Kardinal
Kardinal Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 1 cathedral
- 1 cardinal
- 24 edifices (2 houses, 2 towers and 2 yards in each of the 4 colours)
- 48 scoring chips (+ 4 spare chips)
- 1 rule of the game
The board enclosed with the rules is meant for decoration purposes only; it is not the board for playing.
Preparation
- Each player takes 2 houses, 2 towers and 2 yards in his or her colour.
- Sort the 48 scoring chips according to their colours and place them on the table so that everybody can see them properly.
- Place the cathedral in the middle of the table. The cardinal shall be at hand, as he will be needed as soon as the game starts.
- Decide who will take the first turn.
How to Play with Four Players
The players take turns clockwise. Each turn consists of three actions:
- You must build an edifice (house, tower or yard).
- You score by taking scoring chips.
- You may move the cardinal.
Action 1: Building an Edifice
- A new edifice must be built adjacent to the cathedral or another building already existing.
- As there is no board, the castle can be extended into any direction.
- Once an edifice has been built and the player has scored, it must not be moved on or removed from the table.
- Houses and towers have one, yards have two square bases.
- The squares adjacent to an edifice are called sites. Adjacent to houses and towers there are four, adjacent to yards there are six sites.
- The edifices are placed next to each other as follows: (diagram showing correct and incorrect placements)
The cathedral consists of two parts: The clock-tower is dealt with just like the towers, the nave is dealt with just like a house. Adjacent to the cathedral there are six sites.
The cardinal of Sevenich has issued seven severe building rules. These are:
I. First rule. No edifice may be built on a site the cardinal stays upon.
II. Second rule. Towers must be built adjacent to at least one house. No tower may be built on a site where it only neighbours yards.
III. Third rule. Yards must be built adjacent to at least one house. No yard may be built on a site where it only neighbours towers.
IV. Fourth rule. No edifices similar in shape may be built on adjacent sites.
V. Fifth rule. No edifices similar in colour may be built on adjacent sites.
VI. Sixth rule. No edifices similar in shape may be built one directly after the other.
Example: If player A builds a house, player B must build either a tower or a yard. If he or she cannot build either of those, he misses a turn, and player C must build either a tower or a yard.
VII. Seventh rule. No edifices similar in colour may be built one after the other.
This rule becomes more important when you are approaching the end of the game, if one or more players must miss a turn, or if only three people are playing.
If you are able to build an edifice, you must do so. You may only miss a turn if you have no chance to build according to the seven severe building rules.
Should a player have built his six edifices while the others still have some, he misses turns till the end of the game. Players may have remaining buildings at the end of the game.
Action 2: Scoring
Every newly built edifice necessarily neighbours one or more edifices that have already been built during the game.
You score one scoring chip for every building your edifice touches, the colour of the scoring piece depending on the colour of the building touched.
Scoring pieces of each colour can only be taken as long as the twelve pieces have not been distributed to the players completely. Afterwards you do not score for touching buildings of that colour.
There is no score awarded for touching the cathedral.
Example: The yard, when played, gets two score chips – one chip for the white house, another chip for the dark grey tower. No chip is given for the cathedral.
As the first player cannot score when building his first edifice, he may choose one scoring chip of any colour.
Action 3: Moving the Cardinal
The first player must bring the cardinal into the game.
During the game you may only move the cardinal if you were able to build an edifice in the same turn.
If you move the cardinal, you must place him on a site adjacent to an existing building. This may be the played building, a previously played building or the cathedral.
End of the Game
The game ends as soon as no player can build any more edifice.
Players may have buildings that have not been played at the end of the game; this is not important for the final scoring.
Each player takes the remaining scoring chips of his or her colour from the table.
Sort your scoring chips by colours. Double the number of chips of one colour and add the result to the total number of other chips you received during the game.
The player with the highest total wins the game.
If there is a tie between two or more players, the player who has built more edifices adjacent to the cathedral will win. If there is a tie there, too, all the players in it win the game.
How to Play with Two Players
In addition to the rules for four players, the following rules are in effect:
- Each player takes the edifices of two colours. The colours can be played in any order. (It is allowed to first use up all buildings of one colour and then build the edifices of the other. However, make sure you obey the seventh rule!)
- You may build edifices of one of your colours adjacent to edifices of the other colour you have and score according to the scoring rules.
- At the end of the game you receive the remaining scoring chips of both of your colours.
How to Play with Three Players
The following rules make the game especially interesting for three players:
- The fourth colour is also in the game and may be used by each player instead of using his or her colour in every given turn. Should a player have already built all of the edifices in his or her own colour, he or she may continue playing by using the fourth colour in every coming turn. However, you may not use the fourth colour if the edifice built beforehand was of that colour, too. (Seventh rule.)
- Scoring chips you gain by playing the fourth colour are put aside; no one can use them to score points.
- At the end of the game remaining scoring pieces of the fourth colour are also put aside.
Postscript
Game Play Hints
The combination of the seven rules provides a large variety of tactical moves. On the one hand you should try to score as many points as possible in each turn. On the other hand you should try to force your opponents, and especially the player following your play, to make bad moves, scoring only few or – to them – worthless scoring pieces.
Try to steer your opponents by choosing your edifices and moving the cardinal so as to reduce the other players' choices.