How to Play Kingdomino
Kingdomino is often described as "dominoes with a kingdom-building twist." The goal is to build a 5X5 grid of terrain tiles that earns you the most points by the end of the game.
1. The Setup
Each player starts with a starting tile (a small square), a 3D castle to place on top of it, and one or two king meeples (depending on the player count).
Four domino tiles are drawn from the box and placed in a column from lowest number to highest. Players then take turns placing their kings on the tiles they want to claim.
2. The Game Loop
Each round follows these simple steps:
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Claim & Collect: On your turn, take the domino your king is currently standing on and add it to your kingdom.
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Drafting: Immediately move your king to a new available domino in the next column to reserve it for the following round.
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Placement Rules: When adding a domino to your kingdom, it must follow these two rules:
Connection: At least one side of the new domino must match the terrain type of a tile it is touching (or touch your wild-card starting tile).
The Grid: Your entire kingdom must fit within a $5 \times 5$ area. If a tile won't fit or doesn't match, it must be discarded!
3. Scoring: Calculating Your Glory
The game ends when the draw box is empty and everyone has completed (or attempted to complete) their grid. Points are calculated by multiplying the size of the territory by the number of crowns within it.
Total Points= Sum (Number of Connected Squares X Total Crowns in that Group)
Example: If you have a forest territory made of 4 squares containing 2 crowns, that area is worth 4 X2 = 8 points. A massive field of 6 squares with 0 crowns is worth zero points.
Why the Turn Order Matters
Kingdomino uses a clever "price" system. The better tiles (those with more crowns or rare terrain) are numbered higher. If you pick a powerful tile this round, your king will be at the bottom of the line, meaning you will pick last in the next round!
