King's Pouch Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Overview
  • Drawing citizens from your pouch
• Game Setup
• Playing the Game
  • I. At the start of each round
  • II. Each player's turn
  • Detailed description of the phases
    • i) Placement phase
    • ii) Management phase
    • iii) Rest phase
  • III. End of the round and Great Council
• End of the Game
• Variants
• Building Effect Overview
  • Immediate effects
  • Additional effects in the management phase or rest phase
• Character Card Overview
• FAQ
• Summary
  • Game flow
  • Cost
  • Prestige points

Contents

• Game board x 1
• Player boards x 4
• Pouches x 4
• Player markers x 56 (14 x 4 colors, including 2 Castle / Prestige point markers)
• Neutral markers x 11
• Cards x 64: 4 Turn order cards; 48 Building cards (Red: Military 16, Yellow: Commerce 16, Green: Religion 16); 12 Character cards
• Citizens x 116: 28 Common Citizens (blue hexagonal prisms); 28 Corrupt Officials (violet hexagonal prisms); 20 Soldiers (red cubes); 20 Merchants (yellow cubes); 20 Clerics (green cubes)

Overview

In this game you will use several kinds of citizens (cubes and prisms) in different ways, with the ultimate goal of earning prestige points. Your pool of citizens is represented by your pouch: You draw available citizens from there and return used citizens to the pouch only when you cannot draw any more, because it is empty (this concept is similar to the deck-building concept seen in other games).

The game takes place over 9 rounds. At the end of rounds 3, 6 and 9 there is a great council that allows scoring additional prestige points from influential characters and conquered territories. After the end of the 9th round great council and final scoring (where you can gain or lose score depending on your corrupt officials and buildings), the game ends and the player with the most prestige points wins.

Drawing citizens from your pouch

Corrupt officials and common citizens are different from soldiers, merchants and clerics. Therefore when you draw citizens, you can identify them by touching. You can draw one by one and check the result each time. You can also see and count the citizens during the game, but you will have to mix up the pouch right after that. If there are no citizens left in your pouch when you have to draw, take one corrupt official from the pool and put it into your pouch together with all the citizens in your rest area, then draw your citizens. Since your pouch is empty at the beginning of the game, you will already have to add the first corrupt official to your pool of citizens at the end of your first turn!

Game Setup

Each player's setting (Figure 1): the player board has an active area (citizens in this area can be used during your turn), basic buildings already built on your board (Barracks, Tavern, Chapel, City Hall), places for additional buildings, a rest area (all the citizens on your board will be moved to this area during the rest phase and be placed here until being returned to your pouch), your pouch (empty at the start of the game), and your player markers (they will be placed on the character cards or territories of the kingdom).

1. Each player takes: 1 Player Board, 1 Pouch, 14 Player Markers (of one color), 4 Common Citizens (place them on the active area of your own board).
2. Place one of the neutral markers as a round marker on the round track's first space.
3. Prepare the building decks: Make a deck for each color of buildings: Put the 3rd era cards on the bottom and add the 2nd era cards, then the 1st era cards on top of that (so you will have one deck for each color that will start with the 1st era cards and end with the 3rd era cards). In a 2-player game use only one of each individual building card. Remaining cards are not used anymore.
4. Prepare the character cards: Place the Prince, the two Princesses, the Queen and the Jester character cards face-up to the side of the main board, plus 2 additional characters if playing with 3 players or 4 additional characters when playing with 4 players. Players can choose those additional cards using any method they agree on.
5. Decide the order of play for the first round: Put the castle / prestige point markers into a pouch, then draw one by one and stack them in order at the '0' space of the prestige point track, showing the castle side on the markers.
6. Depending on the player number, place neutral markers on the main board to indicate unused territory (see Figure 3). No one can attack or take unused territories during the game.
7. Choose starting positions: The territories with a grey castle marker in Figure 3 show available starting territories. Players choose their starting territories and place their castle / prestige point markers on them, showing the castle side on the markers. (The player whose prestige point marker is placed on top can choose first.) The starting territories are called the "castles" from now on.

Prestige points track: if your marker stops on the same space with other players, place it on top of their marker(s).

Playing the Game

I. At the start of each round

• All the remaining building cards of the previous round are discarded. Reveal 6 new cards face-up (2 cards per each of the 3 piles). In a 2-player game, reveal 3 new cards (1 card per each of the 3 piles).

No building card in the 9th round: There will be no building cards in the 9th round. At the start of the 9th round, all the remaining building cards of the 8th round are discarded normally. No player can build a building in the 9th round.

