Kingdom of Middag Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Summary
• Components & Setup
• Game Play
  • Go Hunting
  • Send a Tribe Meeple to the Village Huts
• Actions in Village Huts
  • Tool Hut
  • Trade Hut
  • Worship Hut
  • Elder Hut
• End of a Season
  • Update the Hunting Field for new Season
  • Resolve and refresh the Story tiles in the Festival area
  • Resolve personal Story tile
  • Change the Season board and retrieve Tribe Meeples
• End of the Fourth Season
• End of the Game
• Changes in 2- and 3-Player Games
• Glossary of the Story Tiles
• Details about Hunting Tiles

Game Summary

In Kingdom of Middag, players are the leader of their own tribe with the goal of leading their people to a fruitful harvest and further glory. By sending tribe members to the hunting field, Tool Hut, Trade Hut, or Worship Hut, players will hunt and capture prey, improve their hunting skills, or trade preys for victory points (VP). The changing dynamic in the hunting field challenges players to optimize the timing of their actions to gain the most useful resources and convert them into VP efficiently. The player who earns the most VP will become the new King of Middag, transcending all others in glory and revered through the generations!

Components & Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.
2. Turn all of the Hunting tiles to the Bushland side. Take the Wild Boar tile and place it on the corresponding space on the left side of the Hunting Field. Place the remaining 8 Hunting tiles in a random order on the empty spaces on the left marked with a green flower. This is the "Current Hunting Field".
3. Place the Festival tile on the Hunting Field on the right (matching the player count), which is called the "Future Hunting Field".
4. Place one Trading tile with either side face up, on each of the spaces marked with a yellow flower.
5. Place one Worship tile with either side face up, on each of the spaces marked with a gray flower.
6. Take the Season board marked with an "I" and place it face up in the center of the "Festival Field."
7. Shuffle all Story tiles facedown and separate them into three piles based on the Totems on their back. Place the piles below the Festival Field. Reveal and place one tile from each pile above the Festival Field.
8. Each player takes 3 player markers of their color. Place one each to:
   • "0" space of the scoring track.
   • The bottom space on the Worship track.
   • In front of them to indicate their player color.
9. Each player takes 6 Tribe Meeples of their color.
10. The player who most recently told a story takes the Crown and becomes the start player. Starting with the start player, the 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th player takes 1, 3, 5, 7 Taro and 1 Mikado Pheasant token as their starting resources.
11. Place the Taro tokens and the 4 types of Prey tokens (Mikado Pheasant, Hare, Sika Deer and Wild Boar) within easy reach as the supply.
12. Each player takes one Player Aid card and you are ready to play!

Block markers are only used in 2 or 3-player games.

Game Play

(The rules are explained for a 4-player game. The changes for 2 or 3-player games are explained later.)

The game is played over 4 Seasons. In each Season, players take turns in clockwise order to perform actions in two phases:

1. Go Hunting or Rest.
2. Send one Tribe Meeple to the Village Huts.

When you Rest, take 2 Taro and send one additional Tribe Meeple in the second phase.

Go Hunting

When you choose Go Hunting, you must perform the following actions in order.

1. Choose a Hunting tile in the Current Hunting Field to place your marker and pay the required number of Taro. Choosing the bottom-most Hunting tile is FREE; pay one Taro for each space higher than the bottom-most, including empty space(s).
2. Get Prey tokens of the type shown on the Hunting tile from the supply equal to the number of white dots beside the hunting space.
3. Gain any bonus rewards shown beside the hunting space, which may include taking extra Taro or sending one additional Tribe Meeple in the second phase.
4. Move the Hunting tile to the lowest empty space of the Future Hunting Field, and retrieve your player marker.

Placing your player marker on the Hunting tile simply serves as a reminder for your chosen space. You may skip this step if you are familiar with the game.

The Taro and Prey are limitless, you may use other alternatives if the supply is empty.

Example: In the example on the left, you may:

1. Choose the bottom-most Hunting tile, and get 4 Mikado Pheasants and 1 Taro.
2. Spend 2 Taro to skip 2 spaces, and then get 3 Hares and send 1 additional Tribe Meeple in the second phase.

Regardless of your choice, after performing your actions and gaining the bonus reward, move the chosen tile to the lowest empty space of the Future Hunting Field (black mark).

Send a Tribe Meeple to the Village Huts

When performing this action, you may place one of your Tribe Meeples from your personal supply to an area in one of the 4 Village Huts, or move one Tribe Meeple already in an area to another area. Except for the Elder Hut, multiple Tribe Meeples can be in the same area.

If you gain the bonus reward for sending one additional Tribe Meeple, you may place or move 2 Meeples and resolve their actions one after the other. You may send at most 2 Meeples per turn.

