Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time
Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 18 Path tiles in various shapes
- 5 Hero boards
- 1 Wildcat miniature
- 5 Hero miniatures
- 5 Hero cards
- 6 Spell tiles
- 20 Hero Special Ability tiles
- 4 Helper cards
- 44 Tower cards
- 18 Building Site cards
- 91 Horde and Portal cards
- 3 Boss Reference cards
- 16 Portal Storm cards
- 3 Boss miniatures
- 22 Boss Special cards
- 2 Portal tiles
- 2 Exit tiles
- 3 Pathbreaker cards
- 12 Horde trays
- 18 Heart tokens
- 176 Damage tiles in various shapes
- 4 Player color markers
- 6 Spawn tokens
- 12 Crystal tokens
- 12 Soldier meeples
- 1 Kingdom Map
- 3 Sheets of Kingdom Map stickers
- 1 Rulebook
- 1 Scenario booklet
Introduction
Kingdom Rush – A Rift in Time, is a co-operative game in which you will play through a campaign of progressively harder scenarios that follow the Time Mage's attempt to wipe out all resistance and claim the Kingdom as their own. Each scenario has a unique setup with different enemies to defeat and different objectives to be completed.
As the heroes you will win by completing the mission outlined in each scenario. All information about each scenario is described in the "scenario booklet".
This rulebook will guide you through learning the basics of the game which you will need to play the first scenario. As the campaign evolves, new rules will be introduced which will be explained in the scenario booklet. There is an index in the appendix on page 21 in case you need to find these rules.
Each scenario is played and won or lost in a different way, but the general gameplay is explained below.
Game Setup
Game Setup Instructions are located at the beginning of Scenario Booklet.
To set up the game, choose a scenario and follow the setup steps for it in the scenario booklet. In each scenario you will form a general supply of Towers and Damage tiles.
Gameplay Overview
In Kingdom Rush, Hordes of enemies are emerging from strange portals and seek to destroy the kingdom. Enemies will appear at the edges of the map and move along the Path towards the Kingdom. With your Hero and Towers you and your teammates must defend the Kingdom by destroying the enemies before they reach it and closing each of the Portals as they appear. Each scenario has a different end game or win condition, each is played over a number of rounds until the scenario ends as described in the Scenario booklet. In each round, you will play through six phases in the following order.
Phase 1: Spawn New Hordes
You will always be battling against enemy Hordes which will spawn at the start of each round. New Hordes are added to trays and placed on the Path.
Phase 2: Play Tower and Hero Cards
You will battle against the Hordes using your Towers and Heroes. Most of your actions will take place in this phase, in which you can all play simultaneously. You will play new Towers from your hand, or pass them to each other to upgrade them. Towers will deal damage in the form of Damage tiles or Soldiers, based on their abilities and placement around the Path. Each Hero is activated by playing a Hero card and has a unique set of Special abilities allowing them to defeat the Hordes. Most scenarios will feature special Portal tiles, which may form your route to victory. However some may contain powerful Bosses you must defeat.
Phase 3: Destroy Horde Trays
Once you have all taken your actions any Horde trays that have had all their enemies covered will be destroyed but any Heroes on those trays will also take damage. When Horde trays are destroyed you will earn Crystals, which can be spent to buy new Towers later in the round.
Phase 4: Advance Horde Trays
All remaining Horde trays will move towards the Path Exit. Trays with Heroes or Soldiers on will not move but will damage everything on them. Should a tray ever reach the Exit, the Kingdom itself will be attacked. If the Kingdom is destroyed you will lose!
Phase 5: Pick Up Tower and Hero Cards
Return all of your cards to your hand ready for the next round.
Phase 6: Spend Crystals
Spend your Crystals to buy new Towers. Crystals are a shared resource, so you must decide together which Towers to buy and who should take the newly purchased cards into their hand for the next round.
Victory Condition
Unless otherwise stated by the scenario, you win the game at the end of any round in which you have destroyed all of the Portal cards in the scenario.
Loss Conditions
Players lose the game immediately if all of the Heart tokens near the exit tile have been removed.
Players lose the game immediately if any Portal card or Boss miniature enters the Kingdom.
Game Details
Phase 1: Spawn New Hordes
Starting with the Spawn stack which has been assigned the lowest numbered Spawn token, flip the top Horde card of each Spawn stack face up.
NOTE: Skip phase 1 in the first round of the game.
Put each Horde card into an empty Horde Tray and place it onto the Path space directly in front of the Spawn stack it was drawn from.
Each Horde card has a purple line along one edge. Orient the Horde tray so that this line is parallel with the nearest Exit.
If the space is occupied, place the Horde in the first empty space between the Spawn stack and the Exit. This may result in a Horde reaching the Exit when it spawns if you haven't left enough space for it!
Heroes on Path spaces do not prevent the spawning of a Horde. If a Hero occupies a space that the Horde tray would be placed on, the Hero is moved 1 space into an adjacent empty space or a Building Site. If there is no such space, return the Hero to its player's board. Then, place the Horde in the space the Hero was in.
Phase 2: Play Tower and Hero Cards
If, at the start of this phase, your Hero is not in play as they were knocked out last round, you may Regenerate them. To do so, set your Hero's health to maximum and stand up the miniature. Place your Hero's card on your player board. You may not move nor perform any actions with your Hero this round! Do not refresh exhausted Hero Special abilities!
You may all take as many actions in this phase as you wish providing you have the cards to do so. You may act simultaneously or take actions in any order. You must complete all the steps of an action before taking another.
