Cards (6 in the Fairy Garden Set) out face-up on the table.
3. Set Out the Curse Cards. Set up a pile of Curse Cards, with a number of cards equal to 4 times the number of players. (For 2 players 8 cards, for 3 players 12 cards, and for 4 players 16 cards.)
4. Starting Decks. Each player begins with a starting deck of 10 cards: 7 Farming Villages and 3 Apprentice Maids. Each player shuffles their own deck and places it face down in front of themselves to create their own draw pile.
5. Set Up a Basic Market. Set up separate piles of Farming Village (20), City (30), and Large City (20) cards, together with 12 each of Royal Maid, Senator, and Duke. We call these the "Basic Market."
6. Set Up the Supply Pile. Select 10 of the 30 types of Common Cards included in the game. You can find some recommended combinations of cards in the Recommended Card Sets section. If you prefer to select them randomly, shuffle the 30 Randomizer Cards and draw 10 cards. Take five of each of the selected 10 types of Common Cards plus the Fairy Queen Elrune and the Imperial Crown Rare Cards, and shuffle them all together, then place them face down on the table. We call this the "Supply Pile."
7. Replenish the Random Market. Draw cards from the Supply Pile, one at a time, until you have eight different cards. If you draw more than one of the same card, stack them together—we call this a "stack." We call the set of 8 types of cards the "Random Market." Taken together, the Basic Market and the Random Market form the "Market."
8. Determine First Player. Decide which player will take their turn first. Use dice, rock-paper-scissors, or whatever you like. Players take turns proceeding clockwise around the table.
9. Draw Cards. Each player draws a hand of 5 cards from their draw pile. You're now ready to play.

Turn Procedure

Players take turns one after the other as described below. Your turn is divided into 5 phases:

1. Main Phase

You may select one Action or Territory Card from your hand to play. When you play a card, put it face up in your play area. We call the place where you put the cards you've played the "Field." When you play a card, the effects written on the card's ability space are resolved, in order, from top to bottom. (For example, if you play a Farming Village card, you get 1 Coin.) Once you've resolved all of its effects, you are done playing that card. You must carry out all of the effects of the card you played, if possible (see "Effect Misfires").

Many cards have one or more "Link Symbols." These are called "linkable cards."

If you play a linkable card (one that has the Link Symbol arrow on the right or bottom), you can play another card from your hand. If the next card you play is also linkable, you can play yet another card after that. If a card has two Link Symbols, you can then play two additional cards. Each Link Symbol lets you play one additional card.

You can keep playing cards like this until you run out of linkable cards or cards in your hand or you choose to stop playing cards. If you can't play any more cards, or you choose not to, declare that your Main Phase is done.

Example 1: You have 2 Farming Villages, 2 Templars, and 1 Apprentice Maid in your hand. You start by playing a Farming Village. The Farming Village's effect gives you 1 Coin. Since the Farming Village card has a Link Symbol on the right, you can play another card from your hand. You play another Farming Village, and then a Templar after that. Since the Templar does not have a Link Symbol, you cannot play another card after it.

Example 2: You have 2 Farming Villages, 2 Templars, and 1 Apprentice Maid in your hand. Since the Templar isn't linkable, you can normally only play one of these at a time. But, you have a Star Reader Oracle card you've kept on a City card in your Domain, and it has 2 Link Symbols on it. This means you can recall the Star Reader Oracle card to your hand, then play it and the two Templar cards.

Special Actions Available During the Main Phase

Once you have a princess you've backed in your Domain, you can also take the following special actions in addition to playing cards during your Main Phase. You may take these actions as many times as you wish, and in any order you choose:

Keep a Card: Take an Action Card from your hand and place it on top of a Territory Card in your Domain. We call this "keeping a card." When you keep a card, it does not go into your discard pile during the Cleanup Phase, and you can keep it for a future turn. You can only keep Action Cards, you can only keep one Action Card per Territory Card in your Domain, and the cost of the card you keep cannot be greater than the cost of the Territory Card you place it on.

