How to Play Fantasy Realms: The Cursed Hoard

Objective of the Game

As the Realms prepare for conflict, a new element has emerged to shift the balance of power: a hoard of ancient artifacts. These artifacts grant considerable power to alter the course of battle, but each also carries a curse. Players are trying to strengthen their lands by creating Castles, Dungeons, and Crypts stocked with Undead, and even Outsiders from other planes are entering the fray. The game is about combining cards to score points, while managing the negative effects of Cursed Items.

Preparation (Setup)

1. The Fantasy Realms: The Cursed Hoard expansion can be added to the base game either separately or combined.
2. Cursed Items are a separate deck of cards with different backs. Shuffle this deck.
3. Deal each player one Cursed Item card faceup.
4. Three new suits (Buildings, Outsiders, and Undead) are added to your base game deck. You must add them (and the Garden card) as a group.
5. Replace the following base game cards with their Cursed Hoard versions: Bell Tower, Rangers, World Tree, Shapeshifter, Mirage, Great Flood, Necromancer, and Fountain of Life.
6. At the beginning of the game, draw eight cards instead of seven, and maintain an eight-card hand throughout the game.
7. When playing with the 2-player rules (drawing two cards and discarding one), do not draw any Cursed Items until you have seven or eight cards in hand, depending on whether you are playing the base game or base game plus the new suits.

Fluxo do Jogo

Player Turn

During your turn, you may choose one of three options for your faceup Cursed Item card:

1. Do nothing with your Cursed Item card. It stays faceup in front of you, and you may use it on a later turn.
2. Discard your faceup Cursed Item card at the end of your turn. It goes into a separate, faceup discard pile (not the discard area). Then you draw a new Cursed Item and put it faceup in front of you. If the deck of Cursed Items is used up, shuffle the discards and reuse them.
3. Use the Cursed Item card. Some cards give you an action which replaces your regular turn; others may be played at any time during your turn, including before you draw from the deck or discard area or after you discard. When you use a Cursed Item, flip it facedown and keep it in front of you. All facedown Cursed Item cards score at the end of the game. At the end of your turn, draw a new Cursed Item card to replace the one you played.

No matter which option you choose, at the end of your turn you should always have exactly one faceup Cursed Item card, and any number of facedown cards. You may check your facedown cards at any time, but may never check your opponents’.

Ações e Como Jogar

Cursed Items

Cursed Items are a separate deck of cards. When used, they are turned facedown and are usually worth negative points at the end of the game, though some provide positive points with negative effects. They do not go in your hand but are played in front of you.

New Suits

• Buildings: No special rules.
• Outsiders: The Genie and the Leprechaun in the Outsiders suit allow new cards to be added to your hand at the end of the game. These draws happen before any BLANKINGS, Doppelganger effects, etc., and before any Undead score. When using these three cards (Genie, Leprechaun, and Necromancer) in any combination, you may never have more than nine cards in your hand for any reason. This also applies to the Portal in the Cursed Items section. If at any time you have more than nine cards in hand, you must immediately discard cards into the discard area until you reach nine cards. Cards discarded in this way may not have already been used to draw extra cards.
• Undead: Four of the five Undead provide bonuses for cards that are faceup in the discard area, rather than cards in a player’s hand. Wild cards (Doppelganger, Shapeshifter, and Mirage) in the discard area do NOT count as any suit other than Wild.

Fim de Jogo e Pontuação

End Game Trigger

The end of the game is triggered when twelve cards are in the discard area, rather than ten.

New End Game Sequence

1. First, the Leprechaun, then the Genie, and finally the Necromancer may draw new cards from the deck and discard area (as indicated on their cards), discarding if above nine cards in hand.
2. Assign Doppelganger, Mirage, and Shapeshifter.
3. Use Book of Changes.
4. Clear Penalties.
5. If its penalty is not cleared, Demon blanks all unmatched cards.
6. Apply all uncleared Penalties, beginning with cards not blanked by any other cards.
7. Calculate scores for all unblanked cards.

All facedown Cursed Item cards score at the end of the game (most, but not all, will have negative points).

Dicas para Vencer

• The Gem of Order provides no additional bonus for an eight-card run.
• The Judge gets a bonus for Penalties in the hand that are not cleared. Penalties that are partially cleared (like the word "ArmiesArmies" with the Rangers and Warship) still give him the bonus.
• Chapel requires exactly 2 cards from among the suits listed. This means you can have 2 Leaders or an Outsider and an Undead, but you won’t get the bonus if you have 2 Wizards and an Undead or 1 each of Leader, Wizard, and Outsider. You can have any number of the other suits not listed in your hand.