Queen's Necklace Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Setting Up the Game
• A Game Turn
  • 1 – Influence Phase
  • 2 – Card Purchase Phase
  • 3 – Devaluation Phase
• Jewel Sale
  • 1 – Displaying the jewels
  • 2 – Rarity
  • 3 – Selling jewels
• Game End
• The Cards
  • Influence (blue) Character cards
  • Purple Character cards
  • Sale (gray) Character cards
  • Merchant (3 cards)
  • Blank Cards
• Queen's Necklace Online
• Credits

Object of the Game

Assuming the role of King's Jeweler, each player, through the course of three years of apprenticeship, competes to craft and sell the most desirable jewels in the kingdom.

At the end of each year, the Merchant announces a sale, where jewelers decide which of their creations they want to sell. The jeweler who earns the most profit from their jewel sales after three years is awarded a title of nobility, and a place at the King's Court!

To succeed, each jeweler must balance the use of their limited funds between buying expensive new gems; purchasing the favors of The King, Queen and other important members of the court; or hiring a Thief or Forger.

Components

• 110 Tarot-sized cards:
  • 59 Gem cards
  • 7 Ring cards
  • 1 Queen's Necklace card
  • 33 Character cards
  • 3 Merchant cards
  • 4 Player summary cards
  • 3 Blank cards (for you to create your own characters and gems)
• 12 tiles:
  • 4 Gem tiles (Diamond, Ruby, Emerald and Amber)
  • 4 Fashion tiles (+30, +20, +10, 0)
  • 4 Rarity tiles (+30, +20, +10, 0)
• A Days of Wonder WebCard for access to Free online play
• 5 Golden Ring markers, to show the current purchase value of the cards during the Card purchase phase
• The Queen's Necklace

Setting Up the Game

• Give each player a Summary card. New players should familiarize themselves with the roles and abilities of each character. Experienced players can also use the cards to refer to the relative proportion of each type of gem.

• Place the four red Fashion tiles between the players, in the center of the table, in the following left to right order: +30, +20, +10, +0.

• Shuffle the 4 Gem tiles behind your back and randomly place one, face up, below each fashion tile. The Fashion tiles show which stones are most in fashion, and which are out of favor at the beginning of the game.

  Example: This year, Diamonds are most in fashion, then Emeralds, Amber and Rubies.

• Stack the four blue Rarity tiles, and put them aside until the first sale.

• Take the deck of cards. Set aside the 3 Merchant cards and thoroughly shuffle the remaining cards.

• Deal 4 cards to each player. The player's hand should be hidden from others during the game.

  Note: If a player is dealt an Astrologer, he discards it and draws another card to replace it. The Astrologer is then shuffled back into the remaining cards.

• Insert the three Merchant cards back into the deck, one at approximately 1/3 of the deck, another at 2/3 of the deck and the third among the bottom 5 cards.

• Draw the five top cards from the deck and place them face up in the center of the table. Place a Golden Ring marker on the top number in the upper right corner box of each card. The number indicated with the ring is the cost, in ducats, of the card. Place the remainder of the deck as a draw pile, next to the five cards.

  Example: a game all set-up and ready to go.

• Randomly determine the first player (for instance the one who is wearing the nicest jewelry that day).

A Game Turn

• Each player plays in turn, going clockwise.
• A player's turn is divided in three consecutive phases:
  1. Influence
  2. Card Purchase
  3. Devaluation
• Whenever a Merchant card is drawn, usually during the devaluation phase, a Jewel Sale immediately takes place.

1 – Influence Phase

The player may play from her hand as many "Influence" characters (the blue cards) as she wishes. A player can only play cards that she had in hand at the beginning of her turn.

When a card is played, its effect takes place immediately and the card is discarded. For detailed information on the effects of the various cards see The Cards section below.

2 – Card Purchase Phase

Each player has 10 ducats that she can spend to buy cards from the five cards displayed face up on the center of the table. The price for buying a card is the number on the card circled with the Golden Ring marker.

A player must buy at least one card during her turn. If a player doesn't spend all 10 ducats, the remaining money is lost and cannot be saved for the next turn.

Example: with her 10 ducats, the player can buy:

• The Ring card
• The Confessor and the Banker
• The 1 Emerald card and either the 2 Ruby card or the Confessor card
• The 2 Ruby card and the Confessor card

3 – Devaluation Phase

The Golden Ring marker on each card still displayed for sale on the table is moved one spot down. These cards will cost less to buy for the next player. If a marker is moved to the lowest position (with the card icon crossed in red), the card is discarded.

Cards that have been bought or discarded are replaced with new cards drawn from the top of the draw pile. The Golden Ring is placed on the top number of each one of these new cards.

