King of the Elves
King of the Elves Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
120 Cards:
- 26 Village cards
- 64 Travel cards
- 30 Special cards
75 Gold coins worth "1", "5", and "10"
24 Coat of arms tokens (4 each of 6 symbols)
1 Dragon figure in a stand for the starting player
Preparation
Shuffle all 120 cards and place them face down in the middle of the table; this is the card supply. Leave space next to it for a face up discard pile.
The space on the table before each player is the player's realm. This is where the villages belonging to the player are placed. The player's realm is also the storage area for the player's gold coins and coat of arms tokens.
Each player selects a coat of arms, takes the four tokens with that coat of arms, and places them face up in his realm.
The oldest player is the banker. He gives each player two gold coins valued 5 and two gold coins valued 1 as their starting capital. The players keep their supply of gold coins open in a stack or pile, but keep the total value secret from the other players. The banker makes change for players as needed during the game.
The youngest player takes the dragon and the stand. He places the dragon into the stand to create the starting player figure. He is the first starting player.
Playing the Game
The game lasts for 2-5 rounds. With 2, 3 or 4 players, there are 2, 3, or 4 rounds, respectively. Thus, each player is the starting player once during the game. With 5 or 6 players, a game is 5 rounds and, thus, all but one player is the starting player once in the game.
A round consists of four phases:
- Dealing cards
- Planning
- Journeying
- Ending the round
1. Dealing Cards
In the first round, the starting player deals ten cards face down to each player from the card supply. In subsequent rounds, the starting player deals eight cards to each player. Players receive village, travel and special cards, but, of course, may not receive all three kinds in the deal.
The Village Cards
The players play village cards in the planning phase. There are six different village cards: villages at the lake, on the river, in the desert, in the mountains, in the forest and on the plains. Each village card has a value between 2 and 7 and symbols in the corners that show the kind of terrain where the village is located.
The Travel Cards
The players play travel cards in the journeying phase. There are seven different kinds of travel cards. They represent the seven kinds of transportation (or vehicles) available in Elfenland. To visit a village, a player must play one or more cards of one of the vehicles that is allowed in the kind of terrain where the village is located.
- The giant pig trots to a village on the plains or in the forests for a single card.
- The elfcycle drives to a village on the plains or in the forests for a single card or to a village in the mountains for two cards.
- The magic cloud floats to a village in the mountains for a single card or to a village on the plains or in the forests for two cards.
- The unicorn gallops to a village in the forests or in the mountains for a single card or to a village in the desert for two cards.
- The trollwagon is pulled to a village on the plains for a single card or to a village in the forests, in the desert or in the mountains for two cards.
- The dragon flies to a village on the plains, in the desert, or in the mountains for a single card or to a village in the forests for two cards.
- The raft sails to a village on the river for a single card or to a village at the lake for two cards.
The Special Cards
There are six different special cards: four that are played in the planning phase (with round symbols in the corners), and two that are played in the journeying phase (with square symbols in the corners). Of the four special cards for the planning phase, only one of each may be played on each village. In addition, the two obstacle cards have restrictions on the kind of village where they can be played.
Gold card (planning phase) — When a player visits a village with a gold card with his coat of arms token on it, the player receives double the value of the village.
Thief card (planning phase) — When a player visits a village that has a thief card, he must give two gold coins to the player whose coat of arms token is on the thief card. If he does not have two gold coins, he may not visit this village. The player, whose coat of arms is on the thief, is not affected by it.
Tree obstacle (planning phase) — When a player visits a village on the plains, in the forest, in the desert, or in the mountains that has a tree obstacle, he must play an additional travel card of the same type. The player, whose coat of arms is on the obstacle, is not affected by it.
Sea monster obstacle (planning phase) — When a player visits a village on a river or at a lake that has a sea monster obstacle, he must play an additional raft travel card. The player, whose coat of arms is on the obstacle, is not affected by it.
Escort (journeying phase) — When a player plays an escort card as he enters a realm, he is protected from thieves and obstacles in every village in that realm until he leaves the realm. The card is discarded when the player leaves the realm. Thus, if he leaves the realm and re-enters it later in his journey, he is not protected; however, if he plays another escort card, he will be.
Change direction (journeying phase) — When a player plays a change direction card, he reverses the direction of his journey. The player can play this card any time during his journey after he has visited at least one village in his realm. The card is discarded immediately after use.
2. Planning
Beginning with the starting player, the players take turns planning their journeys. Each player is allowed one action on each turn. After that action, the next player, in clockwise order, takes his turn. On a player's turn he does one of six actions or he passes. This continues until all players pass in turn order. The possible actions are:
- Play a village card
- No village card!
- Draw 3 cards and discard 4 cards
- Buy a card
- Play a gold, thief or obstacle card
- Remove a village
- Pass
Play a village card
When a player plays a village card, he places it face up either in his realm or in the realm of another player. A player's realm may have up to two village cards. When a second village card is placed in a player's realm, it is placed to the left (from the view of the player whose realm it is) of the first village card.
