Game Design By Gimo Barrera

NgbDesigns

Introduction

In a realm much like our own, Kings search for undiscovered territory to expand their kingdom. News has spread of new

land found far across the mountains, and Kings now rush to claim it as their own and vanquish others along the way.

Vanquisher is a strategic kingdom building game. Players take turns constructing buildings, growing their armies, and

bribing officials in order to spread their influence on the unclaimed territory. It is up to the players to manage their

resources to help grow their kingdom, and stop others from growing theirs.

Components

80 Red Construction Cubes 9 Red Farmer Tokens

80 Green Construction Cubes 9 Green Farmer Tokens

80 Blue Construction Cubes 9 Blue Farmer Tokens

80 White Construction Cubes 9 White Farmer Tokens

16 Red Army Tokens

16 Green Army Tokens 1 Year Tracker Dice

16 Blue Army Tokens

16 White Army Tokens

4 City Halls 64 Basic Blueprints Cards 90 Auction Blueprint Cards

45 Bribery Cards 1 Game Board

20 One Coin Tokens

16 Five Coin Tokens

12 Ten Coin Tokens

20 One Lumber Tokens 20 One Stone Tokens 20 One Metal Tokens

12 Five Lumber Tokens 12 Five Stone Tokens 12 Five Metal Tokens

Setup

Place Game Board at

center of gaming area

Place 2 per player of each of

the Basic Blueprints face-up

in the appropriate location on

the Game Board

Shuffle the Bribery Cards,

and put them face-down

somewhere accessible to

all players. This is the

Bribery Card Deck.

Shuffle the Auction Blueprint

Cards, and put them face-

down somewhere accessible

to all players. This is the

Auction Blueprint Deck.

Reveal the top 8 cards of

the Auction Blueprint

Deck, and put them face-

up next to each other.

Place the Gold, Lumber,

Stone, and Metal tokens

somewhere accessible to all

players. This is called the

Trade Depot.

Each player takes 6 Gold, 3 Lumber, 2

Stone, and 1 Metal from the Trade Depot.

The Player places this next to his playing

area, this is the Players Reserve.

Additionally each player

starts the game with 9 Farmer

Tokens, 75 Construction

Cubes, and 16 Army Tokens

in their reserve.

Place the Year Tracker

Die on the Board with

the top face on 12.

Each player starts the game

with a City Hall, and places

it face-up in front on them.

This is the Players Desk.

The Player also creates the

shape of the City Hall on a

corner of the Grid.

1

2

3

4

5 6 7

8

9

10

For 2-3 player setup, see the Additional Setup Rules section.

Players Playing Area

1. Round Break Down 1.1. A Round ends when each player has taken a Turn. Thus on a 4 player game, a round ends when all 4 players

have taken a turn. First player is chosen at random.

1.2. At the end of each round, the Year Tracker Die is decreased by 1. Once the Year Tracked Die needs to be decreased to less than 1 the game ends.

2. Turn Breakdown 2.1. A single players turn consists of 5 phases: Trade Phase, Action Phase, Construction Phase, Collect Phase, and

Trade Phase.

2.1.1. Trade Phase: 2.1.1.1. This phase appears twice in a turn, at the beginning and end of the turn. 2.1.1.2. During this phase a player can sell resources to the Trade Depot for the selling price (Table 1). The

players takes the Gold from the Trade Depot. Notice that a certain quantity needs to be met when

selling the resources. Example: If a player has 7 Lumber, he can only sell 4 of those, since the Trade

Depot only buys Lumber sets of 4 at a time.

2.1.1.3. Players can also buy resources from the Trade Depot. See Table 1 for pricing. The player places the payment in the Trade Depot Gold Pile.

2.1.1.4. Players can also buy resources from other players. To do so, the purchaser pays the player the appropriate amount (see Table 1), the player (seller) must be able to produce the resource through one

of his buildings. The purchaser grabs the resource from the Trade Depot not from the players Reserve. A player cannot refuse to sell a resource.

