Mine Deeper
Mine Deeper Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
The first player to find all 5 red gems wins!
Components
- Rulebook
- 18 gems (10 red, 2 purple, 6 yellow)
- 32 rocks (gray)
- Rock wall stabilizers (2)
- 2 memory boards
- 20 key cards
- 25 sets of wall squares
- 2 shovels
Assembly required: Once opened, the rock wall component must be assembled before beginning to play. Refer to the "rock wall assembly" instructions at the end of this rulebook. The rock wall should never be disassembled after playing.
Game Set-Up
- Stick the rock wall upright in the tray and secure it to the two rock wall stabilizers below the tray.
- Place the rock wall between both players and give a memory board to each player. A player's memory board pattern should match the rock wall that they are facing.
- Each player grabs 3 yellow gems, 1 purple gem, 5 red gems, and 16 rocks.
- Each player grabs one key card and places their gems and rocks in the squares of their rock wall according to the arrangement on the key card. Each player can apply the key card in any direction they would like, on either side of the card.
Tip for beginners: First, place gems, then fill the remaining squares with rocks. This helps ensure placement accuracy. Be careful, setting up this way might give away the location of your gems.
How to Play
The player who most recently visited a cave goes first.
Players take turns throughout gameplay. When it is your turn you must:
- Choose a wall square and push it with your shovel. Think hard about which gem might be behind it!
- Collect the fallen gem/rock immediately and place it on your memory board on the grid corresponding to the wall square you just pushed. This memory board will help you infer where the red gems are located and remember which squares you've already pushed.
- Analyze the results. Fallen gems/rocks will provide you with the following hints regarding the location of the red gems.
| Fallen piece | Hint |
|---|---|
| Rock | No hint |
| Yellow gem | 1 red gem is located above, below, right, or left of the square you just pushed. |
| Purple gem | 2 red gems are located above, below, right, or left of the square you just pushed. |
| Red gem | A Big Red! Find all 5 and you will win! |
- End your turn.
Game End
As soon as a player collects all 5 red gems on their memory board the game ends immediately and that player is the winner! Playing best of three is a fun way to extend the gameplay.
Advanced Rules
Once players have gotten used to the gameplay, they can choose not to use the key cards and place the gems/rocks themselves. When freely arranging in this way, the following placement rules must be followed.
- There can ONLY be 2 red gems located above, below, left, or right of a purple gem.
- There can ONLY be 1 red gem located above, below, left, or right of a yellow gem.
- There can be ONLY 1 yellow or 1 purple gem located above, below, left, or right of a red gem, not both!
- Purple, yellow, and red gems can NEVER be placed all alone by themselves!
- Once all rocks and gems are placed, be sure to DOUBLE CHECK the placement rules above.
Advanced Placement Example
Incorrect placement: Even though each yellow gem is only touching one red gem and each purple gem is only touching 2 red gems, this arrangement is incorrect because a single red gem is touching both a yellow and a purple gem at the same time.
Correct placement: By moving the placement of one of the red gems and adding another, the player was able to follow all placement rules.
Rock Wall Assembly
Assemble the wall squares into the rock wall according to the rules below:
- Each horizontal row on the rock wall should only contain wall squares of the same pattern.
- Each horizontal row on the rock wall should have a different pattern than the row above and/or below it.
- When assembling a set of wall squares into place, each side of the set should have a different pattern.
- If assembled correctly, the row pattern on each side of the rock wall should match the row pattern of one of the memory boards.