R

Game design Seiji Kanai

Art Noboru Sugiura
Story
Since the sudden passing of the benevolent King, the country has
been in turmoil. As there was no direct successor to the throne, the
people are spending their days in anxiety, unsure of their future.
But there was a glimpse of hope. There were two powerful count
princes, both resourceful and skilled. One was the Blue Prince,
composed and calm, and with a will stronger than most. The other
was the the wild yet intelligent and passionate Red Prince.
Ready to compete for the crown, they gathered their allies to begin
a silent struggle for power. But they both had a secret.
The Blue Prince had given his heart to the Reds lovable and kind
little sister, and the Red Prince was hopelessly in love with the
graceful and beautiful little sister of Blue.
Who of the two will, with this weak spot, win the struggle for the
crown?
Game overview
Game time: 5 minutes
Players: 2
Both players represent one of the Princes and ght to gain control
of the country by using the Prince and his allies. Each character
has a unique strength, and a special power; they all win over some
and lose to some. Players will choose one character each and reveal
simultaneously. The rst player to win 4 such rounds has grabbed
the inuence enough to be crowned as the New King.
Contents
16 cards
rulebook
Preparations
Each player takes a set of 8 cards consisting of blue or red prince,
corresponding princess, and then 1 each of General, Wizard, Minis-
ter, Assassin, Spy and Jester. These cards form the players hand.
The blue and red prince/princess cards are identical in effect.
How to play
Each player secretly chooses one of his cards and puts it face down
before him. When both players have selected a card, they are revea-
led simultaneously. This is called a round.
Each card has a strength and a special power, and these decide
which o the cards win. Basically, the card with the highest strength
wins, but some special powers overrule this. The special powers are
mandatory, meaning they always happen.
The cards used for the round stay where they are. Turn the losing
card sideways so that you easily see who won the round. The game
then proceeds to the next round: Both players choose a new card
of those remaining in his hand, put forward face down and reveal
simultaneously and so on.
In case of a draw (for example, if both cards strength was the
same), the round is on hold; the victor of the next round also
wins the round that is on hold. It may happen that several rounds in
a row are on hold.
Game end
In the standard rules, the game ends as soon as one player has
achieved 4 victories. If the players run out of cards before this hap-
pens, the game is a draw. Play again.
The cards
Prince
You win the round
This card wins the round regardless of strength of the cards. It
doesnt matter if the Assassin has turned the tables. However, the
Jester still puts the round on hold. If both players chose the prince,
their powers nullify each other and the strengths are compared
instead (normally, it turns into a draw, but the General might affect
that.
General
Your card next turn gets +2 strength
The Generals power affects the next round. Any magician played
by the opponent the round after the General does not nullify the
Generals power.
Magician
Nullies the special power of the opponents card
Nullies the opponents special power, which simply means that
the highest card wins the round.
Minister
If you win with this card, it counts as 2 victories
This effect is valid even if the round is on hold. In that case, the
next round will be worth 3 victories (unless the opponent plays his
Minister, in which case it will be worth 4 victories!).
If both players play the Minister the same round, the effect does not
stack.
Assassin
The lowest strength wins
Like the card says.
Spy
Next round, your opponent reveals his card before you choose
yours.
If both players choose the Spy the same round, their powers nullify
each other.
Princess
If the opponent played the Prince, you win the game.
If the opponent played the prince, the game ends immediately,
regardless of number of victories.
Jester
This rounds is nullied; and put on hold.
Wins over all powers except the Magicians
To end with
As you may note by the play time, this is not a long, strategic game
in which you think carefully each round. Use it as a way to decide
game order, or instead of rock-paper-scissors. Dont play for mo-
ney, unless your countrys laws allow for it.
Also, as the games very light, there are numerous variations for
the game. The game changes quite radically with some of these, so
please try them out.
On a side note, this game takes place about 20-30 years be-
fore the game RR (or, RRR as the re-implement is called,
translators notes). The attentive player might appreciate comparing
the art on these cards to the cards/tiles in RR/RRR. (Due to game
mechanisms, the eye colours have changed for some cards.)
Thank you for trying out one of Kanai Factorys games. I am
constantly trying to bring out new interesting games, and I hope
that we will meet again.
* The art for this game is all rights reserved. Please do not use
without permission.
* This game is ctitious and has nothing to do with reality.
First printing 2011-6-12
Publisher: Kanai Factory, Seiji Kanai
Printing help: Manindo
Translation: Simon Lundstrm
Contact: kanaiseiji@gmail.com
http://kanai-factory.web.infoseek.co.jp(
Noboru Sugiuras website: http://red.zero.jp/box/
Variants
Some of the variants can be used in combination with others
B. Seven
Before the game, both players secrectly choose and simultaneously
reveal a card. These cards are not used during this game.
C. Three card
The 8 starting cards are shufed to form a deck. Each player draws
3 cards as his hand and chooses one of these three. As soon as a
card is played, a new is drawn.
D. Alternative
Like three cards but with a hand of 2 cards.
E. Traitor
Before the game, both players secretly choose and simultaneously
reveal a card. The revealed cards swap owners.
