Royal Secrets Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Before the First Game
• Setup
• Object of the Game
• Playing a Round
  • Turn Order
  • Phase 1: Choose an Audience
  • Phase 2: Bet 2 Cards
  • Phase 3: Count the Points
  • The Excuse Card
  • The Valet Cards
  • Cardinal Cards: One-on-One Audiences
  • End of Round
• End of the Game
• Favours
  • During Phase 1: Choose an Audience
  • During Phase 2: Bet 2 Cards
  • During Phase 3: Count the Points

Components

• 1 game board in 2 parts: a King side and a Queen side
• 5 player pawns
• 5 writing cases (écritoires)
• 1 Word tile (tuile de Parole)
• 70 Fleur-de-lys tokens (victory points): 50 of value 1 and 20 of value 5
• 55 Courtier cards in 5 colours, 11 per colour
• 18 Audience cards
• 10 Valet cards
• 14 Cardinal cards
• 5 Player Aid cards

Before the First Game

Assemble the writing cases as illustrated.

Setup

1. The game board. Join the King and Queen parts to form the game board and place it between the players. It is used to organise the play area during the game.

2. Player pawns and writing cases. Each player takes a pawn and a writing case in their colour.

3. Player Aid cards. Each player takes one double-sided Player Aid card.

4. Fleur-de-lys tokens. Victory points are represented by tokens and are referred to as such in this rulebook. Give each player the equivalent of 10 victory points and hide them in their writing case. Place the remaining tokens beside the board, accessible to all players.

   Note: at any time during the game, players may exchange 5 tokens of value 1 for 1 token of value 5 to make change.

5. Audience cards. Audience cards represent the Audiences at which the players must influence the King and the Queen. Shuffle the 18 Audience cards and randomly remove 4 cards from the deck, which will not be used in the game. Place the remaining 14 cards face down on the dedicated spaces on the game board in two separate piles of 7 cards each: one pile on the King side, the other on the Queen side.

6. The Word tile. This tile determines the turn order throughout the game. Randomly determine a first player; this player takes the Word tile.

7. Courtier cards. Courtier cards represent all of your allied courtiers, which you must play sparingly during the game at Audiences. Each Courtier card has a value in Influence. Each player takes the Courtier cards in their colour into their hand:

Object of the Game

The game is played over 7 rounds, corresponding to the 7 Audiences at which the players send Courtiers and Valets to influence the King and the Queen in their favour. The players must work together to accumulate enough Influence to succeed at the Audiences and win victory points; but only the most cunning will prevail. The player who has accumulated the most victory points at the end of the 7 rounds wins the game.

Playing a Round

At the start of each round, reveal face up the top card of each Audience pile. Each Audience card contains 3 pieces of information:

• Influence: the value that must be gathered from Courtiers and Valets to succeed at the Audience. This value varies depending on the mood of the Sovereign.
• Victory points: the victory points you can win or lose, depending on the outcome of the Audience.
• Favour: the special ability you will gain if you are the majority at this Audience (see Favours, page 10). You may use this Favour only once, during later Audiences.

A round is played in 3 phases:

1. Choose an Audience
2. Bet 2 cards
3. Count the points

Turn Order

"I give the floor to..."

In Royal Secrets there is no fixed turn order: each time a player performs an action (choosing an Audience, betting the 1st card, betting the 2nd card), they then pass the Word tile to the player of their choice, who performs an action in turn, and so on.

Important: you must always designate a player among those who have not yet acted for the current action.

Example: you cannot give the floor back to a player who has already chosen an Audience while there are still players who have not yet positioned themselves. A player who has bet their 1st card cannot be designated until all players have bet their 1st card.

First player: in the first round, the first player is determined at random. In later rounds, the last player to have held the Word tile starts the round.

Phase 1: Choose an Audience

Each player, in turn, must choose an Audience, either with the King or with the Queen: they place their pawn on a free space of the chosen Audience. Several players may position themselves at the same Audience.

Example: the Blue player is randomly designated first player. They decide to position themselves at King Audience 1 and then pass the Word tile to the Red player. The Red player decides to go to King Audience 2 and passes the Word tile to the Yellow player. And so on, until every player is positioned at an Audience: the Yellow player (3) and then the Green player (4) decide to position themselves at the Queen Audience.

Phase 2: Bet 2 Cards

Now that they are positioned, the players must send Courtiers and/or Valets to gather enough Influence to succeed at the Audience.

