Kingdom Of Favors
Behold, rules and a PDF for my newest game beneath the cut.
Scott Colcord introduced me to To Court The King at ConVersation. This is a dice game in which, if you roll certain combos, like three of a kind or a straight, you receive the allegiance of certain members of the King's court who demand that configuration. On further turns you can use the influence of those nobles to change the outcome of your dice rolls, thus obtaining the favor of more powerful characters. The first player to obtain the favor of the King (seven of a kind) wins.
Then during my last trip to Lansing, I played the venerable Carcassonne with and Alex Duncan. In Carcassonne, you draw a random map tile from a bag and fit it to the map on the board in an attempt to complete the features on the map and score points.
Then I had an inspiration. In my view, the weakest aspect of Carcassonne is how progress is measured. Playing Carcassonne, you quickly learn that it's not about being artistic, just like Scrabble is not about forming the fanciest words. It's about the scoring. It's not bad, just less strong than the game's other qualities. The weakest aspect of To Court The King is the dice which, for my tastes, introduce too much randomness and insufficient interactivity between players. Again, it's not a bad feature, just the least strong in a superb game.
This hybrid uses Carcassone equipment in place of the dice, but achievement is measured in the style of To Court The King. Players can interfere more with each other's plans or build off each other tactically. It feels like these games were meant to be together.
Presenting Kingdom Of Favors.
Kingdom of Favors
This is a tile-laying game in which players build a kingdom and compete for the favors of those who live there. These characters wish for certain configurations of landscape features. When you win their favor by accomplishing their goals, they will help you accomplish more difficult goals to acquire favors from more powerful characters. The first player to gain the favor of the King wins the game.
To play Kingdom of Favors, you will need a Carcassone basic set. Set aside the scoring track, meeples, and river expansion. Begin the map with the starter piece with the dark back. Put the map tiles from the Carcassone set in an opaque bag.
You will also require favors, which represent the characters and are the pieces you print out from the PDFs provided with these instructions. (PDF link, 3.47MB) Print it on light card if possible, or glue it to cardstock. Cut out the favors. Shuffle the Philosophers. Arrange the favors in stacks of one stack per character, face up. Every player receives a copy of the Quick Reference Chart from this set of instructions.
Step One Of A Turn: Drawing A Tile
To start your turn, draw a random tile from the bag.
If it matches the appearance of any altered tile on the map, put it in place of that tile. If there are multiple matches, you may select one. Return the favors from that tile to their stacks. Then take that tile as a replacement for the one you drew from the bag.
Step Two Of A Turn: Changing The Board
You start the game with no favors, but this is the part of your turn when you may use your collection of favors if you have any. You may use them in any order. You may leave any favors unused.
An action favor can only be used once per turn. Flip it over to indicate you have used it on this turn. Action favors may affect any tile.
Triangles and tokens may be applied to change the tile you have drawn, or to change any tiles that you affect with actions on this turn. This includes any of the four tiles your drawn tile will be placed against, or any tile affected by an action favor, or any tile touching along the edge of any tile affected by your action favors on this turn.
On previously-played tiles which you affect with an action on this turn, if your modification replaces a previously-played favor of the same shape in the same place, return the replaced favor to its stack. Then take a new one from the top of that character's favor stack, which you can spend on your next turn.
Before you finish, you must place the map tile on the board so that the edges match the tiles that were already placed. Meadow and city cannot touch without a wall between them. Roads must end at a road ending point, not at the edge of a tile. Walls and cloisters count as road ending points.
Step Three Of A Turn: Taking A Character
You receive the allegiance of a character if, at the completion of your turn, the map meets the condition set by that character in a place that was not meeting the condition before your turn. Characters may be asking for complete cities or roads: A city is complete if it is surrounded by a wall, and a road is complete if it leads to two ending points, or if it loops onto itself. Take one of that character's token, triangle, or action favors and place it in front of you for use on a future turn.
You may only take one favor piece per turn. If you satisfied multiple conditions in a single turn, you may select one of the characters whose conditions you met. You may only possess one of each action favor, but an unlimited number of token favors and triangle favors until the supply runs out.
Some characters require one more of something existing than there was before. The condition increases each time it is fulfilled. The first Farmer will join you if there exists a meadow touching precisely one city, no more or less. The second seeks a meadow touching two cities, no more or less. The third, three cities, and so forth. The number goes up for all players when anyone fulfills the condition. Conditions that used to exist but no longer exist do not count
toward these characters. For instance, the Bishop requires an increasing number of surrounded cloisters. Although it is acceptable to have more surrounded cloisters than the current number necessary, the cloisters must all be surrounded at the same time.
Play now passes to the next player.