• Distribute the turn order cards. Turn order is decided by the amount of prestige points, starting with the player with the most prestige points and so on. If some players have the same amount of prestige points, the player whose marker is stacked above the others takes his turn first. The turn order cards are also used to keep track of the tax collection action (see below). Place the turn order cards beside the player boards, showing the side with 3 prestige points.

Collecting tax: At any time during his turn, a player can collect tax and earn 1 gold by flipping over his turn order card. If he collects the tax, he cannot collect 3 prestige points for the turn order card at the end of his turn.

II. Each player's turn

Each player's turn is divided into three phases:

• i) Placement Phase: Place the citizens in your active area on buildings on your player board to collect resources and gain new citizens or special effects.
• ii) Management Phase: Use the resources you collected to construct buildings, acquire characters or conquer territories.
• iii) Rest Phase: Clean up the board, convert unused resources, collect prestige bonus and draw new citizens.

Gold and Army: There is no marker or token to display earned gold or army power in this game. Gained gold and army power are only used during the turn they are created and any remaining army power and gold are converted to prestige points at the end of each turn.

Detailed description of the phases

i) Placement phase

The Player can place the citizens from his active area on any building cards they have on their player boards.

• Citizens can only be placed on slots with the same color as their own. Available slots on building cards are color-coded with yellow, red, green, blue or violet frames.
• Placing citizens on buildings in this way immediately triggers the effects of that slot (even though some effects are only being put to use in later phases, see building effect overview). You don't need to use all effects of a slot, however: When two effects are on the same line you need to trigger and fully resolve all (or none) of them.
• The basic buildings on your player board have more than one available slot. In these buildings, the second slot/effect (from the top) can only be used after the first slot has been used.
• Some buildings have no slot. The effect of those buildings can be triggered once each round for free.

Building card example 1) Basic buildings: A player can place 1 commoner or 1 cleric on the first slot of the Chapel and earn 2 prestige points. Since the first slot is occupied, he can place a citizen on the second slot. Only a common citizen can be placed on the second slot of the Chapel. If he places 1 commoner on the second slot of the Chapel then he can put 1 cleric from the pool to his active area of the board. This newly gained cleric can be used on the same turn, if the player has another building where a cleric can be placed.

Building card example 2) Normal building (City Watch): A player can place only 1 soldier on the slot of the City Watch. The effect of "removing 1 corrupt official from active/rest area" and the effect of "earning 1 army" are on the same line. If you want to earn 1 army, you should remove 1 corrupt official before or after earning. The effect of "drawing 1 citizen" is on a different line, therefore you can choose to activate this effect independently.

Building card example 3) Building used without citizens (Harbor): There is no slot on the Harbor. The player who owns the Harbor can earn 1 gold each round for free.

(Building cards show the building name, its cost in gold, its prestige points which count at end of game, its citizen slot(s) and the effects of the slot(s).)

ii) Management phase

The resources you collected can be used in the following ways:

a) Constructing a building

• Choose one of the available building cards and place the card on your board face-down (it means the building is still under construction during this round) using as much gold as displayed on the card. Prestige points of the building count at end of the game.
• You cannot have more than 1 building with the same name on your player board.
• You cannot take this action if you already have a face-down card on your board.
• If you got the effect of "reducing the cost for construction", you can construct a building with less gold. If you got the effect of "free construction", you can construct a building for free.

b) Claiming character cards

• Choose one available character card and place one of your markers on the card. The cost for the acquisition is 2 gold plus 1 gold per each of your markers which is already placed on other character cards (so the cost for the first support card is 2 gold, the cost for the second card will be 3 gold and so on). You cannot acquire a card that already has a marker on it.
• You can claim as many character cards as your gold/special ability allows each round. If you have no remaining markers or if there is no available character card, you cannot take this action.
• If you got the effect of "reducing the cost for claiming character cards", you can acquire each card with less gold. If you got the effect of "free claiming", you can acquire one character card for free each round.

c) Occupying territories

• Gained army power can be used to occupy other territories in the kingdom. The target territory has to be connected to your own castle through territories you already occupy. Place your marker on the territory, and other player's markers are returned to their owners, if there were any. If you occupy another player's territory, you get 5 prestige points (2 prestige points for empty territories).
• The required armies for occupying are decided as described below:
  • +1 army per distance from your own castle
  • +1 army per each other player's marker
• You can occupy more than one new territory on your turn if you have enough armies and markers. You can also attack through these newly conquered territories in the same turn. If you have no markers remaining, you cannot take this action.
• If you got the effect of "reducing the cost for occupying territories", you can occupy each territory with less army power. If you got the effect of "free occupation", you can occupy one territory for free each round.

