Kardinal & König: Das Kartenspiel

About this board game

Kardinal & König: Das Kartenspiel is a card game for 3–5 players, with an approximately 45-minute playing time, first released in 2001.

Set in 12th-century Europe, the game places influential Orders in a struggle for supremacy. Players collect Land cards and use their choices to develop their position, establish cloisters, bring advisors to council meetings, and improve their network of roads.

The cards you choose shape how many victory points you can earn. This gives each decision an important role as you build your network and pursue the combinations that best support your final score.

• Collect Land cards
• Establish cloisters
• Bring advisors to council meetings
• Improve your network of roads
• Earn victory points according to your card choices

At the end of the game, the player with the most victory points wins. The compact card-game format presents the central ideas of the Kardinal & König board game from Goldsieber Spiele, also issued as Web of Power by Rio Grande Games.

Kardinal & König: Das Kartenspiel was later rereleased by Ravensburger with different rules as the two-player game Richelieu. Whether played as a contest between 3–5 players or explored through its later two-player adaptation, it offers a focused card-driven take on the influential Orders competing for power across Europe.