For the King (and me)


2 - 5 Players






Invest your Gold wisely

to establish yourself

in different offices

: diplomacy, military, architecture,

livestock, entertainment, and provisions!

Lower the esteem of

the offices your opponents

are focused on to become

the ultimate Adviser to the King!










If you can scan the QR code above,

you can also see it on your mobile!








<Components>



- 1 government board


- 5 noble tiles


- 36 duty tiles


- 1 card distribution sheet


- 108 cards

: 54 government cards,

15 king cards,

39 gold cards








<Set Up>



Each player takes a Noble tile

and places it in front of them,

with either side face up.

Put the unused tiles

back in the box.

This tile represents your character.

At the end of the game,

you can display all of the Duties

you are responsible for underneath this tile.


Place the Government board to the side,

with the side corresponding to

the number of players

you have face up :

With 2, 3, or 4 players,

there should be 5 portraits visible.

With 5 players, there should be

6 portraits visible.

The Government board shows

portraits with two spaces for

Duty tiles below each of them.


Place each 3-value Duty tile

on the matching spaces

just below each portrait

on the Government board.

Place the matching 1-value Duty tiles

below the 3-value tiles.

In 2-player games only,

do not use the 1-value tiles.

Only one tile should be

below each portrait.

Leave the unused tiles in the box.

Duty tiles show the esteem of

each office of government

in victory points.

These values can be adjusted

between 1 and 6 during the game.

The tile placed on the higher space

is called the Primary Duty.

The tile placed on the lower space

is called the Secondary Duty.


Find all of the cards marked with

a number higher than

the number of players at the bottom

and put them back in the box.

If a card doesn’t have a number

at the bottom, keep it.

Example: In a 3-player game,

remove all of the cards with a 4 or 5

at the bottom and keep all the others.


Shuffle all the remaining cards,

then randomly put the number of cards

shown in the table below back

in the box without looking at them.


Shuffle all the remaining cards again

and make a face-down deck.


Government cards (with a bronze border)

represent different offices you can occupy

: diplomacy, military, architecture, livestock,

entertainment, and provisions.

Their values range from 1 to 4.

There is a letter at

the bottom-right of each card.

It is only used to break ties.

5 -1 King cards (with a silver border)

let players modify the value of

Primary Duty tiles of their choice

by increasing or decreasing the value by 1.

2 2 Gold cards (with a gold border)

have a value of 1 to 3 and

let you purchase new cards during

the second phase of the game.


Randomly choose the first player.

They take the deck and will be

the first player to distribute cards.








<Game Progress>



The game is played over 2 phases.

1. Share Influence Phase

2. Gain Esteem Phase


1. Share Influence Phase


During this phase, the players

will take turns being the Advisor.

The Advisor will distribute cards

from the deck to themselves,

the other players,

and a common Favor deck.

Players continue taking turns

until the deck is empty.

Each player’s turn is divided into 3 steps.


1) Distribute Cards

When it is your turn as Advisor,

draw the top card from the deck,

consider it carefully without showing

it to the other players,

then place it in one of 3 areas :


- In front of yourself

Place the card face down in front of you,

in your personal deck.

Limit per turn: 1 card


- In the middle of the table

Place the card face up

in the middle of the table

Limit per turn: 1 card per opponent


- Next to the Government board

Place the card face down

next to the Government board

on top of the Favor deck.

Limit per turn: 1 card


Then, draw the next card

and repeat the procedure.

If you reach the limit of one of

these 3 areas on your turn,

you can no longer place

any more cards there.

In total, you will only distribute

one card per player plus one.


You must place the card you draw

before drawing the next card.

You cannot change your decision

and move the card after

you draw the next card.

Keep distributing cards until

you reach the limit in all 3 areas.

Then continue to the next step.


2) Choose Central Cards

Each of your opponents,

starting with the player to

your left and going clockwise,

will choose one of the cards

you placed in the middle of

the table and add it to

their personal deck, face down.


