Kingz Rulebook

Source note: transcribed from the English rulebook (Ankama Products; author Antonin Boccara, illustrations Mary Pumpkins & Benoit Laigle, graphic design Romain Libersa). Token and card icons in the original are pictograms and are named in words here. Two rulebook pages (8 and 11) contained only illustrations and no recoverable text.

Introduction

The Animal World is Stunned: The Lion died tonight ... We need a new king! Animals from all over the world organize a great tournament to crown a new King! Round after round animals will fight in front of a grand wild audience. In this arena anything is allowed by any fighter, until just one animal is left and wins the prestigious crown...

Get your claws ready... charge!

Equipment

5 screens, 5 Power cards, 45 Action cards, 1 Rage! card, 21 Fame point tokens, 15 Armor tokens, 16 Courage tokens, 1 erasable marker.

Goal of the Game

Win the crown by either eliminating all opponents in the arena or be the first to obtain 5 Fame point tokens.

Setup

Each player chooses an animal, takes the corresponding screen and 9 Action cards, 3 Armor tokens, and 1 Courage token, which are placed behind their screen. Finally, each chooses a name for their animal and writes it on their screen.

Attention: the names must be pronounceable and not have more than three syllables. Aside from that, all names are allowed!

Preparation

Before you start, choose which mode to play.

• Instinctive mode: Each player randomly places 2 of his 9 Action cards and puts them face up next to him, constituting his discard pile. He will not play them in the first round. Note: for your first game, we recommend that you play this mode.
• Control mode: Each player chooses 2 of his 9 Action cards and puts them face down next to him, constituting his discard pile. He will not play them in the first round.

How to Play the Game

The game takes place in up to two rounds consisting of seven turns each (one card each turn). A turn consists of three phases:

1. The Approach
2. Sparring
3. Pinning

I. The Approach

Each player chooses one card from his hand and lays it face down in the arena in front of the screen, and then announces "Ready!"

Note: Once a player announces "Ready!", they may not change their card. When all players are ready, the Sparring begins.

II. Sparring

The players count together "1, 2, 3!", then simultaneously turn the cards over. The Speed value indicated at the bottom of each card determines the order of play, starting with the highest card and finishing with the lowest.

Example: Romeo plays a Sword card with a Speed of 40, Gaspard plays a Courage card with a Speed of 9, and Clement plays a Hail the Crowd card with a Speed of 5. Therefore, play begins first by applying the effect of Romeo's Action card, then Gaspard's and finally Clement's.

Action Cards

Shield (x2). You cannot be damaged this turn, either by the Sword or the Net.

Sword (x2). A Sword card requires you to discard a Courage token; if you cannot do this, this card has no effect.

At the moment the cards are flipped over, you must shout out the name of the player you are attacking. If you announce it late, the Sword card will be cancelled (a real fighter does not hesitate when they attack).

• If the player you attacked did not play a Shield card, they have been hit and they lose 1 Armor token. For having a successful attack, you receive one Fame point.
• However, if the player you attacked did play a Shield card, they are not hit and you do not receive any Fame points.

Attention: Regardless of the result, you still must discard a Courage token.

Note: If several players attack the same character, and they did not play a Shield card, that player loses an Armor token for each character who attacked them.

Courage (x2). Take 1 Courage token and place it behind your screen. Important: If you have 2 Courage tokens behind your screen, this is equivalent to 1 Fame point.

Net (x1).

• If no one played a Shield card, the Net works: all of your opponents are hit and lose 1 Armor token. You take 1 Fame point.
• If at least one player played a Shield, your attack fails. No opponent is hit and you lose 1 Armor token.

Note: The Net is the attack of cowards: it does not require a Courage token to play it.

Hail to the Crowd (x1). If no one touches you, it's successful: you greet the public in the middle of the fight, and the crowd goes delirious. Take 1 Fame point. If at least one player hits you, your Hail failed. You don't earn a Fame point token.

Disarm (x1). When all the players have declared they are "Ready", turn over this card just before the countdown "1, 2, 3!", shouting "Disarm!", then name one of the players. Take the card that he played and place it face down in front of you: this is your new card for this round. The disarmed player then grabs what is lying around in the arena: he takes the first card from your discard pile. Everyone looks at their new card, and the countdown begins. At the end of the round, the cards of each player are placed in their respective discard piles.

Note: if several opponents play the Disarm card during the same turn, they disarm themselves. Everyone then replaces their Disarm card with the first card in their discard pile.

III. Pinning

Once all the Action cards have been resolved, we move on to the Pinning phase.

If a player has no more Armor tokens, he must report it by shouting: "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" He is not eliminated, but has fallen to the ground, courtesy of the attacker who hit him during this turn: this opponent will get to decide if he will get to continue to fight, or be eliminated.