F. Impatience
The game is played to 3 victories instead of 4.
G. Numbers
All special powers are ignored.
H. Numbers: Jester/Minister
All special powers except the Jesters and/or the Ministers are
ignored.
I. Draft
Shufe all the 16 cards. One player draws 4, chooses one to keep
and gives the rest to the other player who chooses one to keep and
gives back and so on. Then the other player draws 4 new cards,
chooses one to keep and so on until all cards are dealt. Please note
that the Princesses only affect the Prince of the opposite colour.
J. Loser
The player who loses the game wins.
K. Random deal
Shufe the 16 cards and deal 8 to each player.
L. Prophecy
Both players place all 8 cards face down before them in the order
they choose. They are revealed one at a time. When the Spy is
revealed, the player who revealed the spy may, after seeing the
opponents card for the next round, re-arrange his remaining cards
without looking.
M. Fortune
Both players shufe their eight cards and simply draw the top
card for each round (a game of pure luck). If the Spy is drawn,
the player with the spy may, after seeing the opponents next card,
reshufe his remaining cards (a gesture of meaninglessness).
N. Last chance
As soon as one player has reached 3 victories (just one remains),
his opponent may pick up one of his cards from a round he lost, and
return to his hand. Or, he may be allowed to even pick up a winning
card from his hand (the victory still counts as a victory).
O. Balance
If you have more victories than your opponent, you must reveal
your card before he chooses his. This is cancelled if you gain the
effect of the Spy.
P. Princess attack
Before the game, one player exchanges his Princess for the
opponents Prince. Meaning, one player starts with both Princes,
the other with both Princesses.
Q. Till dawn
Play until both players have used all cards, and count the number
of victories. Either declare the most victories as the winner, or play
until a predetermined number of victories. The Princess against the
Prince counts as 4 victories in this case.
R. True King
Play 3 times, the rst to 2 games wins. The loser of the previous
game chooses which variant to use for the next.
The following variants are completely different games. But still.
S. Assassins Target (25 players)
Shufe all 16 cards to form a deck. Decide starting player, and take
turns drawing a card. If a player draws the Assassin, hes out of the
game. When the deck runs out, reshufe and continue. Play until
only one player remains.
T. Princess Lover (25 players)
Like Assassins Target, but the rst player to draw one of the Prin-
cesses wins.
U. Seeker (25 players)
Shufe the 16 cards and place them face down in either a 4x4 grid
or hap-hazard. Decide starting player. Take turns revealing two
cards, one at a time. If the revealed cards are of the same type, the
turn player keeps them as points and may take another turn. If they
are of different types, they are turned face down again. The strength
of each gained pair is the points for that pair. The rst player to
reach 8 points is the winner, or the player with most points once all
cards are gone. If a player reveals a Prince and a Princess of dif-
fering colours, that player immediately wins. As a variation of this,
you may play that the revealed cards are not revealed to all, but
only the turn player.
V. Telepathy (2 or more pairs of players)
Both players in a pair take the 8 cards and places them in any order
face down. Reveal one at a time. Each time the revealed card is the
same as the team mates, the pair gains 1 point. The pair with the
most points wins.
W. Triangle (24 players, betting game)
Shufe the 16 cards and place them face down to form a deck.
Each player draws 3 cards and may then discard any number of
cards (on 3 players, up to 2 cards, on 4 players only 1 card) and
then draw as amny new cards from the deck. The player with the
best hand wins. Hands are as follows, in descending order:
* 2 Princes, 1 Princess or 2 Princesses, 1 Prince
* Prince/Princess of different colours
* Prince/Princess of same colour
* Straight (f.ex. 2,3,4) (the higher the strength, the better).
* Pair (the higher the strength, the better).
* Null (none of the above)
In case of a tie, the combined strength of the remaining cards in
hand is the tie breaker.
X. Pair Attack (28 players, betting game)
Shufe all 16 cards and deal 2 to each player. The strength of the
pair is decided as follows: 71 > 77~70 > 66~60 > 55~50 etc. All
players place both their cards face down, and their hands on the
cards. On a call of one-two-three all players who want to fold
remove their hands from their cards. The winner is the player with
the best pair of the players who did not fold.
Y. Princess card (25 players)
Remove one of the princesses, shufe the deck and deal all cards
to all players. All players discard any pairs they have in their
hands. Decide starting player who picks a card at random from the
player to his right (if he doesnt have any card, the next player to
his right). If he got a pair, its discarded. Regardless of which, turn
goes to the player on his left. When only the princess is left in the
game, the player who holds that card wins.
Z. Serious card (2 players, betting game)
One player takes Prince, General, Magician and Minister, the other
player takes Assassin, Spy, Jester and Princess. Play like the normal
game but until the Prince or Princess wins a round, at which point
the game immediately ends. Any other victories are not counted.
A Prince victory is 1 point, a Princess victory is 4 points. Play 4
games switching places (each player gets 2 Prince games and 2
Princess games), and the player with the most points wins.
If you come up with a variant, Id love to hear it.
All playable variants will be published on my website.