No village card!
In the unlikely situation that a player has no village in his realm and no village card in his hand, he may choose, on his turn, to say, "no village card!" He then shows the other players his hand so they may verify that he has no village card in his hand. Then, he searches the card supply for the village card of his choice, adds it to his hand, and discards one card from his hand face up to the discard pile. He then shuffles the card supply, ending his turn.
Draw 3 cards and discard 4 cards
With this action, a player has may get cards he needs for later in the game. The player draws three cards from the card supply and adds them to his hand. He then takes four cards from his hand, shows them to the other players, and places them face up on the discard pile. He may discard cards he has just drawn.
Buy a card
With this action, a player can increase the size of his hand. The player may buy the topmost card from the card supply. He draws the card and places it in his hand. The first card bought by a player in a round costs 1 gold coin, the second costs 2 gold coins, and the third costs 3 gold coins. A player may not buy a fourth card in a round.
So that these purchases may be tracked, the player does not pay for the cards immediately, but places the gold coins in his realm apart from his gold coin supply. Thus, all players may see how many cards a player has bought by the number of coins in this separate place. This also indicates what he will pay for a further card and when he cannot buy another. The players give these coins to the banker at the end of the planning phase.
Play a gold, thief or obstacle card
A player may play the special cards in any realm. The player places the card next to a village card in any player's realm. He then places one of his coat of arms tokens on the card to identify himself as the owner.
Only one of each type of card may be placed next to a village. Thus, a maximum of three of these cards may be placed next to a village: one gold, one thief, and one obstacle card. There are two types of obstacle cards.
With these cards, a player may thwart another player's journey or enhance his own.
The tree obstacle may only be placed next to desert, plains, forest, and mountain villages. The sea monster obstacle may only be placed next to lake or river villages.
Each player has four coat of arms tokens. When he has used all four, he may not play more gold, thief, or obstacle cards in this round. He will get all four back for the next round.
Remove a village
This action allows a player to remove a village that he cannot visit for lack of travel cards. Or, a player may remove a village solely to be rid of other players' special cards that have been played there.
The player may remove a village and the gold, thief, and obstacle cards associated with it from his realm. He places the cards face up on the discard pile and pays the bank 2 gold coins for the village and 1 gold coin each for any gold, thief, and obstacle cards.
The player returns any coat of arms tokens that were on the discarded cards to the players they belong to. The player may not remove villages from another player's realm.
Pass
A player may pass when he has no useful action. The player may pass instead of doing one of the six actions, if he has at least one village in his realm. A player who passed, may take normal actions on subsequent turns. When all players pass in turn order, the journeying phase ends.
Example
On Anna's turn she decides to pass and may do so as she already has a village in her realm. Bob is the next to play, in clockwise order, and plays a village card in his realm. Carl, the next to play, places a thief card with his coat of arms next to the village Bob just played. Doris is next and buys the topmost card of the card supply for a gold coin (it is her first such buy in this round). It is Anna's turn again and she decides to draw 3 cards and discard 4.
As Bob now has a village (he was the last without one), he decides to pass. Carl is happy with the cards in his hand and the arrangements of villages on the board and passes. Doris also feels she can do little to improve her situation and passes. This leaves Anna, who got just the cards she wanted on her last draw and passes. As all four players have passed in turn order, the planning phase ends and the round moves to the journeying phase.
3. Journeying
Beginning with the starting player and continuing clockwise around the table until all players have taken their journeys, each player travels the land from village to village. To visit a village, the player must play one or more travel cards. In each village, he receives gold coins based on the value of the village he visits and may receive double the amount if he has placed a gold card at the village. Players may also have to pay gold to thieves that live in the village.
Travel
Players may visit as few villages, including none, as they want. It is assumed that each player begins the journey in his castle. From there, he first visits the villages in his realm by playing the appropriate travel cards to reach them. He may then use travel cards to visit villages in neighboring realms. If the player has two villages, he must first visit the village on his right and then travel to the one on his left.
After visiting the villages in his realm, he may continue his journey, moving clockwise around the table. He must visit each village he comes to in order, skipping none.
Each village is located in specific terrain: at a lake, on a river, in the desert, in the mountains, in the forest or on the plains. The travel cards represent the vehicles available in Elfenland: dragon, unicorn, trollwagon, elfcycle, giant pig, magic cloud, and raft. Each card has a picture of the vehicle and terrain symbols indicating where it can go. The number of symbols of each terrain type indicate the number of travel cards needed to use the vehicle to visit a village in that terrain. If the symbol for a terrain type is missing, the travel card cannot be used to visit a village in that terrain. For example, the elfcycle has 1 plains symbol, 1 forest symbol, and 2 mountain symbols. A player needs 1 elfcycle card to visit a forest village, 2 to visit a mountain village, but could not use an elfcycle to visit a desert village.