Example: The Confessor and Banker cards have been replaced by two new cards: three diamonds and a second Ring.

If a Merchant card is drawn, a Jewel Sale immediately takes place (see below). After a sale, the game resumes where it was stopped, and a new card is drawn to replace the Merchant.

Jewel Sale

There are three Jewel Sales, one for each year of apprenticeship. The game ends after the third sale.

During each sale, the players try to sell to the King's court some of the jewels they produced during the year.

During a Jewel Sale, players will display the jewels of their choice in rows of gems cards and associated cards, like in the example below.

The basic rule of a sale is: Only the jeweler displaying the most gems of a specific gem type wins that gem sale and collects any money.

The three steps to a sale are:

1 – Displaying the jewels

• Each player secretly chooses the gray "Sale" cards (gems and extra jewels such as rings, and necklace, plus the Banker or King) that she wants to display for sale.
• A player is not bound to select all her gem and other gray cards for display, and can even choose to display none.

Tip: When choosing cards to display at a sale, a player should conceal the number of cards and even the number of different piles that she will play. Players can stack their piles one over another under their hand, with the most fashionable gem type on the top. By alternating one pile face up and one face down, it will be clear which special cards go with each gem type.

• If a player wants to play a Ring card or a King card, she must place it with at least one gem card of a given type, so as to clearly show that the Ring or King is played on this specific gem type.
• The Banker card can be played with any set of gem cards, since it affects all the sales by that player.
• All players simultaneously place all the cards they want to display in front of them face up, with each gem type in a different row on display, from most fashionable to least fashionable. Rings and Kings are placed in the same row as the gem(s) they have been played with.

Tip: To further maximize the dramatic tension of each jewel sale, players may want to reveal the stacks hidden under their hand into rows of visible gems on display one gem type at a time, from most fashionable to least fashionable, rather than all at once. However, the content of the rows must remain identical to the stacks the players readied beforehand (For example: Amy cannot change the contents of her Emerald cards for display based on the content of the Diamonds and associated characters just revealed).

Cards displayed by Barnaby — Barnaby has the most Amber stones, and the most Ruby (tied with Charles). He sells one Amber jewel, for 30 pounds, and one Ruby jewel, for 10 pounds, and scores 30+10=40 pounds.

Cards displayed by Amy — Amy has the most Emeralds, and has played two Ring cards with her Emeralds. She sells 3 Emerald jewels and scores 3 x 20 = 60 pounds. She doesn't score anything for Diamonds, because the King played by Barnaby cancels all Diamond sales.

Cards displayed by Charles — Charles has the most Rubies (tied with Barnaby) and sells 1 Ruby jewel. The normal price for a Ruby jewel is only 10 pounds, but since Charles has played a Banker, he gets 10 extra pounds for each jewel sold. He therefore gets 20 pounds.

2 – Rarity

• After all displayed cards have been revealed, players count the total number of gems of each type on the cards played by the players.
• The Rarity tiles are placed below the gem tiles. The +30 rarity tile is placed under the rarest gem (the gem type with the lowest total amount of gems on display cumulatively to all players). The +20 tile is placed under the second rarest gem, and so on. If two gems are displayed in identical quantities, the most fashionable one is also considered the rarest.

Example: Gem Tiles with Fashion and Rarity Tiles during Jewel Sales.

3 – Selling jewels

For each gem type, the player with the greatest number of gems of this type on display is the only one to complete the sale and collect any money (Pounds = victory points). If two or more players tie for the most gems of a particular gem type, all tied players sell their jewels.

The selling price for each jewel, between 0 and 60 pounds, is the sum of the values (+30, +20, +10, +0) on the fashion and rarity cards above and below the gem type card.

For each Ring card played by the winner of a given gem sale in association with her gem cards of that type, the player will collect an extra sale of that jewel (For example: if the winner of the diamond sale played two rings with her diamond cards, she will sell three diamonds, for triple the normal sale price).

Scores for each player are written down. A score-sheet is available for download from www.queens-necklace.com, but you can use any piece of paper.

After the sale, all the cards displayed are discarded, the rarity tiles set aside until the next sale, and the game resumes where it had been interrupted by the merchant.

Game End

The player with the most pounds (highest score) after the third and final sale wins the game.

The Cards

Influence (blue) Character cards

Blue character cards are indicated by their blue markings and title. These cards must be played on their owner's turn during the influence phase.

Confessor (4 cards) — Look at all the cards in another player's hand.

"Do not seek to know the future; good or bad, let it rest – it is in the hands of God."

