Fort Boyard Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Components
• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Turn Order
• Round 1: The Quest for Keys
• Round 2: The Quest for Clues
• Round 3: The Quest for the Treasure
• Counting the Boyards and End of the Game

Game Overview

The game takes place over 3 rounds: the Quest for Keys, the Quest for Clues, and the Quest for the Treasure.

• In Round 1 you compete through challenges and riddles to collect as many Keys as possible, which will help you in the Treasure Room.
• In Round 2 you play the same way, this time aiming to gather enough Clues to decipher your Code Word.
• In Round 3 you gain access to the Treasure Room and its famous Boyards!

The player with the most Boyards at the end of the game is the winner.

Components

• 1 3D Fort (relief fort)
• 1 game board
• 110 cards:
  • 20 CONCENTRATION cards
  • 20 FORCE cards
  • 20 DUEL cards
  • 20 ÉNIGME (riddle) cards
  • 20 MOT-CODE (Code Word) cards
• 5 CHARACTER cards
• 2 CACHE cards
• 3 FORT BOYARD cards
• 1 30-second hourglass
• 1 notepad
• 1 pencil
• 6 pawns and their plastic stands
• 20 keys
• 100 Boyard tokens:
  • 10 pebble tokens (worth nothing)
  • 60 tokens worth 10 Boyards
  • 20 tokens worth 20 Boyards
  • 10 tokens worth 50 Boyards
• 1 cloth bag
• 1 die
• 1 rulebook

Setup

First use only:

• Detach the tokens, the keys and the pawn figures.
• Assemble the 3D Fort, carefully gluing the 2 rectangular strips that form the Fort's façade all the way around it (see the diagram in the printed rules).
• Caution: glue the strip with the rope ladder on the side where the Père Fouras space is. The rope ladder must sit directly below the Père Fouras space.
• Note: once the Fort is assembled you do not need to take it apart again; you can store it as it is in the box.

Every game:

• Unfold the game board in the centre of the table and place the 3D Fort on it. To position it the right way round, make sure the Fort's Père Fouras space sits above the sunken Key space on the board.
• Take the FORCE, CONCENTRATION, DUEL and ÉNIGME cards. Shuffle each category separately and place each deck on its matching space on the board.
• Each player draws one INDICES/MOT-CODE card and places it face down in front of them.
  • Caution: the INDICES/MOT-CODE card in front of you is actually your left-hand neighbour's card.
• Place the 10 remaining cards (CHARACTER, CACHE and FORT BOYARD), the pencil, the 20 keys and the die near the board.
• Put the 100 tokens in the cloth bag, and each player takes one sheet from the notepad.
• Each player chooses a pawn and fixes it to its plastic stand. All players place their pawn on the DÉPART (START) space at the foot of the Fort.
• At the start of the game, decide whether you will play with the red or the blue text of the FORCE, CONCENTRATION, DUEL and ÉNIGME cards.
  • Note: red text and blue text are of the same difficulty.

Playing the Game

Turn Order

Each player rolls the die. The player who rolls the highest number goes first. Play then proceeds clockwise.

Note: the Door space on the Fort counts as 1 space.

Round 1: The Quest for Keys

On your turn, roll the die, move your pawn the number of spaces shown, and follow the instructions of the space you land on.

DOOR: This space marks the entrance to the Fort. Landing on it has no effect. Your turn ends and the next player takes their turn.

CONCENTRATION: When you land on this space, draw a CONCENTRATION card, have your left-hand neighbour read it aloud, and perform the challenge. Some challenges are timed to 30 seconds; in that case, use the hourglass.

• If you succeed, well done: you win a Key. Take a Key from the stock and place it in front of you. Your turn then ends and the next player takes their turn.
• If you fail, you gain nothing. Your turn ends and the next player takes their turn.

FORCE: When you land on this space, draw a FORCE card, read it aloud and perform the challenge. Use the hourglass if needed.

• If you succeed, well done: you win a Key. Take a Key from the stock and place it in front of you. Your turn then ends and the next player takes their turn.
• If you fail, you gain nothing. Your turn ends and the next player takes their turn.

DUEL: When you land on this space, name the opponent you want to face. Draw a DUEL card, read it aloud, and both of you perform the challenge. Use the hourglass if needed.

• If you win, well done: you win one of your opponent's Keys, provided they have at least one. Take one of their Keys and place it in front of you. If the player you challenged had no Keys, take one Key from the stock instead. Your turn then ends and the next player takes their turn.
• If your opponent wins, they win one of your Keys, provided you have at least one. They take one of your Keys and place it in front of them. If you had no Keys, they take one Key from the stock instead. Your turn then ends and the next player takes their turn.

ÉNIGME (riddle): When you land on this space, draw an ÉNIGME card, have your left-hand neighbour read it aloud, and solve the riddle that Père Fouras poses to you.

