Il Principe
Il Principe Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Designer
Emanuele Ornella
Players, Age, Duration
- Players: 2 - 5
- Age: 12 and up
- Duration: approx. 90 minutes
Contents
- 100 Building cards
- 20 Universities, 20 Cathedrals, 20 City Halls, 20 Castles, 20 Markets
- Each Building card shows the number of victory points it is worth on its back
- 15 City cards
- Money: 1 x 10-ducat note, 6 x 5-ducat notes, 33 x 1-ducat notes
- 5 Family cards
- 5 Major Role cards
- 5 Minor Role cards
- Victory point / score markers (one per family)
- 1 "Il Principe" marker
- 1 game board showing:
- The role card spaces
- The score track
- The regions and cities
- The starting space
Setup
Place the game board in the center of the table. Each player chooses a family and takes the corresponding Family card, the 12 heraldic markers (blazons) of that family, 5 ducats as starting capital, and the matching score marker. Place the score marker on space 0 of the score track.
Shuffle the Building cards and the City cards separately and place both piles face down near the game board. Draw the first 4 City cards and place them face up near the pile.
The remaining ducats form the bank. Place the Role cards near the game board, next to their corresponding color. The Major Role cards are placed on the first row, the Minor Role cards on the second row.
Determine a first player — for example, the last player to have visited Italy. That player takes the "Il Principe" marker and is called "Il Principe."
Sequence of Play
The game is played over a number of rounds, each divided into 4 phases:
- Phase 1 – New Building Cards
- Phase 2 – Auction for Building Cards
- Phase 3 – Build Cities / Place Buildings
- Phase 4 – Role Distribution
Phase 1 – New Building Cards
Each player draws 4 Building cards (referred to hereafter as Buildings), adds them to their hand, and chooses two of their cards to place face down on the table — this is called the reserve. (A player may still have cards in hand from the previous round; there is no limit to the number of cards a player may keep in hand.) In addition, each player receives 5 ducats from the bank. Keep your money secret throughout the game.
Phase 2 – Auction for Building Cards
Depending on the number of players, the number of Building cards in the reserve after Phase 1 varies. These buildings are auctioned off among the players.
First, turn the buildings from the reserve face up and sort them on the table by color. Start with the color that has the fewest cards in the reserve and continue in ascending order, so that the color with the most cards is auctioned last. If several colors are tied for the same number of cards, the buildings are sorted according to the order of colors on the game board (1st green, 2nd white, 3rd red, 4th blue, 5th yellow) and auctioned in that order.
There is a separate auction for each color in the reserve. The highest bidder takes ALL of the buildings of that color.
The auction for a color always begins with the player to the left of "Il Principe" and continues clockwise. Each player, when it is their turn, must bid ducats or pass. (This rule also applies to the first player and their opening bid.) Players who have passed can no longer take part in the auction for that color. Each bid must be higher than the previous one. Play continues until all players have passed. The highest bidder wins the auction and:
- adds all the buildings of that color to their hand
- pays their bid to the bank
- takes the "Il Principe" marker
- may immediately build a city — in addition to the possibility of building a city in Phase 3 (see Build Cities)
If all players pass and there is no bid, all the buildings of that color are removed from the game.
Phase 3 – Build Cities / Place Buildings
Starting with "Il Principe" and continuing clockwise, each player has two options: build a city, or place buildings.
Exception: On the first round, no one may build a city during Phases 2 and 3.
Build Cities
To build a city, a player chooses one of the face-up City cards and pays its cost. From their hand, they must choose as many buildings of the matching colors as shown on the City card; they place them face up on the table in front of them, sorted by color. If the player already has Building cards placed in front of them, they place the buildings of matching colors together. In addition, the player must pay the bank the number of ducats shown on the City card.
Example: The Medici family builds Milan. They must place buildings: two blue, one red, and one yellow. In addition, they must pay 4 ducats to the bank.
When a player builds a city, they receive the number of victory points printed as a reward, and may also place as many of their blazons on the game board as indicated on the City card. They must place their blazons in the regions adjacent to the city built. They may distribute them as they see fit. If the player has no more blazons, they may no longer place any on the game board.
Example: The Medici family receives 6 victory points for building Milan. The player moves their score marker along the score track accordingly. In addition, they may distribute two of their blazons across the two adjacent regions (blue and green) as they wish.
Now, all other players except the one who built the city receive victory points if they own certain Role cards. For a Major Role card matching at least one color of the buildings on the City card built, the owner of that Role card receives 2 victory points. For a Minor Role card matching at least one color of the buildings on the City card built, its owner receives 1 victory point.
Example: Except for the player who built Milan, all other families who own blue, red, or yellow Role cards receive victory points.
The City card for the city just built is returned to the box, face down. Then a new City card is immediately turned face up from the pile and placed alongside the other 3 cities.
Place Buildings
A player may also place Building cards without building a city. They place from their hand any number of cards of the same color face up on the table in front of them. Buildings are placed in rows by color, stacked on top of one another.
Phase 4 – Role Distribution
Return Role Cards
At the start of this phase, all players return their Role cards to the area near the game board (see Setup).
