DrachenSchatten
DrachenSchatten Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 32 village cards (light-coloured back)
- 32 cave cards (dark-coloured back)
- 2 legend cards (in four languages)
- Game instructions with card distribution on the reverse side
For 2 – 4 players aged 8 years and up. Duration: 15 – 20 minutes.
Aim of the Game
Slay the beasts or find treasures with the help of collected objects.
Before You Begin
- The 32 village cards are shuffled face down and put into 8 stacks of roughly the same height, which are spread out into a row, one stack next to the other, to form the village.
- The 32 cave cards are also shuffled face down and put into 8 stacks of roughly the same height, which are spread out into a row below the village cards, one stack next to the other, to form the caves.
Note:
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2 numbers are shown on all cards. The number on the top indicates how many of these cards are found in the village, and the number on the bottom indicates how many of these cards can be found in the caves.
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In the village, players can collect objects that are useful for aiding in their search in the caves for valuable treasures and more useful objects, as well as for slaying dangerous beasts.
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All players draw one card from the village and lay it down face up in front of them into their own collection of cards.
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The last player to have slain a dragon gets to go first.
Order of Play
- On a player's turn, he performs the actions "Turn over a card" and "Use an object" in any order he likes. Then, play continues in a clockwise direction.
Action "Turn over a card"
- This action must be performed exactly one time by a player on his turn. He first selects either one of the uppermost village cards or cave cards by turning it over.
- Turned-over cards are never kept in a player's hand, but are always laid down face up in front of him in his card collection.
- If the card is an object, it is immediately ready for action and can be used right away. Cards of the same object should always be put into the same pile with each card slightly overlapping the other to make it easier to see which objects are in the player's card collection.
- If the card that has been turned over is a dragon or Hydra, a battle ensues immediately (see "Battle").
- If the card is a treasure, it is collected (see "Treasures").
Action "Use an object"
This action is optional and can be performed in addition. As soon as a player has objects in his card collection that are ready for action, he can perform the action as often as he likes before and/or after the mandatory action "Turn over a card".
- The player performs the action of the selected object and rotates the card by 90°. Cards rotated by 90° show that the objects have been used and are no longer ready for action.
- Used objects cannot be rotated back and remain as they are until the end of the game. Exception: Objects can be rotated back again with a "key" so that they are once again ready for action.
- Objects that have been drawn on a player's turn may be used on the same turn.
Note: Used objects can decay, be replaced with objects from other players, be stolen, or destroyed. However, this does not include objects that are ready for action.
Objects and Their Use
View 1–3 cards (torch): Depending on the number of depicted cards, 1, 2 or 3 of any of the uppermost cards can be looked at secretly and returned to their respective stack. If any of the viewed cards is a beast, no battle ensues, since the card was only viewed, but not turned over.
Turn over a card (boots, magic wand): A card is turned over and laid down before the player. If the card is an object or treasure, the game continues. However, if it is a beast, a battle ensues.
Trade an object (sword, magic wand, gem): A player can trade one of his own objects with any object of his choice from one of the other players. However, both objects must be used and remain in this used state after trading, too. The card used to trade objects may also be the card traded.
Note: The player who uses the card with the action "Trade an object" gets to determine which cards are traded. If two players have seven different objects after the trade, both players win the game (see "Determining a Winner and End of Game").
Steal an object (magic wand): Only used objects can be stolen. A player chooses an object from one of the other players and lays it in his own collection of cards in the same used state.
Destroy an object (sword, spell book): Only used objects can be destroyed. A player chooses a used object from one of the other players and removes it from the game.
Decay (sword, magic wand): Only used objects are subject to decay. All other players must forfeit one used object of their choice from their collection of cards. If a player does not have a used object, he does not have to forfeit any objects.
Restore (key): A player restores one of his own used objects by rotating it back to its original state. This object is once again ready for action and can be used immediately.
Battle
If a player turns over a dragon or a Hydra, a battle immediately ensues.
Protection against dragons (sword, shield, helmet): If a player turns over a dragon, he can slay the dragon with the action "Protection against dragons", should he have an object among his collection of cards with this particular action that is ready for action. Upon turning over a dragon, a player may not, however, first use the action "restore" to re-activate a used object, should he have such a used object among his collection of cards. If the player is able to slay the dragon, he adds the dragon to his collection of cards. The used object is rotated by 90° to indicate that it has been used.
Protection against Hydras (magic potion, sword): If a player turns over a Hydra, he can slay the beast with the action "Protection against Hydras", should he have a magic potion or sword among his collection of cards that is ready for action. Upon turning over a Hydra, a player may not, however, first use the action "restore" to re-activate a magic potion or sword, should he have a used magic potion or used sword among his collection of cards. If the player is able to slay the Hydra, he adds the Hydra to his collection of cards. The used magic potion is rotated by 90° to indicate that it has been used.
As soon as a player has any three beasts (dragon / Hydra) in his card collection, he has won the game. Beasts do not count as objects and are safe from decay, trading, theft and destruction.
If a player cannot slay the beast on account of not having the appropriate object, or because the object has already been used, he is defeated by the dragon or Hydra and loses his entire card collection! The cards, together with the beast, are removed from the game. The player's turn is over, but he gets to go back to the village or to the caves on his next turn.
Treasures
Seven treasures are hidden in the caves. As soon as a player has three of them, he has won the game. Treasures do not count as objects and are safe from decay, trading, theft and destruction.
Determining a Winner and End of Game
If a player possesses either:
- 7 different objects or
- 3 slain beasts or
- 3 treasures
the game is immediately over and the player has won the game.
If none of the above conditions is fulfilled, and there are no more cards left in the village or in the caves, the player with the most cards (objects, beasts, and treasures) in his collection of cards wins the game. In the event of a tie, the game is a draw.
Example of a Turn
- Fred has the following cards in his card collection: 1 x Hydra, 1 x treasure, 1 x magic wand (with the symbol turn over 1 x card) and 1 x boots card (with the symbol turn over 1 x card). The card with boots is rotated by 90°, since it has already been used.
- Jonathan has the following cards in his card collection: 1 x torch (with the symbol 1 x eye), 1 x shield and 1 x key.
On Jonathan's turn, he uses his torch and rotates the card by 90°. He secretly views one card from a cave and discovers a Hydra. Since he only looked at the card, no battle ensues. If he had turned over this card on his turn, a battle would have ensued. In this case, Jonathan would have lost his entire collection of cards, since he does not possess an object with the action "Protection against Hydras".
Jonathan wisely decides to turn over another card to fulfil the mandatory action of his turn. He decides to turn over a card from one of the other cave card piles and discovers a gem. He immediately uses the gem's action and trades the used gem for Fred's boots (he can only trade for Fred's boots since Fred's magic wand has not been used yet and is therefore safe from being traded. None of the other cards can be traded either.). Both objects have traded places but remain in a used state. Jonathan now uses his key and rotates his key card by 90°. With his key, he restores the boots, the action of which he now uses to turn over another card from the caves. He now rotates the boots card again by 90° to indicate that it has been used. The card he has just turned over from the caves is a dragon, who challenges him to do battle. He uses his shield and rotates the card by 90°. He has slain the dragon, which he now adds to his collection of cards. His turn is now over. Now, all four objects in his card collection have been used.