Guardians of Legends
Guardians of Legends Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 24 "Island" tiles
- 24 "Location" cards
- 35 "Postcard" cards
- 15 "Exploration Boat" pawns
- 26 "Reward" cards (10 "Treasure" cards and 16 "Legend" cards)
- 20 "Clue" tokens, 4 per player
- 20 "Position Light" tokens (pastilles « Feu de position »), 4 per player
- 100 "Gold Coin" tokens (pièces d'or, yellow)
- 20 "Legend Coin" tokens (pièces de légende, red)
- 1 rulebook
- 1 riddle sheet ("fiche énigme")
Number of players: 3 to 5. Age: 8 and up. Duration: 30 to 45 minutes.
(The Guardians of Legends app, which includes a customisable timer, can be downloaded for free.)
Goal of the Game
Gather as many coins as possible, as quickly as possible. There are two ways to do so:
- find the treasures and legends of the other players;
- have your own legends and treasures discovered by the other players.
Setup (Mise en place)
- Place the "Island" tiles face up at random on the table to build the game board. The board takes whatever shape you like. The layout is free, but each tile must touch at least 2 other tiles.
- Each player chooses a colour and takes the components of that colour:
- 4 "Exploration Boat" pawns (put away any you do not use)
- 4 "Clue" tokens
- 4 "Position Light" tokens
- Separate the "Reward" cards into two piles: "Treasure" cards and "Legend" cards. "Treasure" cards always show a chest with a key. "Legend" cards show different objects. Then deal each player 2 "Treasure" cards and 1 "Legend" card. Each player shuffles their "Reward" cards and places them face up in front of them at random.
- Deal 3 "Location" cards face down to each player, at random, without looking at them. Each player then places, still without looking, one "Location" card on each of their "Reward" cards. Each player thus has 3 separate piles of 2 cards each (1 "Location" card + 1 "Reward" card). Each pile defines the locations corresponding to the associated treasures or legends. Form a draw pile with the remaining "Location" cards.
- Place the "Postcard" cards face down nearby, so as to form a draw pile.
- Place the "Gold Coin" tokens (yellow coins) and the "Legend Coin" tokens (red coins) near the play area.
- All players take their first pile of cards in hand ("Reward" card + "Location" card). This is the first place they must have the other players discover.
Game Turn
A turn is played in 2 phases:
- a search phase;
- a resolution phase.
Search Phase
-
At the start of this phase, two "Postcard" cards are drawn and turned face up for the whole group to see.
-
Next, every player places one of their "Clue" tokens, so as to point to the element they want to highlight on the postcard of their choice. The purpose of a clue is to make the other players guess on which island their reward is hidden. It is forbidden to give any other clue by any other means than their "Clue" token on a postcard.
-
After placing their "Clue" token, each player places two "Exploration Boat" pawns on the islands of their choice, with the sails of their colour visible. Place the "Exploration Boat" so that it does not hide any elements of the "Island" tile.
If an "Exploration Boat" is already present on the tile, place yours on top of the one(s) already there. The fastest player will receive a larger loot.
Once each player has placed their two "Exploration Boat" pawns, the search phase is over.
You do not have to wait for every player to place their "Clue". As soon as your "Clue" token is placed, you may move on to the next phase.
Crosses matching the colours of the other players are placed beneath each "Clue" token. Position your "Exploration Boat" taking into account the colour of the player whose island you are looking for. (Example: here, the blue player is looking for the island of the red player.)
Resolution Phase
- The "Exploration Boat" pawns are turned over to reveal each player's proposals. Be careful to keep the order in which the tokens were placed.
- For each of the placed tokens, check whether at least one player has found the island. If so, the Guardian reveals the corresponding "Location" card and the treasure hidden on it.
- The coins corresponding to the treasure on the island are distributed (see "Discovery Rewards" below).
Once every player has finished their turn:
- the players whose treasure or legend was guessed take back their "Clue" token(s) and discard the "Location" card that was found. If all of their "Location" cards were guessed, they draw a new "Location" card and a new "Reward" card;
- the "Island" tiles on the board that were found are turned face down.
A new "Postcard" card is then drawn at random and placed next to the previous one.
