Reis de Portugal Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Objectives
• Game Components
  • Explanation of the Kings of Portugal cards
• Game Preparation
• Starting the Round and How to Battle for a Flush
• General Rules of a Flush Battle
  • The Last Monarch (the last Flush)
• End of the Round and the Beginning of a New Round
• How to Score at the End of Each Round
• Special Cards
  • Fool Card
  • Fog Card
  • D. Afonso Henriques Card
  • Explanation of the Filipina Dynasty Cards
• Advanced Rules
  • General Rules for Using the Bonus Effects
  • Battle - Using Dual Cards
  • Conspiracy - Playing on Low
  • Intrigue - Dealing a Card to the Left
  • Siege - Playing with a Wall Card
  • Cuts - Playing Without Trumps
• Variant for 4 Players

Game Objectives

The game lasts 3 rounds. In each round the players try to win cards, making "Flushes". These cards give Victory Points (from now on called VPs). The objective is to be the player with most VPs at the end of 3 rounds. The winner of the game is crowned King (or Queen) of Portugal!

What is a Flush? It is a set of cards that a player wins after all players have made ONE move.

What is a Round? It is the Flush battles that are played until the players have used all their Kings of Portugal cards.

Game Components

• This rule book
• 1 card Rules Help
• 3 cards Royal House
• 36 cards Kings of Portugal

Explanation of the Kings of Portugal cards

• Card Value.
• Card bonus. It is only used in advanced rules.
• Card No. Indicates the rank of the King in the Portuguese Monarchy.
• Name, surname and year of reign of the King / Queen. It has an informative function only.
• Indication of the Dynasty to which this King belongs.
• The Victory Points symbol (VP).

Game Preparation

1. Set the Rules Help card aside in plain sight (it is for reference only).

2. Shuffle the 3 Royal House cards and place them in a row, where only the 1st card is face up. This defines which Dynasty trump in this 1st Round and which points are awarded.

   What's special about a card with the trump Dynasty? In a Round, these cards beat any other.

3. The Wall: Shuffle the Kings of Portugal cards. Line up the King cards face up on one side of the table in a number equal to the number of players:

   • 4 players = 4 cards;
   • 3 players = 3 cards;
   • 2 players = 2 cards.

4. Deal 5 cards to each player face down. Only he or she can see them. This is the player's hand.

5. Place a card face up in front of each player on the table. This becomes the Castle card.

6. Place the remaining cards face down at one end of the Wall (line of King cards).

Starting the Round and How to Battle for a Flush

1. The players take turns clockwise.

2. The player with the lowest value Castle card plays first. In the battle for the following Flush, the player who won the immediately preceding Flush plays first.

3. In their move, players place a card on the table face up. They use a card from their hand or their Castle card. If they play their Castle card, they immediately replace it with a new Castle card from their hand.

   In this Vaza contest, Miguel chose to use his Castle card, instead of using one of the cards from his hand. Immediately afterwards, he chooses a new card from his hand, and places it face up on the table. This leaves him with a new Castle card.

4. After all players have made their moves, the player to the left of the Flush winner picks ONE card from the Wall (line of King cards) and takes it into his or her hand. Then the other players do the same, clockwise.

   This means that whoever wins the Flush battle is always the last to pick a card from the Wall!

   Miguel, as he is on the left of the winner of the latest Flush, is the first player to pinch off the Wall. Maria is the one who won the last Flush. She's the last one to take a pinch off the Wall!

5. Replenish the Wall cards by drawing them from the face-down card pile. When this pile is exhausted, players can no longer draw any Wall cards. In case there are 4 players, 4 new Wall cards are placed in the Wall.

6. Start a new Flush battle. Repeat this procedure until all players have run out of cards in their hands and their Castle cards.

General Rules of a Flush Battle

• Players are required to Assist, but only with the cards in their hand.
• If a player doesn't have cards from that Dynasty in his hand, he can use cards from any other Dynasty.
• A player is NOT required to Assist with their Castle card.
• The highest value card of the Dynasty that started the Flush battle wins the Flush. But if a trump Dynasty card was used, the Flush is won by the highest trump Dynasty card.
• All tiebreakers are resolved in favor of the King card with the highest rank (the King's order number in the Portuguese Monarchy - indicated in the upper right corner of the card).

