My first encounter with Valeria: Card Kingdoms at SaltCon 2017 was an absolute blast, leaving me longing for extra.
It jogged my memory a whole lot of Machi Koro, however I appreciated Valeria’s fantasy theme significantly better. Plus, I cherished that everybody positive factors sources on anyone’s flip, not simply on their very own flip.
I added the sport to my want listing quickly after, however simply by no means pulled the set off on shopping for a replica. That’s, till two years in the past when Every day Magic Video games printed an up to date model!
The brand new version not solely had upgraded parts and streamlined play, nevertheless it was additionally less expensive!
I’ve since launched the sport to many buddies, and everybody has had a good time enjoying.
The dominion of Valeria is underneath assault from legions of monsters and your function is to recruit residents, defend the dominion, and broaden your area to rule the realm.
Valeria: Card Kingdoms is a dice-rolling, resource-gathering, card-collecting sport. The purpose within the sport is to realize essentially the most victory factors via your adept affect.
Arrange
To start, 5 Monster varieties are chosen and people monster decks are positioned on the desk with the weakest on prime. The Area playing cards are shuffled and positioned with 2 face down playing cards and 1 face up card in every of 5 piles.
The Citizen playing cards are then positioned in stacks in accordance with their worth. Most Citizen values have two choices to select from. So gamers can decide which sort they need in that sport. For instance, gamers can select both the Service provider or the Blacksmith for the #2 worth card.
Gamers start with 3 Citizen playing cards. They get a Peasant (#5), a Knight (#6), and a Herald.
Every participant randomly attracts 2 Duke playing cards and selects one to maintain for the sport. The Dukes will grant factors on the finish of the sport in numerous methods.
Gamers additionally get a board to trace their Gold (yellow), Energy (pink), Magic (blue), and Factors (purple).
Taking part in
The energetic participant’s flip consists of three phases.
- Roll: The energetic participant rolls each cube. The worth of every die in addition to the mixed worth decide which Residents activate.
- Harvest: All gamers acquire sources in accordance with the activated Residents they’ve. The energetic participant collects the objects proven on the backside left of the Citizen card. All different gamers will acquire the objects proven on the underside proper aspect of their playing cards. Every copy of a Citizen card will activate. So if a participant has 3 Knights (#6) and a 6 is rolled, they may get 3 of that profit. When gathering sources, gamers will merely transfer their matching token up that many areas on their board.
- Motion: The energetic participant then takes 2 actions. They might, Slay a Monster, Recruit one other Citizen, Construct a Area, or Achieve a Useful resource.
To Slay a Monster, they spend Energy equal to the power of the Monster on the prime of one of many Monster piles. Then they acquire the Monster card and any advantages proven on the backside of the cardboard. The victory factors indicated on the backside of the Monster card can be tallied on the finish of the sport.
To Recruit a Citizen, the participant spends Gold equal to the price of the Citizen (proven on the cardboard). Some Residents have a “+” image subsequent to the associated fee. These price 1 further Gold for every of that very same kind the participant already has. The participant then takes the cardboard into their citizenry and can achieve sources for that quantity when it’s rolled sooner or later.
To Construct a Area, the participant should first have Residents with the matching Function icons on their playing cards. They pay the associated fee indicated on the Area card and take it. Some Domains give speedy advantages and a few grant ongoing talents. The following Area card in that stack is then revealed.
To Achieve a Useful resource, the participant merely strikes one in every of their sources (Gold, Energy, Magic) up one house.
When slaying a monster, recruiting a citizen, or constructing a website, gamers could use Magic as a wild useful resource. The participant should spend at the very least one of many required useful resource after which complement with magic. For instance, if the Monster takes 6 power to beat, the participant could spend 1 power and 5 magic.
Recreation Finish
When a stack of playing cards (Monster, Citizen, or Area) runs out, gamers place an Exhausted card in that place. If the variety of Exhausted piles is the same as twice the variety of gamers on the finish of a participant’s flip, the sport ends. The sport will even finish if all Monsters have been slain or all Domains constructed.
When the tip sport is triggered, play continues till all gamers have taken an equal variety of turns.
Then gamers whole up their factors:
- Victory factors on slain Monsters.
- Victory factors on constructed Domains.
- Victory factors on a participant’s board.
- Victory factors from their Duke scoring.
The participant with essentially the most factors wins.
Variants
Valeria: Card Kingdoms might be performed with a number of variants as properly.
- Monster Occasion: Monster Occasion playing cards are added to the sport by including a number of to the Exhausted card stack. When a pile is exhausted, a Monster Occasion card could fill that house. These playing cards have numbers on them that may activate when the cube of that quantity is rolled. Gamers also can slay them as one in every of their actions like every other monster.
