Goblin Vaults
Goblin Vaults Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
In Goblin Vaults, you earn gears — which is the only currency that matters in the cell block — by stashing loot in your vault.
With cunning and clever scheming, make your bid to be feared amongst your peers! You'll need wits and luck to play your cards right as you fill your vault and influence the warden in your favor.
After nine rounds, whoever has the most gears wins the game!
Components
- 60 Loot Cards — front shows the card's value, suit icon, faction icon, and tier icon over a loot illustration, with a block icon in the corner; back shows the goblin suit crest.
- 1 Basic Goal Card — two sides: Collection ("Score each chamber with at least 2 cards of the same value. 4 gears per chamber with 2 cards, 9 gears per chamber with 3 cards.") and Cluster ("Score each chamber with 3 cards whose values form a sequence in ascending or descending order. 9 gears per chamber.").
- 5 Reference Cards — front shows Final Scoring ("1 gear per tier icon in tier 1. 2 gears per icon in tier 2. 3 gears per icon in tier 3. 2 gears per icon that matches your faction card. Based on the chosen goal cards."); back shows Order of Play (Scheme Phase, Vault Phase, and Warden Phase summaries).
- 5 Faction Cards — front shows a faction goblin illustration; back shows the faction crest.
- 6 Suit Goal Cards — one card per suit, matching suit icon in the corner. Each is two-sided, e.g. the tome suit card shows Tome Library on one side ("Score each chamber with at least 2 tome cards. 5 gears per chamber with 2 cards, 9 gears per chamber with 3 cards.") and Ancient Volumes on the other ("Score each tier in which the leftmost and rightmost cards are tome cards," with escalating gear rewards per tier won, up to 24 gears for winning all 3 tiers).
- 1 Scorepad (50 sheets)
- 26 Gear Tokens
- 5 Faction Markers
- 1 First Player Marker
Loot Card Anatomy
- Suit Icon
- Card Value
- Faction Icon
- Tier Icon
- Suit Illustration
- Block Icon
Goal Card Anatomy
- Suit Icon
- Card Name
- Requirement
- Reward
- Example
Game Setup
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Place the basic goal card on the table, choosing a side at random. First game recommendation: use the Cluster goal.
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Choose two suit goal cards at random. Return the four unused suit goal cards to the game box. Place the two chosen suit goal cards on the table near the basic goal card, choosing a side for each card at random. First game recommendation: use the Tome Library (tome suit) and Gimnax's Reign (crown suit) goals.
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Choose a number of suits based on the number of players. Two of the chosen suits must match the chosen suit goal cards. Create the loot deck by shuffling the loot cards from the chosen suits together. Return all loot cards of unused suits to the game box.
Player Count Number of Suits 2-3 Players 4 Suits 4 Players 5 Suits 5 Players 6 Suits -
Deal each player a hand of 10 cards from the loot deck, face down, and give each player a reference card. Games with two players: deal 10 cards from the loot deck, face down, to create Glavrun's deck.
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Reveal three cards from the loot deck and place them in a face-up row in the middle of the table. This row is known as the block.
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Reveal one card from the loot deck and place it above the block, face up. This card is known as the warden card. Place the remainder of the loot deck, face down, next to the warden card.
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Deal each player a faction card at random, face up, and give them the matching faction marker. Return all remaining faction cards and markers to the game box. Games with two players: deal a faction card to Glavrun and place the matching faction marker on it.
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Give each player three gear tokens. Place the remainder in a pile within reach of all players. This pile is known as the supply.
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Each player chooses one loot card from their hand. Once all players have done so, they simultaneously reveal their chosen cards and place them in front of themselves, face up. This area in front of each player is known as their vault.
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Give the first player marker to whoever looks most like a goblin.
Advanced Setup: For a more complex game, additional suit goal cards can be included, up to a maximum of one matching goal for each suit in play. Having more goals in play offers more scoring possibilities!
The Vault
Players score gears based on the positions of the cards in their vault at the end of the game.
- A vault has four vertical chambers. Each chamber can contain a maximum of three cards.
- A chamber has three horizontal tiers.
- When a player adds a card to their vault, it can be placed in any chamber with an empty position.
- If the chamber has no cards yet, place the new card in tier 1.
- If the chamber has a card in tier 1, place the new card in tier 2 (i.e., partially overlapping the card in tier 1).