Example: You can take a Templar (Cost 5) and keep it on your Large City (Cost 6), but you cannot keep it on a City (Cost 3) or Farming Village (Cost 1).

Recall a Card: Take a card that you have kept in your Domain and return it to your hand. We call this "recalling a card." You can keep and recall cards at any time during your Main Phase, but you may not do so during the other players' turns.

2. Second Phase

During your Second Phase, you can take one of the actions listed below. You cannot do more than one of them in a turn.

Buy Cards from the Market

You can use the Coins you gained in the Main Phase to buy cards from the Market. Each card has a cost in Coins that you must pay in order to buy that card. Coins that you spend are of course lost, but as long as you have enough Coins, you can buy as many cards as you wish. Newly bought cards always go from the Market directly to your discard pile.

Example: You currently have 5 Coins. You spend 3 Coins to buy a City card and 2 Coins to buy a Messenger card. The newly bought City and Messenger cards go from the Market to your discard pile.

Back a Princess

If you have not yet backed a princess, you can use Coins gained during your Main Phase to pay the Backing Cost of a Princess Card (6 Coins) to back that princess.

Take the Princess Card of your choice from the middle of the table and put it in your own play area. The area where you place your Princess Card (and other cards next to it) is called your Domain. At this time, you must also take the 3 Territory Cards that you played this turn with the highest costs and move them to your Domain. Do not move any other cards this way. Territory Cards you move to your Domain will no longer be available to play or provide Coins or other effects, but you can use them to keep Action Cards for a future turn.

Example: During your Main Phase you play a Large City, a City, two Farming Villages and a Merchant Fleet, gaining a total of 9 Coins. Rather than buying cards, you back South Sea Princess Klam-Klam. You establish your Domain in your play area by placing Klam-Klam's Princess Card there. Then, you take the 3 Territory Cards that you played during your Main Phase with the highest costs (a Large City, a City, and a Farming Village) and move them to your Domain also. Since you only move 3 cards in this way, you have 1 Farming Village that you don't move. Also, you do not move your Merchant Fleet to your Domain.

Set Succession Cards in Your Domain

Once you have backed a princess, you can add Succession Cards to your Domain. Succession Cards that you play in this way do not get discarded and remain in your Domain, counting towards your Succession Point total. You can set as many Succession Cards as you have in your hand at the same time.

Example: You have a Duke and an Apprentice Maid in your hand. Since you want to set the Duke card, you have to skip buying any cards this turn and set the Succession Card instead. You add the Duke card to your Domain, and thus get 6 Succession Points. Since the Apprentice Maid is worth -2 Succession Points, you decide not to set her in your Domain.

3. Cleanup Phase

Next, move all of the cards you played this turn (other than those in your Domain) along with any cards remaining in your hand to your discard pile. At this time, you also lose any remaining Coins that you gained this turn—Coins do not carry over from one turn to the next. Cards in your Domain do remain in your play area, however.

4. Draw Phase

Draw 5 cards from your own draw pile to form a new hand.

If your draw pile runs out and you still need to draw cards, shuffle your discard pile and create a new draw pile, then continue drawing until you have a hand of 5 cards.

Example: While you are drawing a new hand during your Draw Phase, your draw pile runs out after you've drawn 3 cards. You shuffle your discard pile into a new draw pile, then draw 2 more cards to complete your hand of 5.

5. Market Refresh Phase

If the Random Market now has less than 8 types of cards, you must add cards from the Supply Pile until the Random Market again has 8 different types of cards, as it did at the start of the game. If the Supply Pile runs out, the game continues as is, and no more cards will be added to the Random Market.

Once the Market Refresh Phase is done, your turn is over. The next player, sitting to your left, takes their turn next. This continues until the game ends.