You can do any of the following actions:
- Play Tower cards
- Pass Tower cards
- Play your Hero card
Tower Card Anatomy
- A Tower name
- B Tower level
- C Damage type tower deals (physical, magic, or true)
- D Number and shape of Damage tiles
- E Range arrows
Play Tower Cards
To play a Tower card, take it from your hand and place it onto a Building site that matches your player color.
Towers cannot be placed on a Building site occupied by a Hero, another Tower (with the exception of Soldier Towers), nor on another player's Building site.
Each Tower has one or more attacks indicated by the Damage tiles shown on the card. Immediately after you build a Tower, you must execute each of its attacks that has a valid target once. Each Tower shows the attack's range arrows and the shape of the Damage tile it fires. The orientation of your Tower card determines the direction it fires and the orientation of the Damage tiles.
A — Range arrows: the arrows indicate how far away and in which direction(s) the Tower will shoot. More arrows mean the attack is more flexible and can possibly target more Path spaces.
| Range arrow icons | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Straight arrow (up or right) | Direct: this attack can target the Path space directly adjacent to the Tower in the direction of the arrow. |
| Diagonal arrow | Angled: this attack can target the Path space diagonally adjacent to this Tower in the direction of the arrow. |
| Two stacked arrows | Indirect: each additional arrow on a card extends the attack's range by one space farther away in a straight line from the Tower. |
| Four-way green arrow burst | Perfect: this attack can target any Path space on the map. |
Example: Both the Adept and Sharpshooter Towers may attack spots A or B.
B — Attack and defense types: Attack types are identified by icons and arrow colors, indicating which enemies the attack can cover. Defense types of enemies are also identified by icons which indicate which attacks an enemy cannot be covered by.
| Attack icon | Attack type |
|---|---|
| Sword | Physical attack: Range arrows are red. |
| Blue fireball | Magical attack: Range arrows are blue. |
| Purple flaming sword | True damage: May cover Enemies with both Physical and Magical defense types. Range arrows are purple. |
| Defense icon | Defense type |
|---|---|
| Crossed-out sword | Physical resistance: Cannot be covered by Physical Attacks from Towers, soldiers, or hero Special abilities. |
| Crossed-out fireball | Magical resistance: Cannot be covered by Magical Attacks from Towers, soldiers, or hero Special abilities. |
| Skull and bone | Deadly: Can only be covered by Damage tiles, not by Soldiers or Heroes. |
C — Attacking with Damage tiles: When an attack executes, the Tower's specific Damage tile is placed on the targeted Horde tray. You must place the Damage tile onto the Horde tray in the orientation depicted on the Tower card using the grid squares. You cannot rotate or flip a Damage tile unless the attack has a free manipulation icon.
Free manipulation: You can rotate and flip Damage tiles fired from an attack with this icon as you wish.
Damage tiles cannot overlap other Damage tiles, Soldiers, or Heroes and must be placed within the borders of a single Horde tray.
Enemies on a Horde tray may have a Defense type, shown by an icon. If any enemies' Defense type means it cannot be covered by a particular type of Damage tile then that type of tile may not be placed on this enemy.
NOTE: To destroy a Horde tray, you must cover ALL of the enemies depicted on it.
If an attack has multiple range arrows and multiple Damage tiles, each Damage tile may be placed on the same or different Hordes as long as all target Hordes are within range.
The exception is any Tower which shows Damage tiles with a "+" linking them, these must be placed on the same single Horde within attack range.
Example: Helana builds an Archer Tower to deal with a Horde tray. Range arrows allow her to attack a Horde tray directly adjacent to the Tower and place the specified Damage tile on that Horde tray. Since there is no free manipulation icon on the Archer Tower, she cannot rotate the Damage tile to cover two of the Wulfs. She can though cover 1 Wulf and 1 Goblin, or 2 Goblins, keeping the vertical orientation of the Damage tile.
The Damage tile pool is not considered to be limited. In a rare case that you run out of Damage tiles of the exact type needed, you are allowed to use another type of tile with the same shape, or to recreate the needed shape out of smaller tiles.
Soldier Towers
Some towers, such as the level 1 Militia Tower, will generate Soldier meeples rather than use Damage tiles. When you place a Soldier type Tower, take as many Soldier meeples as shown on the card from the general supply, and place them on Horde trays in range.
Soldiers can be placed anywhere on the Horde tray, covering a single square each, as long as it's permitted by the attack type. They cannot be on the same square as an existing Damage tile, other Soldier, or Hero.
Soldiers cannot be placed in empty squares on a Horde tray. If there are no legal placements for a Soldier on a Horde, then those meeples are not placed (unused Soldiers are lost).
Soldiers have a health of 1, so when damaged they are returned to the general supply.
Besides attacking enemies, Soldiers prevent the Horde tray they are on from advancing and can be critical to slowing the rush!
The Soldier pool is limited. If all the Soldiers are already on Horde trays, you cannot place more. You are allowed to move Soldiers that are already on a Horde tray to a Horde within range of the Soldier Tower you have just placed.
Normally, you may only place 1 Tower on each Building site you own. However, a Soldier Tower can be placed on top of another single Tower or a single Tower may be placed on top of it. This allows you to have up to 2 Towers on a Building site as long as at least one of them is a Soldier Tower (It is allowed to place a Soldier Tower on top of another Soldier tower). Only the building site's owner can do this.