- If the chamber has a card in tier 2, place the new card in tier 3 (i.e., partially overlapping the card in tier 2).
- Make sure that the suit icon, card value, faction icon, and tier icon of all cards in the vault remain visible at all times.
- Once a card has been placed in the vault, it cannot be moved unless the player takes a move action later.
Card Strength
The strength of a card is indicated by its value. However, any card of the same suit as the current warden card is considered stronger than every card of any other suit (regardless of value).
Example: The current warden suit is coins. These cards are shown in order of strength: 6 of coins, 2 of coins, 9 of lanterns, 3 of skulls.
How to Play
Goblin Vaults is played over nine rounds. Each round has three phases: the Scheme Phase, the Vault Phase, and the Warden Phase.
1. Scheme Phase
Games with two players: Reveal a card from Glavrun's deck. Examine its block icon and assign it to the block accordingly (I, II, III = left, middle, right). Mark it with Glavrun's faction marker.
Starting with whoever has the first player marker and continuing in clockwise order, each player takes a turn.
On a player's turn, they must choose a card from their hand, play it to a card in the block, and mark it with their faction marker. This is known as their bid.
- At each of the three cards in the block, the bid with the highest strength is known as the winning bid.
- If there is at least one bid on a card in the block already, making a bid equal to or lower than the winning bid for that card is known as underbidding.
- When a player underbids, they must add one gear token to the winning bid. If they have no gear tokens, they may not underbid.
- If underbidding is the only possibility, and the player has no gear tokens, they must add a card from their hand to their vault, face down, and collect one gear token from the supply.
- If the faction icon of the player's bid matches the faction icon of the warden card, they may immediately take an optional warden action.
Warden Actions
When a player takes an optional warden action, they may choose either a move action or a draw action.
Move Action
This action allows a player to move one card from any position in their vault to a different position in their vault. Observe the following rules when moving cards:
- No chamber can ever have more than three cards.
- No card can ever be moved to an empty position in tier 2 or tier 3 if the previous tier in that chamber is empty.
- Moving a card can cause other cards in the vault to shift up or down by one tier accordingly.
Example: Nuk plays a card with the blue faction icon, which matches the faction icon of the current warden card. Nuk decides to perform a move action as his optional warden action.
He moves the 8 of skulls from tier 1 of the first chamber to tier 2 of the third chamber.
The 10 of tomes and 2 of tomes in the first chamber shift up to tiers 1 and 2, respectively.
The 1 of lanterns in the third chamber shifts down to tier 3.
Draw Action
This action allows a player to discard one card from their hand to the bottom of the loot deck, face down.
They then draw one card from the top of the loot deck and add it to their hand.
This action is not available if the player has no cards left in their hand (i.e., during the final round).
2. Vault Phase
Resolve bids for each card in the block.
- If the card has no bids, add a gear token to the card from the supply.
- If the card has one bid, the sole bidder retrieves their faction marker and adds the card to their vault. If there are any gear tokens on the card, they collect them. Finally, they move their bid to the block.
- If the card has multiple bids, each bidder resolves their bid based on whether they are the winning bidder or not.
- The winning bidder retrieves their faction marker and adds the card to their vault. If there are any gear tokens on the card, they collect them. Finally, they move their bid to the block. Any gear tokens added to their bid remain on it.
- Each other bidder retrieves their faction marker and adds their own bid to their vault instead. If there are any gear tokens on their bid, they collect them.
Games with two players: When Glavrun takes a card from the block, instead of adding it to a vault, she puts it in a face-up discard pile next to her deck. Any gear tokens on cards that she takes are returned to the supply.
Example: Gundur (blue) plays a 9 of tomes as his bid on the first card in the block, a 10 of potions.
Jeremy (yellow) plays a 4 of coins as his bid on the same card. Because his bid matches the faction icon of the warden card, he may then take a warden action.
Nuk (green) plays a 2 of crowns as his bid on the same card. This underbids Jeremy, so Nuk must add one gear token to the winning bid, the 4 of coins.
Jeremy is the winning bidder, so he adds the 10 of potions to his vault and moves the 4 of coins to the block, with the gear token added by Nuk still on it.
Gundur adds the 9 of tomes to his vault, and Nuk adds the 2 of crowns to his vault.
3. Warden Phase
The current first player may, if they wish, swap the warden card with one of the three cards in the block. Any gear tokens on those cards remain on those cards during the swap.
