Regicide

01Game presentation

Regicide transforms a pack of classic cards into a cooperative adventure. Together you face the valets, the ladies and then the kings. Everyone plays in turn, but only one individual defeat causes the whole group to lose.

The overall difficulty is difficult: you have to save the right cards and understand how the signs complement each other. This chapter follows the official A4 rules of Badgers From Mars, with their solo mode.

02Equipment requirements

• 52 classic cards: 4 aces, cards from 2 to 10 and 12 figures.
• 2 jokers. At 2 players, none enters the Stock; at 3, one; at 4, two. In solo, both remain next to each other as special resources.
• Optional: paper and pencil to track damage and enemy attack reduction.

The aces are the companion animals of the illustrated box; the jokers are the buffoons. The four signs are heart, tile, clover and sting. You can play without buying a special package.

03The purpose of the game

Beat the 12 enemy figures, the last being a king. Their lives decrease thanks to your attacks. If a person cannot suffer the damage requested, or can neither play nor pass legally, you all lose.

04Preparing the game

1. Mix the 4 kings and put them on the side. Mix the 4 ladies and put them on top, then the 4 valets on top. It's the castle.
2. Turn the first valet: it is the present enemy. A valet has 20 life points and attacks at 10; a lady, 30 and 15; a king, 40 and 20.
3. Mix ace and cards from 2 to 10 with the appropriate number of jokers. This is the tavern, your common Stock.
4. Distribute the maximum hand: 7 cards each to 2; 6 to 3; 5 to 4; 8 solo. Leave a common waste.
5. Choose the first player. The humorous criterion of the booklet can be replaced by a draw by lot by mutual agreement.

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05How to play?

The four stages of a tour

Plays a map, activates its power, deals damage, then undergoes the counter-attack if the enemy still lives. The values of 2 to 10 are worth the printed number; an ace is worth 1. Keep the attack cards visible against the enemy to follow the totals.

The damage is added from turn to turn. Each enemy is immune to the power of his own sign, but not to the damage value of the corresponding cards. So a tile valet blocks the pile of tiles played against him.

The powers of the signs

• Heart: Mix the waste and take, face down, as many cards as the value played; place them under the tavern without looking at them. If the waste is smaller, use what exists.
• Carreau: pick up as many cards as the value played, one per person in turn, starting with the active player. Jump hands already full. We don't exceed the maximum size.
• Clover: Doubles the damage inflicted by this attack. This does not double the other powers.
• Pic: reduce the enemy's attack of the value played. The reductions of all the pikes add up and remain until his defeat; the attack does not become negative.

Powers are mandatory when they work. If heart and tile are activated together, first treat the Stock with heart, then pick with tile.

Ace, combinations and buffoons

You can associate an ace to another card, except a joker, even to another ace. Adds the values and applies the powers of both signs to this total, once per sign. A clover ace with a 6 heart gives a value of 7, treats 7 cards and deals 14 damage if no immunity blocks these powers.

You can also play 2, 3 or 4 cards of the same value, if their sum does not exceed 10. Thus, three 3 agree; three 4 do not suit. Apply each sign to the sum. Do not add an ace to this combination: the ace only associates with one card.

The joker is played alone. It does not inflict any damage, removes the enemy's immunity and avoids its counter-attack this turn. Its player chooses who then plays. You can then only say if you want to play, without describing your cards. Faced with an enemy stings, the already laid spikes begin to reduce its attack; the old clovers against an enemy clover are not doubled retroactively.

Survival and new enemy

If the life of the enemy is not exhausted, the active player defeats with his hand a total value at least equal to his remaining attack. These cards do not trigger any power.Jokers are worth 0 to pay; the aces are worth 1. Overpaid damages are not reimbursed.

When the enemy is defeated, put his attack cards in waste. If he has received exactly his life in damage, place the figure on the tavern; otherwise, in waste. Reveal the next enemy: the one who won the fight immediately begins against him, without undergoing the counter-attack of the defeated. A recruited figure is 10 for a valet, 15 for a lady, 20 for a king, in attack or in defense.

You can pass instead of attacking: directly subjected to the counter-attack. It is forbidden for all players to pass successively. So, solo, you cannot pass.

Do not reveal or insinuate the contents of your hands. Public information, such as the size of the stock or the number of cards in hand, can be recalled.

In solo

Both jokers are out of the package. At the beginning of the game stage or just before paying a counterattack, flip one of them to undo your hand and redo a hand of 8, with the cards available. This does not remove enemy immunity and even works against tile. Each joker serves only once.

06An example of a game

With two players, Alice faces a jack of hearts with 20 health and 10 attack. She plays the 6 of spades, dealing 6 damage and reducing the attack to 4. She discards a 4 from her hand to survive.

Bob then plays a 7 of clover. The valet is not clover: the damage is 14. The total is exactly 20. The valet is defeated and joins the top of the tavern. Bob does not suffer damage and starts against the next enemy.

If Bob had played an 8 of clubs, the cumulative damage would have done 22. The victory would have been achieved, but the valet would have gone to waste: the exact shot is rewarded.

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07How can I win?

The defeat of the fourth king gives an immediate common victory. There is no equality or score between partners. You lose as soon as a player cannot pay for the damage or can neither play a card nor legally pass. The empty tavern does not lose on its own: it simply prevents the pick.

In solo, a victory is bronze if the two jokers served, silver with one, gold without any. This distinction does not change the rules of fighting.

08Errors to avoid

• Apply power against the enemy of the same sign.
• Trigger effects with unladen cards to survive.
• Play the next one after defeating: the winner of the fight replays.
• Believing that the solo joker withdraws immunity, or that everyone can pass indefinitely.

09Tips for starting

Keep small cards to pay exactly for a small counterattack. An early-set pick protects several spins. Before playing a clover, see if you can reach the exact enemy life to recruit a figure in the next draw.