CHAINsomnia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Game Overview
• Game Setup
• Character Boards
• The Characters
  • Ryan
  • Chloe
  • Isaac
  • Charlotte
  • Vane
  • Timi
• Cards
  • Item Cards
  • Event Cards
• Castle Deck
• Gameplay
  • 1. Players' Turns
    • a) Explore a New Room
    • About Event Cards
    • Defeating Bad Dreams
    • b) Move to an Adjacent Room
    • c) Search a Secret Nook
    • About Item Cards
    • d) Use an Item
    • e) Give an Item
    • f) Give or Take Chains
      • Chains and Cages
    • g) Use an Ability
• End of the Game
  • Victory
  • Defeat
• Playing with 1 to 3 Players
  • Playing Solo
  • Playing with 2 Players
  • Playing with 3 Players
• Tips
• FAQ

Contents

• Action Overview cards x4
• Character boards x6
• Character tiles x6
• AP markers x6
• Chain tokens x30
• First Player token x1
• Dice x3
• Item cards x20
• Event cards x40
• Room tiles x22
• Rulebook x1
• Mystery Envelope x1

Game Overview

You are a group of children, captives of the Daemon and his castle. Within the walls of this castle with its countless rooms, the Daemon stands ready to play every possible trick on you to keep you from escaping.

Each time one of the children is frightened, their soul is wrapped in spirit chains that tighten more and more.

As the vise tightens, the children's souls are drawn closer and closer to the Daemon's Spirit Cages - there, their souls will be trapped for eternity, unable to act until they are soothed.

Moreover, if the children stay too long within the castle grounds, they risk languishing in the Daemon's Cages... forever.

Explore the castle together to carry out the investigation, and use the children's abilities and the items you find along the way to reach the exit and escape your nightmares!

Game Setup

1. A character is assigned to each player. You may choose your favorite character or choose at random. (See "The Characters" on page 7.) Take the Board and the Tile of your character as well as an Action Overview card, and place them in front of you. (The Action Overview card lists the actions available during your turn. It also serves to place your Item cards, good omen Event cards and bad omen Event cards.) Return any unused boards or tiles to the game box.

2. Take 2 Chain Tokens and place them in the first two spaces of your Chain Gauge. Place the rest of the tokens within reach of the players - you will add them to or remove them from your board as the game goes on to indicate the length of your chain. Place the dice in the center. They are used for Research Tests and Victory Tests.

3. Take the AP Marker matching your character and place it on the space of your AP Gauge corresponding to the first visible number on your Chain Gauge. (Example: the first visible number is 3, so place the AP marker on 3.)

4. Place the CHAINsomnia tile face up in the center of the table and place all the character tiles on it.

5. Castle deck.

   Normal Mode: Take the 20 Room Tiles (except the "Wake Up!" and CHAINsomnia tiles) and shuffle them face down. Then remove the first 4 tiles from the stack and, without looking at their faces, put them back in the box. The 16 remaining tiles are your Castle deck. Add the "Wake Up!" tile to the end of the deck, face up.

   Beginner Mode: Beginner Mode is a quick-play version of the game that suits players for whom this is the first game. If you have already survived Beginner Mode or if you would like to try the normal difficulty level, refer to the "Normal Mode" section above. Take the 20 Room Tiles (except the "Wake Up!" and CHAINsomnia tiles) and shuffle them face down. Draw the first 5 tiles of the stack and, without looking at their faces, make a Castle deck. Add the "Wake Up!" tile to the end of the deck, .

Important! If you are playing with 1-3 players, see the section "Playing with 1 to 3 Players" on page 17.

That is the end of game setup! You are now ready to storm the castle!

Setup example for 4 players (illustration): each player has their board and Action Overview card; the CHAINsomnia tile with the character tiles on it is in the center; the Castle deck (Room), Item deck and Event deck each have a discard area; dice and Chain tokens are within reach; the First Player token is beside the first player.

Character Boards

Example: Ryan's board.

1. Chain Gauge. Frightening events increase the length of your gauge's Chain. If the Chain reaches the Cage, you will be trapped and unable to act (see "Cages and Chains" on page 17).
2. Action Points (AP). AP are spent each turn to perform actions. The highest visible number on your Chain Gauge at the start of your turn is the number of AP you get to perform actions that turn.
3. Attributes. There are 3 attributes: Strength, Intelligence and Luck. These attributes are used when searching Secret Nooks and to defeat "Bad Dream" cards. They vary for each character.
4. Abilities. Each character has unique Abilities. They will be useful to you in the various situations you encounter while escaping the castle.
5. AP Gauge. This gauge indicates the number of AP (action points) you can still spend during your turn. At the start of your turn, place the AP Marker on the space matching the highest number visible on your Chain Gauge (see 2). Lower it by 1 for each AP used.

