CrownsRules

Overview

Crowns is a trick taking game for 3 to 6 players. Each round, players predict how many battles (tricks) they will win. Players who hit their predictions are rewarded with crowns. At the end, the player with the most crowns wins.

Components

• 60 colour cards (yellow, blue, green, red) with values from 1 to 15
• 12 special cards:
  • 5 white special cards
  • 5 black special cards (15, 14, 14, 13, 13)
  • 1 King
• The Crowns app for scores and game info such as the trump colour. It runs right in your browser.

Building your deck

Crowns can be played with different deck setups. You decide which special cards to add to the deck.

• The game can be played entirely without special cards.
• You can also play with only white cards, only black cards or any combination of special cards.
• The King can be added or removed freely as well.
• This lets you tailor how the game feels.

Key terms

Battle

A battle is a round in which every player plays exactly one card. The highest card wins the battle.

Trump colour

At the start of each round a trump colour is set. This colour beats all other colours in that round (except where special card rules apply).

Lead colour

The colour of the first card played in a battle.

Following

Players must play the lead colour if they have a matching card in hand. If they can’t, they may play any card.

Setup

1. Every player opens the game on their own smartphone.
2. One person creates a new game and receives a lobby code.
3. The other players join the game with this lobby code and enter their names.
4. Once everyone is in the lobby, the host starts the game.

The four phases of a round

1. Deal the cards

The game has 10 rounds. Each round, players receive a growing number of cards: one card in round 1, ten cards in round 10.

2. Prediction

Once all players have picked up their cards and looked at them in secret:

• The current trump colour is shown at the top of the screen by the banner colour.
• Every player enters their prediction on their own phone.

3. The battle

• The starting player begins by playing a card.
• All other players follow clockwise.

The first card played sets the lead colour for the current battle.

4. Deciding the battle

Once every player has played a card, the winner of the battle is decided:

1. If at least one black card is in the battle:
   • All colours (including the trump colour) are disabled. The highest number wins.
   • Ties are resolved by the special card rules.
2. If there is no black card in the battle:
   • The highest card of the trump colour wins.
   • If no trump colour was played, the highest card of the lead colour wins.
3. If only white cards were played:
   • The first card played wins.

The winner of the battle collects all played cards face down and leads the next battle. The round ends once all cards in hand have been played.

Special cards

Black cards

• Disable all colours, including the trump colour, for this battle.
• The highest number wins.
• As soon as a black card has been played, players no longer have to follow in this battle.

In case of a tie:

• Black cards beat colour cards of the same value.
• If several black cards tie, the one played first wins.

White cards

• Lose every battle.
• Exception: if only white cards are played, the first card played wins.
• Can be used to avoid having to follow.

The King

• The King is the strongest card in the game.
• The King always wins the battle and is guaranteed to take the trick.
• Even if a Shadow Summoner was played before, the King still wins.
• If the King has been played, players still have to follow in this battle.

Crown scoring

Once all battles have been played, crown scoring begins.

Every player enters in the app on their phone how many battles they won this round.

As soon as all values are in, the app automatically checks whether the predictions match the actual results and adds or subtracts the corresponding crowns.

Case 1: Correct prediction

• The player receives 100 crowns for every battle won.
• They also receive a diamond.

A diamond is worth 25 crowns and counts in every score calculation. A correct prediction of 0 also earns a diamond.

Case 2: Wrong prediction

• The player loses 100 crowns for every battle their result is off from their prediction.
• They also lose all the diamonds they have collected.

Next round

• The player to the left of the current starting player becomes the new starting player.
• The previous starting player shuffles the cards.
• New cards are dealt according to the round.

End of the game

The game ends after round 10. The player with the most crowns wins.