Into the Black Forest
Into the Black Forest Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
48 Cards (4 decks of 12)
18 Encounter Cards
Player Decks: Each deck includes 12 Animal cards with the same values ranging 1-12 but a unique distribution of 4 Suits.
- Suits: There are 4 suits in the game, Wands, Swords, Spellbooks, and Potions.
- Animals: There are 4 animals in the game, 1 on each card based on the card value, 1-3 is Frog, 4-6 is Squirrel, 7-9 is Lynx, and 10-12 is Owl.
Setup
Each player takes and shuffles a deck of 12 Animal cards with a matching card back. Then draw 6 cards from this deck into hand. Place the remaining cards off to the side where they are easily accessible.
Shuffle the Encounter Deck and deal 3 Encounter Cards face up to the side of the play area. These 3 Encounter Cards are the challenges for the first round of the game. Each Encounter will be played one at a time but 3 Encounters are revealed to allow players to plan ahead for their adventure. Place the first face up Encounter Card in the center of the play area.
Give the player who most recently spent time in the woods the Start Player Token (use one of the included blank cards). This player receives 1 point and begins the round.
For 2 players refer to the 2 player variant on page 3.
Gameplay
The first player plays any card from their hand to one of the available spaces around the edge of the Encounter Card and play passes to the player to the left. Play continues until all of the spaces on the Bottom, Left, and Top are filled. After these spaces are filled, pass the start player token to the player on the left of the last player that played a card on this Encounter. Then, score the Encounter Card (See: Scoring Details below).
There are four different types of spaces on the Encounter Cards:
- Bottom - (2 spaces) The card with the lowest value wins and that player scores points equal to the value of the losing card. If there is a tie at this space, both cards lose and the owner's take those cards back into their hands.
- Left Side - (1 Space) The player wins this space if the Suit of the card played matches a suit from one of the cards played above at one of the Top spaces. The winning player scores points equal to the value of the card that was played on the Left Side.
- Top - (2 Space) The card with the highest value wins and that player scores points equal to the value of the losing card. If there is a tie at this space, both cards lose and the owner's take those cards back into their hands.
- Right Side - (1 Optional Space per player) This space follows the variable rule shown on the current Encounter Card. The player who meets the variable condition on this side of the Encounter card scores 6 points. Cards in this space are played face down. If there is a tie at this space, the tied cards cancel each other out and the next card following the variable rules is awarded the points.
The Encounter ends once all Top, Left Side, and Bottom spaces have been filled. This is the case even if some/no players have yet to play on the Right Side.
Scoring
You'll need a pencil and paper to keep track of the score for each player.
Score each side of the Encounter card according to its specific rules starting at the Bottom space and rotating clockwise around the Encounter Card, ending with the space on the Right. In addition, each time a player receives the Start Player Token (even at the beginning of the game) they are awarded 1 point.
NOTE: Whenever a card doesn't win an Encounter, the player returns the losing card to their hand. Winning cards are discarded from play.
Helpful hint: When scoring each side of the Encounter card, flip the winning card facedown to reveal that player's colored cardback. This should help to keep track of the player color that is being awarded points.
Play continues with the next Encounter Card being placed in the middle and the player with the Start Player Token playing a card from their hand.
End of the Round
After playing 3 Encounters, reveal 3 new Encounters from the Encounter Deck. Players then draw the 6 remaining cards from their personal deck, then discard down to a hand of 6 cards that will be used for the next round.
End of the Game
At the end of two round, the player with the most points is the winner. If there is a tie, the player with the most cards left in their hand is the winner.
2 Player Variant
In a 2 player game, Combine the Red and Green decks, and the Blue and Yellow decks, by shuffling them together. At the start of the game, players draw 8 cards from their combo deck and reveal 3 Encounter Cards. After 3 Encounters have been played, deal each player 8 more cards with players discarding back down to 8 cards and revealing 3 more Encounter Cards. The game ends after the 3rd round of 3 Encounters.