Game Objective

Prepare to build the most legendary kingdom the world has ever seen in Fantasy Realms! Here, you're not just collecting cards, but forging an empire with astute strategies and powerful combinations. Your objective is simple, yet challenging: collect the best cards in your hand to create the highest-scoring combinations. Will it be an unbeatable army, an erupting volcano, a collection of magical artifacts, or a powerful wizard in their fortress? The choice is yours, and each realm will be unique! The player with the highest score at the end of the game will be the grand winner.

Setup

Let's set up the table and start building your kingdom:

1. Separate the Rulebook and the Score Pad.
2. Take the deck of 55 cards (which includes ten card types, three wild cards, and two promo cards).
3. Shuffle all the cards well.
4. Deal seven cards to each player. This will be your starting hand.
5. Choose a starting player randomly. The game will proceed clockwise.
6. Create a draw pile with the remaining cards face down.
7. Leave a space on the table for the discard area. Initially, it will be empty.

Ready! Your kingdom is about to be built.

Game Turn

In Fantasy Realms, each turn, you will have two simple, yet crucial, actions to shape your kingdom:

1. Draw a Card: At the beginning of your turn, you have the option to:
   • Take the top card from the draw pile (face down).
   • OR take any face-up card from the discard area.
   Attention: The first player of the game *must* draw a card from the deck.
2. Discard a Card: At the end of your turn, you *must* discard a card from your hand into the discard area.
   • Cards in the discard area must be organized so that all are visible to all players.

Remember: your goal is always to have seven cards in hand at the end of your turn. Each card has a name, a type (Army, Leader, Wizard, Weapon, Artifact, Animal, Land, Weather, Flood, Flame, and Wild), a base strength (value between 0 and 40) and, most importantly, bonuses and/or penalties that interact with other cards in your hand. Keep an eye on these interactions to maximize your score!

End of Game and Scoring

The game in Fantasy Realms has a very clear ending:

• The game ends immediately when there are ten cards in the discard area.

Now comes the most exciting part: scoring!

To calculate your score, follow these steps:

1. Sum Base Strengths: Start by summing the base strength values of all seven cards in your hand.
2. Apply Bonuses and Penalties: Now, analyze each card and apply its bonuses and penalties.
   • Blank: Some penalty cards can BLANK other cards. A blanked card does not contribute its name, bonuses, penalties, or base strength to the score.
   • Remove: Certain bonuses can REMOVE penalties or parts of them. Penalty removal occurs *before* any penalties are applied. A card with a removed penalty still retains its type, base strength, and bonuses.
   • "FOR EACH": If a card gives a bonus or penalty "FOR EACH" card of a specific type, it receives that effect for each card of that type you have.
   • "WITH": If a card gives a bonus "WITH" another specific card or card type, you only receive that bonus *once*, even if you have multiple cards that activate the bonus. Example: Magic Wand (+25 with any Wizard) and two Wizards = +25, not +50.
   • Wild (Shapeshifter/Mirage): If you have a Shapeshifter or Mirage, decide which card name and type they are copying. Remember that they retain their base strength of 0.
   • Book of Transfiguration: If you used the Book of Transfiguration to change a card's type, apply that change *before* bonuses and penalties. The card's original name, bonuses, and penalties are not altered, only its type.
   • Order of Resolution: In cases of contradiction, follow this order: 1st Doppelgänger, Mirage, and Shapeshifter; 2nd Book of Transfiguration; 3rd Penalty Removal; 4th Application of all Penalties (starting with non-blanked cards).
3. Ignore Blanked Cards: Do not count any card that has been blanked.

The player with the highest-scoring hand wins! In case of a tie, the hand with the lowest total base strength (before bonuses and penalties) wins.

Tip: Your opponents' cards do not affect your hand's score. Focus on your own combinations!

Tips for Winning

To become a master in Fantasy Realms, consider these tips:

1. Focus on Synergies, Not Just Raw Points: A card with a low base strength can be worth much more if it activates powerful bonuses on other cards in your hand. Similarly, a high base strength card can be blanked or penalized, making it useless. Think about the interactions!
2. Manage the Discard Area: The discard area is a valuable public resource. Keep an eye on the cards your opponents discard and the ones you discard yourself. Sometimes, discarding a card your opponent needs can be as strategic as taking a good card for yourself. Additionally, the discard area is the game's "clock" – when it reaches ten cards, the game ends!
3. Beware of Penalties and Blanking: Some penalties are brutal, like the Flame that blanks almost everything. Look for cards that can REMOVE these penalties (like the Mountain removing Flood penalties) or that are immune to them. Understanding how blanking works and how to avoid it is key to a high-scoring hand.