With the sudden disappearance of the King of Rats, the kingdom is now without a sovereign. Two rat clans have come forth in a struggle for power.

The Yargs are barbarian rats, famous for their expertise in combat and their impressive size. They wear the color blue into battle.

The Apple woods are civilized rats but are notorious for their obsession with jewelry and hoarding riches. They wear the color red into battle.

The clashing clans prepare to fight for the crown, but a heavy secret weighs on the clans: both of their princes are secretly in love with the princess of their enemy's clan!

While the strongest rat usually wins the fight, a clever tactician will use each rat's special power to sway the course of battle. Can you lead your clan to seize control of the kingdom?

Components

• 8 Blue Gards
• 8 Red Gards
• 1 Rulebook

Setup

Each player takes a set of 8 cards of the same color.

Object of the Game

Each player represents a clan and competes to win control of the kingdom.

Game Play

Players secretly choose one of their cards and place it face down in front of them.

Starting a round:

Once the 2 cards have been selected, both players flip over their cards at the same time.

Each card has a strength and a special power that both determine who wins the round. The card with the highest strength wins, but some special powers can overrule this.

The special powers are mandatory and always count.

The following rounds:

Set the cards aside with the losing card turned face down as a reminder of who won the round. The game then proceeds to the next round.

Both players choose a new card from their hand and simultaneously reveal them.

In the case of a draw (the strength of both cards is equal), the round is put on hold. The winner of the next round also wins the previous round that was on hold (it may happen that several rounds in a row are on hold).

End of the Game

The game ends when a player has won 4 rounds. This player's clan conquers the kingdom!

If the players run out of cards before this happens, declare a tie and play again!

Results Table

• X: round is on hold.

• Y: Yarg clan wins the round.

• A: Applewood clan wins the round.

If the General was played in the previous round:

• 1 The Player who played the general wins the round (9 vs 7).

• 2 The player who did not play the general wins the round (3 vs 5).

• 3 The round is nullified and put on hold.

Game Variations

Some of the variations can be used in combination with others.

1. Traitor: Before the game, both players exchange a card randomly.

2. Lucky Draw: The 8 starting cards are shuffled to make a draw pile. Each player draws 3 cards and chooses one to play.

   As soon as a card is played, a new card is drawn.

3. Fast Rat: The game is won after 3 victories instead of 4.

4. Draft: Shuffle all 16 cards. One player draws 4, chooses one to keep and gives the rest to the other player who chooses one to keep and gives the rest back and so on. Then the other player draws 4 new cards, chooses one to keep and so on until all cards are dealt.

5. Random Deal: Shuffle the 16 cards and deal 8 to each player.

6. Princess Attack: Before the game, one player exchanges his Princess for the opponent's Prince. This means one player starts with both Princes, the other with both Princesses.

7. The Emperor: Play 3 times. The first to win 2 games wins.

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