New Role Distribution
Following the order of colors (green, white, red, blue, yellow), the Major and Minor Role cards are distributed to the players. The player who has the most face-up buildings of the matching color in front of them takes the Major Role of that color and places it in front of them on the table. They must immediately turn face down half (rounded up) of their buildings of that color.
The player with the second-highest total of buildings of that color receives the Minor Role card and does not turn any building cards face down.
Example: The Medici family has 3 green buildings. This gives them the majority; they receive the green Major Role card and must turn 2 green buildings face down. After that, the player executes the special action.
Two special situations can occur:
I. There is exactly one player with the most buildings of a color AND there are several players tied for the second-highest total of buildings of that color. The player with the most buildings of that color receives the Major Role card. The Minor Role card is auctioned among the players tied for the second-highest total of buildings of that color.
II. There are several players tied for the most buildings of a color. The Major Role card is auctioned among those players. The Minor Role card is not awarded for this round.
As a result, some Role cards may remain unclaimed near the game board. No one owns those roles, so no one benefits from them. It is possible for a player to hold several Role cards in a single round.
In cases I and II, the auction proceeds exactly like the auction for Building cards (Phase 2), with the sole exception that only the players concerned take part. The player who wins the auction pays the ducats to the bank, takes the Role card, and takes the "Il Principe" marker. If all players pass, the Role card remains at the side of the game board.
Role Card Effects
As soon as a player takes a Role card, they execute its special effect — first the player with the Major Role card, then the player with the Minor Role card.
| Color | Major Role | Minor Role | Special Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Master | Apprentice | The player may turn face up one of their non-green cards. They may choose any non-green card that is face down in front of them on the table and turn it face up. |
| White | Bishop | Priest | The player receives one victory point. |
| Red | Magistrate | Notary | The player immediately draws a Building card from the pile and adds it to their hand. |
| Blue | Lord | Knight | The player, if they have any left, places one of their blazons in any region. |
| Yellow | Banker | Merchant | The player receives 2 ducats. |
End of the Game
The game ends if:
- at the start of Phase 1, there are fewer than 4 City cards face up near the game board. In this case, the game ends immediately.
- at the start of Phase 1, the number of Building cards in the pile is fewer than 12 (in a 3-player game), 16 (in a 4-player game), or 20 (in a 5-player game). In this case, there are some changes for the final round:
- In Phase 1, players receive only their ducats, but no buildings.
- In Phase 2, players draw 6 Building cards from the pile for the auction (in a 3-player game), or 8 buildings (in a 4-player game), or 10 (in a 5-player game). If there are not enough cards left in the pile, the game ends immediately. Otherwise, normal rules apply to Phases 3 and 4.
End of Game Scoring
Victory Points for Regions
At the end of the game, each region is scored. Players receive victory points for their blazons in the regions. Victory points are awarded for majorities of blazons in a region.
If a player has the most blazons in a region, they receive 5 victory points. If one or more players have the second-highest total of blazons in the region, they each receive 2 victory points.
If several players are tied for the most blazons in a region, they each receive 5 victory points. In this case, no other player with blazons in that region receives any victory points.
Example of a final region scoring: In the blue region, the Carraresi family has the most blazons and receives 5 victory points. In that region, the Visconti and the Gonzaga each have one blazon and therefore both receive 2 victory points. In the green region, D'Este has the majority (3 blazons) and receives 5 victory points, while Carraresi receives 2 victory points. In the red region, Visconti alone has the majority (1 blazon) and receives 5 victory points. And in the yellow region, Medici and Gonzaga both have 2 blazons and each receive 5 victory points for the tied majority. Visconti has 1 blazon in the yellow region but receives no victory points.
Other Victory Points
The following victory points are also awarded at the end of the game:
- 2 victory points for each Major Role card
- 1 victory point for each Minor Role card
- 2 victory points for each set of 5 Building cards of different colors that a player has in front of them on the table — regardless of whether they are face down or face up
- 2 victory points for the player with the most ducats (in case of a tie, all tied players receive the points)
- 2 victory points for the player with the most Building cards in hand (in case of a tie, all tied players receive the points)
The player with the most victory points wins the game. If two or more players are tied for first place, those players count the buildings they have placed, and the one with the most buildings wins. If there is still a tie, those players compare their Major Role cards, and the one with the first Major Role card in color order wins the game.
Special Rules for 2 Players
At the start, the players return to the box:
- all Minor Role cards
- 7 buildings of each color
- 5 City cards drawn at random (which remain secret and face down)
During Phase 1, both players draw 5 buildings and place 3 of them in the reserve. Both players receive 6 ducats each.
The game ends when there are fewer than 10 cards in the Building card pile at the start of Phase 1. In this case, during Phase 2, all remaining cards are auctioned.
Variant
If you would rather not deal with the ever-present shortage of money, you can try the following rule: each player receives 10 ducats as starting capital. Each round, players take 6 ducats. You may also build a city during the first round. This variant is easier to play, since you do not need to save money as carefully as in a normal game.