Dirigible Disaster
Dirigible Disaster Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
In Dirigible Disaster, players work together to keep the Aerclanken in the air for its entire 10-minute maiden voyage. This is accomplished by repairing or dealing with various issues that occur on the ship.
The game consists of 10 rounds, each lasting for exactly one minute. Before each round begins, a set of problems arises on the board, and it is up to the players to work together to handle as many of the problems as possible during each round. The players win the game only if they are able to avoid meeting any of the failure criteria through the ten rounds of play.
The unique use of real-time rounds in Dirigible Disaster creates fun and frantic play that gets players' hearts pounding and their minds racing!
Components
- 1 Game Tracker Board
- 1 Dirigible Board
- 5 Player Pawns
- 5 Event Dice
- 1 Action Die
- 1 Room Die
- 1 Reference Board
- 12 Steam Cubes
- 10 Panic Cubes
- 2 Lantern Tokens
- 20 Passenger Cubes
- 20 Fire Cubes
- 12 Cog Cubes
- 1 Steam Token
- 1 Timer
- 1 Rulebook
Getting Started
- Place the Game Tracker Board and Dirigible Board in the center of the playing area, within reach of all players.
- Place one Steam Cube on the Game Tracker Board at the first position (left-most) of the map and one at 100% on the steam pressure gauge.
- Place the Passenger, Steam, Cog, Panic, and Fire Cubes in separate piles in the center of the playing area. This is the supply.
- Each player should select a Player Pawn and place it in Room 7 of the Dirigible Board.
- Players must decide if they are going to play the game on EASY, STANDARD, or HARD mode.
Difficulty Levels
- EASY MODE – Remove the Cog Event Die (yellow) and Cog Cubes as well as the Lantern Tokens. Ignore all rules that reference the Cogs or the Blackouts.
- STANDARD MODE – Remove the Lantern Tokens and ignore all rules that reference the Blackouts.
- HARD MODE – Play with everything. Bring it on!
Setting Up the First Minute
- Before the start of the first round, one player should roll the Event Dice and place them in the corresponding spots of the Game Tracker Board.
- (Remove for Easy Mode.)
First Round Events
- For each Event Die, a number of cubes equal to the die roll are placed on the Dirigible Board using the Room Die.
- More than one of the same cube type can be placed in a single room.
- Fire Cubes and Panic Cubes should be placed before Passenger Cubes.
- EXAMPLE: Rolling a 4 on the Fire Event Die:
- Place four Fire Cubes on the Dirigible Board.
- Roll the Room Die four times.
- Room Die rolls of 11, 10, 10, 10 result in one Fire Cube placed in Room 11 and three Fire Cubes placed in Room 10.
- HARD MODE ONLY – After placing all of the Event Cubes, roll the Room Die twice, and place the two Lantern Tokens in the corresponding rooms. Reroll the Room Die if the same number is rolled twice as the Lantern Tokens cannot both be in the same room.
- During Round 1 only, Lantern Tokens cannot be placed in Room 7; reroll the Room Die if a 7 is rolled during Round 1 setup.
Resolving Events
- FIRE CUBES (Red) – If a Fire Cube is placed in a room that already contains at least three Fire Cubes, the fire spreads. Place a fourth (or greater) Fire Cube in that room, then place one Fire Cube in each surrounding room connected by a doorway to that room. Fires do not spread into stairwells.
- (Diagram caption: Fire spreading from Room 6 to Rooms 5 and 7.)
- PANIC CUBES (Purple) – If a Panic Cube is placed in a room with at least one passenger, all passengers in that room get injured. Passengers do not get injured when placed in a room already containing a Panic Cube.
- PASSENGER CUBES (Green) – Passenger Cubes represent passengers wandering the airship. These passengers may get injured from all of the calamity occurring on the ship.
- A passenger will get injured if placed in a room that contains three or more Fire Cubes.
- A passenger that is already in a room will be injured if either of the following is placed in that room:
- A Panic Cube
- A third (or greater) Fire Cube
- INJURED PASSENGERS: If a passenger gets injured, the Passenger Cube is removed from the game and put back in the box. If more than one Passenger Cube is in a room and a single injuring Fire Cube is placed (third or greater), only one passenger gets injured. If multiple injuring Fire Cubes are placed in a room with multiple passengers, a passenger is injured for each injuring Fire Cube. A single Panic Cube injures all passengers in the same room.
- STEAM CUBES (White) – Steam Cubes affect the pressure status (see below).
