Kingless

To set up the game, first remove the two Joker cards (King's Crown and Fool's Hat) from the deck. Shuffle the remaining cards thoroughly and deal five cards face down to each player. Place the rest of the shuffled deck face down in the center of the playing area to form the draw pile. If any player received a Joker card in a previous round, resolve its effect before starting the game.

The main objective of Kingless is to strategically sabotage your opponents and accumulate the most influence to be declared the King at the end of the game. Players will use various cards to build their influence while hindering others, aiming to have the highest total influence from their dwarf and item cards when the game concludes.

Each turn begins by drawing one card from the draw pile. During your turn, you can play an unlimited number of event cards, resolving their effects immediately and placing them in the discard pile. To end your turn, you must play one dwarf card or one item card face up in front of you, resolving its effect. If the card's effect explicitly states 'end turn,' your turn concludes immediately after resolving it. Otherwise, you can choose to end your turn by drawing a card from the general deck.

When the game ends, all players calculate their total influence. Influence is determined by the numbers displayed on the dwarf and item cards in each player's play area. The player with the highest total influence is declared the King and wins the game. Conversely, the player with the lowest influence becomes the Fool.

The game can end in two ways: either a player successfully places five or more dwarf or item cards in their play area, or the general draw pile runs out of cards. Once either of these conditions is met, all players get one final turn to play cards and maximize their influence before the final scoring begins.