How to Play New Kingdom: Sowers

Objective of the Game

Welcome to New Kingdom: Sowers! In this 1-2 player card game, you and your opponent take on the roles of sowers, inspired by the biblical Parable of the Sower. Your goal is to strategically scatter your seed cards into four different zones, known as soil types, on a central game mat.

To win, you must be the first player to play all 10 of your black seed cards in ascending order (1 to 10) into your Good Soil.

Beware! You lose immediately if:

• You cannot draw a card to start your turn.
• You cannot fulfill the requirements of any soil type to play a card.
• You must discard a black seed card at the end of your turn.

Preparation (Setup)

Let's get ready to sow! Here's how to set up your game:

1. Place the game board in the center of the playing area so the soil types are faceup.
2. Separate the cards by their card backs into a 20-card Priscilla deck and a 20-card Aquila deck. Each deck consists of 10 black seed cards and 10 yellow seed cards. (If this is your first game, set aside the wild seed cards.)
3. Choose a deck, shuffle it, and place it face-down in front of you as a draw pile.
4. Take 2 double-sided player aid cards (to see both sides simultaneously).
5. Choose a difficulty to determine your starting hand size:
   • Apprentice: Draw 5 cards
   • Sower: Draw 4 cards
   • Master: Draw 3 cards
6. You may determine the starting player however you wish. If you need an idea, the player who last planted a seed goes first.
7. Keep track of the first player as players will have an even number of turns.

Solo Mode Setup

If you're playing solo, here's how to set up:

1. Place the game board in front of you.
2. Shuffle one of the decks, and place it in front of you as a draw pile. The other deck is for an AI opponent.
3. You may choose either character, but for this example, you will be playing as Priscilla and your AI opponent will be Aquila. Wherever you read Aquila, this is the AI player.
4. Choose a difficulty to determine your starting hand size and starting player:
   • Apprentice: Draw 4 cards, and play starts with you.
   • Sower: Draw 3 cards, and play starts with you.
   • Master: Draw 3 cards, and play starts with Aquila.
5. Separate Aquila’s Seed Cards into 2 decks: a yellow Seed Card deck and a black Seed Card deck.
6. Order the black Seed Cards in Aquila’s deck sequentially from 1-10, with 1 being on top, and place it faceup.
7. Shuffle the yellow Seed Cards, and place them in a facedown draw pile next to the faceup black Seed Cards.

Fluxo do Jogo

The game proceeds in turns, with players alternating. Here's the structure of your turn:

On Your Turn

You must take the following 3 actions in order each turn:

1. Draw 1 card from your deck.
2. Play a card from your hand into any of the 4 soil types.
3. Discard yellow Seed Cards from your hand to The Path until you have 7 cards remaining. (Do not take the Path action for cards discarded in this step.)

To legally play a card to a soil type, you must be able to play the correct type of card to the soil, and you must be able to complete the resulting action in its entirety.

Solo Mode Gameplay

Play alternates between you and Aquila, with you executing your turns as you would in a 2-player game.

On Aquila’s turn, do the following:

• Move a card from their black seed deck onto the Good Soil. If they move their 10th black seed onto the Good Soil, you lose immediately.
• Flip a card from Aquila’s yellow seed deck onto the Rocky Soil.

IMPORTANT: They may break the rule of descending order, but you may not.

Ações e Como Jogar

Here's a breakdown of important terms and how to interact with the different soil types:

Important Terms

• Draw a Card: This refers to a card which must come from your deck.
• Lay a Card: This refers to a card which must come from your hand.
• Pick up a Card: This refers to a card which must come from the game board.
• Discard a Card: This discarded card must be a yellow Seed Card from your hand.

Soil Types

Cards may be played to any of the 4 soil types on your turn. You must be able to meet the requirements and complete the action to play a card to a soil type.

The Path

• Requirement(s): Play 1 yellow seed card facedown.
• Action(s): Draw 1 card. Optionally, you may pick up 1 card from either The Rocky Soil or The Thorny Soil.
• Notes: Any card played or discarded to The Path is removed from play for the rest of the game. You do not take Path actions when discarding cards due to exceeding your hand limit or the Rocky Soil limit at the end of your turn.

The Rocky Soil

• Requirement(s): Play 1 yellow Seed Card face up onto Rocky Soil in descending order (10-1). Cards may be played out of order. For instance, a yellow 2 can immediately follow a yellow 10.
• Action(s): Draw 2 cards. Play 1 card onto 1 of the other 3 soil types.
• Notes: You do not need to play cards sequentially, nor do you need to start with the number 10. If there are 4 cards on The Rocky Soil after your action, discard them all onto The Path facedown. Do not take The Path action if you do this.

The Thorny Soil

• Requirement(s): Play 1 black seed card face up in any order.
• Action(s): Draw 3 cards. Place any 4 cards from your hand on the top or bottom of your deck in any order. The 4 cards do not have to go to the same place.
• For example: if you have a yellow 1, black 2, yellow 3, and black 4 you may place the black 2 and yellow 1 on top of your deck and the yellow 3 and black 4 on the bottom of your deck.
• Notes: You may have any number of black seed cards in The Thorny Soil. The only way to get cards out of the Thorny Soil is with a Path action. If you cannot put 4 cards back into the deck, you cannot take this action.

The Good Soil

• Requirement(s): Play black seed cards onto Good Soil in sequential ascending order, (1-10).
• Notes: You can play any number of black Seed Cards onto Good Soil at once, provided they are played sequentially.

Variant - Wild Seeds

Wild Seeds may be played as either black or yellow seeds and may be any number 1-10 when played. When played to Rocky Soil they can be played on any number, but any number may also be played onto a Wild Seed in the Rocky Soil. Wild Seeds may be discarded as if they were yellow seeds.

In multiplayer mode, 1 Wild Seed may be added to each player’s deck in setup to create a 21 card seed deck for each player. In Solo mode you may use a Wild Seed but you may not mark off achievements if using your Wild Seed. Do not add a Wild Seed to your opponent’s deck in Solo mode.

Fim de Jogo e Pontuação

The game concludes when a specific condition is met, and then victory is determined.

End Game

The game ends when a player has played 10 black seed cards in ascending order (1-10) onto their Good Soil. If the first player completes the objective first, the second player may take 1 final turn. If this results in a tie, the player who has the most yellow seed cards remaining to draw from their deck is the winner.

Solo Mode End Game

1. If Aquila runs out of black seed cards, they win.
2. If you complete the objective, you win.
3. In either case, do not finish the turn as you would in a 2-player game.

Dicas para Vencer

Here are some strategic considerations to help you achieve victory:

• Mastering the Thorny Soil: The Thorny Soil allows you to draw 3 cards and then rearrange 4 cards from your hand onto your deck. This is a powerful way to cycle through your deck and set up future plays, especially getting those black seed cards into your hand for Good Soil.
• Strategic Discarding to The Path: Remember that cards discarded to The Path are removed from play for the rest of the game. Use this to your advantage to get rid of unwanted yellow seed cards, especially when you need to manage your hand limit.