Bethel Woods Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Aim of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay Overview
• Worker and Malfunction Types
• Moving Workers
• Fixing Malfunctions
• Uncovering Spies
• Constructing the Daydreamer
• Using Character Abilities
• End of Turn
• Placing Malfunctions
• Placing Spies
• Critical Conditions
• Winning the Game
• Losing the Game
• Increasing the Difficulty

Aim of the Game

The aim is for all players to co-operate in moving 6 Workers with the required Knowledge into the Orphanage to construct the Daydreamer and save the inhabitants of Bethel Woods. All players either win or lose together.

Components

• 12 Workers (3 of each): Mechanic, Engineer, Technician, Electrician
• 84 Malfunctions
• 6 Spies
• 1 Main Board
• 8 Character Boards (Player Aids on reverse)
• 6 Daydreamer Tiles
• 6 Critical Tiles

Also included, but not pictured:

• 1 Drawstring Bag
• 1 Quick Reference Guide

Setup

Follow these easy steps to setup Bethel Woods:

1. Place the Main Board in the centre of the playing area.
2. Shuffle and randomly place 1 Critical Tile facedown next to each of the 6 Machines surrounding the Orphanage. These should be placed along the edge of the Main Board.
3. Stack the Daydreamer Tiles facedown in the centre of the board. Tiles should be stacked in numerical order, based on the icons shown on each tile (lowest on the top, highest on the bottom).
4. Place 2 Workers directly onto each of the 6 Machines surrounding the Orphanage. The Workers' colours should match the colours shown next to each Machine's number. For example, Machine 5 should receive 1 Engineer and 1 Electrician.
5. Shuffle all 6 Spies and place them in a facedown pile near the Main Board. This is known as the Spy Stack.
6. Mix up all Malfunctions inside the bag. Allow space for a discard pile next to the Main Board.
7. One at a time, draw 6 Malfunctions and place them next to their associated Machines (numbers on Malfunctions should match the Machine numbers when placed). Should placing a Malfunction cause 4 to appear on a single Machine, return the last Malfunction to the bag and draw a replacement. There should not be more than 3 Malfunctions on any Machine when starting the game.
8. Shuffle and deal 1 Character Board faceup to each player. Each Character has a unique ability they may use throughout the game. These will each be explained in detail later. Unused Character Boards may be turned over to act as Player Aids during the game, or returned to the box if not required.
9. Randomly choose a starting player.

Gameplay Overview

From the starting player, each player takes their turn in full, followed by the player to their left (clockwise).

On their turn:

• Players must Move Workers and may optionally Fix Malfunctions with each Worker they place.
• They may also use their last Worker to either Uncover a Spy, or Construct the Daydreamer.
• In addition to this, they may also use their unique Character Ability once each turn.

After each player's turn:

• They will Place New Malfunctions.
• They may also need to Place a Spy or resolve any Critical Conditions.

Worker and Malfunction Types

Each of the 4 Worker types are skilled in fixing just 1 type of Machine Malfunction.

• Mechanics fix Mechanical Malfunctions
• Engineers fix Structural Malfunctions
• Technicians fix Digital Malfunctions
• Electricians fix Electrical Malfunctions

Note: The Malfunction numbers in these examples are not important.

Moving Workers

On their turn, the current player must pick up all the Workers from any 1 Machine. From that Machine, they then move either clockwise or anticlockwise (they cannot do both in the same turn), along the paths between adjacent Machines and the Orphanage.

As they move to an adjacent Machine (or to the Orphanage with their last Worker), they must drop off a chosen Worker from their hand. They continue doing this (moving in the same direction they started), until they have placed all the Workers from their hand. There is no limit to how many Workers may be on any 1 Machine.

For example, the player to the right picked up 2 Workers from Machine 1 and placed the Technician on Machine 6 and the Electrician on Machine 5. Alternatively they could have moved clockwise, placing them on Machines 2 and 3 or moved a different group of Workers altogether.

Fixing Malfunctions

As Workers are moved onto different Machines, they may immediately fix a number of Malfunctions. When placing a Worker, they activate all Workers of their type on that Machine. Each activated Worker may fix up to 1 Malfunction of their type.

For example, if an Electrician is placed on a Machine where no other Electricians are present, they may fix up to 1 Electrical Malfunction on that Machine. However, if there were already 2 other Electricians present, they could together fix up to 3 Electrical Malfunctions.

In the previous example on page 4, the current player could have fixed up to 2 Digital Malfunctions on Machine 6 and 1 Electrical Malfunction on Machine 5.

When fixing Malfunctions, the current player removes them from the Main Board and places them next to their Character Board. This is now referred to as their Knowledge. Players have immediate access to any Knowledge they acquire (it can be acquired and put to use in the same turn).

