Kingdomino

Kingdomino is dominoes with a scoring twist. Each tile shows two terrain squares, and you are assembling them into a 5×5 kingdom.

The scoring is the whole game: a territory is worth its number of squares × its number of crowns. A sprawling forest with no crowns scores zero, and a single square with two crowns scores two. Size only matters where crowns are.

Setup

1. Each player takes a castle, a starting tile, and one king meeple. In a two-player game each player takes two kings.
2. Place your starting tile and castle in front of you.
3. Shuffle the dominoes and stand them in the tower face down. For two players, use only 24 dominoes.

The starting round

Pull four dominoes from the tower and lay them in a line ordered lowest number to highest, then flip them face up.

To set the first turn order, one player takes all the king meeples in hand and pulls them out one at a time at random. In that order, players place their kings on dominoes to claim them.

In a three-player game, discard the one unclaimed domino.

Once every king is placed, draw four more dominoes, line them up lowest to highest, and flip them.

How a Round Works

Each turn, in order:

1. Place the domino you claimed last round into your kingdom.
2. Place your king on a domino in the new line, claiming it for next round.

Turn order is set by the previous line — the king on the top (lowest) domino goes first, working down. Choosing a low-numbered domino gets you an earlier pick next round; choosing a high-numbered one gets you a better tile now. That trade-off is the entire decision.

Placement rules

• Your kingdom may never exceed 5×5 squares.
• Your starting tile and castle do not have to be in the middle — put them anywhere, as long as the finished kingdom fits in a 5×5 grid.
• A domino may be placed horizontally or vertically, but at least one of its squares must match the terrain of a square it touches.
• The starting tile is wild — any domino can be placed next to it.
• Once a domino is placed, it cannot be moved.

If a domino cannot legally be placed — because it would break the 5×5 limit or matches no available terrain — it is discarded.

That is the only way to discard. If a legal placement exists, you must take it, even when it wrecks your plan.

How to Win

The game ends once all dominoes have been played.

Score each territory separately:

connected squares × crowns in that territory

Two territories of the same terrain type that are not connected score separately — they do not combine. A big region with zero crowns still scores zero.

Add up every territory. Most points wins. Ties go to the player with the largest single territory; if still tied, the victory is shared.

Variants

Variant	Rule
The Mighty Duel	An advanced two-player game using all 48 dominoes, with each player building a 7×7 kingdom.
Harmony	Score 5 bonus points for completing a 5×5 (or Mighty 7×7) kingdom with no gaps.
Middle Kingdom	Score 10 points if your castle ends up centred in your kingdom — gaps are still allowed.
Dynasty	Play three games in a row and total the scores; most points overall wins. Play more than three if you like.

Common Mistakes

• Chasing size instead of crowns. Squares multiply crowns. Without a crown, the multiplication gives you nothing.
• Forgetting the 5×5 limit. It is easy to build outward and realise too late you have no legal placement left.
• Assuming the castle goes in the centre. It can sit anywhere — only the Middle Kingdom variant rewards centring it.
• Discarding by choice. You may only discard a domino that genuinely cannot be placed legally.
• Merging separated territories. Same terrain type does not mean same territory — they must be connected.
• Ignoring turn order. Taking the low-numbered domino is often worth more than the tile itself, because it buys first pick next round.
• Playing two players with the full set. Use 24 dominoes and two kings each, unless you are playing The Mighty Duel.