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Rapa Nui
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Heroes of the Three Kingdoms
2013
Rules assistance for Heroes of the Three Kingdoms
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 30 min
- 7+
- Complexity 1.0/5
Rules assistant for Heroes of the Three Kingdoms
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Heroes of the Three Kingdoms is a board game released in 2013 for 2–4 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 7 and up. It was designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede.
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About the game
Heroes of the Three Kingdoms is a light strategic card game with 75 unique renderings of legendary heroes of the Three Kingdom period. The deck consists of 75 hero cards in five colors with three types of icons (goblet, sword and fan) and 25 contract cards, and each player starts a round with a random hand of three hero cards. On a turn, a player lays down 1-5 hero cards or 1-5 contract cards; played hero cards must share either a color or an icon. If she lays down hero cards, she can steal one card of the same color or with the same icon from each of her neighbors. (If her cards share both color and icon, then she must steal cards of the same color or icon.) She then adds these cards to her holdings, sorted by color. With each contract card, a player can either scout — meaning she steals the topmost card from any opponent's hero stack and adds it to her holdings — or secure a color by placing the contract card on one color of hero stack in front of her. When she does this, the player with the most cards of this color removes one card of this color and places it under her castle card as a point; in case of ties, all players score. The hero cards under a contract card cannot be stolen by a scout, but they can be covered by additional hero cards. After either move, a player then refills her hand to five cards. When the deck runs out, keep playing until each player has had the same number of turns, then score each color of hero cards, with the player who has the most of a color scoring three points and the secondmost player one point. Record the points, then shuffle the cards. The game lasts as many rounds as the number of players, and whoever has the high score wins.
Questions and answers
Heroes of the Three Kingdoms supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Heroes of the Three Kingdoms is 30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Heroes of the Three Kingdoms for ages 7 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Heroes of the Three Kingdoms has a complexity rating of 1.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Heroes of the Three Kingdoms belongs to these categories: Card Game. Categories describe the theme, setting and style of a game rather than its rules. Filter the catalogue by the same category to find similar games when you enjoyed Heroes of the Three Kingdoms and want something comparable for your next game night.
The credited designers of Heroes of the Three Kingdoms are: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Heroes of the Three Kingdoms as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.