Escape Tales: Children of Wyrmwoods Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• About the Game
• Components
• Game Setup
• Goal of the Game
• Playing the Game
• The Story Books and the Paragraphs
• Locations
• Exploring Locations
• Rest and Focus Cards
• Game Cards
  • Puzzle Cards
  • Item Cards
  • Character Card and Modifier Cards
  • Map Cards
• Puzzles and the App
• Puzzles
• Combining Cards
• End of the Game
• Saving the Game
• Differences from Previous Games
• Credits

About the Game

Escape Tales: Children of Wyrmwoods is an escape room in a card game form for 1 to 4 players. Apart from challenging puzzles, the game mainly focuses on an engaging storyline, which you will influence as you play. Many puzzles await – each of them requires no more than your heads and maybe some paper and pencils – and along with them, your actions during the adventure will determine the course of an epic story.

If you have played previous Escape Tales games, you do not need to read the whole rulebook. Simply check out the Differences from Previous Games section (at the end of the rulebook) to find out which rules are different.

Components

• 36 Action Tokens
• 187 Game Cards
• 8 Rest Cards
• 8 Focus Cards
• 16 Location Cards
• 1 Map
• 4 Player Aid Cards
• 3 Story Books
• 1 Rulebook

Important! We prepare each copy of the game with great care. Regrettably, mistakes can still happen. Therefore, during setup, please make sure that you are not missing any cards. This will ensure that your experience is not spoiled by a missing component. Remember to only check the back of the cards! If you notice any damaged or missing components, contact us via https://boardanddice.com/customer-support/ where you will find the customer support form.

Game Setup

Remember! Do not peek at the fronts (the side with the text and images) of the cards as you prepare them.

Select the Chapter you want to play.

Important! It does not matter how much time you take between the Chapters, but it is crucial that you play them in the following order:

• Prologue and Chapter 1 found in Story Book 1.
• Chapter 2 found in Story Book 2.
• Epilogue found in Story Book 3.

Place the following within easy reach:

• Action Tokens.
• Game Cards in ascending order (from C001 on top to C187 at the bottom).
• Rest and Focus Cards in separate piles in ascending order:
  • Prologue: R0 and F0.
  • Chapter 1: cards R10 to R12 and F10 to F12.
  • Chapter 2: cards R20 to R22 and F20 to F22.
  • Epilogue: cards R30 and F30.
• Location Cards in ascending order (from L01 on top to L16 at the bottom).
• All the cards you had at the end of the previous Chapter that do not have a puzzle icon and you were not instructed to discard. When setting up the game for the first time, you will obviously not have any cards yet.

Important! Never discard any of the cards you receive, even after you finish a Chapter, unless the game specifically instructs you otherwise.

• Story Book for the chosen Chapter.

Prepare a mobile device or a computer to check puzzle results (you will find out more about the App on page 6).

Goal of the Game

Escape Tales: Children of Wyrmwoods is a cooperative game. This means that you will make all decisions together with other players. Unless you are playing the game solo, make sure to discuss the locations and puzzles with other players. The end of the story depends on choices you make together - and each choice matters.

Escape Tales: Children of Wyrmwoods is a game you cannot "lose". However, your decisions will influence the final outcome of the story. For better or worse, each ending is up to you.

Playing the Game

Play time of the game can vary significantly between groups due to how much time puzzles take and how the story of the game unfolds.

It is possible to play the game in one session, yet we really recommend taking a break after Chapter 1. The Epilogue is much shorter in play time and can safely be played right after Chapter 2.

Start each Chapter by reading out loud its introduction which you can find in the Story Book of the Chapter you are playing. There you will also find out which Paragraph entry you should start with. From that moment on, you will be playing following these steps:

1. Read the indicated Story Book Paragraph and follow all the instructions provided.
2. Perform any of the following actions until a game component instructs you to read a Paragraph in the Story Book (in which case return to the first step of this list).
   • Explore the Location: Place one of the available Action Tokens on an unexplored area of the Map Card and read the indicated Paragraph in the Story Book.
   • Rest or Focus yourself: If you do not have any Action Tokens and you want to explore the Location, choose whether you want to rest or focus. Take the top card from the corresponding pile, read it and follow all of its instructions.
   • Solve Puzzle: Open the puzzle you are allowed to solve (you have at least one card with its puzzle icon) in the App and perform any of its available actions (like giving an answer, checking for required cards or taking a hint).
   • Combine Cards: Open Combine Cards menu in the App, enter numbers of cards you are trying to combine and read the outcome.

