Keep Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Key Concepts
• Gameplay
  • Character Ability
  • End of Game Scoring (Characters)
  • Item Name and Type
  • End of Game Scoring (Items)
  • Playing a Character
  • Playing an Item
• Round End
• End of Game

Components

• 67 cards
• 4 reference cards
• 1 Royal Decree token
• 25 - 1 value coins
• 10 - 5 value coins
• 5 - 10 value coins
• 10 bonus action markers (2 per player)

Setup

1. Place the coins to the side of the play area to form a supply.
2. Give each player 2 bonus action markers.
3. Separate all of the character cards from the item cards and deal each player 3 random character cards facedown.
4. Each player selects and keeps 1 character card from the 3 they were dealt facedown in front of them, forming their personal play area or Cloister.
5. Shuffle the unselected character cards with all item and character cards to form the deck.
6. Deal each player 8 cards facedown to form their starting hand.
7. Now form the Commons by dealing 2 cards plus 1 for each player faceup in the center of the play area.
8. Choose a player at random to receive the Royal Decree and place it faceup in front of them.

You are now ready to play Keep!

Key Concepts

Cloister: Some card effects will reference the Cloister, this is the personal play area located in front of each player. There is no limit to the number of cards a player can have in their Cloister.

Commons: Some card effects will reference the Commons, this is the display of cards in the center of the play area.

Sell: Some characters have an ability that allows you to Sell an item in your Cloister. To sell an item, move an appropriate item or items from your Cloister to the discard pile and take 3 coins for each item sold in this way.

Add: Some characters instruct you to add a card or cards from the Commons to your Cloister. Unlike playing cards from the Commons you are not required to replace cards taken from the Commons using a character's add ability.

Gameplay

Game Round: Keep is played over a series of rounds where players take turns playing characters and items. Each round begins with the player in possession of the Royal Decree determining turn order.

Turn Order: The player with the Royal Decree decides if they would like to act first or last during this round. If acting first, the player immediately takes their turn and play proceeds in clockwise order. If acting last, the player to the left of the player with the Royal Decree immediately takes their turn with play proceeding in clockwise order.

A round of Keep ends when each player has taken their turn.

Player Turns: During your turn you must choose to play a character or an item.

Bonus Action: Prior to playing a card, you can choose to use one of your 2 bonus action tokens. To do so, return one of your bonus action tokens to the box, flip one of your facedown characters faceup and use that character's ability. The revealed character card remains in your Cloister and you continue with your turn.

Character Ability

At the top of every character card is the character's name and an ability. When a character is played for its ability once the effect has been resolved the character is discarded.

End of Game Scoring (Characters)

At the bottom of every character card is an end of game scoring bonus.

Item Name and Type

At the top of every item card is the item name and an item type. Some card effects will reference specific item names or types.

End of Game Scoring (Items)

At the bottom of every item card is an end of game scoring bonus.

Playing a Character

There are several different ways you can play a character on your turn:

1. Play a character card from your current hand for its ability. Resolve the played character's ability and discard the character from play unless explicitly instructed otherwise.
2. Play a character card from your current hand facedown into your Cloister. Character abilities do not resolve when played this way.
3. Play a character card that is in the Commons for its ability. Take the character from the Commons and any coins on it. Resolve the ability of the character taken from the Commons and discard the character from play unless explicitly instructed otherwise. Then, if able, add a card from your hand that does not match the chosen character to the Commons. Finally, add 2 coins from the supply to the card you just placed.
4. Play a character from the Commons facedown into your Cloister. Take the character from the Commons and any coins on it, placing the chosen character card facedown into your Cloister. Then, add a card from your hand that does not match the chosen character to the Commons and add 2 coins from the supply to the card you just placed. Character abilities do not resolve when played this way.

Playing an Item

There are two different ways you can play an item on your turn:

1. Play an item card from your current hand faceup into your Cloister.
2. Play an item card from the Commons into your Cloister. Take the item from the Commons and any coins on it, then add a card from your hand that does not match the chosen item card to the Commons. Finally, add 1 coin from the supply to the card you just placed.

Round End

Once all players have taken a turn the round is now over. The player with the Royal Decree performs their duties:

Hand Check: Check to see if any players have 0 cards in their hand. If all players have at least 1 card in hand, the game continues. If any players have 0 cards in hand, immediately proceed to the End of Game.

Commons Check: Place any cards in the Commons with coins on them into the discard pile. Then add 1 coin to each card remaining in the Commons. Lastly, refill the Commons with cards from the top of the deck until it contains 2 cards plus 1 for each player.

Pass the Royal Decree: Pass the Royal Decree to the player on your left and begin a new round.

If the game is not over, all players pass their hand to the player to their left.

End of Game

If any player's hand is empty during the Hand Check the game ends. Players now reveal all facedown characters in their Cloister. Each player then scores their Cloister in the following way:

1. Resolve all Score effects on each of your characters.
2. Score coins equal the value shown at the bottom of each item in your Cloister.

The player with the most coins wins. If tied, the player amongst those tied with the most cards in their Cloister wins. If still tied, all tied players share the victory.