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- Rulebook -
Welcome to the days of old, when knights were bold! The Basics
Phases of the game:
Medieval Mayhem is a family-friendly and simple
but addictive card game – a crazy mash of humor, a. Set-up c. Battling
kings, strategy, caricatures, wizards, bluffing, puns, b. Betting d. Scoring
randomness and other nonsense... a1. Each player is dealt a hand of 10 cards, which
he* then splits in any way he likes into exactly five
Split your hand of ten debatably brave characters face-down piles (“armies”). Each pile can have any
into five powerful armies and let them loose on your number of cards, which must be visible to all players.
friends!! Before the battle starts, you will also have a
betting round: the perfect opportunity to bluff and b1. Each player then places a bet on any of the
deceive the other players. armies of his choice – his own or his opponents’.

c1. Now the battle rounds start! Each player selects

Easy to learn but hard to master, Medieval Mayhem one of his own face-down piles. After all players
can be enjoyed by anyone, from the most casual to have made a choice, the piles are revealed and the
the most competitive players. Its simple mechanics strongest army(-ies, in case of a tie) wins the round.
and fast pace make it very easy to learn – in less than
5 minutes you will have a good grasp of the game c2. Repeat this process until any player has won
– but its depth and many decision points offer the a decisive number of rounds (no other player can
more advanced players plenty of opportunities to catch up), or otherwise for the four remaining
bluff and try to out-play their opponents! rounds.

* We could never endorse a gender-neutral language for this

The developers of Medieval Mayhem, rulebook, after all this is a game about medieval times… Note
however that the rules are the same for all players, independently of
their gender – unlike during the dark ages!
Hugo Chaves & Andreea Nae
 10 10
The Characters
c3. If the army you bet on wins the round (or is tied
for the win), you immediately score 1 bonus point!*

d1. At the end of the battles, the player who won 8910 Villagers (x29):
the most rounds scores 2 points!*
Our Villagers are the standard characters of Medieval
d2. Start again and keep playing until any player
Mayhem and represent some of the stereotypes of
reaches 10 points – whoever does so first earns the
medieval society.
title of “Sovereign of Mayhem” and the bragging
rights that come with it!
The number in their shields indicates the strength

0th Edition
they add to their army. If an army is comprised of
Villagers only, its total strength is simply the sum of
its characters.Knight
Which knight invented the ambush?
- Sir Prize!

10

* You can use the D10s included with the game to keep track of each
player’s score.
 King (x3): Assassin (x3):
The King is an almighty ruler who doesn’t take “no” These guys were awful in any army due to their
for an answer! As such, even if he is alone, a King’s debatable trustworthiness – meaning that any army
army is stronger than any regular army! containing an Assassin will be weaker than all
regular armies...
But even powerful Kings have a nemesis, who makes
their armies the weakest… (read on to the Assassin!) Assassins were experts at killing Kings though!* This
means that, if at least one King shows up for battle,
the Assassin‘s army now becomes the strongest!

0th Edition

0th Edition
PRO TIP PRO TIP
The King is one of Kings and Assassins
King the strongest cards Assassin are often played alone,
in the game because because their effects
it weed?
What do you call a king who likes can beat very mostly
Medieval assassins were always a hit override any
strong armies on its with the ladies... Villagers in their army.
- Your Highness!
- They knew how to take them out!
own. Try playing You might also pair
your Kings against them up with side
your opponents’ characters though, as
largest piles, as those these might help you
probably correspond beat other players’
to their strongest Kings or Assassins.
armies!

* So do not even try playing Kings and Assassins together in the same
army!
 Wizard (x3): Courtesan (x2):
We don’t believe in magic, so Wizards’ spells would Courtesans* were the ultimate equalizer of medieval
probably just create more chaos and confusion in society: rich or poor, weak or powerful, all men
battle – in that spirit, when a Wizard shows up for alike desired their company! And all men alike
battle, the rules are reversed: the weakest armies could end up with some debilitating condition as
beat the strongest ones!!* a consequence... True to that, when a Courtesan
A Wizard can never be played alone because it adds is played, ALL other characters lose their special
no strength to its army. It must always be played abilities! Kings, Assassins, Wizards – they all become
together with at least one side character. powerless in the presence of a Courtesan!

0th Edition

0th Edition
PRO TIP PRO TIP
Wizards are almost Courtesans are very
Wizard always paired with
Courtesan good at negating
very weak side the other special
Literacy was so low during medieval Being a courtesan was tough in medieval
times... characters (such as times ... characters but have
weak Villagers or even
- Even wizards could hardly spell! no battle strength of
- They often had to work knights!
Assassins) to make the their own. As such,
most of the Wizard’s it is common to pair
reversal effect and them with strong
transform your Villagers – this way
weakest cards into you build an army
powerful armies! that can defeat almost
anyone!

