Hunted: Wode Ridge
Hunted: Wode Ridge Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
1-2 players - 25 minutes - Ages 13+
- 81 Hunted cards
- 1 Reference card
- 5 Team cards
- 15 Item cards
- 15 Ally cards
- 9 [?] Green Trouble! cards
- 17 [?] Pink Trouble! cards
- 10 Dice (custom)
- 1 Evidence Board
- 20 Evidence cards
- 2 Wooden cubes
- 1 Player Board or Play Mat
- 1 Adventure Book (52 pgs)
- 34 Tokens
- 2 Wode Ridge cards deck covering cards
(The draft notes that the actual content numbers should be double-checked.)
Overview
Take on the role of a group of kids and their newfound alien friend as they explore Wode Ridge looking for evidence regarding the town's supernatural events. But be wary as the Darkness knows about your investigations and will try to stop you at all costs. Find enough evidence to discover which monster currently threatens the town and defeat it before time runs out and the Darkness overtakes you.
Setup
Place the Player Board (or Play Mat) in front of you and place the other components, as follows:
- Time Track: Place one Wooden Cube on the "20" space.
- Health: Place one wooden Cube on the topmost heart.
- Energy: Place all 10 dice in the Available area.
- Team cards: Place all four kid cards face-up, with the icons and special abilities visible, to the left of the player board. Select either the Marty or AL card and place it next to the kids with the indicated tokens on it. Place the unused alien card in the box.
- Shuffle the Item, Ally, Evidence, and Trouble! (pink and green) decks and place them within easy reach.
- Place the Adventure Book, Evidence Board, and all tokens within easy reach.
- Locate the Neighborhood card in the Hunted deck, and place it above the player board.
- Locate the Wode Ridge Clocktower card, and place it to the side. Shuffle the Hunted deck cards, making sure that all the cards have the pink side face-up. After shuffling, place the Wode Ridge Clocktower card on top of the deck (pink side face-up). Then, place the deck directly above the player board.
- The game is ready!
Victory Conditions
Win: Explore the town of Wode Ridge to find clues and make discoveries about the monster which threatens the town. Connect fifteen evidence cards to reveal the boss monster and defeat it.
How to Lose: Run out of health or time ~ if either reaches 0, you lose!
Gameplay
Hunted: Wode Ridge is played over a series of turns in which you reveal cards on the Hunted row, finding evidence, items, and allies, while avoiding trouble in the form of parents, FBI agents, and other obstacles.
During the game, you will track your energy (dice), health (hearts), and time (sand timer) located on the player card or playmat. Interacting with the Hunted deck and adventure book will modify these stats.
On each turn, you may choose among three actions: Draw a Card (Hunted deck), Hide, or Rest.
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Draw a Card – draw the bottom card from the Hunted deck and place it face up (pink or green side) in the row above your player board. Icons on the revealed card indicate available Action Icons, costs (in Action Icons), and benefits. If the Hunted deck ever runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw pile and continue playing.
You may find it easier to draw cards by holding the Hunted deck in your hand since you're drawing off the bottom of the deck. If you find it difficult to hold all of the deck in your hand at one time, feel free to split the deck in half and only hold half of it at a time. Place the other half to the side, and pick it up when the first half runs out of cards.
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Hide – Use this action to remove all cards from Hunted Row. First, discard all cards from the Hunted Row. Second, lower the Time Track by one (i.e. 18 to 17). The Hide action is especially useful in removing Trouble! cards before they are triggered (bells).
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Rest – Use this action any time, at a cost of one Time, to regain Energy (dice) and Health. When taking the Rest action, you may perform any (or all) of the following:
- A) Move up to five energy dice to the "Available" side
- B) Regain one Health (move the cube up on the Health track)
- C) Move a Clue card to a different place on the Evidence board
- DO NOT discard cards from the Hunted row.
Activating Cards
You may use cards on the Hunted Row to find Evidence, Clues, Allies, etc. The Hunted Row may possess any number of cards.
Icons:
- Upper-left side of the card represents available Action Icons
- Lower-right side of the card represents a cost (paid in Action Icons) to take an Action
- Upper-right side of the card represents an immediate benefit of the Action (Evidence cards; Items for your Inventory, tokens, etc.)