- – If a Cog Cube is placed in a room already containing two or more Cog Cubes, then a Cog Cube in the supply is removed from the game and put back in the box.
Gameplay During Minutes
- Once setup is complete, it is time to begin the real-time round. The youngest player starts.
- Each player takes ONE action per turn and then passes the Action Die to the player on their left. This continues for as many turns as possible while the Timer is active.
- In a 3- to 5-player game, flip the included 60-second Timer. Players will go around the table taking actions as quickly as possible to deal with the events occurring on the Aerclanken.
- In a 2-player game, a 45-second timer is required.
- If you find the 2-player game is too difficult, extend the time to 60 seconds. Conversely, if you find the 3- to 5-player game is too easy, cut the time down to 45 seconds.
- For a 2-player game, or if an audio timer is preferred over the included timer, one can be downloaded at www.letimangames.com/dirigible-disaster
Gameplay Actions
- Move Through a Door – A player can move their Player Pawn from one room or stairwell to another connected by a door. Doors are indicated by a break in the room border.
- If a player moves into a stairwell, they automatically move to the corresponding stairwell with the same letter.
- (Corresponding stairwells share the same letter.)
- Entertain a Passenger – A player can attempt to entertain a passenger (and thus get them out of harm's way) when they share a room with at least one Passenger Cube. The player announces "Passenger" and rolls the Action Die. If the result is less than or equal to the number currently displayed on the Passenger Event Die, the player may remove one Passenger Cube from their current room and put it back in the supply.
- Put Out a Fire – Fire is typically bad, especially on an airship filled with gas and wooden parts. A player can attempt to put out a fire when they share a room with at least one Fire Cube. The player announces "Fire" and rolls the Action Die. If the result is less than or equal to the number currently displayed on the Fire Event Die, the player may remove one Fire Cube from their current room and put it back in the supply.
- De-escalate Panic – With so many problems occurring in such a small space, it's no wonder the passengers are freaking out. A player can attempt to de-escalate the panic when they share a room with at least one Panic Cube. The player announces "Panic" and rolls the Action Die. If the result is less than or equal to the number currently displayed on the Panic Event Die, the player may remove one Panic Cube from their current room and put it back in the supply.
- Repair a Broken Cog – Keeping the Aerclanken in the air requires the broken cogs to be repaired. To do so, the player must share a room with at least one Cog Cube. The player announces "Cog" and rolls the Action Die. If the result is less than or equal to the number currently displayed on the Cog Event Die, then the player may remove one Cog Cube from their current room and put it back in the supply.
Gameplay Summary
- Only one Event Cube can be removed per action.
- If a player fails the Action Attempt Roll (i.e., rolls higher than the target Event Die), no Event Cube is removed. Whether the Action Attempt Roll is successful or not, the player passes the Action Die to the player on their left, who then takes their turn.
- Players continue to take actions until the Timer runs out. It is possible for each player to take multiple turns in a single round.
- At the end of the round, the player with the Action Die holds onto it, as they will be the first player in the next round.
Rounds 2 Through 10
- After the Timer runs out, begin setup for a new round.
- The Steam Cube on the map of the Game Tracker Board should be advanced one position along the path to reflect the current round.
- All of the fires on the airship grow. Add one Fire Cube to each room already containing at least one Fire Cube. If a room already has three or more Fire Cubes, the fire spreads to surrounding rooms.
- Roll the Room Die twice, and then move the Lamp Tokens to the corresponding locations.
- Note: the printed rulebook says "Lamp Tokens" here; the same components are called "Lantern Tokens" everywhere else in the rules. They are the same pieces.
- Reroll all of the Event Dice, place the corresponding Event Cubes, and resolve Events as done prior to Round 1.
- Decrease the steam pressure by 10% for each Steam Cube located on the Dirigible Board.
- Move the Steam Token to the room with the most Steam Cubes.
Final Landing Event Roll
At the end of the last round, the Aerclanken commences landing procedures and you must perform a Final Landing Event Roll.
- Reroll all of the Event Dice.
- Place the corresponding Event Cubes on the Dirigible Board and resolve the Events as they are placed.
- After all of the Events have been resolved, steam pressure is decreased once more, and then the game ends.
Winning and Losing
There are two in-game conditions that result in a failure of the Aerclanken's maiden voyage.
The players lose immediately if either of the following occur:
- The steam pressure reaches 0%.
- The players are required to place any type of Event Cube and there are none of that type in the supply.
If neither of the above conditions has occurred before the Final Landing Event Roll is resolved, then the Aerclanken has successfully returned from its brief but exciting first flight, and the players are victorious!