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- BGG #894
- BGG rating
- 7.1
Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends
- 2–4 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 2.8/5
- 2013
- BGG rank
- BGG #1,830
- BGG rating
- 6.8
The Rose King
1992
Rules assistance for The Rose King
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 30 min
- 10+
- Complexity 1.9/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for The Rose King
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Rose King is a board game released in 1992 for 2 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Dirk Henn and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement.
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About the game
Originally published as Texas by db-Spiele. The battle between farmers and ranchers is fairly abstract. A single pawn travels on a square grid. Each player has a hand of cards face up. These each have a direction and a distance. The player can either draw a card and add it to his hand, or play a card. If he plays a card, then the pawn moves the appropriate distance to an empty square, and the player places one of his markers. Each player also has judge symbols that can each be used only once. The judge lets you move onto a previously placed opposition marker and reverse it. Players score points for each contiguous region equal to the square of the number of markers. If a player is not careful, such a move may be forced, as there is a maximum number of cards that a player may hold. Contains rules for playing with 4 (in two partnerships of two players). Later republished 1999 as Rosenkönig by Kosmos, as part of the two-player game series. The republication also included a re-theming of the game. The setting changed from Texas to England, and the factions changed from farmers and ranchers to the factions of the Plantagenet family from the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) - the Lancaster (red rose) and the York (white rose) factions in a similarly abstracted fashion. Rosenkönig is part of the Kosmos two-player series.
Categories
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Tilsit
- OPEN'N PLAY
- KOSMOS
- 999 Games
- db-Spiele
- White Goblin Games
- Playte
Questions and answers
The Rose King supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for The Rose King 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 The Rose King for ages 10 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.
The Rose King has a complexity rating of 1.9 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.
The Rose King belongs to these categories: Abstract Strategy and Medieval. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of The Rose King are: Dirk Henn. 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 The Rose King 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.