Regicide Rules: The Cooperative Card Game

Regicide Rules: The Cooperative Card Game

Game Overview

Regicide is a strategic, cooperative card game designed by Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger, and Andy Richdale, with art by Sketchgoblin. It plays with 1 to 4 players and uses a standard 54-card deck: the numbered cards 2 to 10 and the Aces (the Animal Companions) make up the Tavern deck, the Jacks, Queens and Kings are the 12 enemies, and the two Jokers act as Jesters.

Objective

The objective of Regicide is to work together as a team to defeat 12 powerful enemies represented by the Kings, Queens, and Jacks. Players take turns to play cards and attack the enemy, aiming to defeat them before the enemies strike back, causing damage to the players. The game ends when the last King is defeated, or if the players are unable to satisfy the damage dealt by an enemy.

Setup

1. Shuffle the 4 Kings and place them facedown in a pile, then shuffle the 4 Queens and place them on top of the Kings, then shuffle the 4 Jacks and place them on top of the Queens. This forms the Castle deck.
2. Place the Castle deck in the center of the table and turn the top card face up to reveal a Jack, the first enemy.
3. Shuffle together all cards numbered 2 to 10, along with the 4 Animal Companions and a number of Jesters based on the number of players (see table below), to form the Tavern deck.
4. Deal cards to each player up to their maximum hand size (determined by the number of players, as shown in the table below).
5. The player who most recently committed regicide goes first.

How to Play

1. On their turn, a player plays a card from their hand to attack the current enemy. The number on the card determines the attack value.

2. The suit of the played card grants a special power (Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, or Spades). Each turn has four steps:

   a. Play a card or yield: Play a card from your hand onto the table or choose to yield. b. Activate the suit power: suit powers are mandatory. Red suits resolve straight away, black suits take effect in later steps. Hearts heal (shuffle the discard pile and place cards equal to the attack value under the Tavern deck), Diamonds draw cards one at a time in clockwise order up to the attack value, Clubs double the damage dealt in Step 3, and Spades shield the players by reducing the enemy's attack value, cumulatively, until that enemy is defeated. c. Deal damage to the enemy and check: The damage dealt is calculated based on the attack value of the played card. If the total damage dealt by all players is equal to or greater than the enemy's health, the enemy is defeated: discard it (or place it facedown on top of the Tavern deck if the damage was exactly equal to its health), discard the cards played against it, and reveal the next Castle card. Jacks have 10 attack and 20 health, Queens 15 and 30, Kings 20 and 40. d. Suffer damage from the enemy: If the enemy is not defeated, the current player suffers damage equal to the enemy's attack value, reduced by the total value of Spades played against the enemy. They must discard cards from hand with a total value at least equal to that damage; Animal Companions count as 1 and the Jester as 0. A player who cannot discard enough dies and all players lose.

Scoring and End of Game

The game ends when the players win by defeating the last King or when the players lose because a player is unable to satisfy the damage dealt by an enemy. The players also lose if any player is unable to play a card or yield on their turn.

Common Variants

When playing with only 1 player, set up the game as per usual but place the two Jesters to the side. The player plays with a single hand limited to 8 cards and plays each turn one after the other. A Jester can be flipped to activate the following power: "Discard your hand and refill to 8 cards - this does not count as drawing for the purpose of enemy diamond immunity."

A Fun Fact or Record

The solo rules turn the game into a personal challenge with three levels of achievement: winning after using both Jesters is a Bronze Victory, using a single Jester is a Silver Victory, and winning without flipping a Jester at all is a Gold Victory.

Where to Get the Game

regicide card game on Amazon

Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

1. Not understanding the suit powers and their effects.
2. Failing to communicate effectively with teammates, especially when it comes to the number of cards in hand.
3. Yielding too often, especially when it could lead to the defeat of an enemy.
4. Discarding too many high-value cards, potentially leaving the team unable to defeat enemies or protect themselves.

FAQ

1. What happens if I can't discard enough cards to satisfy the damage dealt by an enemy? You lose the game.
2. Can I combine cards together in sets? Yes, in sets of 2, 3 or 4 cards of the same number, as long as the combined total of the cards played equals 10 or less. Animal Companions cannot be added to a combo.
3. Can Animal Companions be paired with each other? Yes, but you only apply the suit power once.
4. What happens if I play a card with an Animal Companion of the same suit as another card? You only apply the suit power once.
5. Can I use the Jester power multiple times per game? Yes, you have two Jesters, so you can use the power twice. Using the Jester power does not cancel enemy immunity.

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