- Blended Residents: Somewhat than selecting between which Citizen of every worth so as to add to the sport, gamers shuffle each choices collectively and place 4 face down and 1 face up on the Citizen stack. That means, after the highest Citizen is bought, it’s a shock which sort of Citizen of that worth can be up subsequent.
- No Duke: Somewhat than hand out Duke playing cards are the beginning of the sport, gamers merely rating set quantities for every function kind on their Citizen playing cards and 1 victory level for each 3 remaining sources on the finish of the sport.
- Solo: On this mode, a single participant performs in opposition to a digital participant. In the course of the roll section, the worth on every die additionally actives a Monster stack (within the corresponding place). When a Monster is activated, the participant removes a card from one of many 2 Citizen stacks in that Monster’s column. The sport ends when the participant has both slain all of the monsters, if a monster assaults and there are not any Citizen or Area playing cards left in that column, or any 5 card stacks are exhausted. The participant then totals their rating and compares in opposition to the digital participant.
Can the entire household take pleasure in Valeria: Card Kingdoms?
Valeria: Card Kingdoms is certainly a sport households can take pleasure in enjoying collectively – supplied your children are sufficiently old to acknowledge numbers and to not be frightened by the artwork on the monster playing cards.
There are a selection of causes we love enjoying Valeria: Card Kingdoms.
For starters, the sport play and circulation is tremendous easy. Roll the cube, acquire the sources based mostly in your Residents that match the numbers on the cube, then achieve a few playing cards (monster, citizen, or area). The catch is simply selecting which Residents to recruit – as a result of that may drive most of your success in gaining extra sources.
And talking of sources, it’s so enjoyable to realize sources on everybody else’s flip!!
That straightforward sport ingredient is sweet in a few methods. First, it drops the downtime between turns to nearly zero since you actually care about what the opposite gamers roll. So that you’re not simply sitting again ready. As a substitute, you cheer when somebody rolls a quantity you hoped for. And second, by the point it does come again round to your flip, you’ve a bunch extra sources to take your actions with.
Plus, as the sport strikes alongside and we get extra Residents, we really feel richer and richer.
We additionally love the alternatives all through the sport. When do you achieve extra Residents and when to you go after Monsters? And which Residents do you have to purchase? Or do you seize a Area with particular talents earlier than one in every of your opponents does?
Oh, and don’t overlook the alternatives in sport arrange as properly. This consists of selecting which Residents to have in play in addition to which Monster varieties to combat. There are 8 Monster varieties within the sport, however solely 5 are in play throughout a sport. Which implies there’s loads of replay worth within the sport as properly.
Whereas there’s nothing inherent within the sport play tied to the sport theme, it’s nonetheless a theme we take pleasure in.
We additionally actually just like the chunky cube included within the sport. They’re larger than customary D6 cube and are simply enjoyable to deal with. They’re comparable in dimension to the cube in King of Tokyo.
2nd Version
I’m so blissful Every day Magic Video games printed a 2nd version of Valeria: Card Kingdoms.
Maybe the most important shock to me was that it was less expensive than the unique!
I used to be capable of purchase a brand new copy of the sport for $25. Whereas, once I first put the sport on my want listing, the one video games I might discover to purchase had been round $50. That’s why I held off. Then once I noticed a brand new model come out on the cheaper price, I instantly jumped on it.
However that’s not all. Every day Magic Video games additionally improved upon the sport.
Essentially the most noticeable change was the addition of participant boards for monitoring sources. Within the authentic, there have been a ton of picket markers for each useful resource. So if you’d achieve 6 Gold, you’d need to seize 6 items of gold from the middle. And do the identical in reverse when paying for one thing.
Now, gamers merely slide 1 picket token up and down on their board. And for every increment of 10, the participant merely provides a “10” token to the tip of their board to indicate they’re rounding their monitor once more.
Not solely is that this simpler for gamers and far faster to course of, nevertheless it additionally means much less parts are wanted for publishing – which ends up in a inexpensive sport!
The sport field can also be smaller with a plastic insert and card dividers that retains the whole lot tremendous organized.
The Monster Occasion playing cards are additionally a brand new ingredient added to the sport within the 2nd version.
How does Valeria: Card Kingdoms rating on our “Let’s Play Once more” sport meter?
Valeria: Card Kingdoms scores very excessive on our “Let’s Play Once more” sport meter.
That’s primarily as a result of it’s a enjoyable dice-rolling sport the place the playing cards you achieve allow you to get extra goodies on future turns. And never simply by yourself flip!
The sport play additionally flows rapidly. So video games don’t really feel too lengthy. Which in flip makes it straightforward to arrange and play once more.
For those who couldn’t guess, we undoubtedly suggest choosing up a replica of Valeria: Card Kingdoms 2nd version for your loved ones.
As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com hyperlinks.
