Castle Dice Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Game Setup
• Play Mat
• Player Mat Descriptions
• Game Play
  • Determine Who Goes First
  • Choose and Draw Cards
  • Choose Extra Dice
  • All Dice Rolled; World Formed
  • Gathering Resources
  • Go to Market
  • Workers Produce
  • Merchants Work
  • Build
  • Barbarians Raid
  • End the Turn
• Winning the Game
• Animal Special Powers
• Villager Powers
• Playing Cards
• FAQ and Card Questions/Details
• Credits
• Solo Play
  • What dice does Joan roll?
  • What dice does Joan take when it's time for her to gather?
  • What does Joan do with those animals?

Goal of the Game

Players have 7 turns to build the most majestic and prosperous castle they can. After the 7th turn, the game ends and the player with the most victory points from their Castle cards, Market cards, and game-end points wins!

Game Setup

• Each player gets a player mat and 5 Tracker beads to track their resources. Place the tracker beads on the icons for Wood, Stone, Gold, Land, and Iron.
• Shuffle each of the Village Deck, Castle Deck, and Market Deck and place them within all players' reach.
• Place a Tracking bead on the Turn Tracker, Turn 1.
• The trays for the Resource Dice, Villager Tokens, and Animal Tokens serves as a bank.
• The center of the table is the "World Pool" which is where most resource dice go when they are rolled.
• You are now ready to play Castle Dice!

Tip: It is helpful to have one player manage the dice bank, and another player manage the Animal and Villager tokens - giving them to players when needed.

Play Mat

The player mat has the following areas:

• A. Resource Silo
• B. Animal Barn
• C. Barbarian Camp
• D. Turn Order Reminder
• E. Farmer's Fields
• F. Merchant's Stand
• G. Worker's Area
• H. Guard Posts

Card Layout: each card shows its Play Step, its Resource Cost(s), the Card Name, its Victory Point Value, and its Card Effect (if any).

Player Mat Descriptions

Resource Silo — In this area you track the resources you have collected. There are five resources to collect. From most common to most rare, they are: Wood, Stone, Gold, Land and Iron. You may never have more than 9 of any single resource. At the beginning of the game you start with zero resources. Resources that are left over at the end of your turn stay on your mat for following turns.

Animal Barn — When you gather Animals, stack them in this area. Having the most of a certain Animal gives an advantage during game play.

Barbarian Camp — When you roll Barbarians in step 4, put them here. Barbarians act after you build, draining resources away from your Resources Silo. Barbarians are removed at the end of the Turn.

Farmer's Fields — A Farmer is a type of Villager. When you build a Farmer, put a Villager Token in this area. You may build up to 3 Farmers during the game.

Merchant's Stand — A Merchant is a type of Villager. When you build a Merchant, put a Villager Token in this area. You may build up to 3 Merchants during the game.

Worker's Area — A Worker is a type of Villager. When you build a Worker, put a Villager Token in this area. Workers must be placed in the most common resources before they can be placed in rarer resources.

• 1st Worker - Wood
• 2nd Worker - Stone
• 3rd Worker - Gold
• 4th Worker - Land
• 5th Worker - Iron

Guard Posts — A Guard is a type of Villager. When you build a Guard, put a Villager Token in this area. The Guard is placed next to a resource of your choice.

Game Play

Castle Dice is a game of turns. During each turn, players draw cards, roll dice, gather resources, build parts of their castle, and get raided by Barbarians. Each turn follows this order:

1. Determine who goes first
2. Choose and draw cards
3. Pick "Choice Dice"
4. Roll Dice: World formed
5. Gather resources
6. Go to Market
7. Workers Produce
8. Merchant Work
9. Build
10. Barbarians Raid

Determine Who Goes First

To begin the game, each player rolls two Wood dice. The player with the most Wood resources rolled goes first, with play proceeding clockwise.

At the beginning of each turn after the first, the player with the most Horses goes first. If no player has the most Horses, then the player to the left of the player that went first the previous turn goes first.