Victory Conditions

If, during your turn, the total Succession Points you have from all of the cards and counters in your Domain (including your Princess Card, Succession Cards, etc.) is 20 or more, you may declare a coronation ceremony.

Remember: If you have Farming Villages, Apprentice Maids, or other cards that subtract Succession Points in your Domain, they reduce your total by that amount.

Example 1: You are backing First Princess Lulunasaika (6 Succession Points), and you have 1 Farming Village (-2 Succession Points), 1 Duke (6 Succession Points), and 1 Senator (3 Succession Points) in your Domain. Your current total is 13 Succession Points. You need 7 more Succession Points to hold a coronation ceremony.

After you declare a coronation ceremony, each of the other players takes one final turn. If none of the other players are able to declare a coronation ceremony themselves, you win the game!

If any of the other players declare a coronation ceremony of their own, the game goes into "sudden death" overtime.

If your Succession Point total goes below 20 for any reason while the other players are taking their last turns, your coronation ceremony is cancelled, and the game continues normally.

Example 2: There are three players: A, B, and C. Player A gets up to 24 Succession Points and declares a coronation ceremony. To his right is Player B, who has 20 points and also declares a coronation ceremony. Player C has only 12 points, and cannot declare a coronation ceremony. In this case, when Player A takes his next turn, the game goes into overtime with only Players A and B competing.

Overtime

When multiple players declare coronation ceremonies, the game goes into sudden death overtime. When this happens, players who didn't declare coronation ceremonies are out of the game, and skip their turns. Eliminated players are not affected by Attack cards. During overtime, the first player to reach 30 or more Succession Points puts their princess on the throne and wins the game.

Once overtime begins, you still continue playing even if the total Succession Points in your Domain drops below 20.

Judgment

If all of the Duke cards from the Basic Market run out, the game ends immediately and whoever has the most Succession Points in their Domain wins the game. If two or more players have the same point total, the game is a tie.

Other Rules

Princess Card Abilities

A Princess Card's ability becomes available to you as soon as you back that princess.

There are three types of Princess Card abilities: Those that activate once when you back that princess, those that are always in effect, and Activation Abilities (which you can declare you're activating during your Main Phase). See the card's text and the FAQ for more details.

Activation Abilities

The ability text of some cards includes Activation Abilities. To use such an ability, declare that you are using it during your Main Phase while you have the card in your Domain. Typically, in order to use an Activation Ability, you must first take some action, such as discarding a card from your hand. This requirement is listed on the card in parentheses.

Activation abilities appear on a card as "[Activation Ability] (Do this first): Get this effect."

Example: You are backing Scholar Princess Bergamotte. This gives you access to her Activation Ability, which reads: "[Activation Ability] (Discard a non-Curse card from your hand): Take an Action Card from your discard pile and put it in your hand. You can use this ability once during the Main Phase of each of your turns." You declare that you're using it, which lets you discard an Apprentice Maid card from your hand to take a discarded Librarian and add it to your hand.

Hand Activation Ability

Some cards have abilities that you can activate while they are in your hand, rather than when you play them. You can use these abilities only during your Main Phase, but you don't need a Link Symbol to use them. (These abilities do not require you to actually play the card.) Also, in order to use such an ability, you have to have the card in your hand: You cannot use these abilities after you've played the card into your Field or kept it in your Domain. Like Activation Abilities, these abilities often require you to do something in order to use the ability, listed in parentheses.

Hand Activation Abilities appear on a card as "[Hand Activation Ability] (Do this first): Get this effect." The Peddler, Icy Snow Spirit, and Pilgrim all have Hand Activation Abilities.

Your Domain

Your Domain is formed by your Princess Card and the (up to) 3 Territory Cards you played when you backed her. These cards are not part of your Field, and they are not discarded at the end of your turn.

You can keep 1 Action Card for each Territory Card in your Domain (with a Cost equal to or less than the Cost of your Territory Card).