When you send the Tribe Meeple, follow the process below:

1. Pay the corresponding entry fee shown on the sign next to the area. The cost can be Taro, Prey or both. The "any Prey" icon represents any one Prey (Mikado Pheasant, Hare, Sika Deer or Wild Boar).
2. For each Meeple other than yours already in the area, pay 1 Prey of your choice to the owner of their Meeple(s). For each of your own Meeple in the area, discard 1 Prey to the supply. You may not enter the area if you can not pay all of the additional Prey. Example: Orange player must pay 1 Prey to Blue and discard 1 Prey to be able to place 1 Tribe Meeple to this area.
3. Take the action or gain the benefit associated with the area in the Village Hut.

At the end of a Season, all Tribe Meeples in the Tool Hut will remain on the board, while Meeples in the Trade, Worship, and Elder Huts will be returned to each players' respective supply.

Actions in Village Huts

Tool Hut

There are 6 areas in the Tool Hut. Placing Tribe Meeples in these areas will provide different benefits to players when they Go Hunting in future turns.

When you take Mikado Pheasant, Hare, or Sika Deer from the Hunting Field, you may take 1 additional Prey of the same type and 1 additional Taro, or 2 VP.

The benefits will not be accumulated even if you place multiple Meeples in the same area.

Example: If you have a Tribe Meeple in the Tool Hut as shown in the figure, you may take 1 additional Mikado Pheasant and 1 Taro whenever you take Mikado Pheasant in the Hunting Field.

Trade Hut

There are 4 areas in the Trade Hut. When you place a Tribe Meeple in the Trade Hut, you must immediately choose one of the Trade tiles and take the Prey and Taro shown on the tile.

Choosing the tile on the bottom is FREE, but to choose a higher tile, you must pay 1 Taro for each space that is higher than the bottom tile.

After making the trade, flip over the tile and move it to the top of the Trade tiles, pushing the other tiles downwards to fill the gap.

Example: You may choose the Trade tile on the bottom and take 2 Sika Deer and 2 Taro. Or instead you may pay 1 Taro to skip the bottom tile and take 1 Wild Boar and 1 Prey of any type. After the trade, flip over the tile, move it to the top and push the other tiles downwards.

Worship Hut

There are 3 areas in the Worship Hut. When you place a Meeple in the Worship Hut, you must immediately choose one of the Worship tiles and exchange Prey and/or Taro for VP as indicated on the tile at least once. You may not place a Tribe Meeple here if you can not complete the exchange.

Choosing the tile next to or below your player marker on the Worship track is FREE, but to choose a higher tile, you must pay 2 Taro for each space that is higher than the tile next to your player marker.

After you choose the tile and complete the exchange, flip over the tile and move it to the top of the Worship tiles, pushing the other tiles downwards to fill the gap.

Finally, move your player marker one space up on the Worship track. The number on this track indicates how many times you may conduct the exchange for VP each time you place a Tribe Meeple in an area of Worship Hut.

Example: Orange player's marker is on the 3rd space of the Worship track marked with "x2", which means he can choose one of the 2 bottom tiles for free. But he decides to pay 2 Taro to skip one space and choose the Wild Boar tile. Orange's Worship level allows him to conduct the exchange twice (at most), so he returns 6 Wild Boars and 4 Taro to gain 14 VP. He then flips the tile over and moves it to the top of the Worship tiles. Then he moves his player marker up 1 space on the Worship track.

Elder Hut

There are 3 areas in the Elder Hut shown on the Season board. The entry costs in each Season are different. During each Season, only one Meeple can be sent to each area in the Elder Hut, and these Meeples cannot be moved to other areas until the end of the Season.

When you place a Meeple in the Elder Hut, gain the VP shown on the area immediately. Then you may draw 2 Story tiles from the corresponding pile, secretly examine them, and choose one to keep facedown in front of you. Return the other tile facedown to the bottom of the original pile.

You may keep only one Story tile in front of you. If you ever get more than one tile, you must return one facedown to the bottom of the pile of the same totem.

Example: Orange player sends a Tribe Meeple to the Elder Hut, s/he gains 2 VP, and draws 2 Story tiles from the pile. After secretly examining the tiles, s/he chooses 1 to keep facedown, and returns the other facedown to the bottom of the pile. Now Orange player has 2 Story tiles, s/he chooses one of them to return to the bottom of the pile.

End of a Season

A Season ends at the end of a turn when all the spaces below the Festival tile in the Future Hunting Field are filled with Hunting tiles.

A new Season will begin after the following steps:

1. Update the Hunting Field for the new Season.
2. Resolve and refresh the Story tiles in the Festival area.
3. Resolve personal Story tile.
4. Change the Season board and retrieve Tribe Meeples.

After the above steps, the next player in the normal turn order will start the new Season.

Update the Hunting Field for new Season

Move the Festival tile aside, and move all the remaining Hunting tiles from the Current Hunting Field to the Future Hunting Field, keeping their orders as shown on Figure 1. Starting from top going down, flip the first 3 Hunting tiles showing the bushland side to the grassland side. As shown in Figure 2, the Wild Boar, Hare and Sika Deer tiles are flipped over to the grassland side. This column is now the Current Hunting Field.