Example: David has already built a Militia Tower, but as it is a Soldier Tower he can play a new Marksman Tower on top of it and attack with the new Tower as usual.
Portal Cards
In most scenarios, to win the game, you must destroy all Portal Cards unless it is otherwise stated in the scenario booklet. Portals are powerful sources of magic and time energy so attacking them can cause Towers to be lost in time. The number of Portal Cards is different in each scenario.
There is a Tower level number written in the central square of each Portal Card. This square cannot be covered with any Damage tile or Soldiers. The central square of a Portal Card must always be visible as it shows a restriction of which level of Towers can attack the Portal Card. A Tower must be the same level or higher as the number written on the Portal central square to be able to attack that Portal.
If you attack a Portal Card with a Tower, place the Damage tile as described above and then immediately flip the Tower card face down. At the end of phase 5 all face-down Towers will be returned to the supply.
Even if only one of the attacks from a Tower that produces multiple attacks is placed on a Portal Card, that Tower is flipped face down after placing all of the Damage tiles for that attack.
A Tower does not have to target a Portal Card if it has other possible targets. If a Portal Card is the only valid target, you must use all of the attack on that Portal Card, you cannot choose to not attack.
Exception: If all enemies on a Portal Card are already covered, the Damage tile does not have to be placed on empty squares on the Portal, and therefore the Tower is not flipped face down.
Heroes can move through Portal Cards but can never end their movement on a Portal Card and they cannot attack Portal Cards. No damage tile generated by Hero can be placed on the portal.
Portal Cards move like any other Horde tray, but if one ever reaches the Exit you will lose immediately!
Pass Tower Cards
If you have any Tower cards that you did not wish to build this round, you can pass them to any other player.
When you pass the Tower card, you must first upgrade it one level. To do this, take a Tower card of the same type from general supply that is 1 level higher and place that Tower face down in the incoming Towers slot of the Hero board of the player you are giving it to. Then place the Tower card from your hand back in the general supply in the appropriate place.
NOTE: This is the only way to upgrade your Towers, so pass early and pass often!
The Tower supply is limited. If the Tower card needed to upgrade a Tower is not currently in the supply, you cannot upgrade the Tower. Instead, you must place the Tower you are passing face down in the incoming towers slot of the Hero Board of the player you are giving it to.
The maximum Tower level depends on the scenario you are playing.
Anatomy of a Hero Board
- A Hero Basic Attack
- B Two slots for Hero special abilities
- C Slot for Hero card
- D Hero Name
- E Hero Health Points
- F Hero Move Points
- G Slot for incoming towers
- H Turn sequence
- I Special Icons and Hero Skills
- J Hero starting Tower sets
Play Your Hero Card
You play your Hero card onto your Hero board to activate your Hero.
Remember: If your Hero regenerated at the start of this round you cannot activate it as your card is already on your Hero board.
When your Hero becomes active you may move the Hero miniature and perform an action. You may do these in any order.
A — Move Your Hero Miniature
- Heroes can move one space for each move point shown on their Hero board. A Hero that stops moving to perform an action (see below) cannot be moved again this round.
- Heroes can move both orthogonally and diagonally. Heroes can move on the Path, through empty spaces, through Building sites (with or without a Tower), and through spaces occupied by Hordes. They cannot move off the map and cannot end their movement on a Tower card.
- Heroes can move through a Portal but can never end their movement on a Portal card.
- If a Hero miniature is on your player board, the first point of movement must be spent to place the Hero on the path adjacent to an Exit.
- Your hero's attacks or Special abilities may feature range arrows, so the direction your miniature faces is important, as this determines which spaces such abilities may target. Select the direction your Hero miniature faces after moving.
A Hero that ends their movement on a Horde tray will engage it. Place your miniature on the Horde tray such that it covers a 2x2 grid area with its base. If there is no space for the Hero to be legally placed on that Horde tray, they cannot end their movement on that tray.
When engaging, you are using the Hero to directly attack enemies. Hero miniatures are considered to be True Damage in attack type so they can be placed on top of both Magic and Physical resistant enemies (but not on deadly enemies) to attack them.
B — Perform One Action
Every Hero has a basic attack and a number of special abilities. Heroes cannot attack Portal tiles. As an action your Hero may either perform a basic attack, use a Special ability, or Recover.
Basic Attack
Your hero will have one of the two types of basic attack which will place Damage tiles in a similar way to Towers. Each Hero has their own set of tiles.
- Melee attacks (without range arrows shown) can only be placed on the Horde tray that your Hero is engaged on. They cannot overlap other Damage tiles, Soldiers, or Heroes and must be placed within the borders of a single Horde tray.
- Ranged attacks (with range arrows) work exactly like Tower attacks and follow the placement rules described above. A Hero cannot use ranged attacks to target a Horde tray they are engaged on.
Hero Special Abilities
All Heroes have unique Special abilities with powerful effects, and each is represented by a tile which has a short description on it. In case of any questions, check the full description of Hero Special abilities on page 22.
You may only use a Special ability if it is face up. Once you have used a Special ability, flip it face down. Used Special abilities are flipped face up when you use your action to Recover.
There are two types of Hero Special abilities: instant and ongoing.
- Instant abilities usually deal damage to enemies.
- Ongoing abilities (hourglass icon) are active until the end of the round and may take effect during any one of the phases as explained on the tile.
- Protection abilities are one type of ongoing ability that makes target Heroes immune to damage of all types (including Horde movement, Horde destruction, Dead-eye, and Boss effects) until the end of the round. Protection does not apply to Soldiers. Read the Special ability tile carefully to know which Heroes it provides Protection to.