Important! If you want to see what your main character thinks about a given card, combine the Character Card with another Game Card (marked with the letter C).

If you are doing everything right, this is the step you will never reach :)

The Story Books and the Paragraphs

The end of the introduction will instruct you how to start the story. Each Paragraph is assigned a unique number with a preceding letter (for example: P854). Paragraph entries describe events in the story of the main character, and their distribution in the Story Book is random. When reading an entry, try not to look at other Paragraphs on the same page. If you do, you may spoil the story!

All Paragraph entries look similar. Each paragraph consists of: Number, Story Text, Actions. Whenever a game effect sends you to a Paragraph, you will find it by its unique number. When reading through a Paragraph entry, be sure to start from the Story Text, as it contains puzzle hints and details important events which may influence your future decisions. Once you are done with the Story Text, resolve all Actions listed under it in given order. It may also happen that there are no Actions under the Story Text. This means that exploring this area requires no further actions. However, note that the Story Text may still contain valuable information.

The margin of each page in the Story Book lists all the Paragraph numbers on that page. This should make finding the right Paragraph easier and quicker.

Locations

New puzzles, items and story parts are discovered by exploring Location Cards. A Paragraph that introduces a new Location will also instruct you to take Location Card(s) usually together with the indicated Map Card and a number of Action Tokens (you will find out more about Action Tokens in the Exploring Locations section).

Important! Unless specifically instructed otherwise, always take Cards from the appropriate decks and reveal them immediately.

Next, following the instructions provided by the Paragraph, place the Location Card(s) on the table following the layout depicted on the Map Card showing the Location. The layout is usually divided into squares, referred to as "areas". By doing this you have prepared the Location, and you are ready to explore.

Remember! The decisions you make during the game will lead you to only some of the Location Cards – it is not possible to see all of them in one game!

Exploring Locations

Important! It is always a good idea to look closely at the Location Cards and discuss your next steps.

Once you have decided to explore an area, place one of the available Action Tokens on the Map Card and read the Paragraph section assigned to the chosen area. While exploring, you may receive one or more Game Cards.

You often will not have enough Action Tokens to explore every nook and cranny of each Location. But do not worry - not every corner needs a close examination, which is why it is important to wisely select the areas you approach. If you ever run out of Action Tokens, you can draw a Rest or a Focus Card, if you have any of them left in the deck.

Important! If you still have Action Tokens when advancing to the new Location, do not discard them as long as the Story Book does not instruct you to do otherwise! If you are instructed to take Action Tokens by the Story Book, simply add new ones to the ones you already have.

Rest and Focus Cards

Rest and Focus Cards allow you to continue the game after you run out of Action Tokens. Whenever you wish to explore another area (or perform any other action that requires you to discard Action Tokens) and you are out of Action Tokens, you must draw the top Rest or Focus Card from the corresponding deck and read all of its contents (including the small text at the bottom of the card). You can freely decide if your character should rest or focus himself in given circumstances. However, when choosing what to do, you should remember about all the consequences, like time passing or the condition of your main character.

The upper part of the Rest or Focus Card contains the story, and the bottom part lists effects which need to be resolved in a given order. Those cards are also Modifier Cards (you will learn more about them in the Character Card and Modifier Cards section on page 6).

Remember that each Chapter has its own Rest and Focus Cards - when starting a new Chapter, put back into the box all of the unused Rest and Focus Cards from the previous Chapter and take the appropriate set:

• Prologue: R0 and F0.
• Chapter 1: cards R10 to R12 and F10 to F12.
• Chapter 2: cards R20 to R22 and F20 to F22.
• Epilogue: cards R30 and F30.