When cards are used for their Actions, discard them from the Hunted row and place them face up (pink or green side; whichever side that you're currently playing) in the discard pile, ensuring that all cards have the same face-up color. Then, activate another card in the Hunted row. It may be necessary to discard multiple cards in the Hunted row to activate another card. You can only activate one card at a time.
When activating a card, it will either go to the discard pile or to your inventory, depending on the card (explained later). Once activated, the card may not activate another card.
Example:
- A. Discard both the Portal and Item Found cards to provide two Explore Action Icons, activating the Clue card.
- B. When the Clue card is activated, you gain its benefit: discard the Clue card and draw one Evidence card.
The icons listed on cards and dice indicate different available actions, activations, and bonuses.
Types of Cards
Team: These cards represent the kids (Celia, Danny, Jack, and Jayla) and their alien friend, Marty. Each card possesses a power which the player may activate at any time.
After activating a Team card for its icon or special ability, flip it face-down.
Marty's card provides multiple tokens for use at any time. Flip the card face-down after using the final token.
Inventory: When the player activates a card with a Hand Icon (located on the upper-right side) from the Hunted Row, place the card immediately into the Inventory near the Player Board or on the Player Mat. To gain the effect or benefit (Item, Weapon, or Ally), place it in the discard pile.
Locations: Location cards go in the Hunted deck. These represent different areas in Wode Ridge that the kids are exploring.
Upon drawing a Location card, immediately discard the current Location card, replacing it with the new one. Then, trigger the card's effect. After that, you may Draw a Card, Hide, or Rest. (The Neighborhood card begins as active when the game begins.)
Tokens: Several Hunted cards display one or two icons in the top right that provide tokens for use in lieu of die rolls. After activating a card, discard it and receive a number of tokens equal to those displayed on the card.
Items and Allies: Several Hunted cards allow you to draw from the Item or Ally decks. Discard the Hunted card and draw from the corresponding deck. (Box icon for Item. Person icon for Ally.) Place the drawn card next to your player board.
Regroup: When a Regroup card is activated, discard it and immediately take a Regroup action. Lose two time, and then do any or all of the following:
- Move all energy dice to the available side of the player board on the left.
- Move an Evidence card on the Evidence board.
- Regain up to two heart tokens.
- Flip any/all Team cards face-up.
Events: Player(s) must immediately resolve cards with an exclamation point (!) in the top left corner by rolling energy dice or discarding required tokens. Failure to do so with one roll results in triggering the consequence, listed in the top right corner (Loss of Health and/or Time.)
Evidence: When you activate a Clue or Discovery card, discard it and draw a card from the Evidence deck. (One card for a Clue; two cards for a Discovery.) You must then place the card(s) on the Evidence board following the rules in the Evidence Board section. (When you activate a Discovery, you may draw both Evidence cards before placing them on the Evidence board.)
Portals: When activating a portal, discard both that card and all of the cards on the Hunted Row, and flip the Hunted deck over to its opposite side (explained further in Flipping the Deck).
Trouble!: Trouble! cards represent obstacles to overcome as you move around Wode Ridge.
Many cards have a "bell" icon in the top left corner. If there are ever two bell icons and a Trouble! card displayed on the Hunted Row, immediately lose one time, discard all cards in the Hunted Row, and draw a card from the corresponding Trouble! deck (pink or green). You must now deal with that card before drawing another card from the Hunted deck (explained in Dealing with Trouble!).
Also, if a second Trouble! card ever appears in the Hunted Row, immediately lose one time, discard all cards in the Hunted row, and draw two cards from the corresponding Trouble! deck. You must now deal with both cards before drawing another from the Hunted deck.
Example:
- A. There are two cards in the Hunted Row with a bell icon in their top left corners.
- B. When a Trouble! card is drawn and placed in the Hunted Row, it immediately triggers. Clear the row, draw a Trouble! card from the corresponding deck, and deal with it.
Dealing with Trouble!
When you draw a card (or two) from the Trouble! deck, you must deal with it before doing anything else. The icons necessary to defeat the card are shown at the bottom, and its consequence for failure is shown in the top right.
You get one roll of the energy dice to defeat the Trouble! card(s), and you are trying to match the icon(s) shown.
If you fail to match all the icons listed on a Trouble! card, you suffer the consequence on that card (typically losing health or time).
Whether you succeed or fail, the Trouble! card is discarded, and you now have the option of drawing a Hunted deck card, hiding, or resting.