To succeed at the Audience, the total value of the Courtier and Valet cards bet by all players at the Audience must be greater than or equal to the Influence required by the Audience.

Following the turn order (see Turn Order, page 4):

1. Each player, in turn, bets a 1st card, face down or face up, of their choice, in front of their pawn.
2. Then, each player, in turn, bets a 2nd card, face up or face down (the opposite of the 1st card).

Example: if a player has bet a 1st card face up, their 2nd card must be bet face down, and vice versa.

During this phase, you must discuss with the other players which card to bet: negotiation, bluff, lies. To win victory points and gain a Favour at minimal cost, or to trap the other players at your Audience, you must be the most cunning.

Example: the players begin the first betting round.

• The Green player was the last to position themselves; they pass the Word tile to the Yellow player, who is at the same Audience, forcing them to bet first.
• After betting a 1st card face down (1), the Yellow player passes the Word tile back to the Green player.
• The Green player bets a card face up (2) and passes the Word tile to the Blue player.
• The Blue player bets a card face down (3) and then passes the Word tile to the Red player, who bets a card face up (4).
• The Red player then passes the Word tile to another player for a second betting round, following the same procedure until each player has bet two cards (one face up, one face down).

Phase 3: Count the Points

When all players have bet two cards, reveal all face-down cards and count!

Case 1: the Audience succeeds. If the total value of the cards bet by all players at the Audience is greater than or equal to the Influence required, then:

• The players at the Audience each gain the victory points shown on the Audience card, which they place in their writing case.
• The majority player (the player who bet the most Influence with their two cards) wins the Favour and places the Audience card face up in front of their writing case. This Favour may be used during later Audiences.

Tie: in case of a tie between majority players, the players concerned choose a 3rd card from their hand and reveal it face up at the same time. The player who played the most influential Courtier or Valet wins the Favour. Then, all the players concerned pass their card to their right-hand neighbour. In the case of a tie between two players, the two players simply swap their cards.

If there is a new tie, nobody wins the Audience card. It is discarded.

A player may bluff by playing a Courtier card of value 0, but it will always return to their hand.

Case 2: the Audience fails. If the value of the cards bet by the players at the Audience is strictly less than the Influence required, then:

• The players at the Audience each lose the victory points shown on the Audience card.

Example: at the King Audience, the Blue and Red players bet a total of 30 Influence. They fail to influence the King because 50 was required. They each lose 5 victory points. Nobody wins the Favour; the Audience card is discarded.

Example: at the Queen Audience, the Yellow and Green players bet a total of 70 Influence. They succeed comfortably and each gain 3 victory points. The Green player bet the most Influence, so they win the Favour and place the Audience card in front of their writing case.

Case 3: the 7th and last Audience. In the last round, players go all out, because it is important to leave a good impression!

• If the Audience succeeds: only the majority player wins the victory points shown on the card.
• If the Audience fails: all the players at the Audience lose the victory points shown on the card.

This is the last round for using Favours. Favours gained during this round cannot be used.

The Excuse Card

The Excuse card is a slightly special Courtier card!

The effect of the Excuse card is resolved in phase 3, "Count the points".

When a player has played their Excuse card:

• They withdraw from the Audience and discard their 2nd bet card, which does not count.
• They draw a Valet card and add it to their hand (unless the Valet pile is empty).
• If the Audience succeeds: the player who withdrew does not win the victory points.
• If the Audience fails: only the players who remained at the Audience lose the victory points.

This is therefore a good opportunity to put your opponents in an awkward position.

Do not leave a Sovereign in the lurch! If all the players at an Audience have withdrawn, they all lose the victory points of the Audience. However, if a player is alone at an Audience with the Cardinal, they may still withdraw.

The Valet Cards

Valets spread rumours that can cost the players dearly. Valet cards have a special feature compared with Courtier cards.

• If the Audience succeeds: all the players taking part in the other Audience lose the victory points indicated on the Valet card played. Players who played the Excuse lose nothing.
• If the Audience fails: the player who played the Valet card loses the victory points.

Example: at the King Audience, the Red player bet two Courtier cards for a total Influence of 40 out of the 50 required to succeed. The Blue player played a Courtier of value 0 and an Excuse. They withdraw from the Audience and are not affected by the failure. They also take their Courtier of value 0 back into their hand. The Red player loses 5 victory points.