My first encounter with Valeria: Card Kingdoms at SaltCon 2017 was an absolute blast, leaving me longing for extra.
It jogged my memory a whole lot of Machi Koro, however I appreciated Valeria’s fantasy theme significantly better. Plus, I cherished that everybody positive factors sources on anyone’s flip, not simply on their very own flip.
I added the sport to my want listing quickly after, however simply by no means pulled the set off on shopping for a replica. That’s, till two years in the past when Every day Magic Video games printed an up to date model!
The brand new version not solely had upgraded parts and streamlined play, nevertheless it was additionally less expensive!
I’ve since launched the sport to many buddies, and everybody has had a good time enjoying.
The dominion of Valeria is underneath assault from legions of monsters and your function is to recruit residents, defend the dominion, and broaden your area to rule the realm.
Valeria: Card Kingdoms is a dice-rolling, resource-gathering, card-collecting sport. The purpose within the sport is to realize essentially the most victory factors via your adept affect.
Arrange
To start, 5 Monster varieties are chosen and people monster decks are positioned on the desk with the weakest on prime. The Area playing cards are shuffled and positioned with 2 face down playing cards and 1 face up card in every of 5 piles.
The Citizen playing cards are then positioned in stacks in accordance with their worth. Most Citizen values have two choices to select from. So gamers can decide which sort they need in that sport. For instance, gamers can select both the Service provider or the Blacksmith for the #2 worth card.
Gamers start with 3 Citizen playing cards. They get a Peasant (#5), a Knight (#6), and a Herald.
Every participant randomly attracts 2 Duke playing cards and selects one to maintain for the sport. The Dukes will grant factors on the finish of the sport in numerous methods.
Gamers additionally get a board to trace their Gold (yellow), Energy (pink), Magic (blue), and Factors (purple).
Taking part in
The energetic participant’s flip consists of three phases.
- Roll: The energetic participant rolls each cube. The worth of every die in addition to the mixed worth decide which Residents activate.
- Harvest: All gamers acquire sources in accordance with the activated Residents they’ve. The energetic participant collects the objects proven on the backside left of the Citizen card. All different gamers will acquire the objects proven on the underside proper aspect of their playing cards. Every copy of a Citizen card will activate. So if a participant has 3 Knights (#6) and a 6 is rolled, they may get 3 of that profit. When gathering sources, gamers will merely transfer their matching token up that many areas on their board.
- Motion: The energetic participant then takes 2 actions. They might, Slay a Monster, Recruit one other Citizen, Construct a Area, or Achieve a Useful resource.
To Slay a Monster, they spend Energy equal to the power of the Monster on the prime of one of many Monster piles. Then they acquire the Monster card and any advantages proven on the backside of the cardboard. The victory factors indicated on the backside of the Monster card can be tallied on the finish of the sport.
To Recruit a Citizen, the participant spends Gold equal to the price of the Citizen (proven on the cardboard). Some Residents have a “+” image subsequent to the associated fee. These price 1 further Gold for every of that very same kind the participant already has. The participant then takes the cardboard into their citizenry and can achieve sources for that quantity when it’s rolled sooner or later.
To Construct a Area, the participant should first have Residents with the matching Function icons on their playing cards. They pay the associated fee indicated on the Area card and take it. Some Domains give speedy advantages and a few grant ongoing talents. The following Area card in that stack is then revealed.
To Achieve a Useful resource, the participant merely strikes one in every of their sources (Gold, Energy, Magic) up one house.
When slaying a monster, recruiting a citizen, or constructing a website, gamers could use Magic as a wild useful resource. The participant should spend at the very least one of many required useful resource after which complement with magic. For instance, if the Monster takes 6 power to beat, the participant could spend 1 power and 5 magic.
Recreation Finish
When a stack of playing cards (Monster, Citizen, or Area) runs out, gamers place an Exhausted card in that place. If the variety of Exhausted piles is the same as twice the variety of gamers on the finish of a participant’s flip, the sport ends. The sport will even finish if all Monsters have been slain or all Domains constructed.
When the tip sport is triggered, play continues till all gamers have taken an equal variety of turns.
Then gamers whole up their factors:
- Victory factors on slain Monsters.
- Victory factors on constructed Domains.
- Victory factors on a participant’s board.
- Victory factors from their Duke scoring.
The participant with essentially the most factors wins.
Variants
Valeria: Card Kingdoms might be performed with a number of variants as properly.
- Monster Occasion: Monster Occasion playing cards are added to the sport by including a number of to the Exhausted card stack. When a pile is exhausted, a Monster Occasion card could fill that house. These playing cards have numbers on them that may activate when the cube of that quantity is rolled. Gamers also can slay them as one in every of their actions like every other monster.