Table 1: Resource Buying and Selling Prices

Resource Cost to Purchase

From Trade Depot

Cost to Purchase

From Other Player

Selling Price

Lumber 3 Gold [G] 1 Gold 4 Lumber for 1 Gold

Stone 4 Gold 2 Gold 3 Stone for 1 Gold

Metal 5 Gold 3 Gold 2 Metal for 1 Gold

DESK: This is where the

player places his

Constructed Blueprints

(face-up), Permanent

Bribery Cards (face-up),

and Ready Army Tokens.

RESERVE: This is

where the player

places his Gold,

Lumber, Stone,

Metal, Inactive

Farmer Tokens, and

Inactive Army

Tokens.

SHELF: This is where the

player places his drawn

Bribery Cards (hidden from

other players).

DRAWER: This is where

the player places his picked

up Blueprints (face-down).

2.1.2. Action Phase: 2.1.2.1. A player starts with 2 Actions per turn (this is from the City Hall). A player may obtain more Actions

through Bribery Cards and certain Buildings.

2.1.2.2. A player may use an Action to do any of the following: 2.1.2.2.1. Draw a Bribery Card from the Bribery Card Deck. The player takes his Bribery Card and puts

it in his Shelf. He does not have to reveal the Bribery Cards in his Shelf. A player can only have

up to 4 Bribery Cards at the end of his Collect Phase, but is allowed to have more than 4 during

his turn.

2.1.2.2.2. Pick up a face up Blueprint. The player takes the Blueprint and puts it in his Drawer. There is no limit to how many Blueprints a player can have in his Drawer. This Blueprints are placed face

down, and the player does not have to reveal them until he constructs them.

2.1.2.2.3. Draw a Blueprint from the Auction Blueprint deck. The player picks up 4 Blueprints from the Auction Blueprint Deck and chooses 1, and places it on his Drawer. The remainder are placed on

the bottom of the Auction Blueprint Deck in any order.

2.1.2.2.4. Play a Bribery Card from his Shelf. A player must pay the cost of the Bribery Card first. Once played, the Bribery Card is discarded into the discard pile, unless it is a Permanent Bribery Card,

in which case is remain on the players Desk. 2.1.2.2.5. Move Army. A player may move any number of his Ready or Active Army Tokens to any free

space on the board grid, or on top of one of his own Army Tokens on the grid board.

2.1.2.2.6. Fight Army. a player may destroy one of his Active or Ready Army Tokens to destroy another players Active Army Token. This can be done any number of times with one action, but all have to be done at the same time. Destroyed Army Tokens are returned to the players reserve.

2.1.3. Construction Phase: 2.1.3.1. During this phase a player may purchase a face-up Blueprint and Construct it. He then places the

purchased Blueprint on his Desk. To purchase a Blueprint a player simply pays the cost of the

blueprint (gold and resources) to the Trade Depot, and Constructs the shape on the grid adjacent to

another one of his Buildings. A player can also build Blueprints from his Drawer by paying the cost of

the Blueprint.

2.1.3.2. Figure 1 shows how adjacency works. Notice that a player can only connect buildings through corners. A single players buildings cannot touch the side of other buildings of the same color. This means that your building is allowed to touch other players sides of Buildings, Figure 2.

Figure 1: Adjacent Buildings

Figure 2: Example of Legal Moves

2.1.3.3. When a Player Buys or Picks up an Auction Blueprint from the 8 Face-Up Auction Blueprints, that player immediately replaces it with a new one from the top of the Auction Blueprints Deck.

2.1.3.4. A player can only construct as many Blueprints as he has Constructions (at beginning of the game this is 1, which comes from the City Hall).

2.1.4. Collect Phase: 2.1.4.1. During the Collect Phase players produce resources and gold from buildings that produce them. These

resources and gold are taken from the Trade Depot. Example: the City Hall produces 1 Gold during

every one of that Players Collect Phase. Only cards with a + Symbol on the first line of the effect produce during the collect phase, unless otherwise specified in the effect. Example: When constructing

a Greenhouse, the player must wait until his collect phase (and every other collect phase from here

until the end of the game) to gain the +2 Lumber. He can use the other effect immediately once the

blueprint is constructed.