Recover
When you take this action, move the Heart token on your Hero board back to your maximum health and flip all of your Special ability tiles face up.
NOTE
Damaging Heroes: Heroes may be damaged in a number of ways, including by being on a defeated tray in Phase 3. When your Hero takes damage, move your heart token to the left once for each damage taken. If your Hero's health ever reaches the skull, the Hero is knocked out and must Regenerate at the start of the next round. Immediately remove your Hero's miniature from play and place it on your Hero board on its side.
Example: In the picture 1, Alleria starts on Path space A. She wants to join Ignus on Horde tray B. She moves two spaces. First diagonally to the Building site with an Adept tower and then orthogonally to engage with Horde tray B.
In picture 2 we can see that Alleria has just defeated 2 enemies by covering them with her Hero miniature on tray B. Alleria then chooses to perform her Basic attack, placing a damage tile onto the adjacent Horde tray C, defeating the remaining two enemies there. Both Horde trays B and C are destroyed but Ignis and Alleria will suffer 1 damage each as they are on a destroyed Horde tray.
Phase 3: Destroy Horde Trays
This phase is executed in the following order:
1. Destroy fully covered Horde trays and gain Crystals:
If all enemies on a Horde tray have been covered by Damage tiles, Soldiers, or Heroes, remove that Horde tray from play.
Return all Damage tiles and Soldiers to their respective supplies.
Take the card from the tray and flip it over; for each Crystal icon on the back of the card place one Crystal token near the Exit, in your supply. Remove the Horde card from play.
2. Damage Heroes:
If your Hero miniature was standing on a Horde tray when it was destroyed, the Hero suffers 1 damage. The Hero miniature stays on the Path space from which the Horde tray was removed.
3. Check Portals:
If you destroy a Portal Card, check the scenario booklet, this indicates how many Portals are included in the Horde stacks. If you have destroyed the last Portal, then this will be the last round of the game. Complete all the remaining phases of this round. At the end of the round, if the Kingdom is not destroyed, you win!
Phase 4: Move Horde Trays
Horde trays will attempt to move towards the Exit if they are able. Before moving a Horde tray check for any visible ability icons (see below).
NOTE: Portal and Boss tiles also move like Horde trays in this phase and if they ever reach the Exit you will lose immediately!
1. Before moving a Horde tray, check for visible ability icons such as: Heal, Speed, or Dead-eye.
| Enemy type | Effect |
|---|---|
| Heal | A Horde tray with any number of Heal icons will force you to remove ALL Damage tiles from that Horde before it moves. Do this before checking any other icons. |
| Speed | A Horde tray with any number of Speed icons will attempt to move twice along the path this turn. |
| Dead-eye | After moving, a Horde tray with any number of Dead-eye icons will deal 1 damage to each Hero on an adjacent space to its new position on the Path. |
2. Starting with the Horde tray nearest the Exit, followed by the next nearest, moving towards the Spawn points, slide each Horde to the next space on the Path maintainng its original orientation i.e. the purple line will always remain parallel to the Exit.
- A Horde tray with Soldiers or Heroes on it does not move. Each Soldier or Hero takes 1 damage.
NOTE: When Soldiers are damaged return them to the general supply.
- If the Horde tray has Speed it attempts to move twice. Soldiers will block only the first movement. Heroes block both movements but suffer 2 damage. If the first damage defeats the Hero, they are immediately removed and do not block the second movement.
- If a Horde tray moves onto a Path space that a Hero is currently on, place the Hero on any adjacent empty Building site or a Path space without a Horde tray. If there are no empty spots the Hero returns to its player's board.
- Sometimes, a Horde tray cannot move to its intended Path space because the space is occupied by another Horde tray. In this case, the Horde that is moving bypasses that Path space and moves onto the next available Path space towards the Exit. Several other Horde trays can be bypassed in this manner. This can result in Horde trays escaping!
- Some scenarios will feature forked paths. When selecting which Hordes to move next; move all Hordes from the section of the path with the lowest number Spawn token first then proceed in order until all Hordes have attempted to move.
3. If a Horde tray has reached the Exit, count the enemies that have not been covered by Damage tiles on that tray; for each enemy that is visible remove one Heart token from the Kingdom's supply near the Exit tile. If all hearts are ever removed, the Kingdom is overrun and you lose!
The Kingdom's Heart tokens represent its defenders. If all of them are ever defeated, the Kingdom will be overrun and you will lose! Sometimes it is alright to let a Horde or two run into the Kingdom. Just don't let it get overrun!
4. Discard any escaped Horde cards, if the Kingdom has survived, flip those Horde cards and earn the Crystals as described above.
This diagram shows the order that each space would be activated in if there was a Horde in every space on the map.
Example: Picture 1 shows the situation at the beginning of phase 3. There are three Horde trays on the Path. All enemies on tray A are completely covered. The tray is destroyed and removed from the Path. Malik and the 2 Soldiers take 1 damage each, the Soldiers are returned to the supply and Malik remains in place for now.
Trays B and C are not destroyed so they attempt to move (phase 4).
In picture 2 Horde tray B has already moved one Path space. Malik needed to move and the player controlling him choose the adjacent path spot to move to.
As there is an uncovered speed icon on Horde tray B and there are no Soldiers or Heroes on the tray; it moves for a second time. This means it reaches the Exit and deals 5 damage to the Kingdom, one for each uncovered enemy. Fortunately the Kingdom still has 2 Hearts left so the players don't lose yet!