Castle: A player's castle cannot be removed. A player who attacks another player's castle can place a corrupt official from the main pile on the rest area of that player and gains 5 prestige points. You can attack each other player's castle once a round. Except for those special rules, castles are considered the same as other territories for military purposes.

Occupation examples

1. A territory one space away from your own castle without markers on it. 1 (due to distance) = 1 army is needed. Place your marker and get 2 prestige points. If you gained the effect of "reducing the cost for occupying", you can occupy for free. If you use the effect of "free occupation", you can occupy for free.
2. A territory two spaces away from your own castle with 2 markers of another player's. 2 (due to distance) + 2 (due to the other player's markers) = 4 armies are needed. Return another player's markers, place your marker and get 5 prestige points. If you gained the effect of "reducing the cost for occupying", 3 armies are needed. If you use the effect of "free occupation", you can occupy free.
3. Another player's castle three spaces away from your own castle. 3 (due to distance) + 1 (due to the other player's markers) = 4 armies are needed. Place one corrupt official in the player's rest area, and get 5 prestige points. If you gained the effect of "reducing the cost for occupying", 3 armies are needed. If you use the effect of "free occupation", you can occupy for free.

Palace: There is a territory with a palace at the center of the game board. The player who occupies the territory with the palace during the rest phase of his turn can draw one additional citizen. The territory with the palace is considered the same as other territories for military purposes.

iii) Rest phase

When you have completed the management phase, the rest phase begins:

1. Donate unused gold/military: If you have any unused gold or armies left, you donate them and get 1 prestige point per 1 gold or army.
2. Prestige bonus: If you didn't collect tax with your turn order card, you receive 3 prestige points.
3. Clean-up board: Move all the citizens on your board to the rest area.
4. Refresh: If you got the effects of "refreshing your pouch", return your citizens in your rest area to your pouch before drawing new citizens.
5. Draw new citizens: Draw 5 citizens from your pouch and place them in the active area for the next round (6 if you occupy the palace area on the game board). If your pouch is empty when you need to draw more citizens, the citizens from the rest area are put back into the pouch along with a new corrupt official from the shared pool. Then continue drawing.
6. Finish construction: Flip over any face-down building card on your board.

Rest example 1) A Player finds his pouch is empty after drawing 2 citizens. He takes one corrupt official from the pool and puts it into his pouch, along with all the citizens in his rest area. Then he draws 3 more citizens.

Rest example 2) A Player who occupies the palace, decides to draw 6 citizens. He finds his pouch is empty after drawing 6 citizens. Then nothing happens. He should not put his citizens into his pouch because he doesn't need to draw additional citizens now.

III. End of the round and Great Council

When every player finishes his own turn, the round ends. Advance the round marker and continue to next round. At the end of the 3rd, 6th, 9th rounds, a great council takes place: Each player earns prestige points according to the territories and the character cards they own. The player who has the most prestige points calculates points first. If there is a tie, the player whose marker is on top goes first.

• Prestige points for territories: Each marker (including your castle and additional markers placed via certain building's effects) on your territories, connected to your castle, gives you 1 point (2 points at the end of 6th round, 3 points at the end of 9th round). The markers remain on the board after calculating prestige points.
• Prestige points for claimed characters: Each marker on character cards gives you prestige points as described on the card. After earning the points, the markers on the character cards are returned to their owners (so they will be available to be claimed again during the next three rounds).

End of the Game

After the third great council at the end of 9th round, each player calculates additional prestige points as follows:

• Prestige points for buildings: Add together all prestige points printed on the buildings on your player board.
• Loss of prestige points for corrupt officials: Subtract 2 points for each corrupt official in your pouch and on your player board.

The player with the most prestige points wins. If there is a tie, the player with fewer corrupt officials wins. If there is a tie again, the player with more citizens wins. If there is a tie again, the players share victory.

Variants

• More varied characters: Players can choose every character card used in the game instead of the 5 standard characters cards.
• More varied buildings: Sort the building cards by round regardless of the color (3 piles). Then place them in one pile.

