In Kingdom Builder, you are a kingdom builder, and your goal is to create the most prosperous empire by accumulating gold until the end of the game. The game unfolds on a modular board, which changes every game, ensuring you never play the same thing twice! The board consists of nine different terrain types, as well as special locations and castles. On your turn, you play a terrain card and, based on it, build three settlements on hexes of that type. The golden rule is: whenever possible, a new settlement must be built adjacent to one of your existing settlements. This simple but crucial rule defines much of your expansion strategy.

But it's not just about building! If you build near a special location, you gain an extra action token, which you can use from your next turn onwards. These extra actions are a real wild card, allowing for unusual moves and constructions, such as moving your already placed settlements, which can open up new opportunities or correct positioning. Building near a castle also earns gold at the end of the game, but most of your score will come from meeting the conditions of the three Kingdom Builder cards drawn for the game. These cards, from a total of ten, define the scoring criteria, such as earning gold for having settlements near water or for having the majority in a specific board sector. The combination of these scoring cards, special actions (four out of eight possible), and map terrain sectors (four out of eight) makes each game a unique and challenging experience!