Picture 3 shows that Horde tray C has not moved as Magnus and 3 Soldiers were on that tray. All speed icons were covered so the ability was not used. Magnus and all Soldiers suffer 1 damage because they stopped the tray from moving. All Soldiers are returned to the supply. Magnus' health is reduced to zero, so he is knocked out. His miniature is placed on his Hero board on its side. Magnus must Regenerate at the beginning of the next round.
Phase 5: Pick Up Tower and Hero Cards
- Pick up all Tower cards you built onto your Building sites.
- Pick up all upgraded Towers from your incoming Towers slot that were passed to you by other players.
- Pick up your Hero card.
There is no hand limit.
NOTE: If any Towers on Building sites are face down return them to the supply, as they have been destroyed this turn.
Phase 6: Spend Crystals
You will cooperatively decide what Tower cards to purchase and which players will receive them. Crystal tokens you have earned belong to you all – there is no single owner of any earned Crystal.
- The team may spend 2 Crystals to take a level 1 Tower card from the general supply. Choose a player to put it into their hand.
- The team may spend 3 Crystals to take a level 2 Tower card from the general supply. Choose a player to put it into their hand.
You may spend as many Crystals as you have to purchase as many Towers as you can afford and these may be given to any players.
The crystal pool is limited. If there are no more Crystals in the supply you can not earn more Crystals until you spend some of them.
Winning at the End of the Round
At the end of the round, check to see if you have won. Unless otherwise stated by the scenario, you win if you destroy the last Portal card in the scenario. Note that you only check for victory at the end of the round.
Solo Mode
The campaign can be played solo. Prepare the scenario following setup instructions in the scenario booklet. Pick your difficulty setting and prepare starting resources accordingly.
There are three rule changes in solo mode:
1. Tower Placement Restrictions
There are always three different colors of Building site available to choose from; at the start of each turn, you must choose one color to eliminate from your available Building sites. All Building sites of that color are unavailable for building Towers on this turn. They function normally, otherwise.
- You may always build on "universal" Building sites (available in some scenarios).
- You can not choose the same color to eliminate multiple turns in a row.
2. Hero's Bench
In solo mode, you play as one of the Heroes who is referred to as your "Main Hero". Beside your Main Hero, prepare a Bench of up to three other Heroes. Each of the Bench Heroes may enter play for a single round, it is then removed from the game. During this round you may activate the Bench Hero in addition to your Main Hero, placing their miniature anywhere you want on the board and perform the Hero's basic attack. At the end of the round remove the Bench Hero from the game. You will not be able to call this Hero again for the remainder of this game. Any Damage tiles produced by a Bench Hero remain in play until the Horde they attacked is Destroyed.
3. Upgrading Towers
When upgrading a Tower in solo play, place it back into the Tower supply and take the one level higher Tower of the same type. Then place it face down in your incoming Towers slot.
NOTE: In solo mode Heroes with Melee abilities are much stronger than those with Ranged ones. We strongly suggest picking one of these Heroes (Malik, Ignus, or Lilith) as your main Hero.
Appendix
This appendix may contain spoilers from the campaign and should only be used as a reference.
Glossary of Terms
Adjacent – Adjacent is used when referring to any component that is orthogonally or diagonally next to anything else.
Archery Tower – These Towers have better range and more precise attacks than other Towers. They include the Archer (Lv1), Marksmen (Lv2), Sharpshooter (Lv3), Ranger Hideout (Lv4), and Musketeer Garrison (Lv4).
Attack – The Act of placing Damage tiles on enemies as a result of Tower placement, Spells, or Hero actions.
Big – Big enemies take up a 2x2 square. Should a Horde with a Big enemy on it reach the Kingdom, and if at least 1 square of the Big enemy is not covered by a Damage tile, the Kingdom loses 4 Hearts.
Boss – A special enemy that will appear in certain scenarios. All Boss rules are explained in the relevant scenario.
Building site – A space around the Path in which a Tower may be built. These may be colored to match a particular player or white.
Cannon Tower – These towers place multiple Damage tiles when they attack. They include the Bombard (Lv1), Artillery (Lv2), Howitzer (Lv3), Big Bertha 500mm (Lv4), and Tesla Tower (Lv4).
Crystal – A shared resource gained when Hordes are destroyed, they are stored next to the Exit in your supply. Crystals can be spent to buy new Towers for any player. The game is limited to 12 Crystals, should you ever have all 12 Crystals in your supply, you cannot gain any more, until you have spent some in Phase 6.
Damage tiles – A selection of sizes and shapes of tile which represent damage dealt by Towers, Spells, and Heroes. They are placed on Horde trays to cover enemies. Each Tower type has a set of Damage tiles with a special graphic matching that Tower. That set includes all the shapes those types of Towers can create. Each Hero also has a set of Damage tiles with a special graphic on them that match the size and shapes needed for their abilities.
Damage types – Damage can be Physical, Magical, or True (which counts as neither). Each damage type may only be placed on enemies who do not have that defense type.
Deadly enemies – These enemies can only be covered by Damage tiles, not by Heroes or Soldiers.
Dead-eye – After moving a Horde tray with any number of visible Dead-eye icons, deal 1 damage to each Hero on a space adjacent to its new position on the path.
Enemy – The name used for each enemy image on a Horde card or tray. Each enemy may be different and must be treated separately. Enemies form part of Hordes.