What is an Assist? A player is forced to use the same type of Dynasty that the 1st player used in that Flush battle.

Nuno started the Flush battle and used a card from the Dynasty of Avis (a green shield). Maria plays next. Since she is required to Assist, she must use the only card she has from the Avis Dynasty.

In this example, since the trump card is the Dynasty (blue shield), the value 2 beats the card of value 7.

The Last Monarch (the last Flush)

• On the last Flush battle of each Round (when the players no longer have cards in their hands), the Castle cards are played.
• There is no obligation to Assist and there are NO TRUMPS, nor can bonuses be activated (see advanced rules).
• Whoever has the highest card wins the draw and ALL remaining Wall Cards!

Whoever wins the last Flush, in addition to winning the other players' cards (as usual), also wins the 4 cards of the Wall (in case of a 4-player game).

End of the Round and the Beginning of a New Round

• When the players have no more cards in their hands nor any Castle cards, the round is over.
• The points are counted (see below on how to add up the points).
• Shuffle all the Kings of Portugal cards and prepare the game as indicated in Game Preparation.
• To find out which is the trump Dynasty of the next round, reveal the next card of the Royal House.
• At the beginning of Round 2 and Round 3, the player with the lowest VP plays first (the lowest Castle card breaks a tie).

How to Score at the End of Each Round

Write down the points for each player on a piece of paper (not supplied with the game).

1. Each player counts the cards they have won from the 2 Dynasties that award points, as indicated on the Royal House card that was revealed at the beginning of the Round. Whoever has more cards of each Dynasty wins the respective points. In case of a tie, the player who, in that round, has won the card of that Dynasty with the highest rank wins.

2. 2 VP for the player (or players) who didn't get any Flush.

3. The player who has Kings of the Filipina Dynasty has the negative points indicated on the card itself (see Explanation of the Filipina Dynasty Cards under Special Cards for the special rules of these cards).

   During this Round, Maria managed to win the 3 Filipina Dynasty Kings. This way she avoids the negative points.

   Note: if a player manages to have all 3 Kings of this Dynasty, zero points are added.

4. 2 VP for the player who has the D. Sebastião card.

Royal House card special effects. If this Royal House card is the one that is face up, it means that at the end of this Round:

• The cards of the Afonsina Dynasty, which were the Trump Dynasty, do NOT give any VP.
• The player who has won the most cards from the Dynasty of Avis wins 3 VP.
• The player who has won the most cards from the Bragança Dynasty wins 1 VP.
• Each player who has made no Flush wins 2 VP.

Don't forget that if it's the 3rd and final round, the points count double!

Scoring summary:

• IMPORTANT: the scores from the final Round are worth double. Be it negative or positive points!
• The sum of points earned in the Round are added/subtracted to each player's total.
• A player's score can NEVER have less than zero points. If the total results in negative points, the player has zero VP.
• The player who has scored the most points at the end of the three rounds wins.
• If there are ties, the winner in the last and 3rd Round is the King with the highest rank (the King's order number in the Portuguese Monarchy - indicated in the upper right corner of the card).

Special Cards

There are 3 cards that confer a special power to the person who uses them.

Fool Card

• The Fool card has a value of -1 and belongs to the Afonsina Dynasty.
• Its power is activated even if it is played in the middle of a Flush battle.
• After a Flush has been resolved in the normal way and before everyone has drawn from the Wall cards, players pass all their cards in hand to the opponent on the left!
• If the players have no cards left in their hand, they pass their Castle card.
• The Fool card is only activated when it is put on the table by a player. Nothing happens if it appears on the Wall.

Fog Card

• The Fog Card belongs to the Avis Dynasty.
• Its power is activated even if it is played in the middle of a Flush battle.
• This card captures the King D. Sebastião card, if it is in the same Flush battle where the Fog Card is played.
• The Flush is resolved as normal, with all cards going to the winner of the battle, BUT with the exception of the King D. Sebastião card and the Fog Card, as they are awarded to the player who played the Fog Card.
• The Fog Card is only activated when it is put on the table by a player. Nothing happens if it appears in the Wall or if the D. Sebastião is in the Wall.

