Let's Summon Demons Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Set-Up
• Winning the Game
• Playing a Turn
  • Three Things You Can Do on a Turn
  • (A): Roll the Dice
  • (B): Buy a Card from THE BLOCK
  • Different Attributes of Cards from THE BLOCK
  • (C): Summon a Demon!
• Clarifications
  • General Gameplay
  • Further Summary of Timing Technicalities
  • Terminology
• Card Clarifications
  • Block Deck Breakdown
  • Candles
  • Demons
  • Block Deck
• Variations
• Credits

Contents

• 5 Candle cards
• 100 The Block cards
• 2 Six-Sided Dice
• 20 Demon cards
• 40 Soul Tokens

Set-Up

Give each player 5 Souls to start out with. Leave the remaining Souls in a pile that everyone can reach ("the supply"). There is no limit to the number of Souls you can have at a time.

Give each player a random Candle card (or let the players pick their favorites). Return the rest to the box.

NOTE: The Candle cards are special in that they can never be discarded or stolen for ANY reason, period! You *CAN'T* snuff (discard) them as part of summoning a Demon. Additionally, note that Candles are the only cards that can activate from multiple different dice rolls, since they have two activation numbers.

Shuffle the THE BLOCK Deck. Then, flip the top 5 cards into play face-up where everyone can easily see and reach them.

These 5 cards are known as "THE BLOCK." At the end of any turn, if there are fewer than 5 cards on THE BLOCK, flip new cards into THE BLOCK until there are 5 again.

You'll be acquiring cards from THE BLOCK throughout the game, and putting them in front of you to show they are yours.

Shuffle the DEMON cards. Deal 3 to each player and put the rest off to the side.

NOTE: These Demon cards are the only "hidden information" in the game–it is your "hand of cards" so you can look at them, but don't show anyone else!

The play area is set up with, for each player: a face-up discard pile, the face-down Block Deck with the soul token supply and dice nearby, THE BLOCK (5 face-up cards available for purchase), and in front of each player their souls, their unsummoned Demons (kept hidden as a hand of cards), and the cards they have gained from THE BLOCK.

Randomly determine who takes the first turn. Play will then continue clockwise until a player wins!

Winning the Game

The first player to have 3 (or more) Demons *AND* have 10 (or more) Souls at the same time immediately wins the game!

NOTE: Typically, this means you'll have summoned all 3 Demons in your hand–however, there are a few other ways to gain a Demon *not* from your hand, which means you may still win the game and have unsummoned Demons leftover in your hand from the start of the game.

Playing a Turn

Three Things You Can Do on a Turn

You can do three things on your turn–once each–and you can do them in *ANY* order:

(A): Roll the Dice (mandatory) (B): Buy a Card from THE BLOCK (optional) (C): Summon a Demon from Your Hand (optional)

TIP: Be careful! It's easy to begin your turn by impulsively reaching for (and then rolling) the dice, but you may want to buy a card from THE BLOCK or summon a Demon *BEFORE* you roll, so you have an immediate chance to activate that card!

(A): Roll the Dice

This is the only thing you HAVE to do on each of your turns–you can't end your turn until you've rolled the dice.

When you roll the dice, you always add them together to see what the total is–each individual die face doesn't matter.

*EVERY CARD* that *ANY* player has gained (*NOT* the cards still on THE BLOCK) with an activation number matching the total you rolled is eligible to ACTIVATE.

When a card "activates," the player who owns it gets the effect described on the card. This effect could be as simple as "Collect 1 Soul" or could be much more involved.

If a player has multiple eligible cards, they may activate them in any order.

NOTE: If it becomes relevant which player activates all of their cards first, it always starts with the rolling player and continues clockwise.

There are a few more key details to this concept:

(1) Demon cards *ONLY* activate when the player that summoned them rolls the dice! This is the key difference between a dice roll on your turn vs. another player's turn!

(2) Many of THE BLOCK cards have additional requirements needed to activate! These are always explained in -RED-. For example, the DOG card needs you to have at least 1 BOY or GIRL–so even if you roll a 7 that DOG will *NOT* do anything for you if you don't have a BOY or GIRL card as well.

(3) Many of THE BLOCK cards have additional context that determines the exact efficacy of their effect. For example, Sweet Lisa collects 1 Soul for each SWEET KID you have.

(B): Buy a Card from THE BLOCK

You can recruit the ANIMAL, BOY, and GIRL cards on THE BLOCK to your cause for the low, low price of just 3 Souls each! Just spend 3 Souls (remove them from your personal stash in front of you and return them to "the supply") and select any 1 of the 5 cards on THE BLOCK, putting it in front of you. From now on, whenever that card's activation number is rolled, it will activate and you will get the benefit of its effect!

