Kingdomino is a tile drafting game in which players use domino-like landscape tiles to create the highest scoring kingdom. The game consists of 1 starting 1x1 tile for each player, 48 1x2 dominoes ranked from 1-48 (with higher ranked dominoes tending to be more valuable), and 1 king meeple for each player (2 in the 2 player game) used to indicate the dominoes drafted by each player for the next round.

Objective

Players will take turns drafting and placing dominoes into their kingdom. Players will be placing these dominoes into their kingdom in order to fill a 5x5 grid (7x7 in the 2 player Mighty Duel variant, see below). Each square of a domino will be one of 6 landscape types: Wheat fields, grasslands, forests, lakes, swamps, or mines. Additionally, some squares on dominoes will feature 1-3 crown icons on them. At the end of the game, players will score each distinct contiguous region of dominoes of the same type, by multiplying the number of squares in that region by the number of crowns in that region. Thus, a grasslands region consisting of 3 squares and having 2 crowns will be worth 6 points, while a wheat fields region of 6 squares but 0 crowns will be worth nothing. Players add together the values of every region in their kingdom to determine their final score.

Note: Each terrain type has a different distribution in the deck. Grasslands and forest squares are plentiful, but have very few squares with crowns. Mines are rare but have lots of crowns. Press the "Dominoes list" button in game to see the breakdown of landscape squares in the game.

Gameplay

These rules are written for a standard 4 player game. 2-3 player rules, and game variants, are listed at the end of these rules.

First turn

At the beginning of the game, each player receives a 1x1 starting tile in their play area. 4 dominoes are randomly drawn and arranged in order, from lowest rank to highest rank (these ranks are not displayed on the BGA interface, but can be seen in the game log). The turn order for the first turn is randomly determined. Beginning with the first player, each player places their king meeple on one of the 4 dominoes. Each domino may only be claimed by one player.

Subsequent turns

A new set of 4 dominoes are randomly drawn and placed to the right of the previous set of dominoes. Then, starting with the player who claimed the lowest-ranked (top) domino in the previous turn, each player places their chosen domino into their kingdom, and places their king meeple onto one of the available dominoes from the new set. Higher-ranked dominoes are more likely to have crowns or rare terrain types, but tend to give the players who choose them a later spot in the turn order on the next round.

When placing a domino into their kingdom, the placed domino can be rotated freely and placed in a horizontal or vertical orientation. However, players must obey these two restrictions:

1. Dominoes must be placed so that at least one square of the domino is orthogonally adjacent to either another square of the same terrain type, or the starting tile.

2. The player's kingdom must fit within the constraints of a 5x5 grid (or 7x7 in the Mighty Duel variant, see below). If a domino placement would cause the grid to have more than 5 rows or columns, that placement may not be made. There are no restrictions on where the player's starting tile resides within the kingdom. It may be in the middle, in a corner, or anywhere else.

If a player is unable to legally place their chosen domino, the domino is discarded (and the player will have gaps in their kingdom at the end of the game). A player may not elect to discard a domino if they have a legal placement.

End of game

The game ends once the supply of dominoes is exhausted. Players then score their kingdoms as outlined in the "objective" section above. Highest score wins! In the event of a tie, the player with the largest territory (contiguous set of the same landscape type) wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most crowns wins. If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.

Variants

Three player

4 dominoes are placed each round, as described above. However, after each of the three players places their meeple on a domino, the remaining domino is discarded

Two player

Half (24) of the dominoes are randomly discarded at the beginning of the game. 4 dominoes are placed each round, however, players now have 2 king meeples to place each round instead of one. Thus, each player drafts and places 2 tiles each round instead of one, and there are only 6 rounds instead of 12 like in a regular game.

The Mighty Duel

Follow the Two player variant rules above, but do not discard any dominoes at the beginning of the game. Players will each acquire 24 dominoes over the course of the game instead of 12, to form a 7x7 kingdom instead of a 5x5 kingdom.

Harmony

At the end of the game, players will receive 5 bonus points for having no gaps in their kingdom (meaning they were not forced to discard any dominoes).

Middle Kingdom

At the end of the game, players will receive 10 bonus points if their starting 1x1 tile is in the exact center of their kingdom. Gaps in the kingdom are permitted.