How to play guide for Board Royale

**BOARD ROYALE** is a turn-based survival card game for 2 to 6 castaways. The goal of the game is to survive by any means necessary. If any player runs out of resources, they are instantly eliminated from the game! The last man standing on the island or the first to escape by collecting enough points wins the game. But this is not an easy task!

**Each round is one day on the island, during which you must gather resources and spend them to craft items with various abilities to attack your opponents and ensure your safety.**

# How To Start The Game

Separate the **Resource** and **Item** cards into two decks, then shuffle them separately and place them face down on the table. Leave some space available for Discard Piles for both decks. If any deck runs out of cards during the game, shuffle the corresponding Discard Pile and create a new deck.

### Crafting Field

Reveal **4 Item** cards face up next to the Item Deck to create the Crafting Field. They will be the items that players can craft with their resources. They can use these items to gain an advantage or attack on their opponents.

### Starting Player

To decide which player starts the game, all players take turns drawing resources until someone draws **Gold**; that player begins the game. Drawn resources are discarded. You can also decide who goes first in any fashion you like.

### Preparation Round

After setup is completed and the starting player has been decided, **the Preparation round** starts. In turn order, every player **draws 2 cards** from the Resource Deck and crafts Items if they have the necessary resources. Players  **can't steal nor use any Items** during this round. After the Preparation round ends, the game begins.

# Gameplay

A player’s turn consists of 2 consecutive phases: **the Resource Phase** followed by **the Action Phase**. When the first player finishes their turn, the game continues to the next player in clockwise order.

## Resource Phase

In the Resource Phase, you may choose to collect resources by either;

1. Drawing 2 resources from **the Resource Deck**.
2. Stealing 1 resource from a target opponent by randomly picking a card **from their hand**.

### Hand Limit

The Player Hand limit is **20 resources**. Hold resources in your Hand without showing others. When a player reaches the hand limit and has to draw resources for any reason, they must immediately **discard the same amount** before drawing. *There are several items in the game that increase the player hand limit. Ex: If players craft "Backpack", their hand limit is increased by +4 and set to 24.*

### Hands Up

If asked, players are obligated to tell how many Resource cards they have in their hands. **Hiding cards are not allowed**.

## Action Phase

In the action phase player's **craft item, use items, make trades and negotiations**. A player can perform any number of actions in any order they wish to.

### Crafting Items

Items can be crafted from the Crafting Field by paying the required amount of resources shown on item cards. *Example: Knife costs 1 Stone + 3 Iron. The player will pay 1 Stone and 3 Iron cards to the Discard Pile.*

When a player crafts an item, it is placed in front of the player **facing-up**. Items should be **visible to all players**. Whenever an item is crafted draw a new Item card from the Item Deck and place it face up in the Crafting Field. Players may continue crafting items during their turn as long as they have the necessary resources.

***WARNING:** Be careful when spending resources. Always keep in mind that resources are your **Hit Points**. If you run out of resources, you’re out!*

### Using Items

Crafted items can be used immediately as long as the conditions and limits indicated on the cards are followed.

Items can be **temporary** or **permanent**. Some need extra resources or items to be used. All crafted items can be used by their owners and also lent to other players as a part of an agreement **only in their turns**. Think wisely before suggesting or accepting any agreement!

* **Attack**

Some items allow players to attack each other by discarding their resources. The attacker randomly picks and discards resources from the target opponent's hand. The amount of resources to discard is indicated on the used item card.

* **Attack Sequence**

Whenever a player attacks a target opponent, the attack sequence is turn-based. First, the player declares an attack, then the defending player has a chance to respond with instant item cards. Each attack must be resolved separately. If the defending player avoids an attack, the resource(s) used by the attacking player is still consumed and discarded.

* **Attack Clarification**

If an action requires a player to discard resources from their Hand, it is considered as an Attack. In addition, using the Steal action at the start of the turn is considered as an Attack. *E.g. If a player uses a Grenade to destroy an opponent’s item, it is not considered as an Attack, because the opponent is not required to discard any resources from their Hand, therefore, the opponent can’t use the Run Away card to counter this move.*

***WARNING:** In any condition, a player can not be targeted by their own attacks.*

* **Attack Example:**

Jane has a Knife. The Knife is a permanent item and it has a unique ability: “Pay 1 Food and target opponent discards 2 resources.”

Jane pays 1 Food to use the Knife on Mike. Jane randomly picks 2 resources from Mike’s Hand and discards them. She repeats this 3 more times, discarding a total of 8 resources from Mike’s Hand. **Jane must resolve every Attack action one by one, giving Mike a chance to respond to each attack.**

Mike is left with only 4 resources in his Hand. Believing that Jane does not have any more Food to continue attacking him, he is relieved. Jane asks the other players if they have any food they can trade with her.

Frank tells Jane that he will give her 2 Food if she agrees to share the Loot with him.

Right before they come to an evil agreement, Maria breaks in and uses her instant Grenade on Jane’s Knife and destroys it! It was a good call, because if Jane and Frank shared Mike’s loot, it would probably become harder for Maria to beat them.

Now Maria is thinking about how to kill Mike and loot all his stuff for herself! Be aware: if a player eliminates and loot another player, their turn is over.

**Check out The Mad Book for ideas on wicked strategies, negotiations, and actions.**

* **Deals**

Players can make any kind of deal as long as they stay within the rules of the game.
**Example:** Shotgun forces all the opponents to discard resources. This means that players can't decide who will evade Shotgun’s ability.

* **Democracy Majority Rules**

The item cards in the Crafting Field can be changed **once per round** only if it is accepted by the majority of the players. Any player can call a vote to replace the cards in the Crafting Field during their turn.

If accepted by the majority, all item cards in the Crafting Field will be removed and placed on the item Discard Pile. New items will be placed on the Crafting Field.

***Note**: If only two players remain, then both players must agree to replace the cards in the Crafting Field.*

* **Trade**

*Players can trade anything in their own turn (items for resources, resources for protection, items for future bargains, etc.).* The player can give resources or lend items to an attacking player during their turn. The player cannot, however, give resources to a defending player in order to save them from elimination. In addition, the defending player can't give their items or resources to other players in order to surrender. In this game, there is no surrender!

* **Looting**

If a player is eliminated, the attacking player will take all the item cards of the eliminated player. If it was a collaborative act against the target, the attacking players can divide the items and loot between them.
***Reminder:** If a player loots or eliminates an opponent, the attacking player's turn is over.*

* **No Kill Steal:**

Players cannot eliminate an opponent during another player’s turn. If it is a collaborative attack, the final damage must be dealt with by the current player.

### End of the Round

When a player decides their turn is over, they must declare it by saying “skip” or “pass,” then the next player starts their turn. **When each player completes their turn, the round ends.**

*At the start of each round, reset all “Once in a round” items.*

## End of the Game

As stated at the beginning of this rulebook, the goal of the game is to survive by any means necessary. The last man standing on the island or the first to escape from it becomes **the winner**.

### Death

If a player runs out of resources, they are instantly eliminated from the game!

### Escape

Collect 10 escape points or complete an escape set of items to obtain 10 points to leave the island and win.

### Rage Quit

If a player decides to leave the game, their resources and items may be shared between the remaining players. If the remaining players can’t reach an agreement to share, all cards get discarded.