Got cards and tokens? You can play this in five minutes!

To War!

 

There are many print and plays out there, some of them as good if not better than many fully published games. The creation of them has become an art form, and the groups I am a member of where I see other people’s print and play creations never fail to inspire and amaze me. However, sometimes I just don’t have the time or energy to spend hours creating the game first. Although I have to say, when I do, I absolutely love this! But, when I am looking for something quick to build and learn, but still absorbing in gameplay, I sometimes struggle with good options.

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Rise: A Tale of Kingdoms delivers here on all fronts! There are nine pages in the full print out, but you only really need to print out the final resource board, one per player. And then the card reference table if you don’t want to refer to a screen all the time. Then, gather some regular playing cards and four tokens per player. This can be anything, cubes or coins, it doesn’t matter. That’s it! You are ready to play!

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Learning and teaching the game takes a matter of minutes. Each player has a resource board in front of them showing their score in power, wealth people and army. Each one is linked to a suit in the deck of cards. You start with your tokens or coins on position four for each. If you can get all four to the top, you win. If a player has any fall below zero, they lose.

 

You deal three cards to each player and on their turn, they first take a card. They then have options to either take another card, play up to four of their cards, or trade. Trade works openly, but only really works when there are more than two players. Taking a second card is as simple as that, and a good option if you want to build up your hand for more powerful turns for later in the game. Finally, playing cards will feel very familiar and is the core of the game.

 

Sets and Runs!

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You can play cards in groups of one to four and either in sets of the same number or a run from any suit. You then look at the reference table to see what powers they can deliver. First you look at the top column depending on how many cards you played. You then look to the actual card laid and take the appropriate action. For example, if you laid four kings, you could move everything up your track three spaces.

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Some numbers allow you to move two tracks, always within the same suit colour. So, for example, one six would allow you to move one of your opponent’s tracks down by one, and then another track also down by one. The way this works, is all movement is based on the suit, and if you have double movement, the second movement will be the other suit with the same colour. Hearts affect Diamonds and Clubs affect Spades for example.

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The game can play very quickly, we had one game that was over within four turns! Other times you can cycle through the full deck, which is another way to end the game. You then score your tracks accordingly, and the person who made the most progression wins.

 

The Perfect Starter Print and Play

 

There are several variants within the rules where you can add in jokers, a second deck or a role-playing story. All of which add to the fun.

 

This is a great little game that I think I will enjoy for many years to come. The fact you need so little prep, tools or components and the game plays so fast and fun makes this a very accessible print and play. One I would recommend to anyone thinking about trying a print and play for the first time.

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