The Characters

These are the children who have been captured and locked in the castle of nightmares. If this is your first game, the difficulty level matching each character will help you choose the one that suits you.

Ryan

Difficulty: 1 dot (of 3)

Illegitimate son of the king, he was born outside the royal family and spent his childhood in the slums. His charisma and royal bearing, inherited from his father, make him a natural leader.

Ability: Secret Royal Command. Spend 1 AP to move any character to a Room Tile occupied by another character.

*Ryan can even move characters from or to a Room Tile occupied by a Bad Dream card.

Chloe

Difficulty: 1 dot (of 3)

Daughter of a cabaret singer, her voice is as beautiful as her mother's - so pure that it can annihilate a demon.

Ability: Melody of a Brilliant Singer. Spend 1 AP to discard a Bad Dream card from an adjacent Room Tile.

*Can only be used once per turn.

Isaac

Difficulty: 1 dot (of 3)

Son of a millionaire businessman. He gets around in a wheelchair and makes use of his exceptional luck to seize every opportunity that comes his way.

Ability: Fortune of a Bold Entrepreneur. When you roll the dice, you may roll 3 and choose 2 to use.

Charlotte

Difficulty: 2 dots (of 3)

A prodigy child born into a family of scholars. Her intelligence is so vast that she can foresee and avoid future calamities.

Ability: Vision of a Young Sage. When you draw Event or Item cards, you may draw up to 3, choose 1 to keep, and put the other 2 back on top of the deck in any order.

Vane

Difficulty: 2 dots (of 3)

Son of an aristocrat crumbling under debts. He has lost everything except the pride of nobility - he is incredibly charitable toward others, but refuses all alms.

Ability: Pride of the Aristocrat. When Vane uses a "Use an Item" or "Give an Item" action, it costs him 0 AP and he may target a character on a non-adjacent tile. However, he cannot receive Items from other characters.

Timi

Difficulty: 3 dots (of 3)

A little girl raised by poor but incredibly loving parents. Endowed with a big heart and able to soothe fear, she is wonderfully gifted at protecting herself from danger.

Ability: Tact of an Empathetic Girl. When Timi draws Event Cards following a "Daemon's Turn" or "Explore a New Room" action, she ignores the effects of "Howling". The "Take" and "Give Chains" actions do not remove/cost her AP and she can apply them to a character on a non-adjacent tile.

Cards

Item Cards

Items can be a great help to the characters. There are two types of Items: Consumable and Equipable.

(Card illustration: front and back of an Item card.)

Consumable Items. Consumable items are discarded after use. When you use a consumable Item, apply its effect immediately and place it in the Item card discard pile.

Equipable Items. Equipable items, like Event cards, have an effect that lasts as long as the card is in your possession. They do not have to be placed in the discard pile, regardless of the number of uses.

The number of stars and the colors of the Item cards indicate their level: the more stars, the more powerful the card.

Event Cards

Event cards cause various manifestations in the castle. There are 3 types of Events: Bad Dreams, Good Omen Events and Bad Omen Events. Bad Dreams and Bad Omen Events are obstacles to your escape! But Good Omen Events will help your progress.

Bad Dream cards. Bad Dream cards are placed on Room Tiles and prevent characters from moving onto and out of those tiles. The size of the spirit on the card indicates its level: the bigger the spirit on the card, the higher the difficulty level (Small, Medium, Large). Each Bad Dream card has conditions you must fulfil to defeat it. As long as these conditions are not met, you cannot discard these cards.

Good or Bad Omen Events. When you draw a Good Omen Event or Bad Omen Event card, you must immediately apply its effects. Good or Bad Omen Events can affect your escape plan: instead of discarding them after use, place them next to your Action Overview card for... later.

Castle Deck

Room Tiles are the rooms that make up the plan of the Daemon's castle. There are 3 types of Room Tiles: the CHAINsomnia tile, the "Wake Up!" tile, and the common Room Tiles.

1. Secret Nooks. Some rooms hide Secret Nooks! You must succeed at a "Research Test" to obtain the rewards shown at the bottom of the tile. The conditions for succeeding at the Research Test are shown at the top of the tile. You may obtain these rewards as many times as you wish - see "Searching Secret Nooks", page 15.
2. Doors. Doors let you move between Room Tiles. When you place a Room Tile, make sure doors connect to doors, and walls to walls.

