Tara, Seat of Kings

About this board game

Tara, Seat of Kings is a board game for 2–4 players, played in about 45 minutes, in which each player strives to become Ard Ri, or High King of Ireland.

Build influence across the regions by developing your followers from Farmers to Herdsmen, Warriors, Chieftains, and finally a ruling King. Cards represent your supporters, while cumals—each worth three cows—help pay for promotions and other important actions.

Play proceeds in rounds of three cards. At the start, each player receives six cards, chooses three for the current round, and sets the rest aside for the next. On each turn, play one card and choose how to use it:

• Place pieces into a region.
• Play a Stone of Destiny card to swap two pieces in a region.
• Pay four cumals to declare an amnesty and release all captives from a region.
• Discard the card to gain two cumals.

After placing or swapping pieces, you may pay a card’s Activation Cost to promote two adjacent pieces into the space immediately above them. Clever placement can capture opposing pieces, release your own captives, and create the chain of promotions needed to reach the King space.

At the end of each round, traitors may trigger swaps and promotions before players collect income based on their pieces and ranks. New Kings establish garrisons, remove captives, and can lead to prisoner exchanges or ransom. The game ends when one player has a King in two different regions, making every promotion and regional contest in Tara, Seat of Kings part of the struggle for the crown.