Royal Shuffle is a two player card game with players building and populating villages while manipulating those who reside in the royal court. The winner scoring the highest points when the monarchy's reign inevitably ends.
Setup:
| Royal Shuffle uses a standard deck of cards including 2 Jokers, for 54 cards in total. |
- Shuffle the deck and deal 4 cards to each player.
- Place the remaining cards within reach of everyone as the draw pile.
- Determine who goes first randomly.
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On your turn:
| 3 things must happen during your turn: |
- Flip a card from the draw pile & put it directly into play as if you just played it.
- Draw a card from the draw pile & add it to your hand.
- Play a card from your hand & add it to the Royal Court or to the Village.
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The Royal Court:
| There can be only one King & one Queen. This means when a new King or Queen is played, the previous monarch is discarded. There can be up to 4 Jacks, however, which means that they do not get discarded when another Jack is played. |
- Jokers represent the final moments before democracy sweeps the land and the monarch's reign ends.
When a Joker is played or flipped, both players count and compare their total scores immediately.
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- King = If the King matches the suit of any House, Adults, or Children then multiply the value of the matching village cards by 3. There can be only 1 King at a time.
- Queen = If the Queen matches the suit of any House, Adults, or Children then multiply the value of the matching village cards by 2. There can be only 1 Queen at a time.
- Jack = If a Jack matches the suit of any House, Adults, or Children then multiply the value of the matching village cards by 1.5. There can be any number of Jacks.
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Monarchy and Jokers are played to the Royal Court located in the centre of the players.
Note: When a Jack results in a fractional score, carry the decimal until the last mathematical function is performed on the score and then round down.
The Village:
Each player controls a village made up of the peasants and their dwellings. Peasants will find a home if one is available and will settle in the most beneficial ways. Therefore if a new House is built on your side, Adults will move in, upgrade from their Tent, take in Children, or move Children to Tents.
- Children are 2’s, 3’s, 4’s & 5's and count for 2 points each.
- Adults are 6’s, 7's & 8’s and count for 3 points each.
- Tents are 9's & 10’s and count for 0 points.
- Houses are Aces and count for 1 point each.
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An adult is allowed to care for one set of children equalling up to that adult’s value, but they need a dwelling in order to do so. Ex: A 6 living in a house or tent can care for three 2’s, or a 4 and a 2, but not a 4 and a 3.
- Up to two adults and any number of allowed children can live in a house.
- Up to one adult and any number of allowed children can live in a tent.
- Up to two children alone in a tent are out of the way and are therefore scored normally.
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These conditions cause a negative value for their player:
- Children or adults without a tent or house are homeless.
- A house without an adult to upkeep it becomes derelict.
- Children alone in a house are orphans.
Negative values are multiplied normally. Ie: if a King is the same suit as a homeless adult, that person counts as -9 towards the player's score. |
Peasants and dwellings are played to the village in front of either player. When playing a village card you can play it to your side or to your opponent's side.