REMEMBER to refill THE BLOCK Deck until it's got 5 total cards showing when you pass off your turn to the next player!

TIP: Because every card in the BLOCK DECK Deck costs 3 Souls, having 1 or 2 Souls doesn't really do you much good–in fact, it can make you a target for "STEAL" effects from enemy players! Often you want to spend your Souls on a new card from THE BLOCK as soon as you can!

Different Attributes of Cards from THE BLOCK

The most important part of each card from THE BLOCK is its ACTIVATION NUMBER–the dice total that makes the card do its thing, potentially several times over the course of the game!

However, you will also notice that many cards reference certain attributes. Unless a card is referencing DEMONS, it is going to be referencing the attributes contained by cards in THE BLOCK Deck:

(1): A Card is always either a GIRL, BOY, or ANIMAL. (2): GIRLS and BOYS can additionally be either "SWEET" or "ROTTEN" (but may also be neither).

Finally, a card's individual name or illustration is just for fun–it never matters to gameplay.

TIP: There is only 1 copy of each Demon and each Candle card, and 1 copy of a few of the strangest Animals in THE BLOCK Deck, but most cards in THE BLOCK Deck have 2 copies, with some of the simpler cards existing at 4 or 6 copies.

Parts of a card (example: Sweet Caroline)

• Card Name: Sweet Caroline
• "Sweet" or "Rotten": Sweet
• Text Box: Collect 5 Souls.
• Activation Number: 2
• Boy, Girl, or Animal: Girl

(C): Summon a Demon!

It's what you came here to do, right? To summon a Demon, snuff (discard) *ANY COMBINATION* of 3 of your BOYS, GIRLS, and/or ANIMALS (the cards you get from THE BLOCK). Then, simply choose 1 of the unsummoned Demon cards in your hand and put it into play in front of you, alongside the rest of your cards!

There are two types of Demons:

ACTIVATED DEMONS: These Demons work just like cards from THE BLOCK–except they ONLY activate on *YOUR* turns!

PASSIVE ABILITY DEMONS: These Demons work differently–they don't "activate" but rather provide a permanent, persistent bonus effect to their controller. This effect lasts as long as you have the Demon, and works on EVERY player's turn!

NOTE: If you ever lose control of a Demon, draw a new Demon into your hand to ensure that you always have access to enough Demons to win the game.

Clarifications

General Gameplay

SOULS: There is no intended limit to the number of Souls in "the supply" or that a player can have possession of at one time. In the event that "the supply" runs OUT of Souls, the players may need to improvise a little to denote additional Souls. Because of the extreme possibilities of the dice, it's possible for this to happen!

DECK RUNS OUT? In the event that either the DEMON Deck or THE BLOCK Deck runs out, simply reshuffle the discards to form a new deck.

Please note: It is not necessary to perfectly understand all of the subtleties of the timing rules to enjoy Let's Summon Demons–however, in case of confusing moments, the timing rules are designed to clarify what to do in *any* possible scenario (see below).

Further Summary of Timing Technicalities

• If multiple players have cards with the same activation number, it often doesn't matter–but technically the player who rolled the dice should activate their cards first, then go clockwise in turn order. It will usually become obvious when this rule does matter–In a very close game, for example, this rule theoretically could mean the difference between winning and losing as a win is processed immediately when one player meets the requirements!
• If you have multiple cards with the same activation number, *YOU* can determine the order that you activate them in.
• NOTE: While a card has to be in play at the exact moment the dice are rolled to be eligible to activate, any "additional requirement" only needs to be met at the *exact* moment of activation. For example: Let's say you have 2 cards–a RABBIT and a CAT. The Rabbit needs 3 Animals to activate, so you don't have enough yet. When a 7 is rolled, *YOU* choose the order in which you activate your cards (once each card). So if you activate your CAT–and happen to gain a 3rd Animal in the process–you can then activate your RABBIT. However, you cannot also activate this brand new 3rd Animal, as it was not in play at the time the dice were rolled.

"LITERAL INTERPRETATION" OF CARDS: It is our goal to make the text on the cards as "literally" interpretable as possible. So for example, if a card says you "may" do something, it is indicating to you that you have the option. If the word "may" is absent, you should assume the effect is mandatory.

Terminology

BUY: When you spend 3 Souls to gain a card from THE BLOCK, this is called "buying it."

