Dream Catcher
Dream Catcher Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Be the first player to fill your board with 12 Dream tokens!
To do so and on your turn, you must choose a Cuddly Toy that fully covers the Nightmare in the middle of the table. Thus, you will gain tokens and make sweet dreams!
Contents and Setup
- 4 comfy boards to place in front of each player;
- 54 Dream tokens to slip in the Pillow-Bag;
- 1 Pillow-Bag to place in front of the first (and youngest) player;
- 8 Cuddly Toy round tiles to place in the middle of the table;
- 30 Nightmare cards (not even scared!) - shuffle these cards, make a facedown pile, and place it nearby. Flip the top card and place it in the center of the circle formed by the Cuddly Toy tiles so that everyone can see it.
The game can begin!
Setup example for a 4-player game.
Cocow, our space mascot: Cocow will be by your side while you read this booklet. She will give you a few bits of advice and instructions so that you can enjoy this game to its fullest!
Game Round
- After placing the first Nightmare card in the middle of the table, on their turn, each player chooses a Cuddly Toy tile which, according to them, will fully cover the card's Nightmare.
Once the first player has chosen their Cuddly Toy, they place it on their board. The next player (going clockwise) does the same and chooses their Cuddly Toy tile, etc. Once all the players have chosen their Cuddly Toys, they move on to the next phase.
Cocow's instructions! Important: During this phase, the players must directly place their Cuddly Toy in the middle of their board and not on the Nightmare card.
- Each player, in the order of the round and starting with the first one, places the Cuddly Toy tile they chose on the Nightmare card. Players are allowed to move the Cuddly Toy until they position it in the best possible way on the Nightmare.
There are two possible outcomes:
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Not fully covered (X): If the Cuddly Toy tile does not fully cover the Nightmare, the player does not gain any Dream token because the Nightmare was the strongest one. At least, this time... Can you still see tiny bits of Nightmare? Well, you'll do better next time!
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Fully covered (check mark): If the Cuddly Toy fully covers the Nightmare, the latter disappears and becomes a sweet dream! You overcame the Nightmare!
The player then draws as many Dream tokens from the Pillow-Bag as there are stars on the chosen Cuddly Toy. The smaller the Cuddly Toy is, the more Dream tokens the player can gain! The tokens thus gained are placed on the available spaces of the player's board.
Example: Cocow chooses the rabbit Cuddly Toy. It fully covers the Nightmare. She overcame it! The rabbit Cuddly Toy has 3 stars, so Cocow draws 3 Dream tokens from the Pillow-Bag and places them on her board on their allocated spaces.
Cocow's advice! After drawing the Dream token(s), each player can recount their dream based on the tokens' artworks.
- As soon as phase 2 is completed, the Nightmare card is discarded in the game box and the Cuddly Toy tiles are placed again in a circle. The player on the left of the first player flips a new Nightmare card to start a new game round. They become the first player for this new round and place the Pillow-Bag in front of them.
End of the Game
At the end of phase 2, if one or more players completed their board with the Dream tokens, they win the game!
If you wish, you can resolve ties between the winners based on the total number of gained Dream tokens (which may exceed the number of allocated spaces on the board).
"Sleep Tight Kiddos!" Cooperative Variant
3 years and up: This variant can be played solo or in cooperation with other players.
For this variant, place the 8 Cuddly Toys in a circle (see example). Then, sort the back of the Nightmare cards according to the moons. The bigger the moon, the higher the difficulty level. So, choose the deck of cards corresponding to the difficulty level you picked. The other cards and the rest of the contents (boards, Dream tokens, and Pillow-Bag) will not be used during this game.
The difficulty levels are shown on the card backs as: Super easy! / Easy-peasy! / Less easy! / Not easy!
The first (youngest) player flips a Nightmare card and places it in the center of the circle formed by the Cuddly Toy tiles. The player must then choose a Cuddly Toy that can fully cover the Nightmare. To do so, they point to one of the Cuddly Toys in order to submit their proposal to the other players. They all discuss to determine which toy fits the best. Once they have made their choice, the player places the Cuddly Toy on the Nightmare card:
- If the Cuddly Toy tile fully covers the Nightmare card, it is overcome. The Cuddly Toy tile and the Nightmare card are set aside, and the game continues. The next player, going clockwise, flips a new Nightmare card.
- On the other hand, if the Cuddly Toy tile does not fully cover the Nightmare card, the game is lost at once!
If at the end of the eighth round all the Nightmares have been overcome, the players win the game!
Setup example for the Cooperative Variant.
"Restless Night" Variant
6 years and up: This variant is played in much the same way as the basic version, with one exception: as soon as a Nightmare card is revealed by the first player, all players must grab a Cuddly Toy tile as fast as they can and place it on their board. Once all the players have chosen their Cuddly Toy, they resolve (phase 2) as they would in the basic game.