The color of the doors does not matter for their connection: doors of different colors can be next to each other. The color of each tile's doors indicates the difficulty of that Room's Secret Nooks and the quality of the reward obtained. Rewards become more and more important behind Bronze, Silver and Gold doors. But beware, the difficulty of obtaining them also increases!

• CHAINsomnia tile x1. This is the tile on which each player starts the game.
• "Wake Up!" tile x1. This is the last tile to reach in order to win the game.
• Room Tiles x20. These are the different Rooms of the castle.

Gameplay

The game is played over a series of rounds. Each round is made up of the following phases:

1. Players' Turns
2. Daemon's Turn
3. End of the Round

Each round begins with the character who has the First Player token. Then it is the next player's turn, in clockwise order. Once every player has played, it is the Daemon's turn. Finally, the player in possession of the First Player token gives it to their neighbor and the next round begins... And so on until the end of the game.

1. Players' Turns

When it is your turn, you receive Action Points (AP). Look at the highest visible number on your Chain Gauge and place your AP marker on the matching number of your AP Gauge. (Example: the first visible number is 3; place your AP marker on 3. You can perform 3 actions.)

Your AP are used to perform actions during your turn. Each action costs 1 AP. You may perform these actions in any order and as many times as you wish... as long as you have AP to spend.

You are not obliged to use all your actions if you do not wish to (or cannot!). Any unused AP are lost and cannot be carried over to your next turn.

You can perform 7 different actions:

• a) Explore a New Room
• b) Move to an Adjacent Room
• c) Search a Secret Nook
• d) Use an Item
• e) Give an Item
• f) Give or Take Chains
• g) Use an Ability

*If you are not in a Cage during your turn and have used all your AP, you can still perform actions as long as they do not cost any AP.

a) Explore a New Room

Draw a Room Tile from the Castle deck and place it against the room where your character is. When you place a new Tile, the doors and walls must line up correctly with the doors and walls of the adjacent Tiles.

(Illustrations: two correct placements - all doors aligned; doors and walls aligned - and one incorrect placement, where a door is not correctly aligned.)

After placing a Room Tile, draw an Event Card and immediately apply its effects. If you draw a "Bad Dream" card, place it on the Room Tile you have just placed.

If the Room Tile cannot be placed anywhere, put it back in the Castle deck, just above the "Wake Up!" tile. Then draw an Event Card and immediately apply its effects. If you draw a Bad Dream card, place it on the Room Tile your character occupies.

Important: If two Tiles are not connected by a door (that is, there is only a wall between them), they are not considered adjacent.

About Event Cards

The effects of Event Cards apply differently depending on the type of card and the moment when they are drawn. Here is how Event Cards work in detail:

Good Omen and Bad Omen Event Cards. When you draw a Good Omen or Bad Omen Event card, immediately apply its effects. Then place the card next to your Action Overview card. Once a Good or Bad Omen Event card is placed there, it can no longer be used during the game.

*Remember: after use, Good or Bad Omen Event cards do not go to the same place as Bad Dream cards!

Bad Dream Cards. When you draw a Bad Dream card (unless an exception is indicated*), place it on the affected Room Tile. If you draw a Bad Dream card after placing a new Room Tile following an "Explore a New Room" action, place the Bad Dream card on the new Tile. If you draw a Bad Dream card for any reason other than "Explore a New Room", place the card on the tile occupied by your character.

If the card has a Chain icon, add a Chain Token to your Chain Gauge. You cannot move onto a Bad Dream Room Tile. You must first defeat the Bad Dream to send it to the discard pile. If another character is in the room where you place a Bad Dream card, they are immediately frightened and flee to an adjacent tile (without spending AP). The frightened players choose the tile to which they flee. If your character is in the room, you are trapped in the bad dream and must stay there. Your character stays on the tile and you cannot leave it with a move action (with the exception of Ryan's ability).

*Some Bad Dream cards, like the one pictured (Maledictum), are not placed on a Room Tile, but in the Item card area, and function like an Item. These cards can only be discarded if their conditions are met. You cannot choose to discard them arbitrarily.

Important: Howling cards. If you draw a "Howling" card, place it face up next to the Event deck. From that moment on, if you draw an Event Card when you explore a new room or during the Daemon's turn, you must draw 1 additional card for each "Howling" card next to the deck. If there are 3 "Howling" cards next to your deck, you will draw 4 Event Cards each time.

