The Emissary

Goal

Win the support of all 8 kingdoms. In each kingdom you must win exactly as many debates as its number, from 1 in the leftmost to 8 in the rightmost. Winning too many fails as surely as winning too few.

Cards

Use a standard 52-card deck without Jokers.

• The 4 Kings and 4 Queens are the rulers.
• The 4 Jacks are you and your advisors.
• The 9s and 10s only mark the 8 kingdoms.
• The 32 cards from Ace to 8 are the deck.

Ranking

Aces are low, so each suit runs from the Ace, worth 1, up to the 8. In each kingdom the ruler’s suit is their favorite topic, which is trump there.

Setup

Lay the 9s and 10s in a line as the 8 kingdoms, numbered 1 to 8 from left to right. Shuffle the Kings and Queens and deal one face up onto each kingdom as its ruler. Put the Jacks face up in front of you. Shuffle the deck and draw 8 cards.

Play

1. Choose a kingdom. Look at your 8 cards, then choose any kingdom you haven’t visited. You visit each kingdom once.
2. Debate the ruler. The ruler turns up the top card of the deck. Answer with a card of the same suit if you have one, and otherwise with any card. You win the debate with a higher card of the same suit, or with a card of the favorite topic when the ruler’s card isn’t of that suit.
3. Sort the cards. A card that wins goes to your scoring pile. A card that loses, and the ruler’s card, go to the discard pile. When the deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to make a new one.
4. Debate until your hand is empty. Each card in your hand is one debate.
5. End the visit. If your scoring pile holds exactly the kingdom’s number of cards, the ruler pledges support and joins you as a supporter. If it doesn’t, the tour is over and the game ends.
6. Move on. Shuffle the deck, the discard pile, and the scoring pile together. Turn your Jacks face up and draw 8 cards.

Scoring

Your score is the number of kingdoms that pledged support plus the number of supporters whose ability you never used. A perfect tour scores 16. If the tour ends early, you score what you have so far.

Card abilities

Before the first debate in a kingdom, or between two debates, you may turn a Jack face down to use its suit’s ability. You can’t use one while a ruler’s card is waiting for your answer. Each Jack works once per kingdom and turns face up again for the next one.

• ♥ Diplomacy. Discard every card in your hand of this kingdom’s favorite topic.
• ♣ Military. Draw a card for each ♣ in your hand.
• ♠ Politics. Swap this kingdom’s ruler with the ruler of a kingdom you haven’t visited. The favorite topic changes here for the rest of the visit, and there for when you arrive.
• ♦ Commerce. Draw 2 cards, then discard 2 cards from your hand.

Diplomacy and military change how many cards you hold, and so how many debates are left in the visit. The number you must win stays the same.

A supporter lends you their suit’s ability once for the rest of the tour, at the same moments as a Jack. A supporter you never use scores 1 point at the end.

Variants

Short tour. Choose the Short length for a tour of 4 kingdoms. Only the 4 Kings are rulers, and the Queens leave the game. The kingdoms need exactly 2, 4, 6, and 8 debates won, from left to right. Everything else is the same, and a perfect short tour scores 8.

How this version differs

• An ability that would do nothing can’t be used. Diplomacy needs a card of the favorite topic in your hand. Military needs a ♣ in your hand and a card left to draw. Politics needs an unvisited kingdom whose ruler has a different suit. The published rules let you turn the card face down anyway, which never helps, and a supporter used that way loses its point.

Open the rules page