Villages
Villages Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 72 game cards
- 60 unit cards (6 colors, 10 cards each)
- 7 gray animal cards
- 5 gray building cards
- 1 High Score card
- 1 Low Score card
- 5 reference cards
Setup
Shuffle the game cards, deal 8 cards to each player, and place the rest face-down on the table to form the deck. Then, flip over a number of cards equal to the number of players to form a discard pile.
The player sitting to the left of the dealer goes first and play moves clockwise from there. The dealer's job also moves clockwise from one round to the next.
Your Turn
Each turn consists of up to four phases. The draw phase must always be done first, but the others may be done in any order. Note that the ability text on some cards will give you optional variations of these phases.
Phases of a Turn:
- Draw: Draw 2 cards. Always first.
- Build: Build 1 village. Optional.
- Give: Give away up to 3 cards. Optional.
- Act: Discard 1 card OR attack.
Draw Phase
The first thing you will always do at the start of your turn is draw 2 cards. You can draw 2 cards from the top of the deck, 2 cards from the top of the discard pile, or draw 1 from each. You may look at your first card before deciding where to draw your second card from.
Build Phase
At any time during your turn, you may build 1 new village. A village is a set of 3 or more unit cards of the same color. To build a village, place these cards down on the table in front of you. You may also add additional cards from your hand to your existing villages at any time during your turn.
It is possible to build up to 6 villages total, one for each color. However, you can only build 1 new village per turn; if you have multiple sets of 3 or more matching cards in your hand, you will need to wait until your next turn to lay down the second set.
Animals/Buildings
Gray cards are special. There are two types of gray cards: animals and buildings. You can't build a village using only gray cards, but you can add gray cards to any other village as long as certain requirements are met.
In order to add animals to a village, that village needs to contain a Farmer. Likewise, in order to add buildings, a village requires a Builder. A single Farmer or Builder can support an unlimited number of animals or buildings, respectively. If the Farmer or Builder is destroyed or kidnapped, any existing animals or buildings remain, but no more can be added.
[Figure: four animal cards are shown as requiring a Farmer; four building cards are shown as requiring a Builder.]
Also note that animals and buildings do not count toward the 3 units needed to build a new village.
The booklet illustrates this section with four examples:
[Figure: three unit cards, marked with a check mark.]
To build a village, you need 3 units of the same color.
[Figure: three unit cards and a Tavern card, the Tavern marked with a cross.]
Adding a Tavern requires a Builder. Since this set doesn't have one, the Tavern can't be added.
[Figure: two unit cards, one of them a Builder, and a Tavern card, the Tavern marked with a cross.]
There is a Builder in this set, but only 2 units. The Tavern doesn't count toward the 3 unit requirement.
[Figure: three unit cards, one of them a Builder, and a Tavern card, the Tavern marked with a check mark.]
This set has 3 matching units, and one is a Builder, so this village can be built.
Give Phase
At any time during your turn, you may donate up to 3 cards from your hand directly to other players' villages. The cards you give away must match the village's color and meet any applicable animal/building requirements..
The reason for giving your cards to other players is mainly to empty your hand of negative points at the end of the round. It can be used as a diplomatic tactic. Also, if giving away a few gold coins' worth of cards earns you the bonus gold for being the first to empty your hand, it is usually worthwhile to do so.
Act Phase
At any time during your turn, you must take one action. Available actions include discarding 1 card from your hand to the top of the discard pile OR launching an attack on another player's village. You must always take an action before you end your turn, but you may spend your build or give phases after your action is finished.
Battle
If another player's village contains a card you want, you can try to steal it. This can be done by spending your action phase to attack the other player's village. Battle takes place in five steps.
Steps of Battle:
- Choose an attacking unit
- Choose a defending unit
- Compare power
- Choose a reward
- Regroup or pay up
Attacking Unit
First, the attacking player must choose one of their units to send out. This unit can be chosen from one of the player's villages OR from their hand.
Units that are chosen from a village are left face-up, while units played from the hand (also called hired units) are played face-down.
Once an attacking unit has been chosen, the attacking player moves it to an open spot on the table and declares that he is attacking a specific village with this unit.
[Figure: "From village: face up" (a unit card shown face-up) and "From hand: face down" (a unit card shown face-down).]