2.1.4.1.1. If resources are exhausted on the Trade Depot then the player only produces what is available in the Trade Depot.

2.1.4.1.2. The Gold Pile is considered a never ending supply. In the case the gold pile runs out players can improvise to keep track of their gold.

2.1.4.2. A player also produces Army Tokens during this phase. 2.1.4.2.1. To do so, a player takes an Army Token from his reserve and places it in his desk, usually on

top of a Blueprint with Army Capacity to keep track of their Tokens.

2.1.4.2.2. Newly produced Army Tokens are placed on top of blueprints with Army Capacity. A player cannot have more Army Tokens on the board and blueprints than he has Army Capacity.

Example: If a player has a City Hall (Army Capacity of 1) and an Army Camp (Army Capacity

of 4), that player can only have 5 Army Tokens on the board grid and on his Desk. Any Army

Token produced after Army Capacity is reached, it is not produced. Additionally if the

player has exhausted their Army Tokens in their Reserve he does not produce more Army

Tokens. 2.1.4.3. At the end on the Collect Phase the active player discards Bribery Cards into the discard pile until he

has 4 Bribery Cards left on his Shelf. Note: A Player can draw to more than 4 Bribery Cards during his

Action Phase.

2.1.5. Trade Phase: 2.1.5.1. This Phase is a replica of the Trade Phase at the beginning of the Turn.

2.2. A Player may opt to not do anything during any single one or all of the phases.

3. Game End 3.1. Game End Conditions

3.1.1. The game ends if a player has constructed 16 Blueprints. Once the 16th Blueprint is constructed the player is allowed to continue constructing blueprints. Once the player finishes his turn, the game will end at the end

of the Round. Example: If Player A is the first player, and B, C, and D follow accordingly; Player B had 15

buildings and constructed 2 more. The Game will end once Player C and D finish their next turn (so

everyone should have played the same number of turns by the end of the game).

3.1.2. If a player cannot construct any face-up Auction Blueprints during his Construction Phase due to lack of space. The game end condition is met, and the game ends at the end of the Round.

3.1.3. If the Year Tracker Token die reaches 1 Year, then players finish the 12th round and the game ends.

4. Scoring 4.1. Table 2 shows the methods in which players gain Kingdom Points (KP) throughout the game and at the end. The

player with the highest Kingdom Points by the end of the game wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most

Army Tokens wins.

Table 2: Kingdom Points

Type Amount Description

Religious

Buildings

As per Blueprint Players must build the Religious Blueprint in order to get the KP. The

amount of KP the building gives is specified in the Blueprints effect.

Territorial

Advantage

2KP per 3x3

Occupied Section

See Figure 3

Gold 1KP per 5G Each player gains 1KP per every 5 unused gold they own at the end of

the game.

Feats As per Feat See Table 3

Blueprints

in Drawer

-5KP per Blueprint

in Drawer

A player loses 5KP at the end of the game per Blueprint he has in his

Drawer.

4.2. Territorial advantage is measured from how many of your pieces are in the board per every 3x3 box times

2. Notice how in Figure 3 the green player buildings intersect 13 3x3 sections of the board map, thus he

gets 26 Kingdom Points from Territorial Advantage. The 3x3 Sections are Highlighted on the Board

Grid.

Figure 3: Territorial Advantage

4.3. At the end of the game Feats are given out to whichever player met the condition of the Feat. If there is a tie for meeting the condition of the Feat, the players split the KP rounded down. Table 3 describes all

the Feats available.

Table 3: List of Feats

Name Condition

Knight If you control the most Army Tokens, you gain 1KP for every two Army Tokens you control.