Be cautious with Rest and Focus Cards! Using too many will influence how your story unfolds – and how it ends!

Remember! You are not allowed to draw a new Rest or Focus Card if you still have any unused Action Tokens.

Game Cards

During play, different effects and Paragraphs will tell you to take Game Cards (marked with the letter C). After drawing a Game Card, reveal it immediately unless instructed otherwise. Game Cards should be stored within easy reach of all players. They remain face up until an effect from the Story Book tells you to discard them (usually right after use). Upon conclusion of a Chapter, the Story Book will instruct you which cards should be discarded. Remaining cards are carried to the next Chapter.

Each Game Card can be combined with other cards, thus providing new information or access to parts of the story which you would otherwise be unable to reach. For more information, go to the Combining Cards section found on page 7.

The Game Cards deck contains the following cards:

Puzzle Cards

These cards are marked with an icon situated in the bottom right corner. A puzzle may comprise one or more cards. It is best to group these cards by their icons so that elements of the same puzzle are stored next to each other.

Item Cards

Recognizable by their background, the Item Cards always contain item illustrations. Item Cards may become useful later in the game – they may remain with you across different Locations or even Chapters. When combined with other Game Cards, they will let you create new things or gain access to parts of the story which you would otherwise be unable to reach. However, as in real life, any item can be broken or simply lost.

Important! One card may belong to several card types. For example, an Item Card may also be a Puzzle Card or a Modifier Card. In such case, the card possesses all of the features of each of its types.

Character Card and Modifier Cards

Character Card and Modifier Cards are both special types of cards that describe your character abilities. They are always in vertical orientation and have four statistics or statistic modifiers on the right. Keep all Modifier Cards slid under the Character Card to easily see how they affect your attributes. You can continue playing even if any of your statistics go to 0 or below – but it will influence your story.

Important! Even when slid under your Character Card, you can still combine Modifier Cards with other Cards. This way you may lose some Modifier Cards to gain something else in the game.

Map Cards

These cards display a grid, and a smaller version of the illustration from the Location Cards. To explore a Location, you will place Action Tokens on those Cards. Map Cards are usually given with Location Cards. They guide you how to organize Location Cards on the table.

Puzzles and the App

Puzzles in Escape Tales consist mainly of Game Cards, but they may also use some other elements. Each puzzle consists of at least one card (marked with a symbol in the bottom right corner). Each answer must be entered into the App.

Some of the puzzles are essential to progressing the story, but there are also some that may help you in a different way. Because of this you should not be afraid to leave a puzzle unsolved. The game will not let you go any further without solving the puzzles essential to the story.

The Escape Tales App is made in the form of a website which you can add to the main screen of your mobile device to be used as an application or simply use it in a browser. The App also works offline: a single visit to the website will allow you to use the App without an active Internet connection.

You can find the App at: https://app.escape-tales.com

When starting the website/app for the first time, select the Children of Wyrmwoods game and the language matching the language version of your copy of the game.

The main menu of the App displays symbols of all puzzles which you can browse freely, and a button opening Combine Cards menu. Whenever you discover a new puzzle symbol, you should open the puzzle in the App and check the number of cards needed.

Important! Nothing you do in the App requires Action Tokens or comes with negative consequences, so you can perform any App actions at will. If you want to get a hint, you can freely take as many as you need without any punishment in the game.

Puzzles

A puzzle menu consist of three main areas: Answer Space, Required Cards and Hints.

• Answer Space: This is the space you will use to enter the answer to a puzzle. The number of individual symbol spaces is different for each puzzle. If the Answer Space displays 3 spaces for symbols, then the answer consists of exactly 3 symbols: letters or numbers. After providing the correct answer, the App will direct you to the proper Paragraph in the Story Book.

A hint for the answer format may appear above the Answer Space. This hint does not influence the solution of the puzzle – it merely instructs you on how to properly enter the answer into the App.

• Required Cards: This option allows you to learn how many Puzzle Cards and other game components are required to solve a given puzzle. You may ignore it completely and try to use logic or follow the story to gather all the hints but remember that without all of the required Puzzle Cards or other game components you will not be able to solve any puzzle.