Engaging – When a Hero ends their turn on a Horde tray their figure base may cover hordes. This is considered 'engaging' with that Horde.
Exit – The end of the Path which represents the nearest space to the Kingdom, this is the target of the Hordes.
Flying – The Flying icon is a 1x2 line. It is in a red box and so cannot be covered. It does not need to be covered to destroy the Horde. Note: When a flying horde spawns make sure it is put into a plastic Horde tray. If all of the Horde trays are in use, take a Horde out of a Horde tray so you can put the flying Horde into it.
When a Flying Horde activates, before checking any of its Horde icons, remove all Soldiers from it and all Heroes on it must move into an adjacent unoccupied space. Then, the Horde activates as normal.
When a Flying Horde moves, if there is another Horde in the space it would move into, instead of jumping over that Horde it moves on top of it. This may mean that Flying Hordes end their movement on top of another Horde. When this happens, players will not be able to attack the Horde beneath the Flying Horde.
When a stack of Hordes activates, the Horde on top of the stack activates first, then the one below that and so on until you reach the bottom of the stack.
Forked path – Some paths are forked. When Hordes advance, advance those on the fork that has the lowest numbered Spawn token associated with it first. Then, proceed to advance Hordes on the other fork(s) in order from closest to the Kingdom to farthest.
Ghost – The Ghost icon takes up a 1x3 line of squares. This area cannot be covered by Heroes, Soldiers, or Damage tiles, and does not need to be covered to destroy the Horde card.
Scenarios that have Ghosts in them will require you to shuffle the 6 Ghost cards (which have the ghost icon and 2 Crystals on the horde card back) to create a Ghost deck. This should be kept to the side of the play area.
When a Horde with the Ghost icon is destroyed, all Heroes on it, in addition to suffering a damage, must move into an adjacent empty space (if there isn't one they are returned to their owner's Hero board). Then, draw the top card of the Ghost deck and spawn it into the space that the destroyed Ghost Horde was in. Note that Hordes with the Ghost icon on them do not have any Crystals on the card back and so the team does not gain Crystals for defeating them. Hordes from the Ghost deck, however, have 2 Crystals on the back and so the team earns 2 Crystals when such a card is destroyed.
Heal – A Horde tray with any number of visible Heal icons, will force you to remove all Damage tiles from that Horde before it moves. Do this before checking any other icons.
Hearts – These tokens represent the health of Heroes and the Kingdom.
Heroes – These are the central characters of the game played by the players. Each has a miniature and a Hero board and card to use its abilities. All Heroes have a basic attack and a selection of 4 different Special abilities. They can cover enemies with their base and prevent Horde trays from moving, but cannot affect Portals or Bosses.
Hero Special abilities – A selection of special powers that each Hero possesses. They are explained in detail in this appendix on page 22.
Heroes bench – A reserve of Hero characters which can be used once each during a solo game in addition to the player's main character. See the solo rules on page 17.
Horde – A Horde is made up of various enemies on a single card. Hordes are treated as a single object but each enemy is still different. Horde cards are placed into trays whenever possible and referred to as Horde trays throughout the rules.
Horde tray – The tray which is used to store Horde cards when they are on the Path.
Instant – An ability which has a one-time effect that is resolved as soon as it is played.
Kingdom – The general term for the area the Heroes are trying to protect. It will not have a place on the Path, but is instead beyond the end point of the path. It will have a supply of Hearts and may have other abilities or rules associated with it depending on the scenario.
Mage Tower – These Towers have bigger Damage tiles than other Towers and deal Magical Damage. They include the Mage (Lv1), Adept (Lv2), Wizard (Lv3), Arcane Wizard (Lv4), and Sorcerer Wizard (Lv4).
Magical damage – A damage type used by some attacks. Attacks that deal Magical Damage may not be placed on Magic resistant enemies.
Melee – An attack action of an ability that targets the space that the Hero using it is standing in.
Ongoing – An ability which remains active once played until the end of the current round. Ongoing Special abilities that last longer than the current round specify on the ability or spell when the effect stops being active.
Path – The part of the map that trays travel along, which connects the Spawn points to the Path Exit/Kingdom, made up of a number of spaces.
Pathbreaker – The Pathbreaker iconography is a 1x5 line across the bottom edge of the Horde card. It shows three different icons on it. These are ordered from left to right, and correspond with the Pathbreaker cards used in some scenario setups to block Spawn points and Path spaces.
When a Pathbreaker Horde spawns, check the row of icons in the red bar. If the Pathbreaker card corresponding to the leftmost icon is still in play, return that card to the game box and place the Pathbreaker Horde in the path space the card was in. If the leftmost icon has been removed, check the middle one, and finally the right most one. If all three have already been removed the Pathbreaker spawns normally (i.e. to the space directly in front of the Spawn stack it was drawn from).
When attacking a Pathbreaker Horde the red bar cannot be covered by Soldiers, Heroes, or Damage tiles and does not need to be covered to destroy the Horde.
Opening Paths: Once a path blocking card has been removed, Hordes will spawn from the Spawn point it was blocking. That Spawn stack does not spawn a Horde on the turn that the Path was opened.
Perfect – this attack can target any path space on the map.
Physical damage – A damage type used by some attacks. Attacks that deal Physical Damage may not be placed on Physical resistant enemies.
Portal – A special Card that will often form part of the scenario goal. Portal Cards cannot be targeted by Heroes and if they reach the Path Exit the players will lose immediately.
Protection – An effect of Special abilities or actions that prevents Heroes from taking damage.