There may be no more than 3 "Postcard" cards face up at the same time. When this number is reached, the oldest card is set aside before being replaced by a new "Postcard" card. If there are still clues on these cards, they are returned to the player.
Guardian and Explorer
- The player whose island is to be guessed is called the Guardian. The player who searches for an island is called the Explorer.
- Note that when a proposal is incorrect, but the correct island is on one of the neighbouring spaces, the Guardian places a "Position Light" token on the island that has just been explored, to indicate to the other players that they are close to a treasure.
Discovery Rewards (Possibilités)
When a treasure is discovered
- If the location is correct: the fastest player who found the location first receives 2 "Gold Coin" tokens. The other players who found the island receive 1 "Gold Coin" each.
- The player who had their location guessed receives 2 "Gold Coin" tokens, plus 1 additional "Gold Coin" if more than one player found the location.
When a legend is discovered
- The "Gold Coin" tokens are distributed in the same way as when a treasure is discovered.
- The players who took part in discovering this legend receive a "Legend Coin" (the one who had it guessed, and the one or ones who discovered it).
- The legend powers are not taken into account in the basic version.
Coin Values by Role
| Treasure | Legend | |
|---|---|---|
| Explorer | 2 (and 1 for the other players) | +1 |
| Guardian | 2 (or 3 if several players found the island) | +1 |
End of Game
The game ends when, at the end of the resolution phase, one or more players have reached at least 12 coins. The total number of "Gold Coin" and "Legend Coin" tokens is counted to determine each player's score. (Yellow and red coins are worth the same number of points.)
The winner is the player with the most coins in total.
In case of a tie, the player with the most "Legend Coin" tokens wins the game.
If a tie persists, the players with the best score share the victory.
(Editor's note: the source gives a 12-coin end-game threshold here, and a 20-coin threshold in the Level 3 text below. Both are transcribed as printed. The Level 3 threshold is part of the Level 3 rules.)
Levels
The game is evolving and intensifies with the players' sagacity. As the games are played, you may move up from level to level. Each level includes the previous rules and adds new ones.
Level 1: The Watchers (Veilleurs)
This is the set of basic rules.
Level 2: The Sentinels (Sentinelles)
When an island has been found, you may no longer turn it face down. You may no longer place a "Position Light" token on the neighbouring islands.
Level 3: The Guardians (Gardiens)
The powers of the Legends are activated. When a player has had their island discovered, the power of their legend is activated and gives them a bonus or a penalty, which either applies directly or which they may use whenever they wish.
At the start of the game, shuffle all of the "Reward" cards (Treasure and Legend) together and deal 3 of them to each player at random.
The winner is the first player to have 20 coins at the end of a game turn.
The powers of the Reward cards are listed below. Effects are either non-immediate or immediate, and target either the player of your choice, all players, or the holder of the card.
| Card | Effect |
|---|---|
| Alatyr | +2 gold coins |
| Andvaranaut | +1 legend coin |
| Ark of the Covenant (Arche d'Alliance) | −2 gold coins to the player of your choice. The coins go back to the draw pile. |
| Merlin's Wand (Baguette de Merlin) | +1 "Position Light" token, which may be placed on the location of the board of your choice |
| Scales of Balance (Balance de l'équilibre) | Redistribute all gold coins equally among the players |
| Seven-League Boots (Bottes de 7 lieues) | +1 "Clue" token on your next turn |
| Girdle of Aphrodite (Ceinture d'Aphrodite) | Steal 1 gold coin from the player of your choice and keep it |
| Club of Dagda (Club de Dagda) | +1 "Exploration Boat" on your next turn |
| Necklace of Shiva (Collier de Shiva) | −1 legend coin to the player of your choice, who returns it to the draw pile |
| Excalibur |
(Note: the source shows timing and target icons in a legend beneath the table, namely non-immediate and immediate effects, and the player of your choice, all players, and the card holder. The individual rows do not show their own icons in the printed layout, so the legend is reproduced here in words and is not assigned card by card.)
Level 4: The Venerable Guardians (Vénérables Gardiens)
The rules are identical to the version above. However, when a player has placed their "Clue" token on the postcard, a 1-minute timer starts. All players must have completed all of their actions within this time (placing their clue and placing their boats). Once this time has passed, no player may place any more boats.