Objective of Kingdomino Duel
The objective of Kingdomino Duel is to create the most valuable kingdom by connecting similar coat of arms.
Kingdomino Duel Setup
- Each player takes a gamesheet and a pencil. Turn your gamesheet to the Map side.
- Place another gamesheet in the middle of the table. Turn this sheet to the Spellbook side. Write down the player’s names at the top of the sheet.
- Set the four dice in the middle of the table.
- The oldest player starts the game. They will be player A for the first round. The other player is player B.
Playing Kingdomino Duel
Each round begins with player A rolling the four dice.
The players will then follow these three steps.
- Creating Dominoes
- Filling in the Map
- Filling in the Spellbook
The Dice of Kingdomino Duel
The dice of Kingdomino Duel have seven different symbols.
Six of the symbols are different coat of arms. Each of these coat of arms represent a different family that you will use to help rule your kingdom.
Some coat of arms feature one or two crosses/Xs. These represent high dignitaries of the corresponding family. These are key to scoring at the end of the game.
The last symbol is a question mark. This symbol is wild. When you take a dice with a question mark on it, you can choose what coat of arms it will represent.
Creating Dominos
Player A starts this step by choosing one of the four rolled dice. The die they choose remains on the side that was rolled.
Player B then chooses the two dice that they would like to take. They will keep these dice on the sides that were rolled.
Finally player A takes the fourth dice that neither player chose.
Each player has two dice. They will use these two dice to form a “domino”.
Filling in the Map
After each player has created their domino, it is time to add them to your map. The symbols on the two dice you chose will be placed next to each other somewhere on your map. You can place the two symbols either vertically or horizontally next to one another. They must touch one another though, and that does not include diagonals.
When choosing where to place your domino, you can only place it on empty spaces (spaces where the coat of arms haven’t been filled in). To place your domino on your map you must follow one of the following two connection rules.
Connection Rules
First you can add a domino if one of the two spaces touch the center castle space.
Otherwise you can look at the coat of arms that you have already filled in on your map. You can place a domino if at least one of the domino sides touches the same symbol. The symbol already on your map has to be orthogonally adjacent (up, down, left, right). Diagonals do not count.
If you cannot find a valid placement for your domino, you will not place it on your map.
Drawing Your Domino
Once you have chosen a valid place to place your domino, you will fill in the corresponding coat of arms spaces on the chosen space. If there are crosses next to one or both of the symbols, you will fill in the circles next to the coat of arms.
After adding your new symbols to the map, check the neighboring spaces. If one or both of your new symbols are the same as the adjacent symbols, shade in the line between the two spaces. This will help you better see where you have formed domains in your kingdom.
Filling in the Spellbook
Each player looks at the symbols they added to their map this turn.
Any symbol that did not feature additional crosses, allows you to fill in part of the spellbook. The question mark symbol does not allow you to fill in part of the spellbook.
Find the corresponding symbol(s) on your side of the spellbook. Fill in one of the corresponding squares. Player A will do this first in case both players finish one of the sections at the same time.
The first player to cross off all of the squares for one of the spells, claims that spell. The other player cannot obtain that spell during the game. They will draw a line through that section on their side of the spellbook to remind them that they can’t claim the spell.
Most of the spells can be used once at any time (unless noted below). When you use a spell you will cross off the symbol from the spellbook to note that it has been used. The ability that each spell grants players are as follows:
The Spells
When placing a domino on your map, you can ignore the connection rules (see above).
You can break apart your two dice instead of having to play them next to one another. To add the symbols to your map though, they must follow the connection rules.
During a turn that you are player A, you can immediately choose the two dice that you would like to take.
You can choose one of the two dice that you took and change it to any other side.
Choose a coat of arms. You will score three points for each different domain that features the chosen coat of arms at the end of the game. This ability must be used when you acquire it.
Choose one of the coat of arms from your map. You can add one cross to the chosen coat of arms.
End of Round
At the end of the round the players swap roles for the next round. Player A will become player B and vice versa.
Castle Bonus
Once during the game each player can choose to use their castle bonus.
When you activate your castle bonus, you can choose one of the two dice that you chose during the current round. You can add one cross symbol to the chosen dice. This includes the question mark. This will nullify the ability to fill in a space in the corresponding section of the spellbook.
Once you have used the ability, color in your castle’s roof to indicate that you used the ability.
End of Kingdomino Duel
Kingdomino Duel can end in one of two ways.
The game ends immediately if one or both players fill in all of the spaces on their map.
Otherwise the game will end when neither player is able to add their domino to their map.
The game then proceeds to final scoring.
Scoring in Kingdomino Duel
The objective of Kingdomino Duel is to create different domains that will score you points. A domain is a group of spaces that are connected orthogonally (up, down, left, right) which all have the same symbol/coat of arms. You will create multiple domains on your map throughout the game. You may end up creating two or more domains featuring the same coat of arms if they are not connected to one another. Each of these domains will be scored separately.
To determine your final score you will tally the points that you earned from each domain. To score each domain you will figure out the following.
First count up how many spaces are in the domain. Then count up how many crosses are in the domain. You multiply these two numbers to get the number of points that you will score for the domain. If a domain has no crosses in it, it will score no points.
Add up the points that you scored from each of your domains to get your final score.
If you acquired the wizard power worth three points for each domain of the corresponding coat of arms, calculate how many points you will score from the power. Add this to the total you received from your domains.
The player that scores more points wins the game.
If there is a tie, the player who created the largest domain (the domain featuring the most spaces) wins the game. If there is still a tie, the game ends in a draw.
Scoring Example
Pictured above is a player’s final map at the end of the game. I have outlined all of the domains that this player will score with different colors to make them easier to see.
#1 Green: This domain consists of seven different spaces and five crosses. This domain scores 35 points.
#2 Yellow: There are three spaces and one cross in this domain. The player will score three points from the domain.
#3 Yellow: This domain consists of one space and one cross. It scores one point. Combined with yellow #2, the player scores four total points from the symbol.
#4 Purple: This domain features four spaces and two crosses. The player scores eight points from it.
#6 Blue: This domain has two spaces and two crosses. It scores four points.
#7 Blue: This domains scores two points as it only consists of one space with two crosses on it. Combined with #6 blue, this symbol scores a total of six points.
#8 Red: The player created a domain consisting of five spaces and four crosses. It scores them 20 points.
In addition to creating a number of domains that scored points, this player also created some domains that score zero points. For example along the left side of their map they created a five space domain featuring the two line symbol. Since there were no crosses in the domain though, it does not score any points.
This player scores a total of 73 points.
Kingdomino Duel
Year: 2019 | Publisher: Blue Orange Games | Designer: Bruno Cathala, Ludovic Maublanc | Artist: Cyril Bouquet
Genres: Dice Drafting, Roll and Write, Two Player
Ages: 8+ | Number of Players: 2 | Length of Game: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Light-Moderate | Strategy: Moderate | Luck: Moderate
Components: 4 dice, game sheets, 2 pencils, instructions
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