You can set Succession Cards in your Domain, and this is the main way to get the Succession Points you need to win the game. (Succession Points on cards that are not in your Domain are not counted.) You can also get Succession Points from some card abilities in the form of Succession Point +1 Counters. Succession Cards you set in your Domain are not "kept" with a Territory Card like Action Cards are. Instead, place them next to your Princess Card.

Some Succession Cards are also Territory Cards. If you set one of these cards in your Domain, you can later keep cards there, just like the Territory Cards you added to your Domain when you backed your princess.

Replenishing Your Draw Pile and Discards

If you ever need to draw cards from your draw pile, but there are not enough cards there, shuffle your discard pile and create a new draw pile. You also do this when effects from things like Action Cards reference your draw pile and require more cards than you currently have in it.

If your discard pile is empty and you cannot replenish your draw pile, you continue the game as is.

Example: The Demon Tribe Warrior's ability lets you look at the top two cards in your opponents' draw pile. But, your opponent only has one card left in their draw pile right now. They shuffle their discard pile, put it beneath their current draw pile of one card, then you view the top two cards.

Shuffling Your Draw Pile

When you are instructed to shuffle your draw pile, turn all of the cards in your draw pile face down and shuffle them. When you are done, they remain face down.

Resolving Multiple Effects

When a card's ability has multiple effects, you resolve them in order from top to bottom. When multiple players must resolve an ability at the same time (such as when an Attack card is played), start with the player whose turn it is and proceed clockwise around the table.

Example: There are 4 players in the game. You use your Icy Snow Spirit card. You start resolving its ability with the player to your left and continuing clockwise. After the second player, the Curse cards run out, so the remaining player doesn't have to take a Curse card.

Buying and Acquiring Cards

"Acquiring a card" refers to any effect that allows you to take a card from any place other than your deck, such as buying a card from the Market, gaining a card through another card's ability, etc.

Place your newly-acquired card in your discard pile unless otherwise specified.

Abilities that only activate when you buy a card will not be activated if you acquired the card due to another card's ability. But abilities that are activated when you acquire a card would be activated if you bought the card.

Counters

Counters are tokens used to track numbers. Some card abilities will require you to place certain Counters in certain areas. If you need to add a Counter to an area that doesn't already exist, that ability creates that area automatically. For example, a card may instruct you to place a Coin Counter in your Coin Area. If you didn't have any Coin Counters before, designate part of your play area to be your Coin Area and place a Coin Counter in it.

We have included some Counters for this set and future expansions. If you need more, you can substitute for them with anything suitable, like glass stones, poker chips, or coins, as general Counters. They are treated the same as other Counters, depending on their location.

Succession Counters

When you put a "Succession Point +1" counter on a card, it counts towards your Succession Point total.

Coin Counters

You can remove 1 Coin Counter from your Coin Area to gain 1 Coin. This is an Activation Ability of the Coin Counter itself, and you can use it at any time during your Main Phase.

Revealing Cards

When a card's ability tells you to "reveal" a card, you put it back in the same place, and it remains face up. We say that the card is "revealed." A revealed card remains face-up until some other game effect changes the location of the card (such as being drawn). If you are required to reveal a card from your draw pile and your draw pile is empty, shuffle your discard pile to create a new draw pile, then reveal the number of cards required.

For example, if you were called to reveal a card from the top of your draw pile, flip it face up and place it on your draw pile, where it remains face up until you draw it or it is discarded by the ability of another card.

Effect Misfires

Some situations make it impossible to resolve all of the effects of a card's ability. In this case, you resolve the effects from the top to the bottom and stop when you cannot resolve an effect. Ignore any remaining effects of the card. (They don't take effect). After that, the game continues as usual.

Example: You buy a Plantation. However, there is only 1 Farming Village in the Market. You add the remaining Farming Village to your discard pile, and the Plantation's effect ends there. It will still produce 3 Gold when you play it later, as that is a separate ability.