D. Afonso Henriques Card

• This card can be worth zero points or nine points. The player who plays it chooses the value of the card when it is played.

Explanation of the Filipina Dynasty Cards

There are only 3 cards from the 3rd Dynasty. They have special characteristics:

• If the first player uses this type of card in a Flush battle, the other players are NOT required to Assist and the highest value card always wins.
• This Dynasty never gives Victory Points. A player who holds one or two cards LOSES points. But a player who manages to win all three cards of this Dynasty loses no points.
• Remember that these cards give negative points, as indicated on the card itself.
• This symbol indicates that if a player manages to win all 3 cards of this type, he avoids the Negative Points. It adds up to zero!

Advanced Rules

After one or two games using the basic rules, players can (and should) use the advanced rules. This way they make the game more strategic and interesting. These rules explain how to use the bonus effects of the different cards.

General Rules for Using the Bonus Effects

• The card bonuses of the Kings of Portugal cards are indicated on the left side of the card, under the dynasty symbol.
• The 1st player to play in the Flush battle activates the bonus of the card being played.
• The bonuses of the other cards are IGNORED.
• The normal rules of Assist and Trumps are used, unless it is explicitly written in the bonus rules not to do so.
• Important: in the last Flush battle, when the Castle is used, the bonus from that card CANNOT be used.

Battle - Using Dual Cards

• Each player, following the normal rules of the game, puts a card on the table.
• Next, the players put another card from their hand on the table, but FACE DOWN. This second card is NOT obligated to Assist.
• Note: If players do not have a 2nd card, the bonus simply does not activate, and the hand is played as in a normal Flush battle.
• After all players have put their cards on the table, the cards that were placed face down on the table are revealed.
• Each player adds up the 2 values of their cards (it doesn't matter if they are different Dynasties).
• The Dynasty trump is ignored.
• The winner of the Flush is the player who has the highest sum of the Dynasty that started the Flush battle.
• The tie-breaker is made by the highest ranking card of the Portuguese King Monarchy.
• After playing this bonus, players must then take 2 cards. First each player takes a card from the pile next to the Wall, and then they take turns to take a card from the Wall. Don't forget that if the pile of cards is used up, players cannot take a card from that pile or from the Wall.

Conspiracy - Playing on Low

• Whoever played the lowest card wins the Flush battle.
• In case someone uses a Dynasty trump, the one who has played the trump with the lowest value wins the Flush.
• In case of a tie, the card with the lowest rank wins.

Intrigue - Dealing a Card to the Left

• Immediately after the 1st player plays a card with this bonus, all players (including the 1st player) pass a card from their hand to the player to their left.
• The 1st player chooses any card from his hand except the one he has just received from another player. Then the remaining players play a card according to the normal rules.
• If the 1st player has no card in his hand to pass after having put a card on the table with this bonus, the bonus is not activated.

Siege - Playing with a Wall Card

• Players place one of their cards in front of ONE of the Wall cards that is not occupied by another player.
• The value of the Wall card is added to the card played by the player.
• It makes no difference which Dynasty the card on the Wall belongs to.
• The Flush battle is played and won following the normal rules of the game, only the value of the played card is changed.
• Tiebreakers are always resolved in favor of the King card played by the player with the highest rank number, NOT by the card on the Wall.
• The winning player gets NO Wall Card.

Maria was the first to play and applied card number 14 (D. Manuel I), activating the card's bonus: the "Siege". She placed her card in front of the card D. Afonso Henriques, which is on the Wall (and chose the value 9 instead of 0). The card Manuel I is now worth 5+9=14.

Cuts - Playing Without Trumps

• The Dynasty trump has no effect on the Flush battle.
• The highest ranking card of the Dynasty that initiated the Flush battle wins.

Variant for 4 Players

• Players can play in teams of 2. The team is made up of the two players opposite each other.
• The game runs like a normal game of Reis de Portugal, but at the end of each Round, the Flushes won by the players of the same team are combined and the points are added together.