Building Effect Overview

Immediate effects

• Prestige points: Whenever you get prestige points, move your marker on the prestige point track.
• Army power and gold: You gain the displayed amount of army power and/or gold which can be used in normal ways or for effects on other buildings.
• New citizens: Move the displayed number of citizens from the common pool to the indicated area. A cube colored with 3 colors means "any cube". An area colored with red means active area, while colored with black means rest area and colored with 2 colors means any area you want.
• Draw citizens: As many times as displayed, draw citizens from your pouch and place them on the indicated area.
• Move citizens: As many times as displayed, move citizens from your active area to your rest area or vice versa as indicated.
• Exchange citizens: Exchange the citizens as indicated. New citizens are placed to the same area the removed citizens were removed from.
• Remove citizens: Remove the displayed number of citizens from the indicated area and put them back into the shared pool.
• Adding player marker: Add one of your own unused markers to a one of your markers that is already placed on a territory (excluding your castle) on the main board or one of the character cards as indicated. You cannot do this if there are already two markers or if you have no available marker left.

Additional effects in the management phase or rest phase

• Free action: You can construct a building, occupy a territory, or claim a character card for free (see management phase).
• Reducing cost: You can reduce the cost for occupying territories, constructing a building, or claiming character cards, during your turn (see management phase).
• Refresh your pouch: In your rest phase, you may move the citizens from your rest area to your pouch before drawing new citizens to your active area, as many times as being displayed. If there is no number, move all citizens (see rest phase).

Character Card Overview

• Jester: Number of markers on character cards (including those on the Jester itself). 1/2/3+: 3/6/9 points
• Princess: There are two princess cards in the game. Number of markers on princess cards. 1/2+: 5/7 points
• Prince: First/second/third great council: 5/7/9 points
• Queen: Number of markers on territories (including the castle). Up to 3/4/5+: 3/6/9 points
• Inquisitor: Number of corrupt official (active area). 2+/1/0: 3/6/9 points
• Scholar: Number of RGY cube (soldiers, merchant, clerics) (active area). Up to 3/4/5+: 3/6/9 points
• Mayor: Number of common citizens (active area). Up to 1/2/3+: 3/6/9 points
• Chancellor: Number of RGY building set (including basic buildings). 1 set/2 sets/3 sets: 3/6/9 points
• Architect: Number of any one-color buildings (including the basic building). Up to 3/4-5/6+: 3/6/9 points
• Chamberlain: Occupying palace. Yes/No: 8/4 points
• Archbishop: 6 points (fixed points)

FAQ

Q: What happens if there are no remaining citizens both in the pouch and in my rest area when I need to draw citizens. A: Take one corrupt official from the main pile and put it into your pouch, then draw it.

Q: What happens if there are no remaining available citizens? A: Subtract 2 prestige points if there is no corrupt official available when you have to take one of them. Nothing happens otherwise. You just cannot receive new citizens.

Q: What happens if the point marker goes once around the track? A: Turn over the marker to face the '80' side up.

Q: Can I attack the empty territories adjacent to my castle without any military power, simply by using my stable building? A: Yes, you can.

Q: There are red and yellow mercenary guilds. Can I have both? A: No, you cannot. Because you cannot construct a building with the same name as one already on your player board.

Q: Should I draw citizens during the rest phase of 9th round? A: Yes. You should draw to determine gaining of additional corrupt official and to calculate the prestige points of character cards which depend on the active area.

Summary

Each player's setting: 1 Player Board, 1 (empty) Pouch, 14 Player Markers (of one color), 4 Common Citizens (place them on the active area of your own board).

Character cards: 2 players - 5 standard cards; 3 players - 2 additional cards; 4 players - 4 additional cards. Building cards: 2 players - use only one of each individual building card.

Game flow

1. Start of each round
   • Discard the remaining building cards from the previous round and reveal 6 new cards (2 players - 3 new cards)
   • Distribute turn order cards
2. Each player's turn
   1. Placement phase
   2. Management phase: Constructing building; Claiming character cards; Occupying territories
   3. Rest phase: i) Donate unused gold / military; ii) Prestige bonus; iii) Clean-up board; iv) Refresh; v) Draw 5 new citizens (+1 (Palace)); vi) Finish constructing

Cost

• Constructing building: Displayed on the building cards
• Claiming character cards: 2 gold plus 1 gold per each of your markers on the other character cards
• Occupying territories: 1 army per distance from your own castle and 1 army per each other player's marker

Prestige points

• 5 points for occupying another player's territory (or attacking castle), 2 points for empty territory
• 2-8 points for the effect of religion buildings
• Donation of unused gold / military (1:1)
• 3 points if you do not collect tax
• (Great council) Markers on the character cards
• (Great council) Markers on the territories (1 point per each marker (1st council), 2 points (2nd council), 3 points (3rd council))
• (End of game) Prestige points for buildings
• (End of game) Loss of 2 prestige points for each corrupt official