Kingdomino

How do you win?

Create the highest-scoring kingdom, as determined by the number of crowns and type of terrain in your domain.

How do you play?

Each player has a king and a castle of their colour. The aim is to build their kingdom using terrain tiles, which range from lush forests to deep oceans, and even include sticky swamplands! These terrain tiles are split into two halves, just like dominoes.

At the beginning of the game, two columns of terrain tiles are dealt, with each column containing tiles equal to the number of kings in play. On the back of each terrain tile is a number; the higher the number, the more valuable the tile is likely to be in terms of scoring. The lowest numbers are always placed at the top of the column and the highest at the bottom. For the first turn, the kings are placed randomly on the first column of terrain tiles, as below:

Play starts with whichever king is at the top of the column. This player adds the tile their king is on to their kingdom, then chooses a tile they like the look of from the new column by placing their king on that tile.

Play continues clockwise and once the last king is placed, then a new column of terrain tiles is dealt adjacent to the existing column. This process continues, with players choosing their next tile and building up their kingdom, until all tiles have been dealt.

Kingdom bureaucracy dictates that a claimed tile must connect with at least one terrain tile of the same type (again, think dominoes!), or with the castle tile. Your kingdom must also be built within a 5×5 grid – so you wouldn’t be able to create a long and thin empire – although your castle doesn’t have to be at the centre of this 5×5 grid.

If you aren’t able to place a terrain tile, either because it would extend beyond your 5×5 grid or because your kingdom doesn’t have a matching tile, then it is discarded.

In order to score your completed kingdom, count the number of terrain tiles grouped together and multiply this by the number of crowns within the same area. Taking a look at the cover image above, the kingdom would be scored as below for a total of 29 points.

Why play it?

The highest scores will come from players who collect large areas of one type of terrain with enough crowns to score well, or those who go for the less common but ‘crown rich’ swampland and mine tiles. Of course, other players will be keen to stop you collecting quite so many crowns within your kingdom!

It’s important to note that whichever king starts the round at the top of a column has first choice of tiles in the next column. This means you may want to pick one of the less valuable tiles in order to be in pole position next time around. Conversely, if you pick a valuable tile at the lower end of a column, then you won’t be left with much choice during the next turn! As well as balancing the game, this mechanic keeps you interested and mixes things up round by round, avoiding that feeling of ‘waiting for your turn.’

A few optional rules add a little extra to the game, including the chance to bag bonus points if you keep your castle at the centre of your grid, or if you manage not to discard any tiles.

Kingdomino is also an excellent game for two players – there are no awkward ‘two-player variant’ rules, which can sometimes make a two-player version feel like an afterthought. In fact, with only two players, the game can get more intense since you each get two kings to place and collect two tiles per turn, which can require more foresight and strategy than a larger game.

Verdict?

A great game for your shelf that is easy to set up, Kingdomino is the perfect choice if you’re looking to play a few quick rounds of something. Super replayable and nicely balanced, an excellent choice for two players or more.