At the Queen Audience, the Yellow player bet two Courtier cards of a total value of 30. The Green player played a Courtier of value 20 and a Valet of value -10. The Queen Audience succeeds, so both players gain 3 victory points, and the Yellow player wins the Favour because they are the majority. Since the Audience succeeded, the Green player makes the players of the other Audience lose 4 victory points (as shown on the Valet card). Since they played their Excuse, the Blue player is not affected.

Cardinal Cards: One-on-One Audiences

You can never be alone with a Sovereign, because the Cardinal keeps watch. If you are alone at an Audience with a Sovereign, the Cardinal takes part in the Audience as follows, always following the turn order:

• 1st betting round: the player bets their 1st card, then reveals a Cardinal card face up and places it facing a free space of the Audience.
• 2nd betting round: the player bets their 2nd card and draws a 2nd Cardinal card, which they place face down next to the first.

The Cardinal cards are counted in the tally, which proceeds as for a normal Audience:

• If the Audience succeeds: the player gains the victory points of the Audience.
  • If they are the majority or tied with the Cardinal, they win the Favour.
• If the Audience fails: the player loses the victory points of the Audience.

Example: the Yellow player is alone at the Queen Audience. We move to phase 2, "Bet 2 cards". When the Yellow player receives the Word tile, they bet their 1st card face down and reveal a Cardinal card face up in an empty space of their Audience. They then pass the Word tile to another player. When the Word tile returns to them, they play their 2nd card (a 20) face up and draw a 2nd Cardinal card, placing it face down.

Once everyone has bet two cards, the face-down cards are revealed and we move to phase 3, "Count the points". The Yellow player and the Cardinal have bet 40 in total. The Yellow player therefore gains 3 victory points and wins the Favour because they are the majority (30) over the Cardinal (10).

End of Round

At the end of each round, the following are permanently discarded:

• The Audience cards that were not succeeded;
• All the cards bet (Courtier cards, Excuse and Valet cards), with the exception of Courtier cards of value 0, which are always taken back into hand and may be played indefinitely.

The Cardinal cards played are left face up beside the Cardinal pile.

The next round then begins, and so on until the 7th and last Audience.

End of the Game

After the 7 Audiences, the players count the points:

1. Each player totals the Fleur-de-lys tokens (victory points) accumulated and hidden in their writing case.
2. Each Courtier or Valet card not played earns the player 1 victory point per 10 points of Influence, up to a maximum of 6.

The player with the most victory points wins the game.

Favours

Each Audience card includes a Favour: an ability offered to the majority player of the Audience (the player who bet the most Influence with their two cards), which they may use once during the game.

When a player wins a Favour, they place the Audience card in front of their writing case.

There are 9 Favours in total, each present twice. Each Favour may be played during only one phase of the game.

During Phase 1: Choose an Audience

• Bribery (Corruption): Draw a new Valet card.
• Planning: At the start of the round, distribute all players across the 2 Audiences.
  • If 2 players play this Favour in the same round, the Audience card that is more expensive in Influence takes precedence.
  • The player who uses the Royal Dinner Favour may, however, take part in both Audiences.
• Royal Dinner: Take part in both Audiences simultaneously.
  • Each Courtier or Valet card played counts for both Audiences at the same time. The player plays their cards in the middle.
  • The player cannot suffer the effects of Valet cards played by other players.
  • The effects of any Valet cards they would play do not apply either. Only their value in Influence is taken into account.
  • If the player withdraws, they do so from both Audiences.

During Phase 2: Bet 2 Cards

• Espionage: Look at all the face-down bet cards of the 2 Audiences.
• Stab (Coup de poignard): Discard a face-down bet card from any Audience.
• Medal of Merit (Médaille du mérite): Double the value of a bet card.
  • Only one "Medal of Merit" Favour may be played per bet card.

During Phase 3: Count the Points

• Recruitment: Take a card bet by another player of the same Audience at the end of the round.
  • BEFORE the face-down cards are revealed, the player must designate a face-up or face-down card they wish to take. This card still counts in the tally for the round.
  • You can never take a player's Courtier cards of value 0.
• Royal Grace (Grâce royale): Cancel all victory point losses suffered this round (Valets included).
• Master Stroke (Coup de maître): Turn all victory point losses suffered this round into gains (Valets excluded).