In Wode Ridge, you always fail forward. As a group of resilient young people, you're able to figure things out. The question is can you do it without wasting time or taking damage.
Number of Dice to Roll: When rolling to deal with Trouble!, an event card, or a boss monster, you may roll one to five dice. Rolling more dice gives you better odds of succeeding but also uses up more of your energy that will cost time to get back.
After a die is rolled, place it in the used energy area on the player board.
Reroll Icons: Anytime a reroll icon is rolled, you gain a reroll token that can be used after a future roll. The token cannot be used to reroll any dice that were just rolled.
Star Icons: Star icons are wild and can be used in the place of any other icon needed during a die roll.
Avoid Rolling Dice: In place of rolling energy dice, you may flip a Team card or discard a token, Item, or Ally that has the matching icon instead. However, you must do this before rolling dice. (The draft carries an editor's suggestion of two difficulty levels: Easy, where you may use a card effect after rolling the dice, and Hard, as written.)
Multiple Trouble! Cards: When two Trouble! cards show up in the Hunted row, draw two Trouble! cards from the deck and deal with them. If two enemies are drawn, you'll have a single die roll that will be applied to both cards and suffer the consequences of any card you can't defeat. If you draw an enemy and a Portal, roll to deal with the enemy, then flip the deck to move to the Other Side. If you draw two Portals, just flip the deck.
Types of Trouble!:
- Parents and FBI Agents: Succeed or lose time.
- Monsters: Succeed or take damage and/or lose time.
- Portals: Flip the Hunted deck to the Other Side.
Flipping the Deck
When activating a Portal card, flip the Hunted deck over to its opposite side. Also, flip over the Wode Ridge clocktower card and place it back on top.
The pink side is known as the "Real World" while the green side is known as the "Other Side."
Drawing Cards
As you draw a card from the bottom of the deck, sometimes another card will slide out with it. If this happens, and you see what the card is, simply pull it out and place it in the middle of the deck.
Also, there are several cards that instruct you to draw cards from a Trouble! deck in search of a particular card. When this happens, draw the cards one at a time and stop if/when you find that card. Place the other cards back into the middle of the deck.
For example, if a card says, "draw three cards and if you find a Rabid Dog card, it attacks you," draw the cards one at a time. If you draw a Rabid Dog card, do not draw any more cards and deal with it.
The Evidence Board
The Evidence board is used to track the clues and discoveries you make throughout the game. When you activate a Clue or Discovery card, draw one or two cards from the Evidence deck and place them on the board. (One for a Clue; two for a Discovery.)
You may place a card anywhere on the board, but when you place a card next to another, it must have at least one matching icon as a card to the left and right of it. Icons on the right side of a card correspond to the icons on the left side of an adjacent card.
A card in a middle spot only needs to match icons with one of the cards to its left or right.
Discard any Evidence card a player cannot legally place onto the Evidence Board.
Moving Evidence Cards
The Rest and Regroup actions allow you to move a card on the Evidence Board. You may move a card on the board to a new spot, or you may swap locations for two cards, following adjacency rules. Finally, a player may not move a card that is in a completed column.
The Adventure Book
When a column on the Evidence board fills with cards (either two or three cards depending on the column), you'll read an entry in the Adventure Book.
Add up the numbers on the Evidence cards in that column to get a number between two and twelve. Then, look at the current location card that is in play, turn to that location's section in the Adventure Book, and read the entry next to the matching number.
For example: The three cards in column four add up to seven, and the Cemetery location card is in play. Open the book to the Cemetery section, and read entry seven.
Every entry has a short story about something happening to you at that location. Most entries give you a choice between two options. Some just give you an immediate benefit. After you resolve the entry, you may draw a card, hide, or rest.
Boss Monster
When the final column on the Evidence board fills up, you'll still add up the Evidence card numbers, but instead of turning to a location section in the Adventure Book, you'll turn to the Boss Monster section.
Read the story entry, and draw the indicated Boss Monster card. You must defeat this card to win the game.
Fighting the Boss Monster
To defeat the boss monster, you'll need to roll dice and/or discard cards and tokens to match the icons on the boss monster card. This works the same as dealing with Trouble! cards, however, if you don't defeat the boss monster after one round, you continue to fight it until you either win, run out of time, or lose all your health tokens.
