King & Assassins Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Game Components
• Game Setup
  • Playing on the "B" Side
• The Game Board and Movement Overview
• The Round Card Diagram
• Playing the Game
  • King Player Turn
  • Shoving Markers
  • Capturing a Hidden Assassin
  • Assassin Player Turn
• Ending the Game and Victory Conditions
• Credits

Game Overview

King & Assassins is an asymmetrical game for 2 players. One player controls a vile king and his knights. He hopes to bring the king to the safety of his castle, which may sometimes entail capturing a few citizens or eliminating dangerous assassins who wish to kill the ruler.

The other player moves around the board a group of city inhabitants forming an angry mob, among whom three assassins are hiding. His aim is to kill the monarch and free the kingdom of his oppression.

Game Components

In the game box you will find:

• 12 Citizen Markers
• 7 Knight Markers
• 3 Assassin Markers
• 1 King Marker
• 15 Round Cards
• 12 Citizen Cards
• 1 King's Wound Marker (healthy side / wounded side)
• 1 Double-sided Game Board (Side A / Side B)
• 2 Reference Sheets
• 23 Plastic Stands (15 of one size, 8 of another)

Game Setup

Before your first game gently remove cardboard elements from their frames. Markers should be placed in stands – black for the king and his knights and white for the citizens and the assassins.

Place the board in front of you on a flat surface with the chosen side up. If you play for the first time, use the side "A".

Then, choose your sides – one person becomes the King Player and the other the Assassin Player.

While playing on the "A" side continue with the game setup as follows:

1. The King Player shuffles the Round Cards and places the deck face-down beside the board. They form the Round Deck.
2. The King Player takes the King's Wound Marker and places it in front of himself with the healthy side up.
3. Players place the Citizen Markers on board spaces marked with the citizen icon (one marker on every space).
4. Players place the Knight Markers on board spaces marked with the knight icon (one marker on every space).
5. The King Marker should be placed on the board space marked with the king icon.
6. The Assassin Player takes 12 Citizen Cards and secretly chooses 3 of them. The chosen cards indicate which citizens are really hidden assassins during this game. Then, he places the chosen cards in front of himself face-down and puts the rest inside the box. The King Player cannot look at those cards. Finally, he places 3 Assassin Markers next to the board.

Now you are ready to start the game!

Playing on the "B" Side

While playing on the "B" side of the game board (with 2 starting spaces for the king) you should prepare the game a little differently:

• Place all Citizen Markers on their spaces.
• The Assassin Player chooses 3 Citizen Cards for his assassins as normal. He does that before the King Player has chosen the starting space for the King Marker!
• Then, the King Player chooses one of the 2 available starting spaces and places his King Marker there. He places 5 Knight Markers around the King Marker as indicated by the dot icon while the other 2 Knight Markers should be placed on two dotted spaces in the upper part of the board (not beside the other starting space for the King Marker).
• Finally, take the Round Deck and remove the Round Card bearing the red crystal icon. Put this card inside the box. Shuffle the Round Deck afterwards and place it beside the board face-down.

All other setup steps are the same for both sides of the game board.

The Game Board and Movement Overview

The board shows a city district divided into spaces. There are two kinds of spaces – streets and rooftops (a rooftop space is rimmed).

Additionally, you can find castle gate spaces (one or two, depending on the side of the board), through which the King Player may move his marker to exit the board and win the game.

Each space may hold only one marker at any time. Markers cannot cross occupied spaces while moving. Additionally, all attacks and movements are allowed only vertically or horizontally – never diagonally.

The Round Card Diagram

Every Round Card contains following information:

1. Assassin Action Points: How many Action Points (AP) the Assassin Player may use for his Citizen and Assassin Markers.
2. King Action Points: How many AP the King Player may use to move the King Marker.
3. Knight Action Points: How many AP the King Player may use for the Knight Markers.
4. The Fetters Icon: If this icon is present on a Round Card, this round the King Player may capture one Citizen Marker, thus removing it from the board.

Playing the Game

The game is played in a series of Rounds. At the beginning of each round the King Player reveals the top Round Card from the Round Deck. This card indicates how many Action Points (AP) each player may use this round. Once revealed, the card is placed next to the deck face-up to remind the players of their AP.

Then, the King Player plays his turn using his available AP to move the King and Knight Markers and to affect the citizens and assassins.

Finally, the Assassin Player plays his turn using his available AP to move the Citizen and Assassin Markers and to affect the king and his guards.