Place the Festival tile in the empty Hunting Field matching the corresponding player count, which becomes the Future Hunting Field as shown in Figure 3. The Hunting Field is ready for the new Season.

Resolve and refresh the Story tiles in the Festival area

Check the Story tiles in the Festival area from left to right. For each tile, rank the players in accordance to the scoring condition. The players in the 1st / 2nd place for each condition will score the high / low VP indicated on the Season board. If there are ties, all tied players can score the full VP for their tied positions. After resolving the Story tiles, return them to the game box.

Example: The Story tile in the figure awards the players who have the most combined Tribe Meeples in the Trade Hut and Worship Hut areas. According to the Season board, the first place will score 5 VP, and the second place will score 3 VP. If 2 players tie for the first and another 2 players tie for the second, the first two will score 5 VP, while the next two will score 3 VP.

Next, reveal the topmost Story tile from each of the 3 piles and place them above the Festival Field, which will be resolved at the end of the next Season.

Resolve personal Story tile

Players check their own personal Story tile and if they are in the first place for the condition (being tied for the first with other players is acceptable), reveal the tile, and score 4 VP. Then return the tile to the bottom of the pile of the same totem.

If they cannot reveal the tile (not being in the first place), they must keep it facedown and try to score the tile later.

Change the Season board and retrieve Tribe Meeples

Replace the Season board with the next number (I → II → III → IIII) face up. All players take back their Tribe Meeples from the game board except for the ones in the Tool Hut.

End of the Fourth Season

When the end of the fourth Season is triggered, DO NOT resolve the Story tiles immediately. Keep playing until the game ends after the last player finishes his/her turn, so that all players have equal numbers of turns.

During these final turns, the Hunting Field is closed, players can only choose to Rest and send one additional Tribe Meeple in the second phase.

End of the Game

After the resolution of the Festival Story and personal Story tiles, players gain 1 VP for every 3 remaining Prey. The player with the most VP wins! If tied, the player with more Taro break the tie. If still tied, they share the victory.

Changes in 2- and 3-Player Games

• In 2- and 3-player games, whenever there is only one empty area left in the Trade Hut or Worship Hut, immediately place the Block marker on the empty area. No Meeples can be sent to this area in the remainder of the Season. The Block marker will be removed at the end of the Season.
• In 2-player games, when you send a Tribe Meeple to an area with other Meeples (regardless of who owns the Meeples), all the Prey you pay go to the general supply instead of the owner of the Meeples.
• In 2-player games, when resolving the Story tiles, only the player who best fulfills the condition will score the lower VP. No one scores if tied.

Glossary of the Story Tiles

For the first 12 Story tiles, you must have at least one of the required resource to be eligible for the scoring condition.

• Mikado Pheasant Hunter: Have the most Mikado Pheasant in your supply.
• Wild Boar Hunter: Have the most Wild Boar in your supply.
• Hare Hunter: Have the most Hare in your supply.
• Sika Deer Hunter: Have the most Sika Deer in your supply.
• Cornucopia: Have the most Taro in your supply.
• Master Hunter: Have the most Prey in your supply.
• Master Merchant: Have the most Tribe Meeples in the Trade Hut.
• Master Artisan: Have the most Tribe Meeples in the Tool Hut.
• Devotion: Have the most Tribe Meeples in the Trade Hut and Worship Hut combined.
• Priest: Have the most Tribe Meeples in the Worship Hut.
• Luxury: Triple the Tribe Meeples in the Worship Hut and then add the number of Wild Boar in your supply. Have the highest total.
• Diligent: Double the Tribe Meeples in the Trade Hut and then add the Tribe Meeples in the Tool Hut. Have the highest total.

For the following 6 Story tiles, having 0 of the required resource or no Tribe Meeples in a particular area is eligible for the scoring.

• Restoration: Have the least amount of Mikado Pheasant and Hare combined in your supply.
• Relaxation: Have the fewest Tribe Meeples in the Tool Hut.
• Consumer: Have the least amount of Taro in your supply.
• Self-supplied: Have the fewest Tribe Meeples in the Trade Hut.
• Satisfaction: Have the least amount of Prey in your supply.
• Hermit: Have the fewest Tribe Meeples in 3 Huts combined.

Details about Hunting Tiles

During the game, players may freely examine the bottom side of the Hunting tiles. You may also check this page to see all the tile details.

• When you choose the tiles showing two Prey types, you can only choose one type of the Prey to take. You may gain additional Prey through the Tool Hut benefits if you take Mikado Pheasant or Hare,
• When you choose the tiles showing Prey, Taro and VP, you may gain the Prey, Taro and VP at once. You may gain additional Prey through the Tool Hut benefits, if applicable. The number of Taro and VP you will gain is also indicated by the white dots next to the Hunting tile, ranging from 2 to 4.
• When you choose the Wild Boar tile, you will gain 2 VP per white dot next to the Hunting tile. For example, if this tile is positioned in the Hunting Field above, you will gain 6 VP and 2 Taro.