Choose and Draw Cards

Starting with the first player, players choose and draw cards into their hand. The first player performs the following actions, followed by each other player in clockwise order:

• Discard any cards you want that are in your hand (cards left over from last turn).
• Choose how many cards you want to draw from the Castle deck and how many you want to draw from the Village deck so that after you draw, you will have a total of 5 cards in your hand.
• Draw cards from the appropriate decks. (If either deck runs out, reshuffle the cards in the deck's discard pile to make a new draw deck.)

NOTE: Market cards that you got in previous turns (the small ones) don't count towards your hand size. If you have the most Chickens during this step, you have your hand size raised from 5 to 6.

Example: Steve has 3 cards left from last turn. He chooses to discard 2 of them, leaving him with 1. He then declares that he wants to draw 3 cards from the Village deck and 1 from the Castle deck. After declaring, he draws the appropriate cards so that he has 5 total cards in his hand.

Choose Extra Dice

After all players have drawn their cards for the turn, each player takes the dice listed on the turn tracker for that turn. Starting with the player who is going first and going clockwise, each player then chooses a number of extra "Choice" dice (the number of choice dice is listed on the turn tracker next to the blue cube). These choice dice can be of whatever dice type the player likes as long as there are still some of that type remaining in the Dice Bank. After dice are chosen, the player with the most Cows can activate the Villager Choice ability (see Villager Powers).

Example: It is turn 2. All players takes 1 Wood die, 1 Stone die and 2 Gold dice. Carol (who is going first this turn) then decides for her 3 Choice Dice that she would like 2 more Gold dice and 1 Land die. She adds these to her other dice and waits to roll them until all other players have picked their Choice dice.

All Dice Rolled; World Formed

After all dice are chosen, all players roll their dice simultaneously. Any Barbarians a player rolls are added to that player's Barbarians Camp on their mat. All other resources and Animals rolled are pooled into the center of the table, forming the world from which all players will gather their resources.

Example: One of the Gold dice comes up Barbarian. It moves to the player mat and the other dice are moved into the world pool.

Gathering Resources

Starting with the first player, players pick one die from the world pool to Gather. If the die chosen has a resource on it, then the resource(s) shown on that die are added to the player's Resource Silo and the dice is put back into the bank. If the die chosen has an Animal on it, then the player takes the appropriate Animal token from the bank and adds it to the matching part of the Animal Barn on the player's mat and the die is put back into the bank.

Players continue Gathering dice in a clockwise order until no more dice remain in the world pool. After the last die is gathered, go on to the next step.

Pork Chop: During the Gathering Phase, the player with the most Pigs may perform a Pork Chop. See Animal Special Powers.

Cards: Many cards can be played during the Gathering Phase. These cards will have a blue hand in the upper left corner.

Go to Market

After the last resource die is taken out of the world pool, the player who went first this turn decides if he wants to trade in a set(s) of Animals for a Market card(s) or not. If he does, the player moves one of each Animal (Horse, Pig, Cow, Chicken) from his mat back to the bank and draw 1 card from the Market deck for each set moved this way. Then the next player chooses and so on until each player has had a chance to trade in for Market cards (once around the table). Market cards do NOT count against your hand size!

Turns 3, 5, and 7 are holidays and all sets of Animals that can be turned in for Market cards must be turned in. On these turns, a player cannot choose to not turn in a set if they have enough Animals.

Workers Produce

Each of your Workers produce one extra resource of the type it is on. Move that resource tracker to represent the additional resource.

Merchants Work

Once for each Merchant you have, you may discard a resource to gain a resource that is one level rarer.

Examples: Greg has 2 Merchants. He lowers his Wood by one to raise his Stone by one, and then discards a Stone to get a Gold. Alex also has 2 Merchants. He lowers his Stone by one to add a Gold, then lowers his Land by one to get himself an Iron.

Build

After the Merchants have worked, players may build Villagers and buildings from their hand. Players may play as many cards as they can build from their collected resources. All cards that can be played during this Phase have a blue castle in the upper left corner.

If order of play is necessary for a decision, play rotates clockwise starting with the first player, 99.9% of the time it won't matter, so all players can act at the same time.

Building Parts of your Castle: To build part of your castle (Tall Keep, Strong Tower, Gatehouse, Guardhouse, Wall, Royal Chambers, Deep Moat), pay the card's cost in resources and place the card next to your Playmat.

