Elf: Journey from the North Pole
Elf: Journey from the North Pole Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal
Players collectively guide Buddy the Elf as he journeys from the North Pole to New York City to meet his dad. While each player wants Buddy the Elf to get to New York City, each has a different list of locations they want him to visit before arriving at his final destination. The player who is able to score the most points by having Buddy the Elf visit the destinations on their Goal card will win the game!
Components
Game Board, 12 Tokens, 7 Goal Cards, 60 Path Cards, 1 Buddy the Elf Mover, Instructions.
Setup
- Assemble the puzzle game board.
- Place the Buddy the Elf mover on the yellow START arrow in the North Pole, at the top of the board.
- Place the seven Location tokens on their matching locations and the New York City Snow Globe token on the END space, at the bottom of the board.
- Mix the Gingerbread Man tokens with the points side down, then place them at the four locations on the board.
- Create a pile of face-down Path cards next to the board.
- Each player draws three Path cards and places them face-up in front of them.
- Each player draws one Goal card that they look at, but does not show to the other players.
- The player with the birthday closest to Christmas (December 25th) goes first.
Goal Cards
Your goal is to get Buddy the Elf to visit as many of the locations on your Goal card as you can before the game ends, in no particular order. You do NOT want him to visit a location that is not on your card! However, your opponents might have one of the same locations on their Goal card as you do.
The sooner you get to a location, the more points it will score for everyone who has that location on their Goal card (see LANDING ON A LOCATION on Page 8).
When one player gets Buddy the Elf to a location, and its score is set, those points go to everyone with that location on their Goal card, NOT just the person who moved Buddy the Elf there!
Example: Each Goal card contains three location goals. (The example Goal card shows Gumdrop Village, Central Park and Wise Snowman.)
On Your Turn
- You must play at least one Path card from your hand to the board. You may play as many Path cards from your hand as you'd like. (See HOW TO PLAY A PATH CARD below.)
- Place the Buddy the Elf mover on the last Path card you played.
- Draw two more Path cards from the deck to your hand.
- The turn passes to the next player on your left.
Example: Starting from the North Pole, Buddy the Elf follows the path on the Path cards to the arrow of the last card played.
How to Play a Path Card
Path cards move Buddy the Elf around the board. There are a few rules on how to play a Path card.
Connecting Paths
The line on the Path card you play must line up with the arrowhead from the previous card to which it is connecting. If you are the first player in the game, the line of the first Path card played must be touching the house and arrow in the North Pole.
Example: Path lines are touching the arrowhead of the previous card.
Path Routes
Path cards may go off the board, or even cross over old Path cards previously played!
Path Rotation
If playing off of a previous card with an arrow in the corner, you can rotate the new Path card in any way you'd like, as long as the new Path card does not overlap any part of the Path card to which it is connecting.
Example: The new Path card can be placed at different rotations off the corner of the previous card, but it can't rotate so far that it overlaps that card.
Placing Buddy on a Path
Always put the Buddy the Elf mover on the last Path card you played when your turn is over.
Landing on a Location
There are six Scoring Slots at the top of the board, starting with 3 stars going down to 1, from left to right.
Note (transcriber): the instructions do not print the exact point value of each individual Scoring Slot in text form; the values are shown as star icons on the board. The Gingerbread Man token point values are printed on the token backs, which are not reproduced in the instructions text (the Scoring Example shows one token worth 2 points).
If any part of a Path card you play is touching any part of a Location token, take the Location token and place it in the first available left-most Scoring Slot at the top of the board. You do NOT keep the token for yourself. That location is now worth the number of points shown under that slot, to anyone who has that destination on their Goal card—NOT just for you! These points will be added up at the end of the game.
Example: A Path card is touching the Wise Snowman Location token. To mark that this location has been visited, the Wise Snowman Location token is then placed at the top of the board, in the left-most available Scoring Slot. In this case, it is the first location visited, so the token goes in the first slot. Anyone who has Wise Snowman on their Goal card will receive 3 points for it at the end of the game.
There are seven Location tokens, but only six Scoring Slots. Once six locations are scored and their tokens are filling all Scoring Slots, the final seventh location has no point value and will score zero.
Landing on a Location token (or a Gingerbread Man token—see Special Locations below) does not stop your turn. If you have more Path cards to play that will continue your path, you may do so.
Special Locations
Gingerbread Men: If any player plays a Path card that touches any part of a Gingerbread Man token on the board, that player removes the token from the board and keeps it. Look on the back to see how many points this will score for you at the end of the game!
Ice Floes: If any player plays a Path card that touches any part of one of the two Ice Floes on the board, that player may choose to play their next Path card starting on the other side of the board, touching any part of the other Ice Floe. This can only occur once per game.
Maple Syrup: If any player plays a Path card that touches any part of one of the Maple Syrup Jars—including the syrup—that player gets to draw one extra Path card. The card may be used this turn, or later. Only the first player who touches a Maple Syrup space gets to draw an extra card.
Ending the Game
The game ends when all Path cards are played, or if one player lands on the New York City Snow Globe space. The player who is the first to land on the New York City Snow Globe gets the Snow Globe token, which is worth 2 points.
Players then add up the points attributed to each location on their Goal cards, as shown by the Location tokens in the Scoring Slots at the top of the board.
- If you have any Gingerbread Men tokens, add the points shown on them to your score.
- If a location is not visited by Buddy the Elf, it receives no score.
The player with the most points wins! (See Scoring Example below.)
Scoring Example
The three locations on this Goal card that match the Location tokens in the scoring slots score 6 points. This player also has a Gingerbread Man token worth 2 points. Their total score is 8 points.
Total score: 8 points.