Desolated: Duel Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Set Up
• Turn Sequence
• How to Win
• Draw Phase
  • i - Draw
• Action Phase (Choose One)
  • What Is a Chain?
  • How to Use a Chain
  • Upgrade
  • Trade
  • Earn
  • Harvest
  • Pass
  • Storing Cards
• Status Phase
  • i - Refill
  • ii - Upkeep
• Final Round and Scoring
• Sample Turn
• Racloir Material Cards
  • Types of Materials
  • Racloir Material Card Breakdown
• Arkhein Influence Cards
  • Arkhein Influence Card Breakdown
  • Types of Influence
• Insula Landmark Cards
  • Insula Landmark Card Breakdown
  • Bonus Icon Legend
• Insula Landmarks Reference
• Solo Mode
  • High Score
• Expansions
  • Rise of the Arkheins
  • Planetary Destruction
  • Racloir Technology
• Modules
  • Campaigns
  • Characters
  • Talents
  • Rare Materials
• FAQ

Overview

DESOLATED is an engine builder for 1-6 players. Harvest materials, optimize exploration by making chain engines, make trades and gain influence to become the most influential Racloir.

The game is played over a series of rounds until one player gains three Insula Landmarks or the Landmark draw pile runs out, which will be the final round. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is the winner.

Components

• 1 x Rulebook
• 1 x Game board
• 1 x First Player marker (plus spare)
• 6 x Player Reference cards
• 27 x Insula Landmark cards
• 192 x Arkhein Influence cards
• 300 x Racloir Material cards
• 248 x Material tokens
• 132 x Advanced Cards

Living rulebook: luudos.studio/desolated/rules/ Questions: [email protected]

Set Up

Divide all cards into three piles: RACLOIR MATERIAL, ARKHEIN INFLUENCE and INSULA LANDMARK. Shuffle each pile individually and place them face-down within reach of all players to form their respective draw piles. Also place the MATERIAL TOKENS within easy reach of all players.

Reveal 5 RACLOIR MATERIAL cards to form the Material row, 4 ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards to form the Influence row, and 3 INSULA LANDMARK cards to form the Landmark row, in individual rows on the board.

Deal 4 RACLOIR MATERIAL cards from the Material draw pile to each player, face-down. These cards form each player's starting hand (hand limit 7) and are kept private. The youngest player is the starting player, continuing in clockwise order.

The play area in front of a player is called the inventory. RACLOIR MATERIAL cards placed into the inventory can be activated to use their abilities during your turn. Acquired INSULA LANDMARK cards and ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards are also placed directly into your inventory, and never enter your player hand.

The example in the rulebook depicts the suggested set up for a 4 player game. The draw piles are placed to one side of the three rows and the discard piles are on the opposite side.

Turn Sequence

A player's turn consists of the following phases:

1. Draw Phase
   • Draw
2. Action Phase (choose one)
   • Upgrade
   • Trade
   • Earn
   • Harvest
   • Pass
3. Status Phase
   • Refill
   • Upkeep

The turn passes to the player to your left (clockwise). (With experienced players, the next player can start their turn during this phase.)

How to Win

The final round is triggered when one player achieves three INSULA LANDMARK cards, or if all Landmarks in the Landmark draw pile are depleted. The game ends at the end of the final round, so all players have an equal number of turns (see Final Round & Scoring).

The player with the most victory points wins the game. After the game ends, count the number of visible victory points on your ARKHEIN INFLUENCE and INSULA LANDMARK cards, taking into account any multipliers. Compare the final scores to determine the winner.

Draw Phase

i - Draw

Take up to two RACLOIR MATERIAL cards from either the Material row or Material draw pile in any combination and place them into your hand.

Action Phase (Choose One)

In the Action phase, the active player takes any one action from the following five options: Upgrade, Trade, Earn, Harvest or Pass. Each card in your inventory has a passive effect that you can use anytime and as much as you are able to, including any built chains.

What Is a Chain?

A chain (chain engine) is one or more linkable cards in your inventory (your play area). In order to form a chain, linkable cards are placed into your inventory. The chain can then be extended by placing other cards beside it that share matching link symbols on the touching edges. A card is linkable if it contains at least one link symbol on either side.

There is no limitation to the amount of chains you can have or how many cards are chained together.

Correct: two cards whose touching edges share a matching link symbol are linked. Incorrect: cards whose touching link symbols do not match are not linked.

