Paint the Roses: Escape the Castle
Paint the Roses: Escape the Castle Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
All Modules: 10 Queen Cards & 5 Keys to the Gate
White Rabbit Module: 10 Helper Cards
Jabberwocky Module: 8 Helper Cards
Cheshire Cat Module: 12 Helper Cards & 8 Objective Cards
Tweedledum & Tweedledee Module: 10 Helper Cards & 8 Objective Cards
Mad Hatter Module: 9 Helper Cards & 5 Tea Tables
Alice Module: 9 Helper Cards, 3 Eat Me Tokens, & 4 Drink Me Tokens
How to Play
Each game of Escape the Castle adds two sets of cards in addition to the core rules of Paint the Roses:
- Queen cards
- Helper cards (from the chosen module)
The Queen cards create an extra obstacle that is constantly active. The Helper cards have a useful action that can be used once per turn. Each game starts with a Queen card and a Helper card in play.
Passing the White Rabbit
In addition to the core rules, each time the Gardeners pass the White Rabbit, flip over another Queen card and another Helper card. There will be 2 face up Queen cards and 2 face up Helper cards. As a team, choose one of the Queen cards and one of the Helper cards to keep in play. Discard the other two cards. These 'in play' cards become active before the start of Phase 4 - Move the Queen.
Moving Tiles
Many Helper cards allow you to move or remove a Shrub tile that has already been placed in the garden. You may not move or remove a Shrub tile that has Clue tokens on it, or one that is directly adjacent to any tile with Clue tokens. There are no restrictions on the empty spaces these tiles can be moved to.
Extra Greenhouse Space
Some Helper cards allow you to place additional Shrub tiles in the Greenhouse. Place these additional tiles below the Greenhouse. They are not considered to be the leftmost or rightmost tile in the Greenhouse.
If the card that expanded your Greenhouse is ever discarded, do not discard the additional Greenhouse Shrub tiles. Move one of them into the Greenhouse during Phase 5 instead of drawing a tile from the bag.
Keys
Once gained, Keys are never returned, even if the condition for gaining the Key is no longer being met.
Setup
Set the game up as normal with the following exceptions:
- Place the 5 Keys next to the board.
- Shuffle the Queen cards and place them above the board.
- Choose an expansion character, shuffle their helper cards, and place them next to the Queen deck.
- The game starts with a Queen card and Helper card in play. Draw a card from these respective decks and place them face up on the castle.
- Check the relevant character section for additional setup.
The most basic objective for each module is to stay 1 step ahead of the axe, just like with the base game, but your ultimate goal is to find the 5 Keys to freedom. If you aren't able to find all 5 Keys, do your best to stay alive. Keep your head and try to find the 5 Keys next time!
The setup illustration shows the Queen Deck and the Helper Deck, with the Active Queen Card and the Active Helper Card placed face up on the castle. Sample cards shown:
- Queen card "Royal Inspector": The Queen moves her speed if a tile is played and no Tokens are placed.
- Helper card "Bigger on the Inside": Draw an extra tile for the Greenhouse.
The Modules
Each module is played with its own character and is set up as described in its section. The six modules are:
- Alice: Alice will give you Keys for growing and shrinking the Queen to specific sizes when solving whims.
- Cheshire Cat: The Cheshire Cat will give you Keys for creating the garden in colorful patterns.
- The Jabberwocky: The Jabberwocky will give you Keys for galumphing through the garden and destroying it.
- The Mad Hatter: The Mad Hatter will give you Keys for creating beautiful places in the garden for him to host his tea parties.
- Tweedledum & Tweedledee: Tweedledum & Tweedledee will give you Keys if you can guess another player's whim card on the same turn they guess yours.
- The White Rabbit: The White Rabbit will give you Keys for filling the garden under time pressure. A mad dash to the finish!
Alice
Additional Setup
Place the starting tiles, the Eat Me tokens, and the Drink Me tokens on the garden board as shown.
How to Earn Keys
Alice will give you a Key when you solve a Whim card with a point value that matches the Queen's speed:
- 1 point Whim card when the Queen is at speed 1
- 2 point Whim card when the Queen is at speed 2
- 3 point Whim card when the Queen is at speed 3
- 4 point Whim card when the Queen is at speed 4
- 5 point Whim card when the Queen is at speed 5
You can only earn one Key for each value. To keep track place the Key on top of the Whim card that was correctly guessed. Take the Key immediately before the Gardener is moved on the score track.
Eat Me & Drink Me Tokens
These tokens allow you to change the Queen's speed. Eat Me tokens add a flower to the Queen (up to a max of 4), and Drink Me tokens remove a flower from the Queen (to a min of 0). To use a token, place a Shrub tile in its space, resolve the effect, and place it off to the side.
The Cheshire Cat
Additional Setup
Deal 5 random Cheshire Cat Objective cards face up to the table. Place the rest of the Objective cards off to the side.
How to Earn Keys
The Cheshire Cat gives you a Key each time you fulfill an Objective card. Each Objective card features a line of 4 matching shapes or colors that must be created in the garden. This line can be rotated in any direction, which means you can sometimes complete more than one Objective card in a turn. When gained, place the Key on top of the completed card so you can see which ones still need to be completed.
Illustration caption: A line of 4 purple and a line 4 of spades.
The Jabberwocky
Additional Setup
Draw two random tiles from the bag and put them face-down as shown. Face-down tiles are considered destroyed and are treated as having no shape or color.
How to Earn Keys
The Jabberwocky will give you a Key each time you use the Helper card to destroy 2 Shrub tiles in the garden. Each of the destroyed Shrubs must have:
- at least 1 of the 2 symbols shown on the active Helper card.
- an empty garden space adjacent to it.
- no Clue tokens on or adjacent to it.
The destroyed Shrub tiles are turned face-down and are treated as having no shape or color.
The Mad Hatter
Additional Setup
Place the 5 Tea Table tiles next to the game board.
How to Earn Keys
Whenever there is an empty spot in the garden adjacent to all four colors, immediately put a Tea Table tile down in that spot. The Mad Hatter gives you a Key each time a table goes down. This can happen after playing a tile to the garden, or after using one of the Helper cards to swap tiles around.
Tea Tables
Tea Tables are considered to have no shape and no color. Once Tea Tables are placed, they cannot be removed. If a Tea Table is placed in the last empty space in the garden, the game ends once you make your final guess.
Illustration caption: A Tea Table.
Tweedledum & Tweedledee
Additional Setup
Deal 5 random Tweedledum & Tweedledee Objective cards face up to the table. Place the rest of the Objective cards off to the side.
How to Earn Keys
Tweedledum and Tweedledee give you a Key each time you fulfill an Objective card. When gained, place the Key on top of the completed card so you can see which ones still need to be completed.
The Objective cards are completed by guessing two Whim cards in a single turn that meet the condition listed on the Objective card.
The White Rabbit
How to Earn Keys
The White Rabbit will give you Keys, but only if you are fast! Once every player has a starting Whim card and the Greenhouse has been filled, start a timer. You earn Keys based on how quickly you can successfully fill the garden.
Aside from the Queen and Rabbit cards, this module plays exactly like the base game... only faster.
- 40 minutes: 1 Key
- 35 minutes: 2 Keys
- 30 minutes: 3 Keys
- 25 minutes: 4 Keys
- 20 minutes: 5 Keys