Regicide
Based on the game by Paul Abrahams, Luke Badger & Andy Richdale
A cooperative game where you and your fellow adventurers must defeat 12 royals using the numbered cards in your hand. Each suit grants a special power when played.
Setup
Clubs (1–A), Spades (1–A), Hearts (1–A), Diamonds (1–A)
Clubs1–A
Spades1–A
Hearts1–A
Diamonds1–A
Also needed: Score pad (damage tracker)
Use the 4 standard suits: Clubs♣, Spades♠, Hearts♥, and Diamonds♦. From each suit, take the Ace, ranks 1–9, X, Jack, Queen, and King. That’s 13 cards per suit, 52 cards total.
Rank mapping:
- Ace = 1 (note that both Aces and rank 1 cards are worth 1, but do not combo together)
- 1 through 9 = face value
- X = 10
- Jack = 10 (when played from hand)
- Queen = 15 (when played from hand)
- King = 20 (when played from hand)
You will also need a way to track damage. Pen and paper work well.
Separate the 12 face cards (4 Jacks, 4 Queens, 4 Kings) from the rest. Shuffle the 4 Kings and place them face-down. Shuffle the 4 Queens and place them face-down on top. Shuffle the 4 Jacks and place them face-down on top. This is the Castle deck.
Flip the top card of the Castle deck face-up. This is the first enemy.
Shuffle the remaining 40 cards (Aces through X in all 4 suits) to form the Tavern deck. Deal cards to each player up to their hand limit:
| Players | Max hand size |
|---|---|
| 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 7 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 5 |
You'll also need a way to track cumulative damage on the current enemy — pen and paper works well.
Castle deck
J
Draw35
Youcurrent
246375
JFace-up enemy (here, Jack of Clubs — attack 10, health 20)
Remaining Castle cards, face-down (Jacks on top, Queens in the middle, Kings at the bottom)
Draw35Tavern deck (40 cards to start, minus whatever has been dealt out)
3-player setup (one hand shown). The current enemy is face-up on top of the Castle deck; the remaining royals are queued behind it. The Tavern deck sits beside it.
Enemy stats:
| Enemy | Attack | Health |
|---|---|---|
| Jack | 10 | 20 |
| Queen | 15 | 30 |
| King | 20 | 40 |
Gameplay
If playing with multiple players, choose someone to go first however you would like. On your turn, follow these four steps.
1. Play a card (or yield)
Play a card from your hand onto the table. Its rank is the attack value. Instead of a single card, you may play combos: a pair, triple, or quadruple of the same rank, as long as the total is 10 or less (so pairs of 2–5, triples of 2–3, or four 2s).
Alternatively, you may yield (skip to step 4), but you cannot yield if every other player yielded on their last turn.
2. Activate the suit power
The suit of your played card triggers a power at the current attack value. When playing a combo, you resolve all powers and damage based on the total of the cards played. See example below.
Heal. Shuffle the discard pile, then place cards equal to the attack value face-down under the Tavern deck.
Draw. Starting with you and going clockwise, players draw one card at a time until the attack-value total has been drawn. Don't exceed hand limit.
Double damage. Your attack deals double damage in step 3.
Shield. Reduce the current enemy's attack by your attack value, for the rest of this fight. Stacks with other Spades.
Suit powers are mandatory.
Enemy immunity: Each enemy is immune to the suit power of its own suit (e.g., the Jack of Hearts ignores the Hearts healing power), though the card’s damage still counts.
Combo example
For combos, all suit powers activate at the combined attack value. For example, when playing 2♦ and 2♠ (a pair of 2s, attack value 4):
2♦ + 2♠ = attack value 4
Diamonds → players draw 4 (starting with you, clockwise)
Spades → enemy's attack reduced by 4 (shield stacks and lasts until enemy defeated)
Damage → 4 to the enemy
Both suit powers resolve at the full combo total — this is what makes mixed-suit combos powerful compared to a single card of the same total value.
3. Deal damage
Deal damage equal to your attack value (doubled if Clubs) to the current enemy. Track the running total against its health.
- If total damage equals the enemy's health, you redeem it: place the enemy face-down on top of the Tavern deck. That card will be the next one drawn to be used by players.
- If total damage exceeds the enemy's health, the enemy goes to the discard pile instead (no bonus, but Heart♥ heals can still recover it).
Either way: discard all the cards you played against that enemy, flip the next Castle card, and the same player immediately takes a new turn against the new enemy (skip step 4).
4. Suffer damage
If the enemy survived, it strikes back. Its attack value (minus any Spade shields stacked against it) is the damage you take. You must discard cards from your hand whose ranks total at least that damage.
If you can't discard enough, everyone loses. An empty hand after discarding is fine.
Play then passes to the next player clockwise.
Communication
You may not say anything that reveals or suggests specific cards in your hand. You may reference public information — remaining cards, enemy health, etc.
Fair game:
- "I have three cards left in my hand."
- "Our Tavern deck is getting low."
- "The enemy only has 4 health left."
Off limits:
- "I have an 8 of Spades."
- "You should play a Diamond so we can draw."
- "Don't kill the enemy this turn."
Solo rules
Set up as usual, but before dealing your hand, place 2 cards from the Tavern deck aside, face-down — these are your Jesters. You play with a hand of 8.
At the start of step 1 (before playing) or step 4 (before suffering damage), you may flip a Jester to discard your entire hand and redraw 8 cards from the Tavern deck. You may not reuse Jesters for any reason, so use them carefully.
Winning and losing
You win when the last King is defeated.
You lose if any player:
- cannot discard enough cards to cover enemy damage in step 4, or
- cannot play a card and also cannot yield (because every other player yielded last turn).
