- Designer: Bruno Cathala
- Artist: Cyril Bouquet
- Publisher: blue orange games
- Players: 2 – 64 Players
- Playtime: 15 Minutes
- Ages: 8+
What’s In the Box?
- 4 Starting Tiles
- 48 Dominos (with a numbers side and a terrain side)
- 4 3D Castles
- 8 Wooden King Meeples
Setup
To set up Kindomino, first you will need to set up the 4 3D castles, in colors pink, yellow, green, and blue. Each player will take 1 castle, 1 matching King Meeple, and a Starting Tile. The remaining castles and meeples go back into the box. Players will then place the Starting Tile, with the castle on top of it, directly in front of them. Shuffle all of the Dominos and place them back in the box. Set up the Dominos in the box vertically, so players cannot see the numbered or terrain side of the tiles. This is the draw pile. You are now ready to play Kingdomino.
Objective
The objective of Kingdomino is to be the player whose 5×5 tiled kingdom scored the most points. Each Kingdomino tile has two terrain squares. A player earns points by having the largest area of matching terrain squares connecting either horizontally or vertically, which create territories. The larger the territory is, the more points it earns the player.
Gameplay
Kingdomino is played in rounds. To start the first round, take 4 tiles from the draw pile and place them number side up in numerical order, lowest to highest. Then fill the tiles so that the terrain side is face up.
To determine who is able to select a Kingdomino tile first, one player takes all 4 King Meeples in their hand and randomly pulls one out. This will be the first player to select a terrain tile. Play moves in a clockwise order. Once everyone has claimed their terrain tile by putting their king meeple on it, repeat the process of lining up 4 terrain tiles in the center area, numbered side up. This completes the starting round.
After the starting round, players will take 2 actions on their turn, kingdom building and domino selection. Players may build their kingdom by following the connection rules, one tile at a time. Connection rules are listed in the game rules. Players may not have a kingdom more than 5×5. Once laid, terrain tiles cannot be moved. When connecting terrain tiles, at least 2 connecting squares must have matching terrain. The 4 sides on the Starting Tile are wild, meaning any terrain tile can be connected to them.
Note: If a player gets a terrain tile that cannot be used, they place it aside. This is not to be used for points at the end of game.
Players will then select their next tile, by placing their King Meeple on top of it. Gameplay moves to the next player. Gameplay for Kingdomino continues until the draw pile is empty. At this time, players will add their last tile to their kingdom and count their points.
Final Thoughts
Kingdomino earned Game of the Year at Spiel des Jahres in 2017. A friend’s children introduced me to the game and I enjoyed playing it with them, so I picked up a copy for myself. After playing it with adults only, I will say it is much more enjoyable playing with a child. This is not a game I keep in my regular rotation. It does have me interested enough to attempt some of the expansions, should I get the chance. The newest expansion, Kindomino Origins, has my interest because you play as caveman and have to collect resources. I think with these add elements, it would keep my attention more. Overall, I enjoyed Kingdomino, but don’t recommend it if you are an adults only table.
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