Valeria: Card Kingdoms

2016

Immerse yourself in 'Valeria: Card Kingdoms', a tableau-building game where you recruit citizens, slay monsters, and strategize to gather victory points!

45
minutes

1 - 5
player(s)

13+

Medium Light

About the game

Valeria: Card Kingdoms is a captivating board game that immerses players in a vibrant fantasy realm brimming with magic, monsters, and mystery. As a Duke in the kingdom of Valeria, you are tasked with rallying citizens, hiring adventurers, and battling monstrous foes in a quest for the throne.

Theme & Setting: Valeria: Card Kingdoms is set in an enchanting fantasy world, reminiscent of classic role-playing games and epic fairy tales. This enchanting kingdom is populated with a variety of characters from mystical wizards and brave knights to enterprising merchants and hardworking farmers. The stunning artwork on the cards further brings the kingdom to life, making players truly feel like they are part of this magical realm.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Valeria: Card Kingdoms is a board game with a lot of components. These components interact in different ways to create a rich, immersive gameplay experience. Here’s a breakdown of each component included in the game and how it functions:

1. Rulebook: The rulebook provides detailed instructions on how to play the game, set up the board, and interpret the different cards and tokens. It’s an indispensable tool for new players and a valuable reference for experienced ones.

2. Game Board: The game board is the central component of Valeria: Card Kingdoms. It’s where players place their cards, tokens, and dice. The board is divided into different regions, each of which corresponds to a different type of card or action.

3. Citizen Cards: These cards represent the subjects in your kingdom. Each card has unique abilities and benefits that can be activated when certain dice results are rolled. Citizen cards are divided into different classes, such as Peasants, Knights, and Priests, each with their unique abilities.

4. Domain Cards: Domain cards represent the lands and buildings in your kingdom. These cards provide players with ongoing benefits, victory points, or special abilities. To claim a Domain card, a player must meet the card’s resource requirements.

5. Monster Cards: These cards represent the monsters that players can fight. Defeating a monster provides rewards, such as resources and victory points, but requires a certain amount of strength.

6. Duke Cards: Duke cards represent special characters that provide players with end-game scoring bonuses. Each player is dealt a Duke card at the start of the game, and their identity is kept secret from other players.

7. Resource Tokens: These tokens represent the different resources that players can acquire throughout the game, such as Gold, Magic, and Strength. Players use these resources to claim Domain cards, fight monsters, and activate card abilities.

8. Dice: The dice in Valeria: Card Kingdoms are used to determine which Citizen cards are activated each turn. The numbers rolled correspond to the numbers on the Citizen cards.

9. Victory Point Tokens: These tokens are earned by players through various actions like defeating monsters, claiming domains, or activating certain card abilities. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is declared the winner.

Game flow Round and round we go

Valeria: Card Kingdoms is an engaging, competitive card game in which players aim to build their kingdoms and slay monsters to accumulate the most victory points. The game is structured into turns, with each turn divided into three distinct phases. Each player performs actions during these phases in a clockwise order.

Phase 1: Roll Dice

The active player rolls two dice. Each player, including the active player, then activates the citizens in their tableau that correspond to the numbers rolled. If the total sum of the dice is also in a player’s tableau, that citizen is activated as well.

Phase 2: Take Two Actions

The active player then chooses two actions to perform. The available actions are: Slay a Monster, Recruit a Citizen, Buy a Domain, or Gain 1 Resource. The same action can be performed twice.
To Slay a Monster, the player must expend the requisite amount of strength. They then gain the monster card and any rewards it provides.
To Recruit a Citizen, the player must spend the requisite amount of gold. Recruited citizens are added to the player’s tableau and can be activated in future dice rolls.
To Buy a Domain, the player must spend the necessary resources. Domains provide victory points and can also grant special abilities.
The Gain 1 Resource action allows the player to gain one magic, strength, or gold resource of their choice.

Phase 3: End of Turn

After the active player has taken their two actions, the next player in clockwise order becomes the active player and begins their turn by rolling the dice.