How to Use a Chain

When cards are chained, you can choose to start and stop anywhere in your chain, going from left to right or right to left, through the cards in your chain, thereby gaining better conversions and options.

Pick any right or left side of a single card in the chain engine. Discard the required materials, then trace the conversion in the opposite direction, through the chain and stopping on a result from the opposite side.

You pay the resource cost on the left or right side of the effect, by discarding cards from your hand, matching the materials. You gain the materials on the opposite side, for use in this turn only.

Example (ie.): Discard the materials on the left side of card A to gain the materials on the right side of B, D or F. Or discard the materials on the left side of card D to gain the materials on A or C. (The materials themselves are shown as icons on the example cards.)

Upgrade

Place a RACLOIR MATERIAL card from your hand into your inventory (your play area). This will now add to your future options and progressively enhance your game play with each card added to your inventory.

When placing a Material card into your inventory, you can either extend a chain by linking it to an existing card by matching the link symbols together on either side of the card, or create a new chain.

When cards are chained, you can choose to start and stop anywhere in your chain, going from left to right or right to left, through the cards in your chain, thereby gaining better conversions and options.

You pay the resource cost on the left or right side of the effect, by discarding cards from your hand, matching the materials. You gain the materials on the opposite side, for use in this turn only.

Example B: Louise takes the Upgrade action and picks a Material card from her hand to add to her inventory. She can either extend her existing chain engine by matching the link symbols on either side, or begin a new chain.

Trade

If you can fulfill the requirement of one ARKHEIN INFLUENCE card in the Influence row, you can acquire it by discarding Material tokens or Racloir Material cards from hand until all materials are paid. You can use your chain engines to convert materials.

When you gain an Influence card, place the card face-up and its material tokens in your inventory. This card does not count towards your hand limit. You can only gain one Influence card when using the Trade action.

Any excess materials from your conversions, not used to fulfill a material requirement, are taken from the token pool and placed on any other cards in the Influence row.

Example C: Louise takes the Trade action and discards four Material cards from her hand to acquire the ARKHEIN INFLUENCE card that costs the materials shown on it. She then places it face-up in her inventory.

Earn

If you have enough support from one or more ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards to match the required influence on one INSULA LANDMARK card in the Landmark row, discard the required face-up influence from your inventory to acquire it.

When you gain an Insula Landmark, place the card into your inventory face-up. Make sure that all players are aware of your current amount of Landmarks. You may only gain one Insula Landmark when using the Earn action.

This will count towards your winning condition and end game scoring. Each Landmark has both a victory point value and a victory point multiplier. The more you can build around the bonus conditions for the victory point multiplier, the more points you will score at the end of the game.

If final round has not been triggered yet and this is your third Landmark, trigger the final round (see Final Round & Scoring).

Example D: Louise takes the Earn action to gain an INSULA LANDMARK card from the Landmark row. She discards an ARKHEIN INFLUENCE card from her inventory that has influence 7 and 8 to acquire the matching Landmark. She then places it face-up in her inventory.

Harvest

Discard a chained card to gain its material value. Take the gained material(s) from the token pool and place them in your inventory. Tokens in your inventory can be discarded at any time to satisfy a material requirement in other actions.

Pass

If you either cannot or do not wish to play any cards, you can choose to skip this phase. Passing can be a good option so you can build a stronger hand for the next turn, by adding more cards.

Storing Cards

Cards that have the storage icon allow cards to be stored beneath them. The INSULA LANDMARK card shown above (with the storage icon) has a victory point multiplier bonus of +1 for every two RACLOIR MATERIAL cards stored beneath it.

During your Upkeep, pick a card in your inventory that has the storage icon. Then choose one card from either your hand or your inventory, to place beneath it face-down.

There is no limit to the amount of cards that can be stored beneath another card. It is also possible to break a chain to store one of the chained cards, and a stored INSULA LANDMARK card does not contribute to the three Landmark end game trigger.

Status Phase

i - Refill

Refill the Landmark row, Influence row and Material row from the appropriate draw piles to replace all cards gained this turn. If there are not enough cards in the Influence or Material draw piles, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile. If there are no cards left in the Landmark draw pile to fully refill the Landmark row, the final round is triggered (see Final Round & Scoring).

ii - Upkeep

During your Upkeep, you may choose to store one card from either your hand or from your inventory underneath a card with the storage icon. The stored card is placed face-down beneath the storage card and no longer has any effect.

Then discard any excess cards down to your hand limit (default hand limit 7).