Card Ability Costs

Some cards require you to pay Coins as part of their ability text. In order to use that ability, you must pay the indicated number of Coins immediately, from those you gained by playing cards earlier (or by using Coin Counters). Coins spent in this way are lost, of course. Also, you need to have the Coins to pay before you play the card whose ability costs Coins. If you are unable to pay the required number of Coins, the card's effects after that are ignored (They don't take effect).

Banishing Cards

Sometimes, a card ability will call for you to "banish" a card. When you banish a card, you move it from the designated location to the Outskirts. The Outskirts is an area shared by all players where banished cards are placed.

Acquiring Curse Cards

When a card effect says that you acquire Curse cards, you acquire the indicated number of Curse cards from the center of the table. Note that Curse cards are not considered to be part of the Market, so you cannot buy them.

Declaring Card Names

Sometimes, a card ability will tell you to declare a card name. When this happens, pick one of the cards being used in the game, and declare its name. You cannot declare the name of a card not in use in the current game.

Card Effects That Contradict the Basic Rules

Some cards have effects that will contradict the game's basic rules. In such cases, the card's effects always take precedence.

FAQ

Q. Can I put cards in my Domain before I back a princess? A. No, you cannot.

Q. Is it possible to move Territory Cards from my Field or my hand to my Domain other than at the moment that I back a princess? A. Normally, no. Some cards are both Succession Cards and Territory Cards, so you could set them in your Domain during your Second Phase. After that, you can keep Action Cards on them, just like the Territory Cards you added to your Domain when you backed your princess.

Q. Can I back another princess after I've already backed one? A. No, you cannot. Once you back a princess, you cannot back another one, or change to a different one.

Q. Can I still back a princess on a turn that I play less than 3 Territory Cards? A. As long as you can pay the cost, you can back a princess regardless of what cards you've played on your turn. For example, you could use two Cities and a Merchant Fleet to pay the backing cost, and you would only move the two Cities to your Domain. It is even possible to have zero Territory Cards in your Domain.

Q. If there are no Territory Cards in my Domain, can I still set Succession Cards there? A. Yes, you can. Once you back a princess you have a Domain, regardless of what other cards are or aren't there. This is true even if there are no Territory Cards in it.

FAQ by Topic

Twin Princesses Lain and Shion

Q. How is Princesses Lain and Shion's ability used? A. By discarding a Twin Counter from Princesses Lain and Shion during your Main Phase, you get to take a full turn after your current turn ends. Once you have completed that turn, play proceeds as normal. You may only discard 1 Counter at a time, and cannot use this ability to take more than one additional turn at a time.

Q. Princesses Lain and Shion's ability lets me take an extra turn. If I declare a coronation ceremony and then use this ability, does that mean I win the game? A. No, it does not. Winning the game requires not only declaring a coronation ceremony, but also having all of the other players take their final turns before you take another turn, at which point you can be counted as the victor.

South Sea Princess Klam-Klam

Q. How many times per turn can I use South Sea Princess Klam-Klam's ability to reduce the buy cost of a card by 1? A. As many times as you want, though only once per card bought. For example, you could buy 3 City Cards during one turn for a total of 6 Coins.

Scholar Princess Bergamotte

Q. What happens if I use Scholar Princess Bergamotte's ability when I don't have any Action Cards in my discard pile? A. You can still use this ability to discard a non-Curse card from your hand, but if there are no Action Cards in your discard pile, her ability has no further benefit.

Second Princess Laolilly

Q. I backed Second Princess Laolily when there were only 4 or less Royal Maids left in the Market. Does her ability still let me at least get all of those Royal Maids? A. Yes. Second Princess Laolily's ability lets you get as many Royal Maids as there are left in the Market, up to a maximum of 5. You can also voluntarily choose to take fewer of them. Naturally, you cannot acquire Royal Maids that are not in the Market.

