Gold Raiders
Gold Raiders Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective and Overview
In an age where exploration and archaeology meet action and adventure, you are the daring leader of an expedition to recover the valuable treasures of an infamous jungle temple. Outmaneuver your opponents, advance along the trail, and avoid bandits along the way to ensure you are the first to reach the loot.
The first player to reach the temple wins the game!
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 6 Raider Standees
- 1 First Player Idol
- 54 Cards
- 27 Travel Cards:
- 11 "1 MILE"
- 9 "2 MILE"
- 7 "3 MILE"
- 11 "BANDITS!"
- 9 "STEAL!"
- 7 "RECON"
- 27 Travel Cards:
Setup
- Unfold the game board and place it in the center of the play area.
- Each player selects a Raider, and places that Raider's Standee on the game board's "Start" position.
- Shuffle all cards together, then deal eight to each player face-down. You may look at your own hand, but do not share it with other players.
- Place the remaining undealt cards to the side, leaving space beside them for a discard pile.
- The player that most recently went on a journey takes the First Player Idol and begins the game.
How To Play
Gold Raiders is played over a series of rounds, each of which consists of two phases: the Night Phase, where players play cards from their hands, and the Day Phase, where players reveal hidden stacks of cards to advance along the trail.
Play continues until one or more players have reached the temple--the final space on the game board.
The Night Phase
Beginning with the First Player, select a single card in your hand and play it. Depending on the card, it will be played one of two ways:
- Face-down, to begin a new stack in front of you, or on top of one of your existing stacks.
- Face-up, directly to the discard pile to use a special effect.
When you play a card to start a new stack in your play area, you must place it to the right of any of your other existing stacks. There is no limit to the number of stacks that you may start. You may NOT rearrange or look at the cards in any stack once they have been played--even your own!
Once you have played your card, play proceeds in clockwise order. The Night Phase ends after all players have played all cards from their hands.
The Day Phase
Beginning again with the First Player, you may choose and reveal one of your stacks. Make sure to keep the cards in the same sequence in which they were placed. Fully resolve the effects indicated on the cards in this stack. You may then choose to reveal another one of your stacks and repeat this process. If you choose not to reveal a stack, or if you have no other stacks to reveal, pass the turn to the next player clockwise in order. The Day Phase ends after each player has taken a turn revealing his or her stack(s). If no player has won the game, reshuffle all cards and pass the First Player Idol to the player farthest along the trail. If two or more players are tied for farthest, pass it to the player closest in order to the current first player. Then, proceed to a new Night Phase.
Note: If you wish, you may choose not to reveal any of your stacks during your turn.
Each time you reveal a stack, the cards in that stack and their sequence determine your movement along the trail.
Card Reference
Travel
When revealed during the Day Phase, travel cards may allow you to advance your Raider along the trail.
- 1 Mile: Advance one space towards the temple. You may only use a single "1 Mile" card in each stack to advance, unless they are consecutive triplets (see below).
- 2 Mile: Advance two spaces towards the temple if this card is directly above a "1 Mile" card.
- 3 Mile: Advance three spaces towards the temple if this card is directly above a "2 Mile" card that is directly above a "1 Mile" card.
Bandits!
When revealed during the Day Phase, Bandits cancel all forward movement that the stack would have otherwise provided, and instead chase you back through the jungle. For each Bandit you reveal in a stack, move your Raider two spaces back towards the lagoon. You can never be chased farther back than the trail extends.
Recon
Discard this card during the Night Phase to peek at all cards in any one stack--even one of your own! Do not change their order.
If placed on the stack, this card has no effect when revealed. However, you may choose to completely ignore it in your stack, and it will not interrupt a sequence of travel cards. For example, a "1 Mile", followed by a Recon card, followed by a "2 Mile" would still allow you to travel a total of three spaces.
Steal!
Take another player's stack and choose one: move it to your own play area as a new stack, or add the stolen cards to the top of any of your existing stacks. You may not look at the cards in this stack, or change their order in any way. During the Day Phase, you may reveal this stack as though you had played it.
Consecutive Triplets
If you reveal a single stack with three consecutive and identical non-Bandit cards, then you advance five spaces towards the temple.
Using a card as part of a consecutive triplet cancels out any benefit it would have otherwise given. For example, three "1 Mile" cards only allow you to advance only five spaces, because you do not advance the extra space for the first "1 Mile" card in the stack. A "1 Mile" followed by a set of three "2 Mile" travel cards would allow you to advance a total of six spaces towards the temple: one for the "1 Mile" card, then another five for the consecutive triplet.
If any Bandits are present in the stack, they still prevent you from advancing towards the temple, and instead chase you back towards the lagoon as normal. A consecutive set of three Bandits will send your Raider six spaces back towards the lagoon!
Example Stacks
- Example A: 2, 1, 3. Advance only one space towards the temple. Unfortunately, these cards are sequenced poorly--a 1, followed by a 2, followed by a 3 could have moved your Raider a total of six spaces forward!
- Example B: 1, Recon, 2, Bandit. Recon cards may be ignored, which means that the 1 and 2 are sequenced correctly, and could allow you to move a total of three spaces forward. However, the Bandit in this stack prevents you from moving forward, and you instead move back two spaces towards the lagoon.
- Example C: Recon, Recon, Recon. Normally, Recon cards have no effect when revealed in a stack. However, since you've revealed three identical cards in consecutive order, you advance five spaces towards the temple.
- Example D: 2, 3. You do not advance towards the temple at all. Without a 1 to start your movement, the 2 and 3 do not have any value.
Winning The Game
After all players have finished their turns during the Day Phase, check to see if one or more players have reached the temple. If no player has done so, gather all cards and shuffle them together. Deal eight face-down cards to each player, and begin a new round starting with the Night Phase.
If a player has reached the temple, that player wins the game!
If multiple players have reached the temple, the tied player with the highest combined total of travel cards currently revealed in his or her play area wins. If there is still a tie, the tied player with the most unrevealed stacks wins. If there is still a tie, the tied player earliest in turn order wins.
Gameplay Quick Reference
Play over a series of Night and Day phases until the first player reaches the temple!
- Night: Play cards from your hand to stacks in front of you, or discard them for special effects.
- Day: Reveal your stacks one at a time, and resolve the cards' effects.
- Travel: Advance towards the temple, but only when played in the right order.
- Bandits!: Cancel out travel cards, and chase you back towards the lagoon.
- Recon: Peek at any stack.
- Steal!: Steal a stack and put it in front of you.
If you reveal three consecutive, identical non-Bandit cards in the same stack, advance five spaces towards the temple!
- Play this card to one of your Stacks (face-down).
- You may discard this card for a special effect (face-up, to the discard pile).