How to Play

In Basilika you build two things: your deck, and the battlefield itself, laid tile by tile. Then you outmaneuver your opponent across it to capture their King. Here's how a game flows.

Winning the Game

You win by Capturing an opponent's King, or by landing your King on the center of their Archetype. With more than two players, eliminating an opponent gives you control of 3 of their pieces. See Winning & Losing.

In the opponent's corner, their King stands on the center of their Archetype, The Natural. Capture it, or capture it with your King and take the center at once.

Capture the King on its Archetype

Actions3

Select one of your pieces to see where it can move and what it can attack.

Enhance (a). Costs 1 Discard. Promote a Pawn, Knight, or Bishop and fully Heal it.

Bloom (a). Costs 1 Action. Choose 1: • Create a Pawn • Promote a Pawn • Place or Move a Wall

Groundwork (a). Costs 3 HP. Place or Move a Wall. Draw a Card.

The Natural. Retinue: 3 Pawns and 1 Rook. Arch-Perpetual: Whenever your Pieces are Promoted or Demoted, Heal them to Full HP.

Move here
Attack
Not this turn
Can’t: select it to see why
Generate here

Press and hold a square to read its card.Double-click your King to Generate a piece.Double-tap or press and hold your King to Generate a piece.

Here the opponent's King stands off the center. Capture it, or land your King on the center of The Natural: either wins.

Win by Capture or by the Center

Actions3

Select one of your pieces to see where it can move and what it can attack.

Enhance (a). Costs 1 Discard. Promote a Pawn, Knight, or Bishop and fully Heal it.

Bloom (a). Costs 1 Action. Choose 1: • Create a Pawn • Promote a Pawn • Place or Move a Wall

Groundwork (a). Costs 3 HP. Place or Move a Wall. Draw a Card.

The Natural. Retinue: 3 Pawns and 1 Rook. Arch-Perpetual: Whenever your Pieces are Promoted or Demoted, Heal them to Full HP.

Move here
Attack
Not this turn
Can’t: select it to see why
Generate here

Press and hold a square to read its card.Double-click your King to Generate a piece.Double-tap or press and hold your King to Generate a piece.

Capturing a King

Reduce an opponent's King to 0 HP to Capture it. A player with more than one King loses when any one of them is captured.

Occupying the Opponent's Archetype

Land your King on the center of an opponent's Archetype tile.

Every detail is in the Rules: Winning & Losing.