Princess General Flammaria

Q. What happens to the Farming Villages that are not moved to my Domain? A. They are discarded during your Cleanup Phase as usual.

Farming Village/City/Large City

Q. When backing a princess, can I choose not to move Territory Cards into my Domain? A. You cannot. When you back a princess, you are required to move the 3 highest cost Territory Cards you played during that turn into your Domain.

Curse

Q. Can I buy Curse cards during my Second Phase? A. No, you cannot. Curse cards are not part of the Market.

Demon Tribe Warrior

Q. When I'm attacked by a Demon Tribe Warrior, what happens if the top card of my draw pile has already been revealed? A. The revealed card is revealed again.

Fairy of the Spring Breeze

Q. Can I acquire a Fairy of the Spring Breeze when there are no Farming Villages left in the Market? A. Yes. In that case you acquire the Fairy of the Spring Breeze normally, but do not acquire any Farming Villages.

Guild Master

Q. When I play a Guild Master and declare a Sub-Type, can I declare Action or Territory? A. No. You cannot declare a Main Type. Sub-Types are noted in parentheses, and include Military, Magic, Maid, etc.

Pilgrim

Q. Pilgrim only has a Hand Activation Ability. Can I still play it like a normal card? A. Yes. The card has no effect, but you can play a Pilgrim to use its two Link Symbols.

Plantation

Q. Can I acquire a Plantation card when there are less than 3 Farming Villages in the Market? A. Yes. In that case you acquire the Plantation as usual, and you acquire however many Farming Villages are left in the Market. You get the 3 Coins when you play the Plantation, regardless.

Street Fortuneteller

Q. When I acquire a Street Fortuneteller through the ability of a Butler or similar card, do I still need to play a Territory Card with a cost of 3 or more? A. No. However, if you don't buy it in the normal way, you do not get the benefit of the effect that happens when you buy the card.

Surveyor

Q. If I'm using the Surveyor's ability, which makes my opponent move a Farming Village from either their hand or the Market to the top of their draw pile, and they don't have any Farming Villages in their hand, do they have to get one from the Market? A. Yes.

Q. What happens if I use the Surveyor's ability and an opponent doesn't have any Farming Villages in their hand and there are none left in the Market? A. Your opponent must reveal their hand, and if they do not have any Farming Villages in their hand, they ignore the other effects of the Surveyor card.

Trading City

Q. When I use the Trading City's ability and banish a card, what happens if there are no cards left in the Market with a cost equal to or less than that of the banished card? A. In that case it has no effect. However, remember that the Market includes the Basic Market, which includes Farming Villages (Cost 1). If there is a qualifying card, you must acquire it. (Curse cards are not part of the Market.)

Traveling Entertainer

Q. Traveling Entertainer lets me discard as many cards as I wish. Can I choose to discard zero cards? A. Yes.

Combining with the Base Set

If you want to use Fairy Queen Elrune, remove the Imperial Capital from the game. Do not use both of them in the same game.

If you want to mix Fairy Garden's Common Cards with other Common Cards from the base set or the earlier expansions, do not use the following cards:

• Any Defense Cards.
• From Heart of Crown: Battering Ram, Buried Treasure, Glamour Witch, Infantry Battalion, Royal Guard, Shinobi, and Stargazing Witch.
• From Far East Territory: Archers and Samurai

Variant Rules

What follows are several variant rules you can use when playing Heart of Crown. Be sure to discuss whether or not to use them with the other players.

Two-Player Game (Recommended)

Heart of Crown lets 2-4 players play at a time, but when playing with only 2 players you can remove all the Rare cards from the Supply Pile to make the game a bit more dynamic and fun.