CARDS: Anytime something refers to your "cards" (such as the Demon Wee 'R' Legion), it counts *ALL* of your cards–itself, your Candle, your Demons, and the cards you gained from THE BLOCK.

COLLECT: This is a term that only applies to "Souls." It simply means to take that many Souls from the supply. These are now your Souls to spend.

GAIN: When you spend 3 Souls to buy a card from THE BLOCK, the act of it becoming "your" card is called "gaining it." If an effect tells you to "gain a card" from somewhere, it means you gain it "for free" (without having to spend 3 Souls).

THE BLOCK Deck: The main 100-card deck from which new cards are flipped into THE BLOCK.

THE BLOCK: The set of cards available for purchase with Souls, and occasionally other effects may gain cards from THE BLOCK. It should always be refilled to 5 cards before a new turn begins.

REPLACE: If an effect tells you to "replace" a card in THE BLOCK, it means to discard it and immediately (not at the end of the turn) replace it with a new card from the top of THE BLOCK Deck.

STEAL: When you "steal a Soul," you can always take it from any other player *or* from the supply. If you steal a card, you take it from another player and permanently add it to your own cards (but you can't "steal" a card from anywhere else, such as THE BLOCK, only from other players).

DISCARD: Cards may be discarded from many places. Typically, it will be a card a player has previously gained that is discarded (for example, by being "snuffed" to summon Demons). Cards can also be discarded from THE BLOCK or the top of THE BLOCK Deck. The end result is always the same: Simply move it out of play into a stack of discarded cards that essentially no longer have any impact on the game. This is called the discard pile and should always be kept face-up so as not to be confused with THE BLOCK Deck. While a player may look through the discards at any time, there is no "need" ever to do so.

SNUFF: When you discard 3 cards to summon a Demon from your hand, those cards are considered to be "snuffed."

Card Clarifications

Block Deck Breakdown

• 32 Animals
• 34 Girls (12 Sweet, 12 Rotten, 10 neutral)
• 34 Boys (12 Sweet, 12 Rotten, 10 neutral)

Candles

CANDLES - GENERAL: There is NO EFFECT in the game that can make your Candle leave your side! It can never be stolen or discarded, even by you yourself. You CANNOT snuff Candles as part of the discard cost to summon Demons!

BEGINNER'S CANDLE: While the other 4 Candles have a 25% chance to collect a Soul during each roll of the dice, this Candle has a 28% chance. While this difference is very small, the players may wish to either exclude the Candle, or use it as a tiny bonus for new players, or even the last round's victor.

Demons

CLOCKWORK SATAN: As long as you keep activating CLOCKWORK SATAN, you can take consecutive extra turns.

• Card text: Collect a Soul. Take an additional turn after this one. Only *YOUR* cards can activate during that turn!!!

SUCCUBUS TWIN: This does not apply to cards until they're actually gained by you–for example, Alice would not gain a ROTTEN BOY OR GIRL discarded from the deck.

• Card text: All of your BOYS and GIRLS count as both "SWEET" and "ROTTEN."

DOLLAGORGON: This does not apply to cards until they're actually gained by you–for example, Tommy would not gain a BOY discarded from the deck.

• Card text: Your BOYS and GIRLS collect double Souls on *YOUR* turns.

ONI TWI: This does not apply to "stealing" Souls, only to "collecting" them.

• Card text: All of your BOYS and GIRLS count as both "GOOD" and "ROTTEN."

DICE-ZUZZU: So for example, if you roll double 5s, you will collect 5 Souls (not 10).

• Card text: Each time *YOU* roll doubles, collect a number of Souls equal to 1 of those die faces.

RE-ROLLUCIFER: (1) Of course he can't "re-roll a re-roll" or you could go forever. (2) When you choose to "re-roll," it's as if that roll NEVER happened and you're replacing it with a brand new roll–nothing can activate from or refer to the "original" roll at that point, including special abilities like DICE-ZUZZU.

• Card text: Each time you roll the dice: you *MAY* re-roll the entire roll once, keeping the new result (the old result is treated as though it never happened).

ASSMODEUS: This covers all forms of GAINING Animals, not just buying them from THE BLOCK (for example, gaining an ANIMAL from activating a CAT will make Assmodeus collect a Soul for you).

• Card text: Each time you gain an ANIMAL: Collect a Soul.

WRAITHLOX: (1) Just because Wraithlox protects YOU from an ability, that does not mean he negates the ability entirely. For example, if another player activates a SKUNK, Wraithlox will protect your cards, but everyone else will still discard all of their cards. (2) However, note that Wraithlox wouldn't protect you from your OWN Skunk, as he only protects you from OPPOSING cards.