Courtier (3 cards) — Look at all the cards in the hand of another player of your choice. You have the Queen's favor – add 3 extra ducats to buy cards during a turn. You have three extra ducats this turn for purchasing cards. You can therefore buy cards for a total value of up to 13 ducats (16 ducats if you play two courtiers, and 19 if you play three).

"The Courtier can help you get influence in the court – if he has any." "an audience… some good advice… a visit… at least, we will try to induce him."

Forger (3 cards) — Choose an opponent. She must discard one gem card of your choice. Choose another player and a gem type. That player must discard a gem card of this type. If she has none, she must show you her hand to prove it.

"Be careful – some stones look too good to be true." "Monsieur, tell these gentlemen that they tire my patience! I ask for a diamond necklace, and they bring me paste."

Favorite (3 cards) — Move the gem type of your choice to "Most Fashionable." Choose one of the four gem tiles and place it below the #1 fashion card. Shift the other gem type tiles to the right without changing their relative order. Any gap should be filled by shifting the tiles so that there is a gem card below each fashion card.

"She decides what is in – and out – of fashion at the King's court." "Duke, I am frozen."

Example: Favorite effect

Thief (4 cards) — Steal a card at random from another player's hand. Choose an opponent and draw a card at random from her hand. You keep this card in your hand, unless it is a Musketeer (see below). If you steal the Queen's Necklace card the owner must give you both the necklace and the card.

"You missed something? Maybe it's not too late, just ask the Thief…" "How much trouble to steal!" thought Beausire.

Musketeer (4 cards) — Protects from Thieves and Forgers – play 3 together during your turn to capture the Queen's necklace! "All for one and one for all!" The Musketeer can be used in one of three different ways.

• If a player plays a Thief and draws a Musketeer from your hand, the Thief has been caught in the act. The Thief and the Musketeer are both discarded, and you can now draw a card at random from the hand of the player who was attempting to steal from you (but if you draw a Musketeer the same rules apply).
• If a player plays a Forger against you, you can counter it by playing a Musketeer. Both cards are discarded.
• During the influence phase of her turn, a player can play three Musketeers together to transfer the Necklace card and Queen's Necklace from its current owner to herself.

"He dexterously sent his sword flying from his hand; then, seizing it, he broke it across his foot."

Queen (1 card) — Play this card to take the gem card that has just been revealed. "Better not try to resist the Queen's caprice." Play this card when a gem card (and only a gem card) is drawn from the draw deck during the devaluation phase. You take this card in your hand, and the next card from the draw deck is drawn to replace it.

"– a fit hand to hold a scepter."

Purple Character cards

These cards are indicated by their purple markings and title, and can be played at different times during the game.

Alchemist (1 card) — Though the Alchemist didn't succeed in transmuting lead into gold yet, he has achieved some interesting results with gems…

The Alchemist must be played during a sale, immediately after the cards displayed by all the players have been revealed. The alchemist allows you to transmute one of your true gems (Ruby, Emerald or Diamond) card into another type of gem of your choice, and therefore to move a gem card displayed in one row to another row. The Alchemist cannot affect Amber, nor can he change a gem into Amber. If an Alchemist is played during a sale, gem rarity is calculated and set after the Alchemist has effected his transmutation of gems.

During a sale, transmute one of your true gems into another gem of your choice. "Sir, you command in the name of science."

Astrologer (3 cards) — Everyone at the King's court wants to know what is written in the stars – you would also like to know your immediate future.

Discard this card immediately after purchasing it. Then draw the top card from the draw pile, don't reveal it to the other players and place it directly in your hand.

Note: If you draw a Merchant, a sale takes place immediately. After the sale, you will draw the next card from the draw pile and place it in your hand. If you draw another Astrologer, discard it and draw the next card from the draw pile into your hand.

Draw the first card from the Draw pile and place it in your hand. "When I wish a thing to be known, I tell it; when I do not tell it, I wish it unknown."

Cardinal (2 cards) — The power of the Church – no sales on a Holy day.

The Cardinal can be played only when a merchant is drawn during another player's turn and a sale is about to take place. The decision to use a Cardinal or not is announced in clockwise order, starting with the first player on the left of the current player. The sale is delayed and will take place at the end of your next turn. Place the Merchant on your left to remind you of it.

Note: If a Cardinal is played on the last merchant, the draw deck can be exhausted before the game is over. In this case, the game resumes as usual until the third sale, but the cards bought by the players are not replaced when the draw pile runs out.

If two players play a Cardinal, the sale is delayed until the one the furthest away from the current player in clockwise order is reached and plays.

No sales on a holy day! Delay the sale until the end of your next turn. "Learn sir, that to do it as it suits me is to do it as it should be."