Building a Villager: To build a Villager (Guard, Merchant, Worker, Farmer), pay the card's cost in resources and then place a Villager token in the correct area of your playmat. (Workers to the most common resource without a Worker already, Guards to any resource without a Guard, Farmers and Merchants go to their respective areas). You may not build more than 3 Merchants, 3 Farmer, 5 Workers, and/or 5 Guards. After you place your Villager, put the card into the Village deck discard pile.

Barbarians Raid

After a player has finished building, the Barbarians Raid. For each Barbarian a player has on their mat, he must reduce all of his resources that don't have a Guard on them by one. Then return the Barbarian dice to the bank.

Tip: A guard placed on a resource protects that resource from being pillaged. You do not lose any of that resource when Barbarians Raid.

Example: Bill has 2 Barbarians, so he must reduce each of his resources by 2. Since he can't ever go lower than zero, he loses 2 Wood, 2 Gold and 1 Iron. He doesn't lose any of his Land, because he has a Guard there.

End the Turn

After Barbarians have raided, the turn ends, move the turn tracker to the next turn and go back to Determine who Goes First.

Winning the Game

At the end of the 7th turn, players reveal any "Bard" Market cards and count Animals and Villagers. The player with the most Animals gets a Victory Point. The player with the most Villagers gets a Victory Point. If there is a tie, no Victory Points are awarded. Players add these points to the Victory Points provided by any Castle parts they have built and "Bard" Market cards (which are each worth 1 Victory Point). The player with the most Victory Points wins! If there is a tie for Victory Points, then the player with the most of the rarest resource wins (most Iron, if that is tied, most Land etc…).

End Game Victory Points:

• Most Animals: 1
• Most Villagers: 1
• Each Bard: 1
• Built Castle Parts: (value printed on each Castle card)

Animal Special Powers

In addition to being traded in for Market cards, Animals also grant a special power to the player that has the most of each type (in the case of a tie, no player gets the special power). Players don't discard animals to use these powers, so as long as a player has the most of a particular animal, that player will continue to get the special power.

• Horse — The player with the most Horses goes first.
• Chicken — The player with the most Chickens has their hand size raised from 5 to 6.
• Cow — The player with the most Cows can change one of his Villagers (Worker, Farmer, Merchant, or Guard) to any other type after choosing which dice to roll for the turn. This is called the Villager Choice ability.
• Pig — The Player with the most Pigs gets to "Pork Chop" once per turn. This lets the player change a die in the world to any face he wants before gathering it. After the Pork Chop has been used, that player must skip all the rest of his gatherings for the turn. Pigs grant 1 Pork Chop per turn, so if the player with the most Pigs changes during the gathering phase, the new leader can't Pork Chop if some other player has already used a Pork Chop granted by having the most Pigs. The card "Daughter" provides a Pork Chop as well, so it is possible for one player to use a Pork Chop from pigs and another player to use a Pork Chop from the Daughter card, but it's not possible for two players to use Pork Chops from pigs.

Villager Powers

• Worker — Workers produce one of whatever resource they are on during the appropriate game phase.
• Merchant — Merchants let you trade one resource for one that is one higher (but not lower).
• Guard — Guards protect a resource from Barbarians.
• Farmer — Farmers help you gain more and/or different Animals when you gather an Animal. You may only use your Farmer ability one time per turn no matter how many farmers you have. The ability is based on how many Farmers you have when you use the ability. See the chart below.

Farmer Abilities

• 1 Farmer - collect an additional Animal of the same type (2 total)
• 2 Farmers - collect an additional Animal of any type (2 total)
• 3 Farmers - collect 2 of any type of Animal instead of what you gathered (2 total)

Playing Cards

Cards are played at various times during the turn. Each card has an icon in the upper left corner that lets you know which game Phase it is played in. The text will tell you what the card does.

To play a card, show it to the other players when appropriate, do what it says, and put the card in that deck's discard pile, or leave it next to your mat if it is part of your castle or it says that it remains in play.

Some cards have a resource cost. To play these cards you must have enough resources of the appropriate type on your mat. When you play these cards, you first reduce your resources on the mat by the cards cost.