Defeating Bad Dreams

Bad Dream cards are Defeated (discarded) by fulfilling the conditions shown on the card (for example: "To Defeat: Discard 2 Item Cards"). You can only attempt to defeat a Bad Dream if your character is on a Room Tile adjacent to the one where the Bad Dream is. (You cannot defeat a Bad Dream on the tile where your character is, with the exception of "Malice".)*

Some Bad Dreams require a Victory Test: roll 2 dice and add their result to the value of the corresponding attribute of your character. You must pay the AP cost of the Test, even if it fails.

If you have fulfilled the condition to Defeat a card, discard it onto the Bad Dream discard pile. When all the Bad Dreams on a Room Tile have been defeated, characters can once again move onto and out of that Room.

*Exceptions: the cards "the Dominatus", "Maledictum", "Phantasm" and "Malice" do not need to be in an adjacent Room to be Defeated.

*If 2 or more Bad Dream Cards are placed on a tile, you must Defeat them one by one, starting with the top card.

b) Move to an Adjacent Room

You can move your character to a Room adjacent to the one you are in.

c) Search a Secret Nook

You can search a Secret Nook in the Room where your character is. Identify the Secret Nook you wish to Search and perform a Research Test: roll 2 dice and add their result to the value of the corresponding attribute of your character. If the total is greater than or equal to the number shown on the Secret Nook, you obtain the indicated reward.

Example: If you perform a Research on a Secret Nook that requires Intelligence 7+ for an Item +1 reward, and your character's Intelligence is equal to or greater than 7, you may draw 1 Item card.

If the Secret Nook also shows a Chain icon, you must take 1 Chain Token each time you attempt a Research on that Secret Nook, regardless of the result.

(Illustration label: "Secret Nook Conditions".)

About Item Cards

Item cards can be obtained by Searching Secret Nooks, or through certain Events. Place the Items you receive in the Item card area next to your Action Overview card so that every player can see them.

If you have 3 or more Items, you must immediately discard one or more Items of your choice until you have 2. You may also discard Item cards you have in hand during your turn. This costs no AP.

d) Use an Item

You can use the Items you possess. Consumable Items cost 1 AP to be used. Equipable Items cost no AP and can be used continuously.

*Any exception to this rule is indicated on the card concerned.

e) Give an Item

You can give an Item to another character. You cannot take Items from another character, but they can give you some during their turn.

f) Give or Take Chains

You can give to or take from another character as many Chain Tokens as you wish.

Chains and Cages

If a character has so many chain tokens that you can no longer see any number on their Chain Gauge, they have been caught in one of the Daemon's spirit cages!

A character who is caught in a Cage at the start of their turn cannot take any action on their turn, even if the action costs no AP.

A character who is caught in a Cage during their turn immediately loses the ability to perform other actions, whatever the number of AP they have left.

*You cannot have more than 6 Chain Tokens on your Chain Gauge at one time.

*If you are caught in a Cage during your turn, you cannot carry over AP to your next turn, even if you have some left.

Actions d) to f) can only be performed on another character if they are in the same Room, or in a Room adjacent to yours.

(Illustrations: valid - characters in the same room, or in adjacent rooms; invalid - the rooms are not adjacent.)

g) Use an Ability

If your character has an Ability that costs AP (Ryan and Chloe), you can use it as an action.

2. Daemon's Turn

Once each character has played, it is the Daemon's turn! The player who has the First Player token draws 1 Event Card and immediately applies its effects. If you draw a Bad Dream card, place it on the Room Tile occupied by your character. If a Bad Dream card is already there, place it on top. (See "Event Cards" page 13.)

3. End of the Round

The character who has the First Player token passes it to the character on their left. A new round then begins, starting with the character who now has the First Player token.

End of the Game

Victory

When all Bad Dream cards, including those in the Item card area (with the exception of "Howling"), are in the discard pile and at least 1 character reaches the "Wake Up!" Tile, the players win the game!

Keep all the cards and tokens as they are and take the game box's Mystery Envelope out. Open it carefully, making sure the cards inside stay in order. Read the first card and follow the instructions to discover your ending!

(Envelope text: "Open this envelope when you have defeated the Daemon. Without changing the order or turning them over, take the cards out of the envelope and read the card marked I first.")

Defeat

There are 2 ways to lose the game:

• If all the characters are locked in Cages, all the players lose the game. (If you are playing with fewer than 4 players, this number is different, see page 17.)
• If the Event Deck is exhausted and you can no longer draw, all the players lose the game.

Playing with 1 to 3 Players

Playing Solo

When you play alone, you control 3 characters. Take 3 character boards and their tokens. After placing the CHAINsomnia tile during step 4 of Game Setup (page 3), draw 3 tiles from the Castle deck and place them so that they are connected to the CHAINsomnia tile before starting the game. Do not draw Event Cards for these tiles. Line up your character boards and play their turns one by one, starting with the leftmost character. Once all your characters have played their turn, it is the Daemon's turn. Then pass the First Player token to the next character, who will play first in the next round.