• Hints: This button opens a new menu where you can request a hint. This menu contains the Take a Hint button, which - after clicking - will provide you a hint helpful in solving the puzzle. Upon taking a few hints (usually between three and five - depending on the puzzle) the button will change into the See Answer button. This should be your last resort, used only when you are unable to solve a given puzzle. However, pushing this button does not have any negative impact on the game itself.

Combining Cards

The Combine Cards menu shows you two spaces to enter Game Card numbers that you want to combine. "C" is already given, so the only thing you should type is the number of the card. The App will tell you what actions or information you get from that. The order of cards is not important. You can combine any Game Cards - it does not matter if they are Item Cards, Modifiers or your Character Card.

End of the Game

Escape Tales offers diverse paths through Chapters and different ways of finishing them. Your actions and decisions throughout the current Chapter (as well as any previous Chapters) will influence the ending you reach. The Epilogue is a much shorter Chapter that will result with one of many very different outcomes, depending on the choices you made during the game.

Saving the Game

Escape Tales: Children of Wyrmwoods can be paused at any time to be continued another day. All you need to to do to save the game is to fill out the table on the last page of the Story Book you are currently using. Each Story Book offers a narrative lasting for a few hours, so it is recommended to save the game once a Chapter concludes and continue another time.

If you decide to take a break from the game after concluding the first or the second Chapter, remember to store the Game Cards that you get to keep separately. If you are playing a single Chapter over multiple sittings, you can keep the Game Cards in the smaller well under the Location Cards in the game box. Any other discarded Game Cards will no longer be needed, so there is no need to add them back to their deck.

When setting up the game next time, simply follow the information in the table to continue your game. However, we recommend pausing the game between Chapters or immediately upon leaving a Location. This way you will not forget details of unsolved puzzles or information you learned while exploring current Location.

Differences from Previous Games

We are happy to have you back with us for another adventure! Below you will find all the information that an Escape Tales veteran needs to jump straight into the Children of Wyrmwoods. Everything else you know about Escape Tales remains unchanged!

• Doom/Stress Cards are now Rest and Focus Cards. They work identically to Doom/Stress Cards when it comes to receiving new Action Tokens, but influence the game in different ways. When you need more Action Tokens, decide if you want your Character to rest or ignore their weariness and focus.
• There are two new Card Types - Character Card and Modifier Cards. Jump to page 6 to find out more about them.
• As in Low Memory, each story comes with its own pool of Rest and Focus Cards. See the Rest and Focus Cards section on page 5 to learn which Cards to use in a given Chapter.
• The game consists of three parts of a story, called Chapters. You will need to crack them in the right order, so make sure you set up each Chapter properly. Make sure that you are using the right Rest and Focus Cards for each Chapter. Important: the Epilogue is also called a Chapter for consistency of in-game terms.
• There are no Exit Cards, Condition Cards or Pending Cards and Progress Tokens in Children of Wyrmwoods.
• There is a new mechanism - Combining Cards. It's available in the App and does exactly what point and click fans would expect from it. Learn more about it on page 7 and feel free to explore combinations!
• All cards that do not have a puzzle icon remain with you for the following Chapters unless a paragraph text tells you otherwise.

Credits

Game Design: Jakub Caban, Bartosz Idzikowski Game Development: Małgorzata Mitura Story Books written by: Jakub Caban Translation and additional writing: Błażej Kubacki Illustrations: Jakub Fajtanowski, Aleksander Zawada Graphic Design & DTP: Bartosz Idzikowski, Agnieszka Kopera, Katarzyna Młynarczyk App Development: Tomasz Lipka-Bartosik Rulebook: Jakub Caban, Bartosz Idzikowski, Małgorzata Mitura, Błażej Kubacki Playtests: Bartosz Idzikowski, Małgorzata Mitura, Weronika Rędziniak, Jakub Caban, Rainer Åhlfors Proofreading: Weronika Rędziniak, Rainer Åhlfors

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