Seating Order Rules: Hand Elimination

Normally, you determine how you seat players and who goes first any way you want. However, with intermediate and advanced players, you may want to use the rules below to decide those things:

1. First, carry out the usual preparations up through "7. Replenish the Random Market."
2. After that, each player gets their starting deck of 10 cards, and secretly picks 5 cards to be their starting hand, leaving the remaining 5 cards to be their draw pile.
3. All players reveal their hands simultaneously.
4. The player who reveals the most Apprentice Maid cards gets to go first, and takes whichever seat they wish.
5. After that, the other players take their seats clockwise from the first player, in descending order of their number of Apprentice Maid cards.
6. If two or more players have the same number of Apprentice Maid cards, use dice, rock-paper-scissors, or a similar method to break the tie.

Using this rule largely removes the role of luck in the first couple of turns, and makes the game more fully reflect the players' skills. However, we don't recommend using this rule with players who are beginners or otherwise aren't experienced with this game.

Variant Rule (Guardians)

If you are using 8 or more Princess Cards in the game (because you have added cards from several expansion sets), you can use this optional rule:

When a player backs a princess, they may select one additional princess as a "guardian," placing her card face-down in their Domain.

The abilities of a Princess Card placed in a player's Domain as a guardian are not available, and the player cannot place any Counters on this card. However, since it moves the Princess Card away from the center of the table, she is no longer available for other players to back.

Recommended Card Sets (Fairy Garden Only)

Fairy Garden Primer

Coalition, Crossbow Regiment, Fairy of the Spring Breeze, Harvest Festival, Hearth Spirit, Leaf Fairy, Merchant Fleet, Messenger, Plantation, Traveling Entertainer

We recommend this set for the first time you play the game.

Butlers and Maids

Butler, Chief Maid, Crossbow Regiment, Fairy of the Spring Breeze, Merchant Fleet, Messenger, Peddler, Star Reader Oracle, Surveyor, Traveling Entertainer

Put Chief Maids and Butlers to good use!

Spring Follows Winter

Brownie, Butler, Crossbow Regiment, Fairy of the Spring Breeze, Icy Snow Spirit, Librarian, Messenger, Plantation, Peddler, Spy

Adds Curse cards to the game.

Folklore

Brownie, Chief Maid, Hearth Spirit, Imperial Manor, Nymph, Peddler, Pilgrim, Spy, Street Fortuneteller, Templar

The Imperial Manor becomes a focal point of strategy.

Tribes of the Frontier

Coalition, Demon Tribe Warrior, Hearth Spirit, Merchant Fleet, Pilgrim, Spy, Star Reader Oracle, Tax Collector, Trading City, Traveling Entertainer

There are signs of unrest on the frontier.

The Carnival

Blessing, Chief Maid, Crossbow Regiment, Fairy of the Spring Breeze, Guild Master, Harvest Festival, Plantation, Spy, Star Reader Oracle, Templar

Who will lead the festival?

Saints and Sinners

Guild Master, Harvest Festival, Hearth Spirit, Icy Snow Spirit, Imperial Manor, Leaf Fairy, Magistrate, Pilgrim, Spy, Trading City

Alas, the judge is not impartial.

Fairies and Knights

Blessing, Coalition, Fairy of the Spring Breeze, Guild Master, Hearth Spirit, Leaf Fairy, Nymph, Plantation, Templar, Traveling Entertainer

Handle the knights and nymphs with care.

Credits

Original Version: Japanime Games

Box Illustration: Tatsuya Yuki

Card Illustrations: 大出長介, 高畑ゆき, ととねみぎ, 葉庭, 日向悠二, medilore, 結城辰也, 大出リコ

Game Design: gingko

Graphic Design: Kyo Satomura

Development/Writing: FLIPFLOPs

Executive Producer: Eric Price

Producer: Cherise Wilson

Translators: Ewen Kluney, Simon Lundstrom

Editing: Richard Gain, William Niebling

Graphic Design (English Edition): Amanda Khoury

Playtesting Translations: John Eldis, Richard Gain, Joe Rodriguez, Katherine Rodriguez, and Alisha Williams.