For example, to visit a village in the desert, a player could play two trollwagon cards or one dragon card. In another example, to visit a village on the plains, a player could play one trollwagon card or two magic cloud cards.
If a player visits all villages in all realms on the table, he receives a bonus of 10 gold pieces and may continue his visits as long as he has the necessary travel cards.
Payment of gold coins
In King of the Elves, gold coins are used as the form of payment between players or between a player and the bank. To facilitate these transactions, the game has 1, 5, and 10 gold piece coins. When the rules indicate that a player is to pay two gold coins, he may pay two 1 gold piece coins. If he chooses to pay with a 5 gold piece coin, he receives three 1 gold piece coins in change. For example, when a player visits a village on a lake with a value of 7, he should receive 7 gold coins from the bank. The banker may pay him with one 5 gold piece coin and two 1 gold piece coins.
Example: Anna's journey
Anna has the following cards in her hand at the start of her journey: 3 Raft travel cards, 2 Elfcycle travel cards, 2 Unicorn travel cards, 2 Magic cloud travel cards, 1 Dragon travel card.
Anna begins her journey at her river village by playing 2 raft cards: one for the village and one for the sea monster obstacle that Doris played there; she collects 2 gold. Then she visits Bob's forest village by playing 2 unicorn cards: one for the village and one for the tree obstacle that Carl played there; she collects 8 gold (4 doubled because of her gold card). Anna continues her journey with Carl's desert village. She plays a single dragon card to visit the village, but must also pay Bob two gold coins for the thieves she encounters there; she collects 6 gold. She moves on to Carl's plains village, playing an elfcycle card and collects 3 gold. Finally, she visits Doris' mountain village by playing a magic cloud card and collects 5 gold. Since she has visited every village, she earns a bonus of 10 gold for a total of 32 gold pieces for her journey! She earned 34, but lost 2 to the thieves.
At the end of her journey she has the following cards in her hand: 1 Elfcycle travel card, 1 Raft travel card, 1 Magic cloud travel card.
Example: a journey for Doris
This example uses the same table layout as Anna's journey. Doris begins her journey by playing a dragon to visit her mountain village and collects 5 gold. Then she visits Anna's river village by playing 1 raft card (she is not affected by her own sea monster obstacle); she collects 2 gold. Doris continues on to Bob's forest village by playing 2 giant pigs: one for the village and one for the tree obstacle that Carl played there; she collects 4 gold. She moves next to Carl's realm and plays an escort card. She follows this with a dragon to visit Carl's desert village (the escort protects her from the thieves that Bob played there so she does not pay Bob 2 gold); she collects 6 gold. She now plays a trollwagon to visit Carl's plains village and collects 3 gold. As she has now visited all villages, she collects the bonus of 10 gold, but does not end her journey. Instead she plays change direction and another dragon to return to Carl's desert village (her escort continues to protect her from the thieves); she collects 6 gold. She leaves Carl's realm and must discard her escort. Finally, she visits Bob's forest village by playing her last two cards: 2 elfcycles. She needs one for the village and one for the tree obstacle Carl placed there; she collects 4 gold. In her journey, Doris earned 40 gold, including the bonus of 10 gold for visiting all the villages.
Doris has the following cards in her hand at the start of her journey: 1 Raft travel card, 2 Elfcycle travel cards, 2 Giant pig travel cards, 1 Trollwagon travel card, 3 Dragon travel cards, 1 Escort card, 1 Change direction card. As she used all her cards, she has no cards in her hand at the end of her journey.
4. Ending the Round
After the last player (the player to the right of the starting player) has finished his journey and collected his gold coins, the round ends. To prepare for the next round, the players do the following:
- The players remove their coat of arms tokens from the cards on the table and return them to their realms.
- The starting player passes the starting player figure to the player on his left.
- The new starting player collects all cards on the table and puts them on the discard pile. The players keep any cards remaining in their hands.
- The new starting player combines the cards in the card supply with those in the discard pile and shuffles them.
The game continues with the new starting player and a new round.
Game End
The last round begins when the last player becomes the starting player. Exception: with six players, the last round begins when the fifth player becomes the starting player.
The game ends when the last player has completed his journey in the last round. All players now count their gold coins. The player with the most gold coins is the winner!
Special Rules for Two Players
In the 2 player game, each player may have three villages instead of two in his realm.
Variant: Teleporting Magic
What would a fantasy setting be without the possibility of magic. In this variant, a player may move immediately to any village on the table by casting a magic teleporting spell. To cast the spell, he must pay three gold coins and play any four travel cards (they need not be the same). Then he may move immediately to any village on the table. Any gold and thief cards in the village have their normal effects, but the magic spell allows the player to ignore any obstacles blocking the village. He then may continue his journey from that village, moving in the same direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) as he was before the teleport. He may not use this magic until after he has visited the first village in his realm.
Credits
Author: Alan R Moon Graphics: Doris Matthäus English translation & editing: Jay Tummelson
© 1999 AMIGO Spiel + Freizeit GmbH, Version 1.3