Final Round and Scoring

When the final round is triggered, all players who have yet to take their turn this round will take one last turn. Then each player scores victory points from all face-up ARKHEIN INFLUENCE and INSULA LANDMARK cards, plus any additional victory point multipliers for bonuses whose conditions are met.

The player with the most victory points is the winner.

If tied, the tie-breakers are the following:

1. Most victory points on cards in play (face-up in inventory).
2. Most INSULA LANDMARK cards in play.
3. Most ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards in play.
4. Most chain engines in play.
5. Total number of cards in play.

Example E: Louise is calculating her victory points (VP) at the end of the game. She has 32 VP (8+12+12) for her three INSULA LANDMARK cards and 8 VP for the unused ARKHEIN INFLUENCE card. She also has an additional 12 VP (+3 per matching material icon in a chain) from Landmark A, 15 VP (+5 per matching material icon in a chain) from Landmark B, and 12 VP (+12 per INSULA LANDMARK stored beneath) from Landmark C. So Louise has 79 VP for her final score.

Sample Turn

Louise's turn, as printed in the rulebook:

1. Draw Phase: Louise begins her turn by drawing two Material cards into her hand from the Material draw pile.
2. Action Phase - Trade: Louise decides to Trade for one of the ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards available in the Influence row. The cards in hand are not enough to match the cost of the chosen Influence card, which requires three, two, one and two materials of the printed types. However, if she uses her chain engines, she can cover the cost. She starts by discarding the 5th card from her hand to convert one material, then discards the 6th card from her hand to convert again. She then converts a further material, and finally discards the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 7th cards from her hand for the remaining materials. Now she has the correct available materials to discard to acquire the ARKHEIN INFLUENCE card, and she places the newly acquired Influence card face-up in her inventory.
3. Status Phase: Louise refills the Influence row back up to 4 cards and ends her turn with the 4th card in hand. The turn passes to the next player to her left.

Racloir Material Cards

RACLOIR MATERIAL cards, also referred to as Material cards, are a combination of the word "Racloir," a prehistoric scraping tool suggesting the humans' scavenging nature, and their game play purpose as material, used to gain Influence from the Arkheins.

Types of Materials

• Indicyl (green crystal): 25%
• Hesson (orange-red crystal): 25%
• Rubel (magenta crystal): 16%
• Kyan (dark purple crystal): 16%
• Spessart (gold crystal): 8%
• Spectrol (teal and pink crystal): 8%

The percentage listed above is the rough probability of encountering a Racloir Material card with the specified material on it. The rarer the material type, the more difficult it is to find. Adding modules or expansions to the base game may adjust these odds.

Racloir Material Card Breakdown

• A - Material value: This is the material value of the card. Eg. Discard this card to gain one Hesson.
• B - Ability: The ability of the card. Most RACLOIR MATERIAL cards will allow players to discard the specified material(s) on one side to gain the material(s) on the other. It must be in your inventory to activate. Eg. Discard two Indicyl to gain one Rubel, or discard one Rubel to gain two Indicyl.
• C - Link symbols: By matching the link symbols on the edges of the cards, effects can be chained together to create an engine in your play area (see How to Use a Chain). A card is linkable if it contains at least one link symbol on either side. There are six link symbol types.

Racloir Materials have many uses, primarily as either currency to gain influence or for their engine building effects. If you spend them as materials, they are discarded to gain an ARKHEIN INFLUENCE card, thereby progressing towards victory. If they are played into your inventory, they will give you ongoing passive effects that make future trades more effective, by either swapping material types or giving you access to more expensive materials which can be otherwise hard to come by.

Arkhein Influence Cards

ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards, also referred to as Influence cards, are a means to an end. They are gained by trading materials, either with or without the use of your engine. Once gained, they become influence; enough influence can in turn be discarded in exchange for INSULA LANDMARK cards. Most INSULA LANDMARK cards require more than one type of influence. These cards are harder to acquire, but in return offer higher victory points.

The ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards also have victory points of their own. If they are not discarded to trade for Landmark cards, they will offer a small reward at the end of the game. Collecting ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards, without trading them and competing for Insula Landmarks against other players, is a viable underdog strategy.