King Player Turn

During his turn the King Player may move the King and Knight Markers and perform different actions, paying AP for any of them. The number of AP available for his current turn is indicated by the revealed Round Card.

The King Player may use his AP in any order. For example, if he had 2 AP for the king and 5 AP for the knights, he could move the King Marker 1 space, then move a few Knight Markers, then move the King Marker 1 space, and then move some Knight Markers again (as long as he has any AP left).

It is forbidden to use the Knights' AP to move the King Marker or the King's AP to act with the Knight Markers.

The King Player does not have to use all available AP but any unused AP are lost at the end of his turn.

The King's Actions:

• Move (1 AP): The King Marker is moved 1 space to an adjacent empty street space. This is the only action available to the King Marker. The King Marker cannot climb a rooftop space, shove other markers, eliminate an Assassin Marker nor capture a Citizen Marker.

The Knights' Actions:

• Move (1 AP): A Knight Marker is moved 1 space to an adjacent street space or rooftop space (if it is already on a rooftop space). If a Knight Marker enters a space occupied by a Citizen or Assassin Marker, it shoves this marker (see Shoving Markers, below).
• Climb (2 AP): A Knight Marker is moved 1 space from a street space to an adjacent rooftop space. If a Knight Marker enters a space occupied by a Citizen or Assassin Marker, it shoves this marker.
• Descend (1 AP): A Knight Marker is moved 1 space from a rooftop space to an adjacent street space. If a Knight Marker enters a space occupied by a Citizen or Assassin Marker, it shoves this marker.
• Eliminate an Assassin (1 AP): A knight can eliminate a revealed assassin whose Assassin Marker is on an adjacent space. If his Knight Marker is on a rooftop space, he can eliminate markers both on adjacent rooftop and street spaces. If his Knight Marker is on a street space, he cannot eliminate Assassin Markers on rooftop spaces. The eliminated Assassin Marker is immediately removed from the board.
• Capture a Citizen (1 AP): A knight can capture 1 citizen whose Citizen Marker is on an adjacent space. It is possible only if the revealed Round Card bears the fetters icon. Only 1 Citizen Marker can be captured during one round. Capturing a citizen follows the same rules as eliminating an assassin (see above). The captured Citizen Marker is immediately removed from the board.

Shoving Markers

During its movement a Knight Marker can enter a space occupied by a Citizen or Assassin Marker, pushing it off this space. This is called shoving and costs no additional AP – it happens automatically as part of a Knight Marker's movement.

A shoved marker is moved 1 space in the same direction as the Knight Marker that has performed the movement. If the movement is blocked by other Citizen or Assassin Markers, they are also shoved (see Shoving Examples below).

No Citizen or Assassin Marker can be shoved from a street space onto a rooftop space or off the game board although markers can be shoved off a rooftop space into a street space. It is also forbidden to shove a marker into a space occupied by a Knight or King Marker.

If shoving is illegal then the movement of a Knight Marker is also illegal.

Remember: Knight and King markers cannot be shoved!

Shoving Examples (illustrated in the rulebook's diagrams):

• Markers cannot be shoved from street spaces onto rooftop spaces.
• The King Marker cannot be shoved.
• Markers cannot be shoved off the board.
• Such shoving is illegal because Knight Markers cannot be shoved.

Capturing a Hidden Assassin

If the King Player unknowingly captures a Citizen Marker which hides one of the assassins, the Assassin Player is under no obligation to reveal its identity. This way the King Player is never sure how many assassins are still in the game. The only exception to this rule is when the last of the assassins has been captured, as eliminating all three assassins immediately ends the game and the King Player wins.

Assassin Player Turn

During his turn the Assassin Player may move and perform different actions using the Citizen and Assassin Markers, paying AP for any of them. The number of AP available for his current turn is indicated by the revealed Round Card.

The Assassin Player may divide his AP in way he sees fit. For example, if he had 5 AP he could move a Citizen Marker 1 space, then move another Citizen Marker 3 spaces, and finally reveal one of his assassins and eliminate a Knight Marker.

Until the moment the Assassin Player reveals an assassin and places his marker on the board, he can only use actions available to Citizen Markers. He can reveal any number of assassins free of cost at any point of his turn. If he decides to do so, he exchanges all proper Citizen Markers he wishes to reveal for Assassins Markers and resumes his turn. All revealed Assassin Markers follow the rules described under "The Assassins' Actions" heading.

The Assassin Player does not have to use all available AP but any unused AP are lost at the end of his turn.