Apprentice If you control the most Permanent Bribery Cards, you gain 1KP at the end of the

game for each Permanent Bribery Card you control.

Vanquisher If you control the most Territory (territorial advantage) gain an additional 7 KP.

5. Additional Action Phase Rules

5.1. Bribery Cards

5.1.1. A discard pile for Bribery Cards Section is assigned at the start of the game, somewhere accessible to all players. This is where the discarded Bribery cards are placed. Bribery Cards in the

discard pile are face-up and all players can look through them.

5.1.2. Bribery Cards require Actions to be played. Like Blueprints they have types associated to their effects, see Table 4. Bribery Cards are either Temporary or Permanent. Temporary Bribery Cards

are discarded right after they are played, while Permanent Bribery Cards remain face-up on the

players desk (Permanent Bribery Cards usually have an ongoing effect. If a Permanent Bribery Card is discarded from the Desk, the ongoing effect is stopped.

5.1.3. A player can have a maximum of 4 Bribery Cards in his Shelf at the end of the Collect Phase. If a player has more than 4 cards at the end of the Collect Phase the player must discard cards until he

has 4 Bribery Cards in his Shelf.

5.1.4. Some Bribery Cards have a cost (needed to bribe the individual in the card) that must be paid before the player plays it. A player cannot play a Bribery Card if he is incapable of paying the cost.

5.1.4.1. Some Bribery Cards have an alternative Threatening Cost (Some individuals in the cards can be threaten by your Army Tokens), this is done by destroying the shown number of your

Active or Ready Army Tokens in the Bribery Card. Doing this means the Player does not

need to pay the Cost of Gold and Resources of the Bribery Card.

Table 4: Types of Cards

Types of Cards

Resource Focuses on getting resources (L, S, M)

Currency Focuses on getting gold (G)

Educational Focuses on Bribery Cards and Actions

Religious Focuses on Kingdom Points

Military Focuses on Army

Kingdom Focuses on Improving Kingdom and Buildings

5.1.5. In the case that the Bribery Deck runs out of cards shuffle the discard pile and make it into a new deck. 5.1.6. Alternative Costs: Action cards with red resource symbols indicate that the player can pay either of the

resources, plus the required gold. Example: If a card has a (3) red lumber (2) red stone and (1) red metal, it

means the player can pay either 3 lumber, 3 stone, or 3 stone, not all 3 resources. If the Bribery card has (1)

Gold (2) red lumber (1) stone (1) red metal, the player can either pay 1 Gold 2 Lumber 1 Stone or 1 Gold 1

Stone 1 Metal.

5.1.6.1. This concept also applies to Blueprints. 5.1.7. Threatening Cost: Some Bribery Cards have an alternative threatening cost. This is represented by a number

next to the Army Token Symbol. The player has the option of paying the cost in Gold and Resources, or of

Destroying the required Ready or Active Army Tokens he controls.

5.2. Army Tokens

5.2.1. Army Tokens can be moved during each turn. Moving Army Tokens requires an Action. You may move as many Army Tokens as you wish per Action. An Army Token can only be moved to a

free space in the Board Grid. A player cannot construct a Building on an occupied Army spot, or

the spots directly to the sides of the Army Tokens, see Figure 4.

5.2.2. A player can move Army Tokens that are Ready and Active during his Move Step. 5.2.3. A Ready Army Token are those that are in Base (on the players desk). This occurs when they

are originally produced during the Collect Phase.

5.2.4. Active Army Tokens are Army Tokens in the Board Grid. These Army tokens can be moved to different locations on the board grid if the player chooses to use his Move Army action.

5.2.5. The typical order for an Army Token to become an Active Army Token goes as follows: 5.2.5.1. Example: Green Player Constructs an Army Camp. During his Collect Phase the Green

Player Produces 1 Army Token. The Army Token is then placed on top of the City Hall

Blueprint or the Army Camp Blueprint (since they both have Army Capacity), this token is

considered a Ready Army Tokens. During his next Action Phase, the player can use the Move Army Action and move a Ready Army Token to the Board Grid. This token is now

considered an Active Army Token.

