Objective
Defeat all 12 powerful enemies using your hand of cards. Win by defeating the last King. If you cannot discard enough cards to survive an enemy attack, you lose.
Setup
- Castle deck: Shuffle 4 Kings, 4 Queens, 4 Jacks (Kings on bottom, then Queens, then Jacks on top).
- Tavern deck: Shuffle cards 2–10 with 4 Animal Companions and 2 Jesters.
- Draw 8 cards into your hand.
- Reveal the top Castle card as the first enemy.
Game Turn
- Step 1 - Play a card: Play one or more cards from your hand to attack the enemy.
- Step 2 - Resolve suit powers: Apply effects based on card suits. Royal cards are immune to their own suit when attacked.
- Step 3 - Deal damage: Apply damage to the enemy and check if defeated.
- Step 4 - Enemy attacks: Discard cards to survive enemy damage. Enemy suits do not affect enemies of the same suit.
Card Suits
- Clubs: Double damage. Example: 8 of Clubs deals 16 damage.
- Spades: Shields against enemy attacks. Effects accumulate until enemy is defeated.
- Hearts: Heal from discard. Shuffle discard, place cards equal to attack value beneath Tavern deck.
- Diamonds: Draw cards equal to attack value (up to max hand size).
Animal Companions
Aces count as 1 attack and can be paired with one other card. Suit powers apply as normal.
Jester / Joker
- Attack value: 0
- Flip Jesters (max 2 per game) to discard your hand and refill to 8 cards. This does not count as drawing for Diamonds immunity.
Perfect Kill
If total damage equals exactly the enemy's remaining health, the enemy is placed on top of the Tavern deck. Otherwise, it goes to the discard pile.
Combos
You can play sets of 2–4 cards of the same number as long as their total value ≤ 10. Animal Companions can only be paired with one other card. Suit powers resolve at total attack value.
Winning & Losing
- Win by defeating all Royals.
- Lose if unable to discard enough cards to survive an enemy attack.
- Victory ranking based on Jester usage: 0 jokers = Gold, 1 joker = Silver, 2 jokers = Bronze.