- If the players' hands are now empty (i.e., during the final round), the game is over and final scoring occurs.
- Otherwise, the current first player passes the first player marker clockwise and the next round begins.
Final Scoring
Evaluate the cards in each player's vault to determine their final score. Any face-down cards are considered blank for scoring purposes.
Gear Tokens Players score one gear per gear token.
Tier Icons Players score gears for each card positioned in the matching tier in their vault:
- one gear for each tier 1 icon in tier 1
- two gears for each tier 2 icon in tier 2
- three gears for each tier 3 icon in tier 3
Faction Icons Players score two gears for each faction icon, positioned anywhere in their vault, that matches their faction card.
Goal Cards Players score gears based on the chosen goal cards. When a goal card refers to the "highest" or "lowest," if two or more cards are tied for that value, none of them score.
The player with the highest final score is the winner!
- If there is a tie, the tied player with the most gear tokens wins.
- If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.
Solitary Mode
Can you beat Glavrun at her own game? She starts with some extra gears in reserve, so you'll have to be particularly savvy.
Game Setup
Follow the setup for a two-player game, with these exceptions:
- Choose a difficulty level: EASY, MEDIUM, or HARD.
- Deal 18 cards to create Glavrun's deck (instead of 10).
- Deal two faction cards to Glavrun (instead of one) and place the two matching faction markers on them.
- Give 10 gear tokens to Glavrun.
- Do not use the first player marker.
How to Play
Follow the rules for a two-player game, with these exceptions:
1. Scheme Phase
At the start of this phase, reveal a card from Glavrun's deck. Examine its block icon and assign it to the block accordingly (I, II, III = left, middle, right). Mark it with one of Glavrun's faction markers.
After Glavrun plays her first card, the player then places a bid on any card in the block, as in the multiplayer game.
Finally, reveal a second card from Glavrun's deck. Examine its block icon, assign it accordingly, and mark it with Glavrun's other faction marker.
- If Glavrun's second card would underbid her first card, instead assign it to the next card in the block (I → II → III → I).
- If Glavrun's second card underbids the player's card, add a gear token from the supply to the player's card.
Glavrun never takes warden actions.
2. Vault Phase
When Glavrun takes a card from the block, instead of adding it to a vault, she puts it in a face-up discard pile next to her deck. Any gear tokens on cards that she takes are kept with her discard pile.
3. Warden Phase
The player always gets to decide whether the warden card is swapped with one of the three cards in the block.
Final Scoring
The player's final score is calculated exactly as in the multiplayer game. Glavrun's final score, however, is calculated by scoring gears based on the contents of her discard pile.
- Gear Tokens: Glavrun scores one gear per gear token.
- Faction Icons: Glavrun scores gears, based on the chosen difficulty level, for each faction icon that matches either of her faction cards.
- EASY: two gears per matching faction icon
- MEDIUM: three gears per matching faction icon
- HARD: four gears per matching faction icon
- Suit Icons: Glavrun scores one gear for each suit icon that matches either of the chosen suit goal cards.
Glavrun does not score for tier icons or goal cards.
If the player has a higher final score than Glavrun, the player wins! Otherwise, the player loses to Glavrun (try again).
Credits
Game Designers: Keith Matejka and Eric Schlautman Developer: John Brieger and Luke Muench Graphic Designer: Stephen Kerr Illustrators: Diego Sá, Lucas Ribeiro, Rainer Petter, and Veronika Fedorova Wordsmith: Peter Ryan Editor: Dustin Schwartz
Special Thanks: The publisher would like to thank Eduardo Baraf, Scott Bogen, Liesbeth Bos, Mike Butz, Alara Cameron, Dan Cunningham, Kirk Dennison, Aarin Duwe, Marc English, Steve Esser, Jeff Gum, Dan Harwood, Kattherine Hausrath, Andrea Keller, Kane Klenko, Tim Last, Sen-Foong Lim, Claire Matejka, Tim Mattes, Zachary Molchany, Joshua Norris, Heather Parks, Anthony Rando, James Ryan, Jonah Ryan, Nathan Schieve, Jessica Souder, Eric Tague, Tim Virnig, Jenna Willi, Jordan Willi, and Mitch Zuleger.
For additional information or support, please visit us at www.thunderworksgames.com
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