Kingdoms and Castles

Kingdoms and Castles is a turn-based strategy / empire building game that appears simple at first, but is very immersing and challenging.

The game starts with the placing of the river cards randomly in the center of the table. After the river is placed, the terrain cards are placed. Once this is done, the board is ready to play, and players roll for 1st choice in castle location.

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Players next roll and choose either the white or black flag and corresponding castle.

Locating the castle is one of the most important parts of the game- Choose a spot close enough to be able to connect a Mill. Also, connecting forests to your Castle by pathway adds one unit per turn, and the yellow bog 2 units.

Military units can be produced at Castles and Forts only. Military units are purchased at the beginning of a player's turn.

The castle houses 5 military units, but in order to build a larger army, houses are needed.

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Growth is achieved by first building a path square, which can become a farm, then houses can be added. Houses hold 2 military, so a Castle, with 2 houses would house 9 total military.

Farms are essential- as the are the producer of Units (along with forests and swamps if connected via path).

The castle itself houses 5 military units and the Fort three units respectively (meaning for a population of 15 soldiers, a player with only a castle would need 5 houses at least Castle = 5 units housed + 10 soldiers @ 2 per house).

For example, if a player built just one house, their maximum military population would be 7.

Paths, Farms, Mills, Forts, Castles and Houses are assigned hit-point values respectively (viewable in the FAQ).

Players are allotted 2 bridges, 1 fort and 1 mill each.

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Castles have the highest hit-point values- a 5/6- which means you would need to roll a 5 or higher six times to make it fall. If a player manages to destroy their opponent's castle, they win.

After an attack phase has ended, the player who's Castle or Fort has been attacked has the option of repair, at a cost of 6 units per square of damage.

If a military unit is unsuccessful on it's attack, it dies.

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Once a population of 6 military units has been reached, a mill must be built on a straight stretch of river for further military growth (which makes a bridge piece impossible at that location).

If the mill is destroyed by an enemy player, the military population is capped until the mill is re-built.

Pathways must be built before land can transition to farmland, and then it can have houses built and added on land plots up to a maximum of 4 houses ( and a tavern) per square.

Forts serve as offensive outposts- and are handy for quick raids against the enemy castle, as players can take refuge inside the walls. With more decks, maps can become huge, and more people can play.

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Included with the map cards are some pegs (1 unit) and winks (5 units). Please feel free to use your own favorite playing pieces for units if you prefer.

Enjoy the game! There will be a small expansion coming up for those who like the game- which will afford larger maps, more players, and new landscape tiles- and walls, towers and maybe more.. I tried to keep this game affordable, and if people like it they can get the expansion.