3) Change Adviser

Give the deck to the player

to your left. They become the Adviser

and begin a new turn with

the Distribute Cards step.

If the deck is empty, continue to

the GAIN ESTEEM PHASE.



2. Gain Esteem Phase


This phase plays over several rounds.

First, shuffle the common

Favor deck and place it face down

in the middle of the table.

Each player takes their

personal deck into their hand.

The player to the left of the last Adviser

in the previous phase

becomes the first player.

Then follow these steps in order,

repeating the steps until

the common deck is empty :

1. The first player reveals the top card

of the Favor deck and places it

in the middle of the table.

2. Starting with the first player

then taking turns in clockwise order,

Raise or Pass following

the rules outlined below.

3. Whoever wins the card pays

the total amount they bid and

takes the card into their hand.


On your turn, you can try to

Gain Esteem by bidding a number or Pass.


BID

The first number bid that round

must be equal to or greater than 1.

Any subsequent bids must be

strictly greater than the previous number

declared during that round.

Players can continue raising the bid

around the table multiple times.


PASS

If you Pass, you are removed

from the bidding and

can no longer Raise this round.

You can Pass as early as your first turn.


END OF A ROUND

When all players but one have passed,

the remaining player wins

the bid and successfully Gains Esteem.

They must pay whatever

they declared on their last bid.


- If the card players were bidding on

is a Government or King card,

the winner must pay as much Gold

as the last number they bid.

They must discard one

or more Gold cards face up

from their hand until the sum shown on

those Gold card(s) is equal to

or greater than their winning bid.

If they discard more Gold than required,

they do not get any change.

If they won a Government card,

they take it into their hand.

If they won a King card,

they immediately apply

its effect then discard it.


- If the card players were bidding

on is a Gold card,

the winner must discard as

many cards (of any type) from their hand

as the last number they declared.

They discard these cards face down

without showing them to anyone.

Then, they take the card

they won into their hand.

You might be tempted to raise

the bid for a card you

aren’t actually interested in,

solely to make it more expensive

for your opponents.

But if you win this bid,

you must still pay it.


If you don’t have enough cards to pay,

you don’t pay anything.

Instead, the player to your left

immediately draws a random card

from your hand and discards it

face down without showing it to anyone.

Then, all players except you

bid for the same card.

You cannot participate this round.

If all players Pass without

bidding on a card, discard the card.

Once the revealed card

is won or discarded,

the player to the left of the first player

becomes the first player

for the next round.

Then they reveal the top card

of the Favor deck and

the players bid on it.

After the final round is over

and the common deck is empty,

continue to the END OF THE GAME.








<How to Finish the Game>



Add up the value of your

Government cards in

each color separately.

The player with the highest sum

takes the Primary Duty tile of

the corresponding color.

If there is a tie, the tied player with

the card marked A

(or closest to A in alphabetical order)

in that color takes the tile.

Then, the player with

the next highest sum takes

the Secondary Duty tile of

the corresponding color, if there is one.

If there is a tie between

multiple players for second place,

break the tie in the same

way described above.

In case of a tie for the Primary Duty,

the player who lost the tie takes

the corresponding Secondary tile.

Count your victory points by adding

the esteem of all the Primary

and Secondary Duty tiles you gained.

The player with the most

victory points wins the game!


If there’s a tie between players

in the lead, the tied player with

the highest value in Gold cards wins

(Gold doesn’t have any other

purpose at the end of the game).

If there is still a tie,

the one with the most

Diplomacy cards wins.

If there is still a tie, the one who

has the blue card with A

(or closest to A in alphabetical order) wins.

If no tied player has any Diplomacy cards,

follow the same steps

with the Entertainment cards,

then Livestock, Architecture, Military,

and Provision cards

until the tie is broken.

From now on, you can boast to

the whole court about

your new governmental duties!