* This effect also applies to Kings and Assassins. * The name might just be another family-friendly euphemism...
 Sequence of a Game Set-up
1. Arthur (the dealer) shuffles and deals 10 cards to
Arthur the Alchemist, Brom the Blacksmith and Catrain each player.
the Courtesan sit down to play a game. The first one to
reach 10 points will be the winner! 2. All players split their 10 cards into exactly 5 face-
down piles (with at least one card in each pile),
Arthur starts as the dealer, Brom is sitting to his left placed in front of them. The number of cards in each
and Catrain to Brom’s left (so to Arthur’s right). pile has to be clearly visible to all players.
Arthur ROUNDS
WON
Catrain Brom

B C

Phases of the Game

a. Set-up
b. Betting
ROUNDS
c. Battling WON
d. Scoring
A ROUNDS
WON
Betting Battling
A game about dark and chaotic times would not be 4. The first battle round starts: Starting with Brom
complete without a mild incentive to gambling.* (the first player after the dealer) and going clockwise,
each player selects one of his own piles and moves it
3. Starting with Brom (first player after the dealer) forward, still face-down. You can always check your
and proceeding clockwise (Brom > Catrain > Arthur), own piles to see which characters they have – no
each player places his betting crystal on any pile of need to memorize them!
their choice.
ROUNDS
WON
If the army you bet on is among the winners of the
battle it fights, you immediately get 1 bonus point –
even if you don’t own that army!

PRO TIP
Will you place your bet on one of your own
B C
armies? Would you give away your strongest
army or bluff your opponents by betting on the
weakest?

When you have a weaker hand, it might be even

smarter to place your bet on an opponent’s pile –
they have one less incentive to win with it, so you
might still be able to steal the victory... Or claim an
easy bonus point if you don’t! ROUNDS
WON

* No real money involved though: for the sake of family-friendliness!

A ROUNDS
WON
5. All piles are turned face-up and the strongest BATTLING RULES:
army(-ies, if tied) wins the round. If any of the
winning armies had bets placed on them, the bet • The strength of an army is the sum of the
owners immediately claim 1 bonus point each! numbers on the shields of its characters. Special
characters (no number in their shield) add no
To keep track of how many rounds each player won, strength to their army unless stated otherwise.
the winner of each round takes the cards that were
played (split them among the winners in case of a • Any army with a King is stronger than all
draw) and keeps them in face-up stacks by his side. regular armies.

Arthur
10 10 6 2 10 6
Catrain Brom
If multiple Kings are played, only the strongest
ones (if teaming with other side-characters) can 5
win the round.
10 6 10 3

10 10 6 2 10 6

If one or more Assassins

10 also
10 join
6 the battle, then
2 10 6
all armies with Kings5 become weaker than all
regular armies.
PRO TIP 10 6
6
10 3
3 6 5 3
If a player with 9 points wins his bet, that player
gets his bonus point and becomes the winner 10 6 10 3
immediately – not giving his opponents any
further chances to win their own bets or the game!
2 1 2 9 3
6 3 6 3

6 3 6 3
 10 6 10 3
5

10 6 10 3
10 10• Any
6 2 Assassin
army with an 10 is6 weaker than all Kings lose unless Assassins are played and
regular armies. Assassins win unless Kings are played. If multiple
5 10 10 Kings
6 or Assassins62 are played,
10 63 only the weakest
6 3
ones (weakest side-characters, if any) can win the
round.
10 6 10 3 6 5 3 6 3

10 10 6 2 10 6
10 6 10 3
If one or more Kings also join the battle, then all 2 1 2 9 3
10 10armies
6 with Assassins
2 become
10 stronger
6 than all 5
regular armies. • Wizards reverse each other: for example, if two
6 3 6 3
Wizards show up, 2the rules are 1reversed and then
2 9 3
10 6 10 3
If multiple Assassins are 5played, only the strongest reversed again, going back to normal – strongest
ones (if teaming with other side-characters) can army wins!
10win6 the round.
6 3 62 31 2 10 9
10 3

2 2 9 3 2 1 2 10 9
1
6 3 6 3
• The Courtesan negates all other special characters
2 1 2 9 3
– when she is played, the battle boils down to the
6 • If3 one Wizard is 6played the rules
3 are reversed: army with the highest sum.
the weakest army wins! (Wizards add no strength
2 to their
1 army) 2 10 9
2 1 2 9 3

2 1 2 10 9
2 1 2 9 3

2 1 2 10 9
6. The second round starts: now Catrain (to Brom’s Scoring
left) starts and selects her pile first. Play continues
8. After the game ends, the player who won the most
clockwise as before.
rounds scores 2 points. If multiple players are tied
for the most rounds, each of them counts as winner
Each successive round, the starting player is the one
and scores 2 points.
sitting to the left of the previous starting player.
9. The dealer for the next game will be Brom (he sits
to Arthur‘s left). For each successive game, the new
7. The game ends after any player has won a decisive
dealer is the player sitting to the left of the previous
number of rounds (i.e., no other player can win
dealer.
enough rounds to catch up), or otherwise at the end
of the five rounds.
10. Keep playing until the first player reaches 10
points!

PRO TIP
If a player is on the verge of winning a decisive
number of rounds, you should try to play the
pile you bet on as soon as possible, if you haven’t
already – otherwise you might miss your chance
to score your bonus point...

The decisive number of rounds is usually three

because a maximum of five rounds is played.
Note however that if some of the rounds end in
draws, the decisive number might increase.