The game continues in this fashion until the end game condition is met, which occurs when either all the monsters are slain, all the domains are purchased, or any stack of citizen cards is depleted. Players then tally up their victory points from their domains, citizen cards, and monster cards. The player with the most victory points is declared the winner.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

In the board game ‘Valeria: Card Kingdoms’, each player’s turn consists of several steps, each of which provides different strategic options. Here is a detailed breakdown of what happens during a player’s turn:

1. Roll Dice

At the beginning of your turn, roll two six-sided dice. Each die represents a different action you can take. Note that you also activate the sum of the dice rolled.

2. Harvest

After rolling, you’ll harvest resources based on the results of the dice roll. Each player will activate their Citizen cards that match the dice results. This allows you to collect resources such as strength, gold, and magic. The player whose turn it is also activates the sum of the dice.

3. Action

You can take one action on your turn. There are several options:

Recruit a Citizen: Spend the required amount of gold to add a new Citizen card to your tableau. This Citizen will provide benefits when their number is rolled.
Buy a Domain: Spend the required amount of resources to purchase a Domain card. These cards provide victory points and sometimes special abilities.
Slay a Monster: Spend the necessary amount of strength to eliminate a Monster card. This gives you immediate rewards and victory points.
Gain a resource: Instead of the above actions, you can choose to gain one resource of your choice.

Strategic choices during your action phase can greatly affect gameplay. For example, recruiting Citizens can enhance your resource gathering capabilities, giving you an advantage in future turns. Buying Domains can bring you closer to victory and provide useful abilities. Slaying Monsters can give you immediate benefits and reduce the threat level. And gaining a resource can help you prepare for future actions.

4. End of Turn

At the end of your turn, pass the dice to the player on your left. It’s now their turn to play. The game continues in this manner until the endgame condition is met.

The strategic depth of ‘Valeria: Card Kingdoms’ lies in managing your resources effectively, making smart decisions during your action phase, and adapting your strategy based on the dice rolls and the actions of other players.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

The game of ‘Valeria: Card Kingdoms’ ends when one of the three end-game conditions is met. These conditions are:

Exhaustion of Monster Stack: If, at the end of a player’s turn, there are no more Monster cards in any of the stacks in the center row.
Exhaustion of Domain Stack: If, at the end of a player’s turn, there are no more Domain cards in any of the stacks in the center row.
Depletion of Citizen Stack: If, at the end of a player’s turn, two or more stacks of Citizen cards in the center row are empty.

Once one of these conditions is met, the game ends immediately and the final scoring begins. All players should then perform the following actions:

1. Count Victory Points (VPs):

2. Break Ties:

It’s crucial to keep track of your resources and VPs throughout the game, as they can dramatically influence your final placement and the outcome of the game.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

In Valeria: Card Kingdoms, players earn Victory Points (VPs) through a variety of actions, from defeating Monsters, to building Domains, and more. At the end of the game, the player with the most VPs is declared the winner.

Victory Points (VPs) are awarded as follows:

Monsters: Each defeated Monster card provides a specific number of VPs, as indicated on the card itself.
Domains: Building Domains also yields VPs. The number of points gained is specified on each Domain card.
Citizens: Some Citizens can earn VPs. For example, the Knight earns 1 VP for every two Fighter symbols a player has at the end of the game.
Other Cards: Special cards like the Duke card can provide VPs based on a player’s actions during the game. The specific rules for these cards can be found on the card itself.

At the end of the game, players add up all the VPs they’ve earned from the sources mentioned above. The player with the highest total wins. In case of a tie, the game has specific tie-breaking rules:

The player with the most remaining Gold is the winner.
If there is still a tie, the player with the most remaining Magic is the winner.
If a tie still persists, the player with the most leftover Resources (Gold + Magic) wins.
If there is still a tie, the player who played last in the order of play wins.

These rules ensure there’s always a clear winner in every game of Valeria: Card Kingdoms.