Land of Clans is a confrontational pattern building and hand management game, set in the medieval Scottish highlands. All players try to build castles on land they claim, and the game ends when someone has built four of them. Castles of different sizes score differently, and the winner is the player with the highest total score. Often the winner is the player with four castles, but not always.

The game is played with cards, where each card shows a land symbol matching a space on the board. Further some of the cards show a sword that can be used for attacking castles, some show a shield that can be used for defending the same castles, and some show both a sword and a shield symbol. The players only hold five cards each, so hand management is required.

The game play can be divided into two parts: the peaceful claiming of land and building of castles, and the aggressive conquering of castles built by the opponents. The claiming is very straightforward: at any point in the game, four separate castle patterns are available. On your turn, play a card from your hand and claim a matching space on the game board. You try to claim spaces that create the available patterns. As soon as one of the patterns is built, the player can place a castle tile over those spaces. By claiming spaces next to an opponent’s castle tile, you open the possibility of attacking it for yourself. To attack a castle you also play one or more cards from your hand. But now the only thing that matters is whether the cards you hold show the attacker’s sword symbol or not. Play and discard as many sword cards as you want, and hope the defender is not holding enough shields to stop your attack. If the attack is successful, the castle’s ownership changes. May the most cunning clan chief win!