Relic Hunters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Objective
Components
Terrain Tiles
Setup
Gameplay
4. Obtain Relic
Game End
Solo Rules
2 Player Rules
Credits

Objective

There are 5 relics buried within the 3rd level terrains of the island. The one to dig up two relics wins!

Components

5 Relic Tiles
40 Coin Tokens (3-Coin x 10, 1-Coin x 30)
10 Bratty Sisters Cards
1 Base Camp Tile
36 Explorer Cards
8 Happy Elephant Cards
4 Volcano Tiles
46 Terrain Tiles (1st level x 15, 2nd level x 16, 3rd level x 15)
5 Relic Tokens, 5 Stands
Player Set x 4 (Player Board x 1, Meeple x 1, Starting Card x 10 for each set)
Rule Book x 2 (EN/KR)

Starting Cards are marked on the bottom right with an animal shaped seal.

Terrain Tiles

"Expedition" has 5 terrain types: field, forest, river, mountain, desert. The effects within each terrain can be checked on the Player Board as well as on the "Effects" section on page 5. There are 3 levels of terrain, and the higher the level, both the difficulty and reward increases. The number of dots on the Terrain Tile indicates its level. The number on each Terrain Tile indicates the movement value required to land on that Tile.

Setup

Be careful NOT to see the back side of the Tile during Setup!

The following rules are for 3-4 players. 1-2 player rules are on page 8.

Place the Base Camp Tile on the table.
Prepare the Terrain Tiles. Separate Terrain Tiles by level. Randomly remove 1 3rd level Terrain Tile per terrain type without checking the back side. Include 5 Relic Tiles in the stack of 3rd level Terrain Tiles. Shuffle and stack each level of Terrain Tiles separately.
Place Terrain Tiles. Refer to the example image and place Terrain Tiles in order starting with 1st level Terrain Tiles and ending with 3rd level Terrain Tiles. Tiles must be placed in order from the top of the stack. The remaining Tiles are removed without checking the back side.
Place Volcano Tiles. Several 1st and 2nd level Terrain Tiles are replaced by Volcano Tiles. Refer to the image on page 2 and remove 4 Terrain Tiles, then replace them with Volcano Tiles. Volcano Tile: You cannot move here.
Organize Supplies. Gather coins in a space that can be reached by all players. Shuffle the deck of Explorer Cards and place it face down beside the Coin Tokens. Open the top 4 Explorer Cards beside the deck. If duplicate cards are opened, stack these on top of each other and open another card until there are 4 different Explorer Cards open. Place the "Bratty Sisters" Card deck face up beside the face up Explorer Cards. Assemble the Relic Tokens on the Stands. Place the Happy Elephant Cards beside the Relic Tokens. This is called the Supply Area.
Each player completes their preparations. Each player chooses a component color and brings all of it in front of them. Remaining components must be removed from the game. Players shuffle their Starting Cards and place them face down on the empty space on the left side of the Player Board. Draw cards from the top until there are 5 cards in your hand. Do not reveal your hand to other players.
Choose a starting player. The player who most recently traveled is the starting player. In a clockwise order, the second player receives 1 Coin, the third player receives 2 Coins, and the fourth player receives 4 Coins from the Supply Area. Player Meeples must then be placed on the Base Camp Tile.

Preparations are complete. On to the Expedition!

Gameplay

Turns proceed in a clockwise order beginning with the starting player. Each turn you may "Use Card" and "Use Effect" several times and in any order. Your turn ends once you are finished with your actions.

1. Use Card

You can use as many cards as you want in your hand. The values of the card effects are additive. The way you use these values are up to you. The played Cards go to the Discard Space on the right space of the Player Board. Some Cards have multiple effects. You can only use one of the effects each turn.

Each card shows a Card Name, a Purchase Cost, the Card Effect, and where it goes when played (the Discard Space) plus what it rewards.

Example: On this turn, Gemma used Manager Lizard and Pilot Redstart to gain 6 Move points. 3 Move points were used to fulfill the requirement to land on and flip a certain forest Terrain Tile. The remaining movement points can still be used in this turn. But before that, the Signaler Viper is used to dig the Terrain Tile and use its effect.

Specialized Cards: You can only use these Cards on certain terrain. There are 5 terrains in Expedition, and each terrain has corresponding Specialized Cards with the exception of the field terrain: Forest, River, Desert, Mountain. These Cards ignore requirements of the corresponding Terrain Tile. For example, when moving to an adjacent mountain Tile, you can use the Climber Goat Card to ignore the Move requirements and land on the mountain Tile. Or you can use the Guide Camel on a desert Tile in order to skip the Dig requirements. Although these Cards are powerful, they can only be used on their corresponding terrains.

2. Use Effect

There are 6 effects in the "Expedition". These effects are gained when using Cards or Terrain Tiles. Any remaining effects are gone once your turn ends.