At the end of each turn, players are each limited to retaining a maximum of 7 Knowledge. If a player ends a turn with more Knowledge than they can retain, they must discard Knowledge of their choosing, faceup to the discard pile (it should not be put back into the bag).

Uncovering Spies

While fixing Malfunctions and gaining Knowledge, Spies will also be trying to infiltrate Bethel Woods and mess with your plans. After each turn, more Malfunctions and sometimes a Spy will be placed on the Main Board. How Spies affect Machines will be explained in detail on page 9. For now, just know that Spies are not good for your mission.

On their turn, players may uncover 1 Spy on the Machine where they place their last Worker. To uncover a Spy, the current player must discard 2 Knowledge from their Character Board. The specific Knowledge they must discard is indicated by the icons on each Spy (1 of each type is required). These icons can also be found next to each Machine's number on the Main Board's edge. Discarded Knowledge should be placed faceup in the Malfunction discard pile.

For example, if a player placed their last Worker on Machine 6 and a Spy was present, they could discard 1 Mechanical and 1 Digital Knowledge to uncover the Spy.

After discarding the required Knowledge, 1 Spy can be removed from that Machine. The removed Spy is then placed facedown at the bottom of the Spy Stack.

Constructing the Daydreamer

There are 6 sections of the Orphanage where players need to place Workers to construct the Daydreamer and win the game. Each section is connected by a path to an adjacent Machine.

Rather than placing their last Worker onto a Machine to fix Malfunctions and/or uncover Spies, players may instead move it onto an empty, adjacent section of the Orphanage.

Workers cannot be moved onto a section where there is already a Worker present. Once a Worker has been placed onto the Orphanage, it is locked there for the remainder of the game.

To move a Worker into the Orphanage, players will need to equip them with a certain amount of Knowledge. This Knowledge must be present on the current player's Character Board and must be of the same type as the Worker placed (Electrician with Electrical Knowledge). Note that each section of the Orphanage only allows 2 of the 4 Worker types to be placed (as indicated by the icons on the Orphanage).

The amount of Knowledge required increases for each Worker placed. The first Worker to enter the Orphanage needs only 1 Knowledge, the 2nd needs 2, the 3rd needs 3 and so on. These amounts are indicated on the backs of each Daydreamer Tile.

When placing a Worker in the Orphanage, the current player must discard the required Knowledge from their Character Board. This should be placed faceup in the Malfunction discard pile. After doing so, turn over the top Daydreamer Tile and place it faceup next to the Board. As each Daydreamer Tile gets removed, they should be placed in a 3x2 grid to form a picture of the Daydreamer.

For example, the player to the right picked up 3 Workers from Machine 5 and placed an Engineer on Machine 6, fixing 1 Structural Malfunction. Then they placed an Electrician on Machine 1, fixing 1 Electrical Malfunction. After this they placed their final Worker (an Electrician) onto the top section of the Orphanage (rather than onto Machine 2). They discarded 1 Electrical Knowledge and constructed the first part of the Daydreamer.

Using Character Abilities

Each player is dealt a Character Board during setup. Each Character has a unique ability that players may use once per turn. Players cannot use their Character abilities on other players' turns, or while placing Malfunctions or Spies (this is considered between turns and not part of a specific player's turn). Each Character's ability is described below:

• Nova: She may substitute a single required Knowledge with 1 of a different type when constructing the Daydreamer.
• Harris: Once per turn, he may discard 1 Knowledge to move 1 Worker of the same type from 1 Machine, to any other Machine. Note: He does not fix any Malfunctions while taking this action.
• Junas: Once per turn, he may discard 1 Knowledge to give 1 or 2 Knowledge of the same type to another player. If the receiving player then exceeds their Knowledge limit, they must immediately discard down to that limit.
• Linny: Once per turn, she may discard 1 Knowledge to remove 1 Malfunction of the same number from the Main Board. The removed Malfunction is placed in the discard pile.
• Violet: Once per turn, she may discard any 2 Knowledge of the same type to place 2 fewer Malfunctions after her turn.
• Fenn: He may substitute a single required Knowledge with 1 of a different type when uncovering a Spy.
• Rone: He may discard any 2 different Knowledge to avoid placing Malfunctions on a chosen Machine after his turn. He must declare which Machine will be protected before any Malfunctions are drawn. If any Malfunctions for that Machine are drawn, they are immediately placed into the faceup Malfunction discard pile.
• Fare: She may discard any 1 additional Knowledge to uncover a Spy on a Machine adjacent to her last Worker. Note: She is still limited to uncovering just one Spy each turn.

End of Turn

After moving Workers and taking any desired actions, the current player's turn is over. Additional Malfunctions and sometimes a Spy will then be placed. After this, the next player (to the left of the previous player) will take their turn. This pattern continues until players either win or lose the game.