Defending Unit
Next, the defending player must choose one of their units to send out. This unit can be chosen from the village that is being attacked OR from their hand. Units who are living in villages that are not under attack can not participate in the battle, with the exception of the Archer.
Again, units that are chosen from a village are left face-up, while units played from the hand (also called hired units) are played face-down.
Once the defending unit has been chosen, the defending player moves it out to meet the attacking unit.
Compare Power
Once both units have been chosen, flip over any face-down cards. Read the ability text of both cards and apply bonuses or take other actions as written.
The unit with the higher power wins. In the case of a tie, the attacking unit wins.
[Figure: "Attack!" unit showing 4 power icons, then a -3 penalty, for a total of 1. "Defend!" unit showing 2 power icons, then a +1 bonus, for a total of 3.]
Unit abilities can have a dramatic impact on battle, so read them carefully. In this battle, the Wizard attacked the Knight. Because both units are blue, the Wizard's -3 penalty was activated. Meanwhile, the Knight's ability gives him a +1 bonus for defending.
Choose Reward
If the attacking unit won the battle, the attacking player gets to choose a reward.
Available rewards:
- Destroy the defending unit
- Kidnap the defending unit
- Kidnap any unit or animal in the defending village
If the attacking player chooses to destroy the defending unit, that unit goes to the defending player's graveyard. Each player has his or her own graveyard, which is set aside until the end of each round. Any card that is "destroyed" goes into its owner's graveyard. The gold value of these cards count as negative points during scoring.
If the attacking player chooses to kidnap a unit or animal, he puts that card into his hand. Note that buildings can't be kidnapped.
If the defending unit won the battle, the attacking unit is destroyed, but no further rewards are chosen.
Regroup/Pay Up
Any units remaining on the battlefield who originally came from a village return home.
Any remaining hired units (units played directly from the hand) are destroyed. This represents paying the unit for his or her services and is the price to pay for playing the card face-down.
After this step, the battle is over and the attacking player can continue their turn as normal.
End of Round
When any player discards, gives away, or otherwise loses the last card in their hand during their turn, the final turn begins. All other players get one last turn. After that, the round is over and scoring begins.
The final turn can also be triggered when the deck runs out of cards. In this case, players can continue to draw from the discard pile as needed.
Scoring
(The booklet prints no heading on this page; the section is titled here from its "Scoring:" box label.)
To calculate your score, add up the gold coins shown on the cards in your villages. Next, subtract the gold coins shown on any cards left in your hand or your graveyard. Finally, add 10 if you were the first player to empty your hand. You don't get the 10 bonus gold if you weren't the first player to do so.
Scoring:
- Add up your villages.
- Subtract your hand and graveyard.
- Add 10 if you emptied your hand first.
The final result is your score. Have a scorekeeper write this number down and add it to your running total.
If no one has earned 100 gold coins, assign the High Score and Low Score cards to the appropriate players, shuffle all of the game cards, and play another round!
FAQ
Q: Do I need to prove that I am going to use a card I pick up from the discard pile?
A: No.
Q: When can I use a card's ability?
A: A card must be built into a village or hired into a battle before its ability can be used. This means that animals cannot be used directly from your hand and most unit abilities will only activate when they participate in battle. However, cards with abilites that change their own gold value will always take effect during scoring.
Q: Can I move my cards do a different village or back to my hand after they've been played?
A: No. The only exception to this rule is the guest unit staying at the Inn, which can be switched out once during your turn.
Q: What happens to the unit staying at the Inn if the Inn is destroyed?
A: Return the unit to your hand.
Q: What happens if my village has fewer than 3 units in it?
A: The 3 unit requirement only applies while building the village. Once it is built, a village only needs 1 unit to continue to exist.
Q: What happens if the last unit in a village is killed or kidnapped?
A: Return the remaining animals and buildings to your hand. However, if there is a guest unit staying at an Inn in that village, the village's color changes to match the guest unit's color and the Inn opens up for a new guest.
Q: If I can empty my hand without taking an action, may I do so?
A: No. You must always take an action during your turn.
Q: I lost the last card in my hand during someone else's turn. What happens now?
A: Play continues as normal. You need to get rid of your last card during your own turn in order to receieve the 10 bonus gold and begin the final turn.