Arkhein Influence Card Breakdown

• A - Victory point value: The victory point value of the card at the end of the game if it is not traded in to claim an INSULA LANDMARK or stored.
• B - Material cost: Discard the listed materials to gain this card during the Action phase. Eg. Discard the listed materials (printed as two, three, one and two materials of the card's types) to gain this ARKHEIN INFLUENCE card.
• C - Arkhein influence: The types of ARKHEIN INFLUENCE you gain from the card. You can trade in this card and use the influence to gain an INSULA LANDMARK. Any unused influence when trading is lost. You may discard multiple ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards to pay the cost when gaining a Landmark.

Types of Influence

There are four influence types, numbered 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Insula Landmark Cards

INSULA LANDMARK cards, also referred to as Landmarks, are the combination of the word "Insula," which is a tenement in a city in ancient Rome, and their game play purpose as acquirable lands.

Gaining Landmarks will help you reach the ultimate goal, having the most victory points at the end of the game. Each INSULA LANDMARK has both a victory point value and a point multiplier, either by gaining different card types, materials or storing cards.

Storing cards is a unique ability that some Landmarks offer. At the end of the turn you may store one card on an Insula, forfeiting the stored card's material, ability or points. Instead, the Landmark will offer a multiplier reward for each card stored (see Storing Cards). This is similar to games where tokens or cards are stored on a multiplier card to give end game victory points.

Landmarks also trigger the game end when one player attains three Landmarks or when you cannot draw or refill from the Landmark draw pile.

Insula Landmark Card Breakdown

• A - Victory point value: The victory point value of the card at the end of the game.
• B - Bonus: The additional victory point multiplier that can be gained if the bonus conditions to the right are met.
• C - Influence cost: The influence that is required to gain this INSULA LANDMARK card. Eg. Discard one 6 and one 7 to gain this Landmark.
• D - Bonus conditions: The required conditions to gain the bonus additional victory points listed to the left. Eg. +3 victory points for every matching material icon per chain (a chain being one or more linkable cards linked together).

Example F: Louise discards two ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards to Earn an INSULA LANDMARK. She uses one 7, 8 and 9 influence from the discarded cards to gain a Landmark with the cost of 7, 8 and 9. The leftover 6 is lost.

Bonus Icon Legend

• a - Chain
• b - Storage
• c - ARKHEIN INFLUENCE card
• d - RACLOIR MATERIAL card
• e - INSULA LANDMARK card
• f - Discard
• g - Each round

Insula Landmarks Reference

The bonus of each Landmark is shown on its card as "+X : [condition] ▸ [chain or storage]". The printed bonuses are:

Landmark VP	Bonus	Condition
12	+12 VP	for every stored INSULA LANDMARK card (INSULA LANDMARK card ▸ storage)
12	+8 VP	for every stored ARKHEIN INFLUENCE card
12	+5 VP	for every Spectrol in a chain
12	+5 VP	for every Spessart in a chain
8	+3 VP	for every Kyan in a chain
8	+3 VP	for every Rubel in a chain
8	+1 VP	for every Hesson in a chain
8	+1 VP	for every Indicyl in a chain

Solo Mode

Playing DESOLATED solo is a race against the destruction of Landmarks by trying to build an engine as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Set up: When playing solo, shuffle and randomly select 9 INSULA LANDMARK cards to form the Landmark card pile. Return the rest to the box. As for the rest of the set up, it is unchanged, and you may also choose to add any expansions (they are all designed for 1-6 players).

Changes to play: In the Action phase, you pick two actions from the following options: Trade, Upgrade, Earn, Harvest or Pass. (When using expansions, you'll have other options available as well, like technology tracks, schemes etc.)

Discard: At the beginning of the Status phase, move every INSULA LANDMARK one slot to the right. If there is no slot on the right, the INSULA LANDMARK is discarded instead (to the Landmark discard pile - solo mode).

New card: Then at the end of each round, after the Status phase, reveal two RACLOIR MATERIAL cards and check their material value (top left icon). Choose one of the cards; discard all cards from the Influence row that share the same material value as the chosen card, and add the chosen card to your hand. Then discard all cards in the Material row that share the same material value as the second card, and add the second card to your hand. Then start your next turn.

End of game: The game will end at the end of the round when the last Landmark is discarded. At the end of the game, sum up all points and subtract 2 victory points for each INSULA LANDMARK card in the Landmark discard pile.

Note: If you are playing with the "Planetary Destruction" expansion, shuffle all INSULA LANDMARK cards plus expansion cards together and draw nine as usual.

High Score

VP	Grade
0-10	Okay
10-20	Good
20-30	Very Good
30+	Exceptional

Expansions

Rise of the Arkheins

In Rise of the Arkheins, a new breed of ARKHEINs offer sinister schemes and new engine building combinations to incorporate into your game play tactics.