Range Arrows – The icons on a Tower or Special Ability which indicates which spaces can be targeted by that ability.
Ranged – An attack action of a Special ability that targets a Horde that can be reached following the Range Arrows associated with the attack.
Recover – An available action for Heroes which resets their Hearts and refreshes their Special ability tiles. This is done instead of taking any other action.
Regenerate – A Hero that has been removed from play spends their next turn returning to action. When a Hero Regenerates they recover all of their Hearts but they do not refresh their Special ability tiles.
Spawn token – These are used to show where new Horde cards enter the map, and to determine which order Horde cards will be activated in if the path has one or more forks (see Forked Path above).
Speed – A Horde tray with any number of visible Speed icons will attempt to move twice along the path this turn.
Soldier Towers – These Towers place Soldiers on Hordes rather than Damage tiles. A Soldier Tower may be placed on top of another Tower or have another Tower built on top of it. The absolute maximum number of Towers on a Building site is 2. These include the Militia (Lv1), Footmen (Lv2), Knights (Lv3), Holy Order (Lv4), and Barbarian Hall (Lv4).
Soldiers – Meeples that are generated from a Soldier Tower. They are placed like Damage tiles to cover enemies and also stop trays from moving. They have 1 Heart, so will be removed whenever they sustain damage. Soldiers must be placed on top of enemies, and cannot be placed on top of Deadly enemies. If there is no valid placement for a Soldier generated by a Tower or other effect, it is not generated (the rest of the effect is still performed).
Tower – A card that players will use to attack Hordes by playing them on their Building sites. Towers come in a number of types and levels. If you don't play a Tower you may pass it to another player, first upgrading it to the next level if possible.
True damage – Can be placed on enemies that have Physical or Magical defenses.
Touching – Touching is used when referring to any component that is orthogonally next to anything else.
Index of Rules in the Scenario Booklet
Spells
Starting in Scenario 4, you will get to choose Spells at the start of each game. Spells are small tiles that give the team access to powerful once-per-game abilities. On the back there is a picture, the Spell's name, and one or two Spell Power icons. These icons are referred to in the set up. In some scenarios you may only choose from Spells with 1 Power icon, while others allow you to choose from all the Spells you have.
During Phase 2 you may use any Spells that you have. To use a Spell; perform the effect of the Spell, then return it to the game box. Spells that attack Hordes cannot be used to attack Portals or Bosses. The Spells are described below:
Rain of Fire: This is a 1 power Spell. Place a 1x2 and a 1x1 Damage tile anywhere on a single Horde tray. This attack has the Magic damage type.
Reinforcements: This is a 1 power Spell. Place two Soldiers. You may place these on the same Horde trays, or on different ones. They have the True Damage type.
Thunderbolt: This is a 1 power Spell. Put a 1x2 Damage tile on a single Horde. Then, put a 1x1 Damage tile on each Horde that is adjacent to it. This attack has the Magic damage type.
Lightning Bolt: This is a 1 power Spell. Put 4 1x1 Damage tiles next to one another on a single Horde tray. Each Damage tile must be placed so it is touching the edge of at least one other Damage tile placed by this spell. This attack has the Physical damage type.
Gem of Timewarp: This is a 2 power Spell. Place a 1x2 Damage tile on a Portal Horde or a Boss Life card. Then, choose a Hero to suffer 1 damage. This attack has the True Damage type.
Hand of Midas: This is a 2 power Spell. Pass a Tower to another player and upgrade it two levels when you do so. For example, if you passed a level 1 Archery Tower with Hand of Midas, you would upgrade it to a level 3 Sharpshooter (instead of upgrading it to a level 2 Marksman). The passed Tower is placed in the incoming Tower slot of another player's board as normal.
NOTE: There are no damage tiles in the game that match the graphics on the spells. Instead, use any damage tile in the supply that matches the size and shape of the tiles that the spell depicts on it.
White Building Site
Starting in scenario 5 there is a white Building site as part of the set up. The white Building site is owned by all players. Any player may place a Tower on the white Building site.
Towers played to the white Building site do not have to be picked up by the player who played them. When Towers are picked up, you will decide which player picks up the Towers on the white Building site. If there are 2 Towers on the white build site they can be taken by different players.
Hero Special Abilities
Alleria Swiftwind
Alleria has a Wildcat miniature which works as an additional Hero (all rules of a normal hero apply). The Wildcat can be activated each round: it can move up to 2 spaces and engage a Horde. If the Wildcat is on a tray that is destroyed, the Wildcat does not suffer damage and remains in that location. If it takes damage in any other way it is knocked out and must be returned to the player's board. It does not regenerate. Instead, it is placed in Alleria's space the next time she uses her basic attack. At the end of Alleria's first movement in a game, the Wildcat is placed in her space and may, itself, be moved.
Basic Attack – when Aleria uses her basic ability, in addition to performing the indicated attack, she may Spawn her Wildcat miniature by placing it in her space. It cannot be activated on a turn in which it is returned to play by using this effect. (Except in solo mode when Alleria enters play as a Bench Hero).
Call of the Wild – this special attack may target only the Horde tray the Wildcat is on and places 4 1x1 Damage tiles as shown. If the Wildcat is not in play this ability has no effect.
Like the Wind – After Alleria performs the attack on this Special ability she may choose any Hero in play (including herself). The chosen hero may then move 1 space and perform their basic attack. This may result in a Hero being activated twice during a single round.