The Citizens' Actions:

• Move (1 AP): A Citizen Marker is moved 1 space to an adjacent, empty street space or rooftop space (if it is already on a rooftop space).
• Climb (2 AP): A Citizen Marker is moved 1 space from a street space to an adjacent, empty rooftop space.
• Descend (1 AP): A Citizen Marker is moved 1 space from a rooftop space to an adjacent, empty street space.

The Assassins' Actions (available only to revealed assassins):

• Move (1 AP): An Assassin Marker is moved 1 space to an adjacent, empty street space or rooftop space (if it is already on a rooftop space).
• Climb (1 AP): An Assassin Marker is moved 1 space from a street space to an adjacent, empty rooftop space.
• Descend (0 AP): An Assassin Marker is moved 1 space from a rooftop space to an adjacent, empty street space.
• Eliminate a Knight (1 AP/2 AP): An assassin can eliminate a knight whose Knight Marker is on an adjacent space. If his Assassin Marker is on a rooftop space, he can eliminate markers both on adjacent rooftop and street spaces. If his Assassin Marker is on a street space, he cannot eliminate Knight Markers on rooftop spaces. The eliminated Knight Marker is immediately removed from the board. The first elimination during a given turn costs 1 AP and the second costs 2 AP (no matter if one or two different assassins took this action). The Assassin Player cannot eliminate more than 2 Knight Markers per turn.
• Attack the King (2 AP): If an assassin is adjacent to the king, he can attack the king dealing him 1 wound. An assassin on a rooftop space can attack the King on a street space. Each attack against the king costs 2 AP. In order to eliminate the king he must be dealt 2 wounds (both may be dealt during one turn). Both wounds can be dealt by one or two different assassins. After taking the first wound the King Player turns the King's Wound Marker to the wounded side. If he cannot (because the king is already wounded), then the King Marker is removed from the board. The game immediately ends and the Assassin Player wins.

After both players have finished their turns, the current round ends. Players start a new round by revealing a new Round Card. The new card is placed over the old one so that only one Round Card is visible at the same time.

After resolving all Round Cards from the Round Deck (14 or 15 depending on the scenario played) the game immediately ends. The Round Deck is never reshuffled.

Ending the Game and Victory Conditions

One of the players immediately wins if any of the conditions described below occur.

The King Player wins if:

• He eliminates all three assassins hidden among the citizens (by capturing their respective Citizen Markers or eliminating revealed Assassin Markers). Once the Assassin Player has lost his last assassin, he must immediately inform the King Player of this fact.

OR

• The King Marker enters the castle through any castle gate space on the board marked with banners (the number of such spaces depends on the board side). In this case "entering the castle" means leaving a gate space and "exiting the board" by moving inside the building (i.e. it is not enough to stop on a castle gate space by the banners).

The Assassin Player wins if:

• He eliminates the king by dealing him 2 wounds (when the king is dealt a wound and his wound marker is already showing the wounded side).

OR

• Players have resolved all available Round Cards and the King Marker is still on the board (it has not entered the castle).

As the game is asymmetrical we encourage you to play once more, this time switching sides. The victory will be that much sweeter once you play as both the king and the assassins.

Credits

Game Design: Łukasz "Wookie" Woźniak

The author would really like to thank his wife Ola who has always been fascinated with King & Assassins, always so eager to play once more. He also thanks two playtesters – Dominik Kurowski and Konrad Grondys – who tirelessly kept playing with him or dueled together.

Project Manager: Marek Mydel

Cover Art: Grzegorz Rutkowski

Board Art: Michał Teliga

Interior Art and Game Layout: Tomasz Chistowski

Rulebook: Michał Walczak-Ślusarczyk

English translation: Transdesign Marek Mydel

Publisher: Galakta 2013

Playtesters: Dawid "Ertai" Cichy, Robert, Michał and Krzysztof Ciombor, Urszula Drabińska, Jacek "Darken" Gołębiowski, Marcin Kukla, Witold Lechowicz, Artur Mars, Marek Mydel, Grzegorz "Gan" Nowak and Marcin Nowak, Maciej Obszański, Sebastian Oliwa, "Sigil" Gaming Club, Piotr Stankiewicz, Monika Stojek, Mateusz Wasilewski, Wojciech Wójcik, and Michał Ziembiński.

Special thanks go to Bartosz Przybyla, Marta Krzemieniewska, Szymon Woźniak, Łukasz Ładziak, Ala Miks, and other people who helped testing the game on many different occasions.