5.2.6. A Player can also destroy an opponents Active Army Token by destroying one of his own Active or Ready Army Tokens. The player can do this multiple times, but all within 1 Action.

5.2.7. The amount of Army tokens a player can own is equal to or less than that players Army Capacity. Once the Army Capacity is reached the player cannot produce more Army Tokens.

5.2.8. A Destroyed Army Token goes back to that players reserve. 5.2.9. Players can stack Army Tokens on top of each other. These Army Tokens would block the same

area, but now an opponent needs 2 or more Army Tokens to remove them.

5.2.10. There is a maximum of 16 Army Tokens per player. If a player has an Army Capacity higher than 16, he only produces what he has in his reserve.

X

X

Army

Token X

X

Figure 4: Army Blockage

6. Additional Construction Phase Rules 6.1. A player can only construct as many buildings as he has constructions per turn. Notice how the City Hall gives a

player 1 Construction per turn, thus a player can only construct one Blueprint per turn. If the player was to buy a

Builders Hut, that player could now Construct 2 Blueprints per turn.

6.2. In order to construct a building a player must first pay the cost of the Blueprint. The grid in the Blueprint Card shows the shape of the building as its placed on the Board Map with that players Construction Cubes (one color per player). Once the Blueprint is constructed it is added to that players Desk.

6.2.1. A player can rotate the orientation of the shape of the Blueprint but cannot mirror it.

7. Tokens

7.1. Each player is given 16 Army Tokens and 9 Farmer Tokens at the beginning of the game. They put these tokens aside, this is considered their Reserve. When an effect allows you to obtain Farmer Tokens or Army Token the

player will take them out of his reserve.

7.2. If the reserved is exhausted than the player cannot obtain more Army Tokens, irrelevant of that players Army Capacity, the most Army Tokens a Player can control at a time on the Board is 16.

7.3. Certain cards require you to use Farmer Tokens. If your reserve is exhausted and an effect requires the use of Farmer Tokens, that effect doesnt apply to where the Farmer Token is missing.

7.4. The reserve is also where the players will place their gained gold or resources they gain.

8. 3 Player Variant 8.1. All rules remain the same for a 3 Player game with the exception of the setup. During a 3 Player game the middle

player (in the case of Figure 5 the green player) will always go first. Additionally a 9x9 corner of the grid is

blocked and cannot be utilize during the game.

Figure 5: 3 Player Setup

9. 2 Player Variant 9.1. For two players, first player is determined randomly, like a 4 player game. 9.2. For a two player game half of the board (9x18 Section) is blocked and no buildings can be constructed on it.

Additionally players must start at opposite ends from each other as shown in Figure 6.

9.3. All other rules remain the same.

Figure 6: 2 Player Setup

10. Full Adventure Mode Variant 10.1. In the full adventure mode, players do not keep track in the Year Tracker, instead players play until the other

conditions are met.

11. 2v2 Variant 11.1. For a 2v2 variant players choose teams, and assemble their City Halls on the middle of the Board Grid as shown

in Figure 7.

Figure 7: 2v2 Setup

11.2. In this case, the green player is partner with the red player, and the blue player is partner with the yellow player. 11.3. Partners take a turn at the same time (thus each round consist of two turns). The player still have individual

phases, thus a player may choose to do different Actions than the other player.

11.3.1. Partners do the phases simultaneously. Although the players take simultaneous turn, they do not share Gold, Resources, Shelf, Drawers, or Desks.

11.3.2. Partners can decide on timing of events. Example: If the Green want to play a Bribery Card that makes everyone discard their Shelf, he would let the Red player play his Bribery Cards beforehand.

11.3.3. Players can share information about their Shelf, Drawer, and strategies. 11.3.4. Each score is calculated separately (including Feats), then Partner scores are added together. The players

with the highest combined Kingdom Points win.

11.4. All other aspects of the game remain the same.