Le Roi Sommeil
Le Roi Sommeil Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents and Setup
The beds are laid out side by side in the middle of the table. The blanket is given to the oldest player. The cards are shuffled and placed face down in the center of the table as the draw pile, within reach of all players. The gold coins are placed in a face-down stack next to the draw pile.
Each player receives one joker token (for the "Hard" difficulty level).
Several difficulty levels are possible:
- Easy: 3 beds, without moving the beds. Remove 2 family members. Sequence of play: A, C, D.
- Medium: 4 beds, with moving the beds. Remove 1 family member. Sequence of play: A, B, C, D.
- Hard: 5 beds, with moving the beds. With jokers. Sequence of play: A, B, C, D.
* Assembling the beds: the original rulebook shows the beds being assembled in five illustrated steps.
Playing the Game
The player holding the blanket begins. Play then continues clockwise.
On their turn, a player performs the following phases in the sequence given by the chosen difficulty level.
A. Changing nightclothes: on their turn, each player draws a card, turns it face up, and places the royal character on the bed of that same character if that character is already in bed (for example, the king's card is always placed on the king, the royal dog's card on the dog, and so on). At the start of the game, the first character drawn is placed in the bed at the head of the line, that is, the rightmost bed. If a jester is drawn at the start of the game, its card is returned to the draw pile and the player draws a new card.
B. Moving the beds: when a player draws a character who is not yet in bed, that character is placed in the free bed to the left of the last occupied bed, and then the new character and its bed are moved to the head of the line, on the right. The beds are then pushed back together so that they are once again side by side.
C. The castle ghost: if a player draws the castle ghost card, it is immediately placed in a spot clearly visible to everyone. The player holding the blanket must then place it over all the beds as quickly as possible, covering them.
D. Winning coins: the player holding the blanket takes from the coin stack as many coins as there are players and places them face up on the table. The reverse of each coin shows a character or a color.
Starting with the player to the left of the player who placed the blanket, and then going clockwise, each player chooses one coin (a character or a color) and places it in front of the bed where they think they will find either the correct character or the correct color of nightclothes.
If a player thinks that the character or color is not on the covered beds, they place their coin in front of themselves.
It is possible to place several coins in front of the same bed.
Once every player has placed their coin, the player holding the blanket carefully removes it from the beds. It is now possible to tell who guessed correctly.
A player who correctly positioned their coin keeps it as a reward. A player who was wrong does not gain a coin (their coin is returned to the coin stack).
The ghost card remains face up on the table. The blanket then passes to the next player, clockwise, and play resumes with the player who has just received the blanket. The character cards stay in place on the beds.
Hard variant with jokers: a player may place their joker together with their coin, either in front of a bed or in front of themselves, to try to double their gain. If they guessed correctly, they win two coins (the extra coin is taken from the coin stack). But if they were wrong while having placed their joker, their coin is set aside, and they must also return one previously won coin, if they have any.
At the end of the turn, each player takes back their joker.
The jester: when a player draws the jester card, all the members of the royal family jump out of their beds to watch its show. All the cards placed on the beds are then removed. They are set aside, and play continues normally (see examples in the original rulebook).
End of the Game
The draw of the seventh and last ghost triggers the final round (the last chance to win coins). At the end of this final round, the player with the most coins wins.
The game also ends as soon as there are no cards or no coins left.
Variant from Age 3
Setup: three beds are placed in the center of the table. The card deck is sorted and two characters are removed, leaving only three. The cards are shuffled and placed face down in the center of the table as the draw pile, within reach of all players. The blanket is given to the oldest player. The gold coins are placed in a face-down stack next to the draw pile. The joker tokens are not needed in this variant.
The course of play is the same as in the basic game, but the beds are not moved.