Do you Bleed? – as part of this attack Alleria places 2 additional 1x1 Damage tiles on the Horde the Wildcat is on. If the Wildcat is not in play, or is not on a Horde when this ability is used, these additional Damage tiles are not placed.
NOTE: Multishot does not have a detailed description as it has no other effect than placing the damage tiles depicted.
Lilith
Basic Attack – this attack has ranged and melee attack arrows, so Lilith can either place the 1x1 Damage tile in her space or on a Horde next to her space. After performing the attack, Lilith chooses herself or another Hero that is adjacent to her or in her space. The chosen Hero heals 1 Heart and flips a face-down ability face-up.
Infernal Wheel – when Lilith uses this Special ability, she places a 1x2 Damage tile on each Horde tray that is adjacent to her. This attack has the True Damage type and so ignores magical and physical defenses.
Reaper's Harvest – when Lilith uses this Special ability, she places two 1x2 Damage tiles and two 1x1 Damage tiles in her space. These must be placed so that one side of each of them touches a different side of Lilith's base. There are 4 Damage tiles and 4 sides to Lilith's base. This attack has the True Damage type and so ignores magical and physical defenses.
Heavenly Chaos – when Lilith uses this Special ability, she chooses a Horde adjacent to her and places a 1x1 Damage tile, a 1x2 Damage tile, and two Soldiers onto it. This attack has the True Damage type and so ignores magical and physical defenses.
Resurrection – when Lilith uses this Special ability, she places a 1x2 Damage tile in her space. Then, until the end of the turn, if the Horde tray Lilith is on is destroyed during phase 3 (destroy hordes) she immediately heals 3 Hearts and gains Protection for the remainder of the turn. This attack has the True Damage type and so ignores magical and physical defenses.
Malik Hammerfury
Basic Attack – when Malik uses this ability, for each empty square (without an enemy) covered by his basic attack Damage tile he may place one additional 1x1 Damage tile on an adjacent Horde.
It's Hammer Time – when Malik uses this Special ability he chooses any Hero (which could be himself). The chosen Hero may flip one of their face-down Special Ability tiles face up. Then, Malik may take another action immediately. This action can be used to perform a basic attack, use a Special ability (other than It's Hammer Time), or Recover.
Earthquake – Place the Earthquake Damage tile on the Horde tray in Malik's space. Until the end of the round, all Heroes (including Malik) have Protection while they are in the same space as Malik.
Hammer Smash – when Malik uses this Special ability, for each square with an enemy in it that is covered by the Hammer Smash Damage tile he may place one additional 1x1 Damage tile on a single, adjacent Horde.
Can't Touch This – when Malik uses this Special ability he has Protection until the end of the round. Additionally he may perform his basic attack.
Magnus Spellbane
Basic Attack – This attack allows Magnus to place an additional 1x2 Damage tile on a target Horde tray if he is standing on a Building site, not a Path space. Please note that it means this Building space cannot be used to place a Tower in the same round unless Magnus's miniature left the space after performing this attack.
Hocus Pocus – when Magnus uses this Special ability he may move any Hero (including himself) to any legal space on the board. Then this Hero performs a basic ability attack. Additionally Magnus places 3 1x1 Damage tiles on the targeted Horde tray.
Mirage – when Magnus uses this Special ability he places two Soldiers and two 2x1 pieces on a single Horde that is adjacent to him. These damage tiles and soldiers must all be placed on the same Horde card. This attack deals Magical damage.
Knowledge is Power – Magnus uses this Special ability to copy the effect of any other Special ability that is in play, either his own or another Hero's. Magnus may choose a Special ability that is face down to copy. Magnus performs the copied Special ability as if it were his own, treating all instances of character names as if they were his (so, for example, if he copies Malik's "Can't Touch This", Magnus would gain Protection until the end of the round even though the copied ability says 'Malik' in its text).
Ignus
Basic Attack – if the Ignus Basic Attack Damage tile covers exactly 2 enemies Ignus may place one additional 1x1 Damage tile on each adjacent Horde tray.
Flaming Frenzy – when Ignus uses this Special ability and the Flaming Frenzy Damage tile covers exactly 3 enemies; Ignus chooses any one Hero (including himself). The chosen Hero immediately heals 1 Heart.
Fire & Brimstone – when Ignus uses this Special ability and the Fire & Brimstone Damage tile covers exactly 3 enemies he may place two additional 1x1 Damage tiles on a single, adjacent Horde tray.
Surge of Flames – when Ignus uses this Special ability he may move up to 4 additional spaces and place a 1x1 Damage tile on each Horde he moves onto during this movement. Ignus may still use his basic movement before or after using this Special ability. Then, Ignus or a Hero adjacent to him heals 2 hearts.
Let's Burn – when Ignus uses this Special ability he may place two 3x1 Damage tiles on two different Horde trays that are adjacent to the space he is on. The Horde Ignus is engaged with may not be targeted in this way.
NOTE: Arcane Storm does not have a detailed description as it has no other effect than placing the damage tiles depicted.
Credits
Game design: Helana Hope, Sen Foong-Lim, and Jessey Wright
Graphic design and illustrations: Mateusz Komada, Katarzyna Kosobucka, Przemysław Kasztelaniec
Producer: Vincent Vergonjeanne
Game Development: Filip Miłuński, Tomasz Napierała
Playtesting Manager: Tomasz Napierała
Production Manager: Przemek Dołęgowski
Sculpts: Heriberto Valle Martinez
Rulebook Editing and Proofreading: The Gaming Rules! Team, Russ Williams