Playing with 2 Players

Each player takes 2 character boards. Place your 2 boards side by side. Play their turns one by one, starting with the leftmost character. At the end of the round, pass the First Player token to the next character.

*Important: In a game with 1 or 2 players, if at least 2 of your characters are caught in a Daemon's Cage, the game is over and all your characters lose!

Playing with 3 Players

Each player takes 1 character board, but instead of taking 2 Chain Tokens during step 2 of Game Setup, they take only one. After placing the CHAINsomnia tile during step 4 of Game Setup (page 3), draw 3 tiles from the Castle deck and place them so that they are connected to the CHAINsomnia tile before starting the game. Do not draw Event Cards for these tiles.

Tips

The goal of the game is to defeat all the Bad Dream cards that have been drawn and move a character onto the "Wake Up!" tile.

Your first objective should be to connect as many Castle tiles as possible so that you can reach the "Wake Up!" tile. You must watch the length of your Chain when you use your character's Abilities and Items while fighting the Daemon and his nightmares!

FAQ

Q: Can Chloe use her Ability to discard a Bad Dream card on the tile where she is? A: No, this is not possible.

Q: When Ryan uses his Ability to move a character, can he move a character to a tile occupied by a Bad Dream card? A: Yes, he can.

Q: Can Ryan use his Ability to move himself to a tile occupied by another character? A: Yes, he can. Moreover, even if Ryan is on a tile occupied by a Bad Dream card, he can move thanks to his Ability. (He can escape from Bad Dreams.)

Q: If I must draw 2 Event Cards because of an effect and I use Charlotte's Ability or the Mirror of Truth, what happens and in what order? A: Apply the effects of the cards one by one. Draw the first cards, and after rearranging and placing the remaining cards in the deck, apply the effect of the chosen card. Then do the same for the second card and apply the effect of the chosen card after putting the other cards back in the deck.

Q: Isaac rolled 3 dice and got a 6, a 4 and another 4. I choose to use the 6 and a 4. Can my roll be considered a double? A: No, this is not possible. You can only count as doubles the 2 dice you have chosen.

Q: When Vane uses the effect of Royal Doudou to reduce another character's Chain, must he be on the same tile or an adjacent tile? A: No. By using his Ability, Vane can use 1 AP to take Chains from any character.

Q: When I discard a Bad Dream card thanks to the effect of a Room Tile or Chloe's Ability, if there are 2 or more Bad Dreams on a tile, can I choose which one I discard? A: No, this is not possible. You must discard the cards starting with the first one in the stack.

Q: When characters are frightened and ejected from a Room by a Bad Dream card, can they choose to land on a tile even if it is occupied by a Bad Dream? A: Yes, this is possible.

Q: Can I look at the Item and Event cards in the discard pile or next to the Action Overview cards at any time? A: Yes, this is possible. You can look at these cards at any time, even if it is not your turn.

Q: If I roll the dice and get a double when I have equipped the Clover, but I choose to reroll one of these dice, can I consider that I obtained a double and therefore remove a Bad Dream card? A: No, this is not possible. Doubles depend on the dice you use, whatever you rolled before.

Q: When characters move because of the effect of an Event Card, can I move them to a tile occupied by a Bad Dream card? A: Yes, this is possible.

Q: When Bad Dream cards are stacked on a tile, can I take them to read the text written on the cards? A: Yes, this is possible.

Q: If a character with the maximum number of Chains has the Light Stone equipped (remove one Chain at the start of your turn), must they skip their turn, or does the Light Stone apply first? A: Yes, the effects of the Light Stone apply first.

Q: Does Timi's Ability apply when I draw 2 cards because of the effect of an Event Card? A: No, it does not. Timi's Ability only applies when you draw an Event Card during the Daemon's turn, or when you explore a new room.

Q: When characters are on the Bad Dream card "Phantasm" which says "Discard this card when all characters are on this tile" and another Bad Dream card is placed on top, are the characters frightened and forced to move to another tile? A: All characters except the one who placed the new Bad Dream card must move. Moreover, until the new Bad Dream card is defeated, characters cannot move onto that tile.

Q: When characters are on the Bad Dream card "Phantasm" which says "Discard this card when all characters are on this tile" and another Bad Dream card is placed on top, does using Ryan's Ability to move the characters onto that tile allow "Phantasm" to be discarded? A: No, that does not work. When several Bad Dream cards are present on a tile, you must discard them in order, from the highest card to the lowest.