Courtisans rules: how to play and how to score

Courtisans quick rules

The goal

Six families compete for the Queen’s favor: Butterflies, Toads, Stags, Carps, Nightingales and Hares. Your domain in front of you lines up your cards: each card of an esteemed family will earn you 1 point, each card of a fallen from grace family will cost you 1. Your two Secret Mission cards also score if you meet their condition.

Your turn

Play all three cards in your hand, in any order: one around the Queen’s table, one in your domain and one in an opponent’s domain of your choice. It’s compulsory, one card per area. Then draw three new cards, and play passes clockwise.

The Queen’s table

Each family has its column there. Place your card above the mat to push the family toward being esteemed, or below to push it toward falling from grace. At the end, a family with more cards above is esteemed, with more below is fallen from grace; if it’s even, it’s neutral and its cards are worth nothing.

The roles

The noble counts as two cards, in a domain as well as around the Queen’s table. The spy is played facedown, and nobody looks at it afterward; around the Queen’s table, it goes in the Queen’s column. The assassin eliminates another card in the area where you place it, if you want. The guard can never be eliminated.

The end of the game

When the deck is empty, you no longer draw: you’ve just played your last turn. When nobody has cards left, reveal the spies; those at the Queen’s table move to their family’s column, on the same side. Then determine each family’s status, counting each noble as two.

Scoring

Each card in your domain from an esteemed family scores 1 point, from a fallen from grace family costs 1; a noble counts double. Each fulfilled Secret Mission scores 3 points, and a failed one costs nothing. The highest total wins; on a tie, the victory is shared.

Beginner traps

Keeping your best cards for yourself (one card always goes to an opponent); forgetting that everything is decided at the Queen’s table; forgetting the spies, which can tip a family at the end; overlooking the nobles, who count double everywhere. Reread your Missions during the game: 3 points is a lot.

Diplomats and Confidants

The expansion adds 18 cards and lets you play with up to 6. Placed around the Queen’s table or in an opponent’s domain, the diplomat lets you take another card from that area into your domain (not a guard). The confidant lets you immediately play another card in the same area. It also offers a team mode, for 4 or 6, where each team keeps the lower score of its two players.

How to score Courtisans

Cards in esteemed families

1 point per card in your domain whose family is esteemed. A noble counts as 2 cards.

Cards in fallen from grace families

−1 point per card in your domain whose family is fallen from grace. A noble counts as 2 cards. Neutral families don’t count.

Fulfilled Secret Missions

3 points per Secret Mission card whose condition you meet, 2 at most. A failed mission costs nothing.

Worked example

Emma has 8 cards in esteemed families, including a noble that counts as 2: 9 points. She has 4 cards in fallen from grace families and fulfills one of her two Missions: 9 − 4 + 3 = 8 points.

Common mistakes

• Scoring a neutral family’s cards: they’re worth nothing, plus or minus.
• Counting a noble as one card: it’s worth 2 points, or costs 2.
• Settling family statuses before revealing the spies at the Queen’s table.
• Taking points off for a failed Mission: it costs nothing.
• In team mode: each team keeps the lower score of its two players, not the sum.

How to set up Courtisans

Setup only takes a moment. The number of cards removed depends on the player count; with the expansion, also follow the last part.