If the fallen player wants to stay in play, the player on the ground may make an offer to his attacker. This offer may include Fame points and Courage tokens which he will give him this round, or promised for future rounds, as well as alliance proposals. Once the offer has been made, and after possible negotiations, the aggressor makes his decision and holds his closed fist over the center of the table.

• If he accepts the offer, he points his thumb up: his opponent is pardoned and may remain in the arena. The bested player must immediately give the promised Fame points and Courage tokens agreed upon this turn. However, with regard to promises and alliances agreed to in the future, they are only bound by their honor and it is not enforceable.
• If he refuses the offer, he points his thumb down: his opponent is declared the loser, and he immediately leaves the arena and is eliminated from the game. He can take his revenge in the next game.

When there are several pinnings in the same turn, they are resolved one-by-one. The Speed value at the bottom of each card of each aggressor determines the order of resolution of negotiations: from the highest to the lowest.

Attention: If a player ends up on the ground at the end of the round after they have been hit by several players, each of these players is considered his attacker. The victim will therefore make an offer to each of them.

If at the end of the Pinning phase, a player has been pardoned by all of his attackers, he comes back into play with 3 Armor tokens, as at the start of the game.

Note: If a player is knocked down due to a Net that failed, he must make a proposal to the player(s) who played a Shield.

Example: Romeo brought down Gaspard with a Sword card of Speed 40, Clement also played a Sword card with a Speed of 39 and brought down Gaspard, and Marjolaine brought down Clement with a Sword card of Speed 37. Negotiations begin between Romeo and Gaspard: If Gaspard is not eliminated, then negotiations then occur between Clement and Gaspard (if Gaspard is eliminated, Clement obviously does not get to negotiate with him). Finally, we end with the negotiation between Marjolaine and Clement.

End of Turn

Each player places the card they have just played, face down, on top of the discard pile. A new turn then begins.

Second Round

Once all the cards have been played, if there is no winner, a new round begins. Players still in play take their 9 cards and discard 2 again. The game continues.

Victory and Game End Conditions

There are several victory conditions; as soon as one of them is reached by a player, the game ends.

• Acquire 5 Fame points. As soon as a player has 5 Fame Point tokens he is immediately declared the winner (even if he is Pinned in the same turn) and therefore becomes the new King. Note: don't forget that 2 Courage tokens are equivalent to 1 Fame point.
• Be the last fighter in the arena. If a player is the last fighter present in the Arena, he is declared the big winner and becomes the new king.
• Night has fallen. At the end of two rounds, if neither of these two victory conditions has been reached, night falls and it's the end of the fighting. The game is over. The player with the most Fame Point tokens is declared the winner and new King. In the event of a tie, the winner is the one with the most Courage tokens; if there is still a tie, the winner is the one with the most Armor tokens; if there is still a tie, all tied players are considered winners.

Child Variant

Before you start, remove the Hail the Crowd, Net and Disarm cards. Only use the Sword, Shield and Courage cards. Don't discard cards at the beginning of each round.

Power Variant

When you become familiar with the game, you can switch to the Power variant.

Setup: Place the Rage! card in the center of the table.

Game play: Each player takes their corresponding Power card and places it in front of him. This Power can be used once each round. A player who wants to use his Power card must hit the Rage! card in the center of the table, shout the corresponding Power, all before counting "1, 2, 3!". As soon as he has used it, he turns his card over for the rest of the round.

Note: only one player may use his power on a turn; only the first player to hit the Rage! card gets to use his power that turn.

The Powers

• The Tigress. Say "Grrrr!" During this turn, all players (including you) who play Courage cards do not take Courage tokens.
• The Crocodile. Say "Splash!" During this turn, no player can shout your name for an attack (note: you can still be a victim of the net).
• The Rhinoceros. Say "Charge!" During this turn, all players (including you) who lose one or more Armor token(s) lose an additional one.
• The Polar Bear. Say "Frosty!" During this turn, all Sword cards played become Shield cards, and all Shield cards become Sword cards.
• The Gorilla. Say "Banana!" During this turn all players (including you) who play a Sword card don't need to discard a Courage token for an attack.

F.A.Q.

1. If a player forgets to yell out "Disarm", what happens? The card has no effect.
2. If a player hits another who has already lost their last Armor token, does he still get a Fame token? Yes, of course, and he is considered one of his attackers.
3. If one player has pinned several opponents, in what order does it proceed during negotiations? It is the attacker's choice.
4. If a player is pinned and his attacker was eliminated during this turn before being able to proceed to negotiations, what happens? Since his attacker has been eliminated, he is automatically pardoned.