Placing Malfunctions

After each player's turn, 3 Malfunctions are taken at random from the bag and added to the Main Board. These should be revealed and placed 1 at a time. Each Malfunction has a printed number. This indicates which Machine to place it next to (always place Malfunctions in the areas between each Machine and the edge of the Main Board).

If placing a Malfunction causes a Machine to go critical (there are more than 3 Malfunctions on that Machine, or more than 2 Malfunctions and 1 Spy), the Critical Tile for that Machine is immediately turned over. These effects will be explained in detail later. Some critical conditions may alter how future Malfunctions are placed. This is why Malfunctions must be revealed and placed, 1 at a time.

For example, below we can see that new Malfunctions have just been placed on Machines 1 and 4. This has resulted in Machine 1 having more than 3 Malfunctions. The Critical Tile for Machine 1 has now been turned faceup.

Placing Spies

A Spy is placed if at least 1 Machine goes critical while placing Malfunctions. If this is true, reveal the Spy from the top of the Spy Stack. Place the revealed Spy on their associated Machine (the printed number on the Spy).

Spies should be placed alongside any Malfunctions. Only place a Spy once all Malfunctions have been placed this turn.

For example, after Machine 1 went critical, a Spy took advantage of the turmoil and managed to sneak in. The Spy made his way into Machine 5.

Once placed, a Spy will reduce the critical limit of their associated Machine by 1. So rather than a Machine going critical when more than 3 Malfunctions present, it will go critical when there more than 2. In other words, Spies count towards the critical limit. Therefore, Machines with Spies present are harder to maintain and more likely to go critical.

Note: Spies always leave from the top of the Spy Stack and return to the bottom.

Critical Conditions

When a Machine has more than 3 Malfunctions (or 2 Malfunctions and 1 Spy), it goes into a critical state. Once this happens, immediately turn over the Machine's Critical Tile. Once a Machine has 3 or less (by fixing Malfunctions or uncovering a Spy), the Critical Tile is immediately turned back over and its effect no longer active.

Each of the 6 unique critical conditions are explained below:

• Players are limited to retaining only 6 Knowledge between turns. Any time this Critical Tile is revealed, all players must discard down to 6 Knowledge immediately. Also, players cannot retain more than 6 Knowledge at the end of any player's turn while this critical condition is still active.
• Any further Malfunctions on this Machine are placed on the next non-critical Machine in a clockwise manner. This critical condition is activated immediately. For example, the 1st Malfunction was placed on Machine 3, causing it to go critical. The 2nd Malfunction drawn was also for Machine 3. However, it was instead placed on Machine 5, as Machine 4 was also critical.
• Players require 1 additional Knowledge when sending Workers to the Orphanage to construct the Daydreamer. As long as this condition is active, players must use 1 additional Knowledge of the same type when constructing the Daydreamer. Therefore, if they planned to send a Mechanic in with 4 Mechanical Knowledge, they would instead need 5. It is possible for players to remove this critical condition (by fixing Malfunctions) and send in a Worker without requiring the additional Knowledge on the same turn.
• Players require 1 additional Knowledge to uncover a Spy. The additional Knowledge can be of any type. Only the first 2 must match the required types. As with constructing the Daydreamer, players may also deactivate this critical condition and remove a Spy in the same turn without requiring the additional Knowledge.
• Players are required to discard any 1 Knowledge before using their unique character ability.
• Place 1 additional Malfunction when placing Malfunctions. This becomes active as soon as it is revealed. Therefore, any additional Malfunctions should be placed in the same turn as it is revealed. However, if this is revealed due to placing a Spy, no additional Malfunction is placed that turn.

Winning the Game

To successfully win the game, players must construct the Daydreamer. They do this by moving 6 Workers into the Orphanage with increasing amounts of Knowledge (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

If players manage to do this, they immediately win the game, saving all the inhabitants of the Orphanage!

Note: Players can win the game while having more than 3 Machines in a critical state (the win condition activates before the lose condition).

Losing the Game

There are 3 ways for players to lose the game:

1. If there are not enough Malfunctions in the bag when placing Malfunctions.
2. If at the end of any player's turn, there are 4 or more critical Machines.
3. If at any point, all 6 Spies are on the Main Board.

Increasing the Difficulty

If you want more of a challenge, try adding 1 or more Spies to the Main Board during setup. To do this, follow these additional steps during setup:

• 5 b: From the top of the Spy Stack, reveal and place the desired number of Spies.
• 7 b: Be sure not to place more than 2 Malfunctions on Machines with a Spy present. No Machine should be in a critical state when starting the game.

Difficulty Level	Spies Added
Hard	1-2
Insane	3-4
Impossible	5