Quick Reference Chart
Character
Condition you met
Favor you get
Jester
Meet no conditions
Road end token
Charlatan
Meet no conditions, but have Jester
* Reject tile, redraw *
Farmer
Meadow touching 1 more city
Meadow triangle
Laborer
Complete city touching 1 more meadow
City cap triangle
Philosopher
Road loop
Road token
Handmaiden
Complete road with a tunnel/bridge
* Swap 2 tiles *
Guard
Complete road into complete city
Walled meadow triangle
Hunter
A tile with only meadow
Meadow token
Astronomer
3x3 grid of 9 tiles with no city
Unwalled meadow triangle
Merchant
2 complete cities connected by complete road
* Relocate a tile *
Magician
Complete city with a V in it
* Rotate a tile *
Knight
Complete road with at least 5 bends
Unwalled city triangle
Pawnbroker
Complete city with a solid city tile
* Swap 2 favors *
Noblewoman
Surrounded empty spot
Cloister token
Nobleman
Tile surrounded by emptiness
* Rotate two tiles *
Alchemist
Complete city with 4 city caps on 1 tile
* Switch three tiles *
Bishop
1 more surrounded cloister
* Extra tile *
General
Complete city within loop road
* Reuse action *
Queen
Cloister within complete city
* Choose tile to draw *
King
Cloister within loop road within complete city
* Victory *
Clarifications
Character
Take this character's favor if you meet this condition.
When using this character's favor...
Jester
You may not take the Jester if you can take any other character.
Place a road end token marked "Jester".
Charlatan
If you can take a Jester but you already have him, you may alternately take the Charalatan instead.
Put the tile you've just drawn back in the bag, and draw a new random tile.
Farmer
Make a meadow touching 1 city; no more, no less. The next player to receive a Farmer, even if it is the same player, must make a meadow touching 2 cities, no more, no less. The next must make a meadow touching 3 cities, no more, no less. And so on.
Place a meadow triangle marked "Farmer".
Laborer
Make a complete city touching 1 meadow; no more, no less. The next player to receive a Laborer, even if it is the same player, must make a complete city touching 2 meadows, no more, no less. The next must make a complete city touching 3 meadows. And so on.
Place a city cap triangle marked "Laborer".
Philosopher
Make a looped road: a road with no endpoints and no breaks.
Place a road token marked "Philosopher".
Handmaiden
One of the Philosopher tokens is a bridge road going over a tunnel road. Complete a road that includes that token.
Exchange the locations of any two previously-played tiles, along with any favors played on them. A Magician or Nobleman may rotate them before putting them back on the map.
Guard
Make a complete road into a complete city.
Place a walled meadow triangle marked "Guard".
Hunter
Make a tile that has no features but meadow.
Place a meadow token marked "Hunter". You may cover a cloister or a road. Most roads require multiple hunters to cover them.
Astronomer
Make a 3x3 grid of 9 tiles containing no city.
Place an unwalled meadow triangle marked "Astronomer".
Merchant
Connect 2 complete cities with a complete road.
Choose a previously-played tile, which has at least one of its four edges not touching another tile. Relocate it, along with any favors played on it, to a new location on the map. A Magician or Nobleman may rotate it before putting it back on the map.
Magician
Complete a city that includes this arrangement of walls, in one city:
Rotate a previously-played tile 90, 180 or 270 degrees. All favors played on it rotate along with it.
Knight
Complete a road including at least 5 tiles with a road bend on them.
Place an unwalled city triangle marked "Knight".
Pawnbroker
Complete a city that includes at least one tile that is all city. This is more likely to be accomplished with the use of Knights.
Exchange the locations of two previously-played favors. You may remove a favor and return it to the stack, if the map remains legal. You may also rotate a favor that is exchanged; for instance, if it is a road curve. You must place a triangle in the same quadrant as the triangle it is replacing.
Noblewoman
Surround a tileless spot with tiles in all eight adjacent spots.
Place a cloister token marked "Noblewoman".
Nobleman
Use the Merchant to isolate a tile so that it is no longer touching the rest of the map. It is illegal to move a tile into isolation. You must move the only tile that is connecting it to the rest of the map.
Rotate two previously-played tiles 90, 180, or 270 degrees. All favors played on them rotate along with them. You may use other favors between the two rotations.
Alchemist
Complete a city that includes this arrangement of walls, in one city:
Exchange the locations of any three previously-played tiles, along with any favors played on them. A Magician or Nobleman may rotate them before putting them back on the map.
Bishop
Surround at least 1 cloister on the map with tiles in all eight adjacent spots. The next bishop may be selected by a player who makes a map on which at least 2 cloisters are surrounded. The next must make a map on which at least 3 cloisters are surrounded. And so on.
Draw and play an extra tile.
General
Complete a city enclosed within a loop road: a road with no endpoints and no breaks.
Reuse any action favor that you have used this turn.
Queen
Complete a city in which there is a meadow containing a cloister.
In place of a random drawing, empty the tile bag and select the tile of your choice.
King
Complete a city within which there is a meadow, containing a loop road containing a cloister.
You win the game.
Comments
Anonymous on Aug. 24, 2007 5:55 PM — Kingdom of Favors
Sounds interesting, but it's hard to get the feel of gameplay over the net. Are you going to run this at Penguicon 2008? -- Sarah Elkins
(ps I'm looking forward to registering online once the 2008 forms are up!)
Anonymous on (None)
matt-arnold on Aug. 24, 2007 6:01 PM — Re: Kingdom of Favors
Thanks, Sarah. Yes, I think I would like to play this at Penguicon 2008!
(I'm looking forward to the registration forms being up too! The programmers have been reporting their progress and testing it, and it will be done soon.)
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