Content: 36 x Advanced Arkhein Influence cards.

Set up changes: Shuffle the new ADVANCED ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards and randomly draw 4 cards per player. Then add and shuffle these cards into the Influence draw pile, after revealing the Influence row, returning the unused expansion cards back in the game box.

Rules: The ADVANCED ARKHEIN INFLUENCE cards do not have an immediate cost or victory point value. Instead, when you acquire them, they are placed into your inventory for no material cost. Each round, during your Draw Phase, you must pay the upkeep cost listed on the icon next to the "Each round" icon (e.g. each round pay one material as printed on the card, or discard this card). If you cannot or will not pay the cost, discard the card.

Planetary Destruction

In Planetary Destruction, a new variety of INSULA LANDMARKs offer alternative roads to victory and end-game mechanisms, as they do not trigger the final round.

Content: 36 x Advanced Insula Landmark cards.

Set up changes: Shuffle the new ADVANCED INSULA LANDMARK cards and randomly draw 2 cards per player. Then add and shuffle these cards into the Landmark draw pile, returning the unused expansion cards back in the game box.

Rules: The ADVANCED INSULA LANDMARK cards have a material cost instead of an influence cost. These cards have no victory point value and they do not contribute towards triggering the final round. When you gain an ADVANCED INSULA LANDMARK card, place it into your inventory. Each round, during your Draw Phase, gain any one of the influences listed on the card next to the "Each round" icon (e.g. each round gain one 6 and one 7). This influence can be spent during this turn only, and all unused influence is lost in the Status Phase during Upkeep.

Racloir Technology

In Racloir Technology, you'll gain evolutionary tracks to explore during the game, by rotating cards, gaining free resources every turn.

Content: 36 x Advanced Racloir Material cards.

Set up changes: Deal the starting hand as normal. Then shuffle the new ADVANCED RACLOIR MATERIAL cards and randomly draw 6 cards per player. Add and shuffle these cards into the Material draw pile, returning the unused expansion cards back in the game box.

Rules: When you gain an ADVANCED RACLOIR MATERIAL card, place it into your inventory. In the Draw Phase, activate the effect listed at the top of the card and rotate the card 90°, following the arrows. If the effect is a material, gain the listed material token from the token pool; or if it is a discard symbol, discard the card.

Modules

Campaigns

Content: 6 x Campaign cards.

Additional set up: Shuffle the CAMPAIGN cards and randomly deal one card to each player face-up.

Rules: Each turn, during your Upkeep Phase, you gain the material token listed on your CAMPAIGN card.

Characters

Content: 6 x Character cards.

Additional set up: Shuffle the CHARACTER cards and randomly deal one card to each player face-up. Place this card in your inventory to form your first chain. You can discard this card at any time to gain the listed material in the top-left corner.

Talents

Content: 6 x Talent cards.

Additional set up: Give one TALENT card to each player face-up. During your Status Phase, you may place a RACLOIR MATERIAL card from hand to cover the lowest visible row on your TALENT card, if the Material card's material value matches the material covered on that row. When scoring at the end of the game, add the value of the lowest visible row to your end-game score.

Example G: A RACLOIR MATERIAL card with a material value matching the bottom row (-5 VP) is used to cover the bottom row of the TALENT card.

Rare Materials

Content: 6 x Rare Material cards.

Additional set up: Deal the starting hand as normal. Then give each player one RARE MATERIAL card to put into their starting hand. Then each player discards a card from hand.

Rules: RARE MATERIAL cards feature a wild-icon that can be linked and used for any chain or material icon. If used in an activated chain, discard the RARE MATERIAL card.

Note: This can break an existing chain if the Character card or Rare Material card is in the middle.

FAQ

Can you link two separate chains together? Yes, if by placing a new card and its links match the ends of two existing chains.

What are the tokens for? These can be used to keep track of the various material conversions you are doing during your turn. You can place the RACLOIR MATERIAL card to the side and put the tokens that it converts to onto it. Just remember the card has already been used for the conversion, and the tokens on it are the only thing on it that can be spent. Any excess materials from your conversions, not used to fulfill a material requirement, are taken from the token pool and placed on any other cards in the Influence row. Players gain any tokens that are on cards they pick.

Why is there a second first player marker? Is this a mistake? The duplicate first player marker is a spare and has no game use at this point.