After each round that you don't defeat the boss monster, you'll suffer the consequence indicated in the card's top right corner (losing time or health). And if you still have time and health left, you'll proceed to another round.
You may only roll a maximum of five dice in a round, but you may discard any number of tokens and/or cards. Instead of rolling dice in a round, you may instead take a rest action to regain energy dice and health, however, you'll still suffer the consequence.
When a die or token is used to match an icon, place it on top of that icon on the boss monster's card. Successful matches carry over to future rounds.
Defeating Boss Monsters
Different bosses have different requirements. A boss must be defeated in one of the following ways (the layouts are shown as diagrams in the draft):
- Match all of the icons in any order. It will take a minimum of one round to win.
- You can only match the icons in one section at a time, but you can do so in any order. It will take a minimum of three rounds to win.
- You must match the icons in order. It will take a minimum of one round to win.
- Place one of your available energy dice on the lock space. You will not be able to use it during the fight. You can only match the icons in one section at a time, but you can do so in any order. In the middle section, you must play a gear before playing a fist. It will take a minimum of three rounds to win.
- You can only match the icons in one section at a time, and they must be matched in order. It will take a minimum of two rounds to win.
Two Player Mode
Two player mode allows you to partner up with a teammate to explore Wode Ridge together! Players share time but have separate health tokens and energy dice.
Player two takes on the role of two of the kids while player one controls the other two.
The game plays just like single player but with a few key differences. To play with two players, set up the game like normal, except:
- Give each player four health tokens (which is your max).
- Give each player five energy dice (also your max).
- Give each player two of the kid Team cards (doesn't matter which two).
- Give player two the "player two energy tracker" card.
- Shuffle the Hunted deck cards, and then split the deck roughly in half. Give one half to each player, pink side up, and place a Wode Ridge clocktower card on top of each deck.
Both players have access to the Marty card, and either player may use it during the game.
Gameplay
You play the game exactly like one player mode, but you alternate taking turns. On your turn, you have three options:
- Draw
- Hide
- Rest
Draw: When you choose the draw action, draw a card and place it in a row in front of you. You may now use it to interact with other cards in your row. Each player will have a separate row of cards in front of them. A player may not interact with cards in the other player's row. When you're done with any card interactions, it is the other player's turn.
Hide: When you choose to hide, lose one time and discard the cards in front of you. The cards in the other player's row are unaffected. It is now the other player's turn.
Rest: When you take a rest action, you may do any or all of the following:
- Move up to five energy dice to the "available" side on the left of the player board/card.
- Regain one health token.
- Move a clue card to a different place on the Evidence board
- DO NOT discard cards from the Hunted row.
Time: Anytime either player does something that costs time, player one reduces the value on the time track by one.
Regroup: When either player triggers a Regroup action, both players benefit.
Winning and Losing: Just like the regular game, if you find fifteen connected Evidence cards and defeat the boss monster, you both win. However, if either player loses all their health tokens, or if time runs out, both players lose.
The Shared Row: Since you're working together, you're able to place cards in a shared row that is accessible to both players. After taking a draw action, you may move one card from your row to the shared row. The card is now considered to be in both players' rows. This means a card with a noise icon counts as one noise for both players. Etc.
A player must take a draw action before interacting with any cards in the shared row.
If the cards in a player's row get discarded due to a Trouble! card, portal, or hide action, all the cards in the shared row also get discarded. The other player's row is unaffected by Trouble! cards and hide actions but is affected by portals (explained below).
Inventory Cards: When you gain a card from the row, item deck, or ally deck, place it into your inventory. At any time, if you want to give an inventory card to the other player, spend one time and place it in their inventory.
Resolving Events and Trouble!: When a player has to deal with an event or Trouble! card, there is still only one opportunity to roll dice and/or play tokens to resolve it. The non-active player doesn't also get a chance.
Boss Monster: The first round of the fight works the same as the normal game and is handled by the player who triggered the Boss Monster. However, for the second round and on, the players may decide who is going to fight the Boss Monster for that round. That player will also suffer the Boss Monster's consequence that round.
Portals: When one player triggers a portal, both players must discard the cards in their rows and in the shared row, and both players flip their decks to the opposite side.
Choices: Anytime a choice needs to be made in the game (locations, Adventure Book, etc), the player who triggered the choice gets the final say.