- Blended Residents: Somewhat than selecting between which Citizen of every worth so as to add to the sport, gamers shuffle each choices collectively and place 4 face down and 1 face up on the Citizen stack. That means, after the highest Citizen is bought, it’s a shock which sort of Citizen of that worth can be up subsequent.
- No Duke: Somewhat than hand out Duke playing cards are the beginning of the sport, gamers merely rating set quantities for every function kind on their Citizen playing cards and 1 victory level for each 3 remaining sources on the finish of the sport.
- Solo: On this mode, a single participant performs in opposition to a digital participant. In the course of the roll section, the worth on every die additionally actives a Monster stack (within the corresponding place). When a Monster is activated, the participant removes a card from one of many 2 Citizen stacks in that Monster’s column. The sport ends when the participant has both slain all of the monsters, if a monster assaults and there are not any Citizen or Area playing cards left in that column, or any 5 card stacks are exhausted. The participant then totals their rating and compares in opposition to the digital participant.
Can the entire household take pleasure in Valeria: Card Kingdoms?
Valeria: Card Kingdoms is certainly a sport households can take pleasure in enjoying collectively – supplied your children are sufficiently old to acknowledge numbers and to not be frightened by the artwork on the monster playing cards.
There are a selection of causes we love enjoying Valeria: Card Kingdoms.
For starters, the sport play and circulation is tremendous easy. Roll the cube, acquire the sources based mostly in your Residents that match the numbers on the cube, then achieve a few playing cards (monster, citizen, or area). The catch is simply selecting which Residents to recruit – as a result of that may drive most of your success in gaining extra sources.
And talking of sources, it’s so enjoyable to realize sources on everybody else’s flip!!
That straightforward sport ingredient is sweet in a few methods. First, it drops the downtime between turns to nearly zero since you actually care about what the opposite gamers roll. So that you’re not simply sitting again ready. As a substitute, you cheer when somebody rolls a quantity you hoped for. And second, by the point it does come again round to your flip, you’ve a bunch extra sources to take your actions with.
Plus, as the sport strikes alongside and we get extra Residents, we really feel richer and richer.
We additionally love the alternatives all through the sport. When do you achieve extra Residents and when to you go after Monsters? And which Residents do you have to purchase? Or do you seize a Area with particular talents earlier than one in every of your opponents does?
Oh, and don’t overlook the alternatives in sport arrange as properly. This consists of selecting which Residents to have in play in addition to which Monster varieties to combat. There are 8 Monster varieties within the sport, however solely 5 are in play throughout a sport. Which implies there’s loads of replay worth within the sport as properly.
Whereas there’s nothing inherent within the sport play tied to the sport theme, it’s nonetheless a theme we take pleasure in.
We additionally actually just like the chunky cube included within the sport. They’re larger than customary D6 cube and are simply enjoyable to deal with. They’re comparable in dimension to the cube in King of Tokyo.
2nd Version
I’m so blissful Every day Magic Video games printed a 2nd version of Valeria: Card Kingdoms.
Maybe the most important shock to me was that it was less expensive than the unique!
I used to be capable of purchase a brand new copy of the sport for $25. Whereas, once I first put the sport on my want listing, the one video games I might discover to purchase had been round $50. That’s why I held off. Then once I noticed a brand new model come out on the cheaper price, I instantly jumped on it.
However that’s not all. Every day Magic Video games additionally improved upon the sport.
Essentially the most noticeable change was the addition of participant boards for monitoring sources. Within the authentic, there have been a ton of picket markers for each useful resource. So if you’d achieve 6 Gold, you’d need to seize 6 items of gold from the middle. And do the identical in reverse when paying for one thing.
Now, gamers merely slide 1 picket token up and down on their board. And for every increment of 10, the participant merely provides a “10” token to the tip of their board to indicate they’re rounding their monitor once more.
Not solely is that this simpler for gamers and far faster to course of, nevertheless it additionally means much less parts are wanted for publishing – which ends up in a inexpensive sport!
The sport field can also be smaller with a plastic insert and card dividers that retains the whole lot tremendous organized.
The Monster Occasion playing cards are additionally a brand new ingredient added to the sport within the 2nd version.
How does Valeria: Card Kingdoms rating on our “Let’s Play Once more” sport meter?
Valeria: Card Kingdoms scores very excessive on our “Let’s Play Once more” sport meter.
That’s primarily as a result of it’s a enjoyable dice-rolling sport the place the playing cards you achieve allow you to get extra goodies on future turns. And never simply by yourself flip!
The sport play additionally flows rapidly. So video games don’t really feel too lengthy. Which in flip makes it straightforward to arrange and play once more.
For those who couldn’t guess, we undoubtedly suggest choosing up a replica of Valeria: Card Kingdoms 2nd version for your loved ones.
As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com hyperlinks.