• If you succeed, well done: you win a Key. Take a Key from the stock and place it in front of you. Your turn then ends and the next player takes their turn.
• If you fail, Père Fouras throws the Key into the sea. You then have the choice between:
  • DIVING FROM THE FORT TO RETRIEVE THE KEY. Place your pawn on the space of the game board located directly below the Père Fouras space. Your turn then ends and the next player takes their turn.
    • Note: on your next turn, roll the die and advance your pawn along the submerged track. Once you have completed a full circuit of the Fort (in one or several turns) and reach the sunken Key space (you do not need to roll the exact number), you win Père Fouras's Key, without having to give a correct answer to the riddle. Take a Key from the stock and place it in front of you, then bring your pawn back up onto the Fort, to the Père Fouras space (without reading a new riddle). Your turn then ends.
  • ABANDONING THIS KEY. Your turn then ends and the next player takes their turn.

PRISON: Your current turn ends, but you must also pass your next turn as well!

PASSE PARTOUT (master key): You may immediately move your pawn to any space you choose along the Fort's route. Then follow the instructions of its new space. Your turn then ends and the next player takes their turn.

The round continues in this way until one of you has 3 Keys in front of you. Round 1 then stops immediately!

Place each player's pawn back on the DÉPART space at the foot of the Fort. Round 2 can now begin.

Round 2: The Quest for Clues

• Keep the Keys you won in Round 1 in front of you at all times.
• Before the round begins, each player reveals to their left-hand neighbour the first Clue of their Code Word, and writes down their own on their sheet.
  • Note: there are 2 difficulty levels on the INDICES/MOT-CODE cards: one symbol (a single red icon) marks the easy level, and two symbols (two red icons) mark the difficult level.
  • Decide together the difficulty level of each player's Code Word before giving the first Clue.

Round 2 plays exactly like Round 1, with 3 differences:

• Instead of winning a Key when you succeed at a challenge, you win a Clue. The Clue is revealed to you by your right-hand neighbour, who holds your card with your list of Clues and your Code Word.
• On DUEL challenges, you now have the choice between winning one of your opponent's Keys (or one from the stock), or obtaining a new Clue for your Code Word.
  • Important: you must say aloud your choice (Key or Clue) before you name the player you are challenging.
• On ÉNIGME (riddle) spaces, you now have the choice between trying to win a Key or obtaining a new Clue for your Code Word. The principle of the Key thrown into the sea becomes the Clue thrown into the sea, where applicable.
  • Important: you must say aloud your choice (Key or Clue) before your left-hand neighbour reads the ÉNIGME card to you.
  • Tip: throughout Round 2, do not neglect the Keys! They serve you both as currency to trade for Code Word information and as the right to draw from the Treasure Bag.

The player who now has the turn (the left-hand neighbour of the player who has just won their 3rd Key) may roll the die, advance their pawn the number of spaces shown, and follow the instructions of the space they land on.

The round continues in this way until one of you has all 4 Clues. Round 2 then stops immediately!

Round 3: The Quest for the Treasure

• Place your pawns inside the Fort. Round 3 can now begin.
• Keep the Keys you gathered over the first 2 rounds always visible in front of you.
• If you have no Keys in front of you, you cannot access the Fort's Treasure; the game ends here for you.
• Each player with 1 Key or more, in turn, starting with the player who has 4 Clues, may propose what they believe is their Code Word.
  • Note: to find your Code Word, use the Clues you were given during Round 2; each one suggests the Code Word in a different sense.
  • Tip: do not jump to conclusions too quickly; take every Clue into account before making your proposal.
  • If your answer is correct and you have at least 1 Key in front of you, you gain access to the Treasure Room!
  • If your answer is wrong and you have at least 2 Keys in front of you, you may make a new proposal in exchange for one of your Keys.
  • If your answer is wrong and you have only 1 Key in front of you, you cannot access the Treasure Room; the game ends here for you.
  • Important: to access the Treasure Room, you must have found your Code Word. Players who have not found their Code Word are eliminated.

One after the other, each player who has found their Code Word draws Boyards from the Treasure Bag.

• To do this, each player must adjust the opening of the bag to their own hand size before drawing: put all the fingers of one hand except the thumb into the bag, then tighten the opening of the bag around your hand and lock the clasp (ask for help if needed).
• To draw your Boyards, you may use only one hand and, more precisely, only 4 of its fingers!
• You are entitled to as many draws of Boyards as you have Keys in front of you.

Counting the Boyards and End of the Game

• Once you have drawn your handfuls, count your points. Add together the value of each token you drew. Be careful: some tokens are pebbles and are worth nothing. This total is the value of your Treasure, expressed in Boyards. Write it on your sheet.
• Then put all the tokens you drew back into the bag, shake it to mix them well, and pass the bag to the next player. Continue in this way until every eligible player has drawn.
• The player with the most Boyards wins the game!