Dungeon Busters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Setting Up for Adventure
• Turn Order: A Monster Appears!
  • If Strength is lower than HP: DEFEAT
  • If Strength is equal to or higher than HP: VICTORY!
  • Spoils for the Victors
• Onward to the Next Monster
  • The Next Dungeon
• Final Scoring
• Quick Reference

Contents

• 35 Battle Cards (7 cards x 5 players)
• 15 Dungeon Cards (5 cards x 3 Dungeons); each shows a Name, Health Points and Loot chests
• 45 Gems (15 x 3 colors)
• 1 Spoils Card
• 1 Leader Token

Setting Up for Adventure

1. Each player chooses an Adventurer and takes five Battle Cards into his/her hand.
   • When playing with 4 players, remove all "1" cards from the game.
   • When playing with 4 or 5 players, remove all "7" cards from the game.
2. Each player takes three Gems (one of each color) as his/her starting Loot Pile. Remaining Gems are placed in the Bank, a central resource. The Bank and players' Loot Piles must be visible to all players during gameplay.
3. Choose the bravest player to act as Expedition Leader. The Leader Token remains with this player throughout the game.
4. Separate the Dungeon Cards into three decks according to their backs (Dungeon I, II, III).
5. The Leader shuffles the deck of five Dungeon I Cards and discards one random card to the box without looking. Place the Dungeon I deck in the center.
6. Set the Dungeon II and III Cards aside.
7. Place the Spoils Card in the center of the play area near the Dungeon I deck.

Turn Order: A Monster Appears!

1. The Leader reveals the top card of the Dungeon I deck, places it on top of the deck, and reads both the name and health points (HP) of the Monster (e.g. "A Mimic with 10 HP.").
2. Each player secretly chooses a Battle Card from his/her hand and puts it face-down. Players may discuss and negotiate which cards should be played, but promises or agreements are non-binding.
3. The Leader says, "Bust it!" and the face-down Battle Cards are revealed. The Leader then totals the strength of all the cards, disregarding the strengths of all cards that are duplicated. The Adventuring Party is victorious with an aggregate strength equal to or greater than the Monster, but faces defeat if the sum is less than the Monster's HP. Heroes win or lose together.

If two or more players play matching cards of the same strength, these cards "cancel out" and are ignored. Their strength is not added to the total.

If Strength is lower than HP: DEFEAT

When players are defeated, no one collects Loot. The player(s) who played the lowest strength card must raid his/her Loot Pile for the highest number of Gems of one color, placing them on the Spoils Card. If two or more colors are tied, the player may choose which single color of Gem to discard to the Spoils Card.

Note that if more than one player ties for lowest strength, each of those players must take this action individually, even though these cards' strengths were duplicated, and therefore disregarded in battle. Multiple players discarding gems should do so clockwise starting with the Leader.

Example: Ignored cards 4 and 5 (duplicates) and others totalling 4 + 5 = 9 means the players are defeated; the players with the lowest strength card (even if ignored) discard Gems to the Spoils Card.

If Strength is equal to or higher than HP: VICTORY!

If total players' strength is equal to or higher than the Monster's HP, the Adventurers are victorious and the Loot will be split among the players! The player with the lowest strength card still in play (not disregarded because of duplication) collects the Gem(s) listed in Chest 1 on the Dungeon card. If there are additional Chests on the card, the second lowest player takes those listed Gems, and so on. If there are no remaining Gems of a certain color in the bank, then those Gems cannot be collected. If there are not enough Adventurers left in the Party (for example only two players' cards were counted towards fighting the Monster, but there are three reward Chests on the Dungeon Card), all unclaimed Loot is placed on the Spoils Card.

Example: 4 + 5 + 6 = 15, players defeated the monster. Players whose cards were ignored get no Loot; the lowest remaining player is Buster #1 and the next is Buster #2, collecting Chests in that order.

Spoils for the Victors

After the players have collected their Loot, all contributing players may collect Gems from the Spoils Card. Starting with the lowest player, each player picks a single Gem in turn from the Spoils Card until all the Gems from the Spoils are collected. Note: If a player's cards are ignored, then he/she does not collect Spoils.

Onward to the Next Monster

1. Players place their played Battle Cards face-up in front of them so that the values are clearly visible to all. Stack Battle Cards this way as play continues.
2. If the Heroes were victorious against the previous Monster, give the Defeated Dungeon Card to the player who played the highest strength card. Defeated Dungeon Cards are kept face-down in front of each player to signify the most valiant contribution each round (Hint: this is the tie breaker!).
3. If the Adventurers were defeated, discard the Dungeon Card to the box.
4. The Leader turns over the next Dungeon Card and play continues.

The Next Dungeon

When there are no more Dungeon I Cards to resolve, each player returns all face-up Battle Cards to his/her hand. The Leader shuffles the deck of five Dungeon II Cards and discards one random card to the box without looking. Place the Dungeon II deck in the center.

Now a new adventure for Dungeon II begins, proceeding round by round as with Dungeon I. Dungeon III will proceed in the same manner. Tip: Remember to restock your hand with played Battle Cards between each Dungeon stage!

Final Scoring

After the final Dungeon III Card is resolved, the game is over and players add up their total Gem scores. Players score:

• 1 Point for each Gem.
• 3 Points for each complete color set (consisting of one red, one blue, and one yellow Gem).
• 3 Points for having the most Gems of a single color among all players. If two or more players tie for most of one color, then no player gets those points.

Example (illustration): total Gems, 6 for Color Sets, and 3 for Most Blue Gems in the game, for a total of 18 Points.

Most points wins. If there is a tie the player with the most defeated Dungeon Cards is the winner. If there is still a tie, share the victory.

Quick Reference

1. Flip a Dungeon Card, read aloud its Health Points.
2. Players negotiate which Battle Card each will play face down.
3. Players simultaneously reveal their cards. Add up total strength. If two or more cards match, they are ignored.

• If strength exceeds or is equal to Monster's HP: VICTORY! If your card was not ignored: (1) The players who played lowest strength collect the Gems listed on the card, beginning with the lowest. (2) If there are Gems on the Spoils Card, starting with the lowest player, take one Gem at a time cycling through all players, lowest to highest, until there are no Gems left on the Spoils.
• If strength is lower than Monster's HP: Defeat! The lowest player(s) must lose his/her highest number of Gems of one color, even if their Battle Cards were ignored. Put these Gems onto the Spoils Card.

Final Scoring: 1 Point for each Gem; 3 Points for each complete color set of Gems; 3 Points for having the most Gems of a color out of all the players (no ties).