Cards from the Market Deck play just like cards from the Village and Castle decks, the only difference it that they don't count towards your hand size.

Buildings, Bards and Volunteers stay in play near your mat. Other Action Cards are discarded after being played.

You can build more than one of a type of building and their abilities are cumulative. Examples:

• If you have two Royal Chambers, you get two extra Choice Dice!
• If you have two Deep Moats, you may use that ability two times per Gathering Phase.

The text on each card states what the card does. If you have any questions, go to www.funto11.com/castledice where we'll have a running FAQ, learn to play videos, and strategy tips!

FAQ and Card Questions/Details

Q: What happens if you want to choose a die to roll and there aren't any more of that die in the Dice Bank? A: There is a limited number of each die, if there aren't any more of the die you want left to choose, you must choose a different die.

Q: What happens if you gather an animal, but there are no more of that animal token left (very rare situation)? A: Take an animal of the same type from a player of your choice.

Q: When exactly does the Villager Choice ability work (for having the most cows)? A: After you choose your dice, but before you roll them.

Q: If no one has the most horses, who goes first? A: The player to the left of the player who went first the previous turn goes first in that situation.

Q: What is "a Gather"? A: A gather is the act of taking a single die from the world pool and adding the resources or the Animal to your tracker.

Credits

• Game Design: Luke Peterschmidt
• Graphic Design: Jay Hernishin
• Logo: Susie Hernishin
• Production Coordination: Kai Nesbit & David Freeman
• Staff Exotic Dancer & Rodeo Clown: Rob Noss
• Super Helpful Intern: Josh Brekke
• Solo Play Mastermind: Mike Mullins
• Art: Sam Cube & Nate Lovett

Castle Dice © 2012 Fun to 11

Solo Play

To play the single player version, set the game up as if there are two players. One play mat is for you, and one is for your opponent. We'll call your opponent Joan, because that's my mom's name and she's good at games. You'll also need the single player die (the one with printing on it, not one of the molded resource dice).

The flow of the game is the same. You'll still have 7 turns to score as many Victory Points as you can. However, instead of counting Joan's Victory Points, check the chart at the bottom to see if you won.

Joan will not have a hand of cards, and on her play mat the only thing you'll be tracking are her animals (and her priority resource: see below).

What dice does Joan roll?

When it's time for Joan to pick her choice dice, roll the single player die one time for each choice she gets and add that type of die to the pool. If you roll the Barn icon, then she will take another copy of whatever her last dice choice was, or if it's her first roll for the turn, she'll take another copy of whatever she rolls next. If she only rolls Barns, then keep rolling until you roll something different and all her dice will be of that type.

On Joan's play mat, place a token on whatever resource she took the most of for the turn. If she took 1 each of several different ones, then put the token on the rarest resource that she took. This token marks what her 'priority resource' is for the turn.

What dice does Joan take when it's time for her to gather?

If there are any of her priority resource available, she takes the highest multiple available of those (so she'll take 2 Iron before 1 Iron).

If there are none of her priority resource when it's Joan's turn to gather, then roll the single player die. She gathers whatever resource comes up on the roll. If she rolls the Barn, she takes an animal in the following priority: any animal that completes a set, followed by Pigs, then Horses, then Chickens, then Cows. If she gets an animal, put the animal token on her play mat. If she gets a resource, just remove the die – no need to track her resources.

If the resource rolled is not available (or she rolls the Barn when there are no animals), then she will take the rarest multiple resource. If there are no multiple resources, she'll take the rarest single resource.

What does Joan do with those animals?

The only animal Joan gets the benefit from having the most of is the Horse, but you will still need to have more than her for you to get any of the animal bonuses. Joan will Go to the Market on all the holiday turns (3, 5, and 7). Give her a Market card – no need to look at it. At the end of the game, each of her Market cards reduces your Victory Point total by 1.

Your turns are just like normal. You choose dice, draw cards, track resources, and build things. After 7 turns, check your victory point total with this chart and see how you did!

VP Scored	Result
0-5	Major Loss
6-8	Loss
9-10	Win
11-12	Major Win
13+	Epic Win!