Musketeer (4 cards) — (see Influence Character cards above)

Sale (gray) Character cards

These cards are indicated by their gray markings and title, and are played face down during a sale. Gem cards played by a player during a sale must be sorted by gem type (Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Amber).

Gem cards

• Ruby (2 cards ◆◆◆, 5 ◆◆, 7 ◆)
• Emerald (2 cards ◆◆◆, 5 ◆◆, 7 ◆)
• Diamond (2 cards ◆◆◆, 5 ◆◆, 7 ◆)
• Amber (17 cards ◆)

These cards determine the different gems that you use to make your jewels. The more gems of a given type you have on the cards you display, the nicer the jewel you will craft with these gems. On the other hand, the more gems of a given type there are in the cards displayed during the sale, the less rare (and the less valuable) this gem is. It is thus desirable to have the majority of gems on display for the gem types with the lowest overall number of gems.

Ring (7 cards) — Each player is focused on crafting the single nicest piece of jewelry for each given gem type. If you play one or more Ring cards with some of your gem cards, you have found a way to craft additional jewel pieces of this kind. This is of interest only if you can sell them, that is only if you have the most gems of this type on your displayed cards. Otherwise, the extra Ring card is wasted. For each Ring card associated with a gem type of which you have a majority in display, you sell an additional jewel of that type. 1 Ring card played on a winning sale doubles the amount of money received, 2 Ring cards triples it, etc…

If you win a sale, sell one more jewel of the gem type this card is played with.

King (3 cards) — The King never pays.

The King cancels the sale of the specific gem type it is played with. The player who has the most gems of this type on his cards cannot sell his jewels and collects no money. When the sale ends, the gem cards thus cancelled by a King are discarded just like any other gem card played during the sale. Each player can only play a maximum of one King in any given sale.

During a sale, any jewels of the gem type with which the King is played are rendered worthless. Beware the Queen's Necklace! "'Tis a horrible trick of the king."

Queen's Necklace (1 card) — Only the Queen's necklace will appease the King.

The player who acquires or receives this card must take the Queen's Necklace and wear it around her neck to make it known to all players. The Queen's Necklace card, when played along a gem card during a sale, protects such gems from the King cards.

If the Queen's Necklace and one or more Kings have been played on the same gem type, the following two benefits are granted:

1. The effect of these Kings is cancelled and the player who has displayed the most gems of this type (regardless of whether she is the necklace owner or not) wins the sale and collects the corresponding victory points.
2. Furthermore, the Kings' owner(s) must pay a tribute of 50 pounds to the holder of the Queen's Necklace. 50 points are subtracted from her current score and given to the owner of the Necklace. It's possible that a player of the King might find herself with a negative score as a result.

During a sale, protects the gems it is played with from the King's effect. The King's owner must pay you 50 pounds. "The jeweler who made this necklace is an artist." "They are two." "Then, I wager it is B... and B..."

Banker (2 cards) — Regardless of the gem with which he is played, the Banker adds 10 pounds to the selling price of each jewel you will sell in this sale.

Increase the value of each jewel you sell by 10 pounds. "This matter becomes complicated," said the banker.

Merchant (3 cards)

When a Merchant is drawn a sale takes place immediately. The Merchant card is replaced by the next card in the draw deck.

A sale takes place immediately.

Blank Cards

Use the blue and purple-marked blank cards to create the period characters of your choice. Use the gray-marked blank card to create the character, object or gem of your choice. Do not hesitate to post your best suggestions on our forum at www.queens-necklace.com.

If you have questions or comments about the Queen's necklace, please e-mail us at [email protected]

Queen's Necklace Online

If you love to play Queen's Necklace but sometimes find yourself without playing partners, you can join our fast growing community of players in Queen's Necklace online. Enclosed in your game box is a free Days of Wonder WebCard that includes your personal access code to sign up for online play. To use it, simply visit: www.queens-necklace.com and click on the New Player Signup button on the home page. Then just follow the instructions to learn how to play online.

The queens-necklace.com website is filled with information: online tutorials; tips and strategy discussions; links to the authors' web sites; and a forum where you can keep up with the latest game information, new characters developed by other players, rules variations, and more.

You can also learn about other Days of Wonder games or visit us at: www.daysofwonder.com

Credits

Game design by Bruno Cathala and Bruno Faidutti

Illustrations by Humbert Chabuel & Pierre-Alain Chartier

Graphic Design by Cyrille Daujean

Quotes by Alexandre Dumas Père

© 2003 Days of Wonder, Inc.

Days of Wonder and Queen's Necklace are trademarks of Days of Wonder, Inc. All Rights Reserved.