How to Play The King Is Dead

Game Objective

In The King is Dead, players do not represent the Scottish, Welsh, or Romano-British factions. Instead, you are powerful members of the late King Arthur's court, vying to be declared ruler over the three groups. The game consists of 8 power struggles, one for each of the kingdom's 8 regions. Players use their limited power by playing Action Cards to determine which factions gain control of which regions. Each time you do so, you gain influence within a faction by "calling a Follower to court": removing a Follower from a region and placing it in front of you. The power of each faction in a region is represented by the number of its Followers in it.

The game ends when the last power struggle is concluded, or when the Saxons invade. The winner is the player who has the most Followers of the faction that controls the most regions. In case of an invasion, the winner is determined in a slightly different way (see the "Endgame and Scoring" section).

Preparation (Setup)

1. If playing with 2 players, remove 2 Followers of each faction from the game before setup.
2. Each faction has a home region containing its faction symbol: Caledonia for the Scots, Caerleon for the Welsh, and Londinium for the Romano-British. Place 2 Followers of the corresponding color in each home region and place the rest in the draw bag.
3. Each player receives a set of 8 Action Cards and 1 Crown Token, and draws 2 Followers from the bag to form their court.
   • Note: a player may have 2 Followers of the same color. However, if 2 or more players draw Followers of a single color (e.g., if 2 players draw 2 red Followers each), both must redraw.
4. Draw Followers randomly to place on the board until each region contains 4 Followers, including the starting Followers in the home regions. Place the remaining Followers in the title section of the board to form the common stock.
5. Shuffle the Region Cards and place them face up next to the board in positions 1 to 8.
6. Whoever set up the game goes first.

Game Flow

The order of power struggles is determined by the Region Cards – starting with the card in position 1 – unless interrupted by a Saxon invasion. On their turn, players can play 1 Action Card or choose to save their cards and pass. The game then continues clockwise.

A player's pass applies to that turn, not the entire power struggle: if a player passes, and another player acts, the first player may choose to play within that power struggle when their turn comes again.

The power struggle continues until all players have passed consecutively, at which point it ends immediately. The Region Card in the highest position is flipped face down, and the faction with the most Followers in that region gains control. Place a Control Token for that faction in the region, remove all Followers from that region, and place them back in the common stock. If there is a tie between factions, or if no factions are present, the region falls to the invaders: place a Saxon Control Token in that region.

The next power struggle then begins, and the next player clockwise takes their turn.

Actions and How to Play

Each Action Card is explained in detail on the back of the manual. Once an Action Card is played, it is placed face up in front of the player and cannot be used for the rest of the game. This means that each player can perform only 8 actions throughout the game. The next Action Card a player uses must be placed directly on top of the previous one. The top card must always be visible, but players cannot look at the others: it is up to them to remember which actions have been performed.

After a player plays a card and performs the relevant action, they must call someone to court, removing 1 Follower from a region and placing it in front of them. This is how players gain influence within factions. The player is completely free in choosing which Follower to take and from which region, including Followers they have just placed or moved as an effect of their Action Card. Followers cannot be taken from the common stock, nor from another player.

Action Cards can be used to influence any region that has not yet been resolved. This means that players can ignore the region in the current power struggle to affect different areas of the board. Regions that have already been resolved cannot be interfered with – it is never possible to place Followers in a region that has a control token. Note that home regions are normal regions and are not controlled until their power struggle is resolved. The home region symbols on the board only affect initial placement and the Scottish, Welsh, and Romano-British Action Cards.

If playing with 3 players, the last Action Card of the game can only be played if the player holding it can use it to win the game directly.

Partial Actions

Sometimes, the actions associated with a card cannot be completed. In these cases, the actions described on the card must be followed as much as possible. Players can play an Action Card that will have no other effect to gain a Follower or to prevent a power struggle from ending, although this is a risky strategy.

Playing with 4 Players

The 4-player game uses the same rules, but the 2 players sitting opposite each other are working together. Players cannot discuss tactics or strategies during the game, nor show each other their remaining Action Cards. Each player still collects their own individual Followers and a single ruler is determined according to the rules above. That player's teammate shares their victory as the power behind the throne.

If the game ends early due to an invasion, and only then, the players of each team group their Followers. The team with the most complete sets of Followers wins.

Action Card Types

• The Crown: The player swaps the position of any two face-up Region Cards, including the one currently being contested, if desired, and places their Crown Token on one of them. Any card with a Crown Token cannot be swapped.
• Garrison: The player swaps 2 Followers in 1 region for 1 Follower from an adjacent region. These Followers can be of the same faction, if the player wishes. The player cannot use this action to immediately undo a swap made by the previous player. The player can only undo a previous swap if at least one different Action Card has been played or a power struggle has been resolved since the original swap.
• Ambassador: 1 Follower from 1 region is swapped for 1 Follower from any other region. These Followers can be of the same faction, if the player wishes. The player cannot use this action to immediately undo a swap made by the previous player. The player can only undo a previous swap if at least one different Action Card has been played or a power struggle has been resolved since the original swap.
• Settlements (2 per player): The player moves 1 Follower of each faction from the common stock to the board. Each Follower can be placed in any unresolved region, and multiple Followers can be placed in the same region, if the player wishes. If there are no Followers of a given faction in the common stock, the player does not receive an extra Follower from another faction.
• Scots: The player places 2 blue Followers from the common stock into regions that are adjacent to a region controlled by the Scots. The 2 Followers can be placed in the same or different regions, or even in regions that border different regions controlled by the Scots, provided the requirements are met. If there is only 1 blue Follower in the stock, the player places that Follower. If no regions meet these requirements, or if there are no blue Followers remaining in the common stock, the player places no Followers. If the power struggle for the Scottish home region has not yet been resolved, it counts as controlled by the Scots for the purposes of this card. Note that this card can be used to place Followers in regions adjacent to the home region: it can only be used to place Followers directly in the home region if it borders another region controlled by the Scots.
• Welsh/Romano-British: These cards are identical to the Scots card, but apply to the named factions and red/yellow cubes, respectively.

Endgame and Scoring

Endgame by Control

The game ends when the last power struggle is concluded. The faction that has control of the most regions is in power, and the player with the most Followers of that faction is crowned King or Queen. If there is a tie for the most regions, the tied faction that most recently won a power struggle is considered to have control.

If there is a tie for the most Followers, the faction with the next highest number of regions gains importance, and the tied player with the most Followers of that faction becomes the ruler. If there is still a tie, the tied player who last played an action card loses – indecision is a bad trait in a leader.

Endgame by Invasion

If, at any time, there are four Saxon Control Tokens on the board, the game ends immediately. The Saxons have invaded and win the throne. The winner is the player with the most complete sets of Followers. A set consists of one Follower of each faction. This player unites the resistance and promises to fight against the Saxon hordes. In case of a tie, the tied player who last played an action card wins – the resistance needs a proactive leader.

Mordred Variant

If the Loyalists win a power struggle, the game ends immediately. The controlling faction and winning player are determined in the same way as in the endgame by Control, with these exceptions:

• If there is no winning (or tie-breaking) faction due to a lack of power struggles, the factions unite against the threat: the player with the highest total number of Followers in their court wins.
• If there is still a tie, the player who last played an Action Card wins due to authoritarian leadership.

Tips for Winning

Refer to the manual for details on this section.