Move: Move your Meeple to an adjacent Tile. When moving, you need to fulfill the Move requirement to land on the Tile. The Move points you had gained are deducted as you move the Meeple. You can land on a Tile where there is already another player's Meeple. If the Tile you land on is still on its front side, flip the Tile. A Tile that has been flipped cannot be flipped again. If there is an image of a Treasure Chest on the Tile, you receive the reward immediately. Treasure Chest: Only the first player to flip the Tile can receive the reward. The Tile should be considered empty after this. Tiles with a Treasure Chest may have different Move requirements on each side.
Dig: If there is an image of a Shovel on the Tile, you need to Dig in order to get the reward. You must use the same Dig points as the requirement. If you use enough Dig points, you get the reward drawn on the center of the Tile. You cannot Dig the same Tile multiple times during the same turn. If your Meeple starts on a Tile where you can Dig, you may do so at the beginning of your turn. Example: Jay begins his turn by using a Professor Crocodile-bird Card to gain 3 Dig points. He uses Dig points right away, deducting 2 from his points, and gaining 3 Coins as a reward. He can still use the remaining 1 Dig point on another Tile during his turn.
Coin: You will need many Coins to hire new explorers. Using the Coin effect will allow you to take the written Coin amount from the Supply Area and store it above your Player Board. Coin Tokens are used to buy new Cards.
Recruit: This is the only way to increase your hand during your turn. You always begin your turn with no more than 5 Cards in your hand. By using the Recruit card, you draw cards from the top of your deck equal to the number of Recruit points and add them to your hand.
Remove: In order to make your deck efficient, you can choose to Remove cards with weak effects. The number of Cards you can Remove from your deck will depend on the Remove effect value. You can use the Remove effect first before using the rest of the Cards in your Hand, and then choose which Card(s) to Remove from the Discard space. You may choose less Cards to Remove than Remove value.
Rest: You will need many explorers to go far. Otherwise, your explorers will need time to rest. When using the Rest effect, take the same number of Cards as your Rest value from the discard space and place them on the bottom of your Card deck face up. These Cards can be placed in any order, and you can also check these Card details at any time. If your deck runs out during your turn, you do not shuffle the discarded Cards to make a new deck. Therefore, the Rest effect can be very important.

Warning: Remove/Rest effect cannot be applied to Remove/Rest Cards.

3-1. End Turn

You can end your turn at any time. At the end of your turn you can keep the Cards in your hand or choose to discard them on the Discard Space. End Turn proceeds in the following order.

Hand Arrangement: You may keep the remaining Cards in your hand or discard any amount of Cards into the Discard Space.
Fill Hand: Draw Cards from the top of your deck until you have 5 Cards in your hand. If there are not enough Cards in your deck, draw what is available.
Return Decision: Consider your hand and decide whether to return to the Base Camp. If you choose not to return, your next turn will begin from the current location of your Meeple. If you choose to return, follow "Return and End Turn", instead.
End Turn: The turn goes to the player on the left.

3-2. Return and End Turn

Constant expedition can tire your explorers. There is a limit to the Rest effect. In order to explore further, sometimes it is better to return to the Base Camp and prepare for another journey. By choosing to return, the player follows the following steps.

Return your Meeple to the Base Camp Tile.
Purchase: You can purchase new Explorer Cards using Coin Tokens. The Purchase cost of each Card is indicated on the bottom right of the Card. Used Coin Tokens should be returned to the Supply Area. Even if you buy a Card, a new card doesn't fill in the empty space on the Supply Area right away. New Cards from the top of the Explorer Card deck fill this area only after your turn ends. Bratty Sisters Card is one of the Cards you can purchase.
Shuffle Cards: Shuffle all your cards. Your purchased Cards, Card deck, discard Card pile, and hand Cards should all be shuffled to make a new Card deck that is placed on the left of the Player Board. Draw the top 5 Cards from the deck to make a new hand.
End Turn: The turn goes to the player on the left.

Gameplay repeats until the end of the game.

4. Obtain Relic

Relics can be revealed by exploring 3rd level Terrain Tiles. Place the relevant Relic Token on the Tile. The one who Digs the Relic places the Relic Token on their Player Board. All Relics have a Dig requirement of 3. Players who obtain Relics must take 2 Happy Elephant Cards from the Supply Area and place it on their discard Card pile.

Happy Elephant: This Explorer provides transportation for your precious Relic. They have no particular effects, but cannot be removed. The Happy Elephant gives happiness to all players... except one.

Game End

Whoever obtains 2 Relic Tokens first wins. The game ends immediately.

Solo Rules

All rules are standard except for the ones below.

Setup

Remove Bratty Sisters Cards and Happy Elephant Cards from the game.

Gameplay

Play all the Cards you want, or discard the Cards on the Discard Space until there is 1 or no Card in your hand in order to end your turn and draw more Cards into your hand.
Whenever you return, you must reveal the top Card from the Explorer Card deck in the Supply Area and remove it from the game.
Reveal the same amount of Cards equal to the cost of that Removed Card.
You can choose to put back one or all of the revealed cards into the Explorer deck. Simply pay Coin Tokens equal to the cost of the card(s) of your choice, and put those cards at the bottom of the Explorer deck. Cards that haven't been put back into the Explorer Deck must be Removed from the game.

Game End

You lose the game if you cannot reveal any Card from the Explorer deck in any case.
If you obtain 4 Relic Tokens the game ends immediately and you win.

2 Player Rules

All rules are standard except for the ones below.

Setup

3rd level Terrain Tiles of each terrain type must be removed from the game. With the exception of the one on the field terrain, all 4 Relic Tiles must be prepared. Shuffle Terrain Tiles by level and place them on the table as shown on the image. Relic Tiles are placed randomly at the furthest row of 3rd level Tiles.
Each player receives 1 Bratty Sisters Card and removes 1 Assistant Lizard Card from the game.

Credits

Development: Korea Boardgames Dev. Dept.

Game Design: Jason Lee | Illustrations: Team Dimidium | Graphic Design: Sooyeon Lee | Project Manager: Ivan S.W. Yi