Once both players have played their cards, those cards are revealed. To start a hand, players simultaneously play two cards from their hand face down, one in front of each realm card. The total value is the combined score of military and diplomatic points (plus any bonuses). In general, the object of each hand is to win the realm cards you want by having the most total value played on that realm card after two plays. In the middle, two realm cards are placed face-up between the players. At the start of each hand, players draw four cards from their draw pile - at the start this is just their starting hand. They’re worth no points by themselves, but will award the player the matching points played by the other player if played. The assassination and shield cards are defensive. Military and diplomatic strength cards all have a value associated with them which will be added together to determine who controls a realm. For the realm cards, one half always has a realm side which is used for end game scoring and one half is one of the other types. Each half of card has one of the following sides: realm side (realm cards only), military strength, diplomatic strength, assassination counter, or defense counter. To start, each player takes their starting decks which are identical and the realm deck is shuffled and placed in a draw pile.Ĭards in Kingdom 18 are all divided in half. The game consists of only eighteen cards in three different decks: 2 starting player decks with four cards each and a deck of realm cards. There is a tension between taking realm cards and earning the associated points, and cluttering your hand. The hand-building game is interesting.In some ways, the game ends almost too soon. Given the few cards in play, there are only five total hands played. I’d say that the estimated play time, 10 minutes, might even be on the high side. When all the realms have been claimed the game ends. These realm cards provide points at the end of the game and provide new cards for future hands.
The game is played over a series of hands in which players use four cards to strategically bid for two face up realm cards. In Kingdom 18, two players are competing leaders vying for control over a new realm. The second game, Itty Bitty Dungeon Delve by designer and publisher Daniel Grek, is a two-player, tableau-building game in which players try to create the most valuable dungeon.
The first, Kingdom 18 by designer Jason Glover, is a two-player hand-building game in which players deploy diplomacy and might to establish control over the largest realm. Both games will be available in an upcoming Kickstarter campaign by Concrete Canoe Games. Unsurprising, then, these two first games fit the series theme particularly well. The games are part of a promised, new series of games from the publisher aimed at small, light and fun games. Today, Fairway does a double review and takes a look at a pair of microgames coming to Kickstarter from Concrete Canoe Games: Kingdom 18 and Itty Bitty Dungeon Delve. There’s a definite design limitation imposed on games that have only eighteen cards.