• Card text: Other players can't steal from you, or cause you to discard cards.

BAPHOMETAL: This ability only applies to the "standard" method of summoning Demons. It has no impact on cards like GOAT, ROSEMARY'S EGG, or DAMIAN.

• Card text: Other players have to snuff (discard) a 4th card to summon Demons.

Block Deck

IRWIN: There is nothing "special" about activating your cards this way–it's just like rolling the activation number. Cards like Irwin do NOT override additional conditions needed for activation (such as "if you control at least 3 ANIMALS" or "YOU MAY DISCARD THIS").

• Card text: Activate all of your ANIMALs.

DESTINY (Sweet Destiny): You cannot indefinitely use a DESTINY to activate another DESTINY and vice versa. You are forced to pick another KID so the game can progress.

• Card text: Activate 1 of your other SWEET BOYS or SWEET GIRLS.

ALICE (Sweet Alice): Because cards must be "in play" at the time the dice are rolled to activate, cards gained from ALICE (or similar cards, such as CAT or TOMMY) won't be able to activate off of that die roll.

• Card text: Discard the top 2 cards of THE BLOCK Deck: Gain each discarded SWEET BOY and SWEET GIRL.

DOG: You just need "at least" 1. There is no penalty for having more than the requirement.

SKUNK: The Skunk's activation effect is not a "MAY" effect, like most effects you might want to consider not triggering. So recruit the Skunk into your fold at your own risk! But keep in mind if you don't do it, someone else still might…

• Card text: Each player discards ALL of their "Non-Demon" cards (including this).

CAT: Gaining the Animal is mandatory! It's rare this will come back to bite you...but you may just find your Cat dragging back a Skunk.

• Card text: Discard the top card of THE BLOCK Deck: If it's an ANIMAL, gain it.

OWL: First, choose each card in THE BLOCK you want to "replace." Next, discard all of those cards. Finally, add that many new cards to THE BLOCK from the top of THE BLOCK Deck.

RAINBOW PARROT: This card never activates twice, never collects "4 Souls." It just has multiple ways to meet its secondary activation condition. You don't get a bonus for having multiple of both.

• Card text: If you have at least 2 BOYS *OR* at least 2 GIRLS: Collect 2 Souls.

HAWK: If you don't gain any ANIMALS, the HAWK is still discarded!

GOAT: This still counts as one of your 3 summons. Theoretically, you could win with the Goat alone, never having summoned a Demon from your hand the standard way.

• Card text: YOU MAY DISCARD EXACTLY 1 BOY AND 1 GIRL: Summon the top of the Demon Deck immediately, for free. (It counts as 1 of your 3 Demons towards victory.)

ALLIGATOR: You may pick 2 cards from the same player, or 1 card each from 2 different players.

• Card text: YOU MAY DISCARD THIS: If you do, discard up to *2 TOTAL* BOYS and/or GIRLS amongst other players.

Variations

Players who are particularly enjoying the game may wish to explore any combination of the following variations, or even come up with their own variations!

ADJUSTING DURATION OF PLAY: You can increase or decrease total duration by increasing or decreasing the amount of Souls each player starts with and/or the number of Demons players start with (and require to summon to win). With 2 players, you could also give each player an additional Candle.

STARTER DEMONS: For a devilish twist, let each player start their first turn by summoning a Demon in their hand as a free additional action. (In order to maintain a more standard game duration, have each player draw a 4th Demon Card during Set-Up, and require that 4 total Demons be summoned (along with 10 Souls) for victory.)

TEAM BATTLE: Sit diagonally opposite from your teammate. First team to summon 6 Demons combined and to have 20 Souls combined wins. Additionally: Each turn, there is a FOURTH thing you *MAY* do, once, in addition to the standard actions on each of your turns: "Pass" 1 of your cards to your teammate (this does not count as gaining or stealing)!

Credits

Game Design: Ben Stoll Graphic Design: Larry Renac Playtesters: Brenda Gutierrez, Kimberly Meza, Michelle Hamilton, Cory Jones, Holiday Jones.

CRYPTOZOIC ENTERTAINMENT CEO & Founder: John Sepenuk Founder: John Nee Founder: Cory Jones Director, Product Development: Eric Moss Director of Operations: Ming Wan Special Thanks: Rumi Asai, Amanda Barker, Javier Casillas, Matt Hoffman, Jason Lim, Joshua Moran, Hudson Mullar, Sophia Shimamura, Shane Smith, John Vineyard, MaryCarmen Wilber

© 2022 Steven Rhodes. © 2022 Cryptozoic Entertainment.