Robin Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Goal of the Game
• Set-up
• Basic Concepts
• Game Sequence
  • 1. Missions
  • 2. Contribution
  • 3. Exchange or Action
    • 3.1 Exchange a card
    • 3.2 Use a special Mission card
• Game End
• Special Mission Cards
• 2 Players Variant
  • Setup
  • Game play
  • Trade
  • Blocus
  • Exhausted Mission stack

Game Components

Rules of play, one game board, 94 plastic Mission cards (84 Mission cards in 6 series and 10 special Mission cards), 6 Mission tokens (square), 6 Player colour reminder tokens (round), 6 Player pieces.

Robin features high quality 100% plastic cards. These cards handle lightly, and are very resistant compared to paper cards. They also shuffle very well, and can safely be used without protective sleeves.

2-6 players aged 10 and up. Duration: 30 minutes.

Goal of the Game

There are 6 sets of missions: Fetch food, Steal animals, Steal riches, Steal weapons, Scout places and Bring messages to and from characters. The first player who has collected 7 Mission cards of the same kind (same icon) at the end of a player turn wins the game.

Set-up

Each player takes a round player colour token and the playing piece of the same colour. Keep the player colour token in front of you as a reminder of your colour.

Select a first player at random. Place the players' playing pieces on the road track according to the pattern shown on the board/rulebook (the first player always starts nearest to Sherwood Forest).

Shuffle the Mission cards thoroughly and pile them face down in a stack above the game board. This stack is the Mission stack.

Draw 10 cards from the top of the Mission stack and place them face-up in one stack below the game board. The top card is the only card which must be visible. This stack is the Contribution stack.

Shuffle the square Mission tokens and place one randomly face-up on each mission space of the road track.

Finally, each player draws 4 cards from the Mission stack. These cards must remain secret from other players.

Basic Concepts

Each player represents one of Robin's merry men.

The game board shows the road from Sherwood forest's old oak to Nottingham castle, with 7 steps. Each step shows how close from Nottingham castle you are and how much risk you are taking.

The number next to the money bag above each step represents your Missions. The higher the number, the more mission cards you draw.

The number next to the hand under each step represents your contribution to the merry men community. A positive number represents the aid (in Mission cards) that you receive from the community for your hard work in the Sherwood forest. A negative number represents your contribution (in Mission cards) to the community.

The Mission cards represent your wealth and influence. The cards show 6 types of missions, each type being identified by an icon on the card: Fetch food, Steal animals, Steal riches, Steal weapons, Scout locations, and Bring messages to and from characters. Each type of mission is represented 14 times in the deck.

Game Sequence

The game is played in clockwise order, starting with the first player. In your turn, you must perform the following steps:

1. Draw Mission cards (Missions)
2. Contribute to or collect from the Contribution stack (Contribution)
3. Exchange a card OR use a special card (Exchange or Action)

Please note that players may not look into the discarded cards and draw piles during the game.

Play then continues with the next player's turn and so on.

1. Missions

Look at the number next to the purse icon at the top of the space where your playing piece is standing. Draw this number of cards (0-5) from the Mission stack (above the board) and add them to your hand.

2. Contribution

Look at the number next to the hand icon at the bottom side of the space where your playing piece is standing.

A negative number (-1 to -2) indicates you must discard this number of cards from your hand face-up on top of the Contribution stack (under the board) in the order of your choice. These can be cards you just drew in step 1 - Missions. The top card is the only card which must be visible.

A zero indicates you do neither draw nor discard from/to the Contribution stack.

A positive number (1) indicates you must draw the top card from the Contribution stack and add it to your hand.

3. Exchange or Action

3.1 Exchange a card

The active player must now offer one of his cards in a trade. Select one Mission card from your hand and place it face-up in front of you. This card is your offer to trade with the other players.

Now in turn order each player may offer exactly one card from his hand to trade. The cards are first placed face down in front of the offering players. Once all players wishing to participate in the exchange have placed a face down card in front of them, all the offered cards are revealed simultaneously.

If at least one player offered a card, the active player must choose one offer. When an offer is accepted, the exchanged Mission cards are placed face up in front of the two exchanging players. The other players now take back their refused cards in their hand.

If there was no exchange (because no other player responded to the trade offer) the active player moves player pieces according to the arrow groups on his card as described below, and then takes his card back into his hand.

If there was an exchange, the two players with face-up exchanged cards in front of them must move a number of player pieces as indicated by the arrow groups on the cards they received. First, the non-active player (the player whose offer was accepted) must execute his moves. Then the active player does the same with the card that he has received in exchange.

Note: If any of the traded cards is a special card, that player takes the special card in his hand and will not move any player pieces. The effect of the special card is not triggered when it is exchanged.

Move player pieces: Each group of 1-3 arrows on the exchanged Mission cards must be applied completely to a single player piece, in the matching direction (back to Sherwood Forest or forward to Castle). Players select independently which player pieces are moved. Each player can move each player piece only once (i.e. two groups of arrows from the same Mission card may not be applied to the same player piece).

A player piece which is moved past Nottingham Castle goes right back to the Sherwood forest old Oak, from where the counting continues. (The merry man has reached too close to the castle and must go back in hiding at the forest to escape the Sheriff's guards.) On the contrary, a player piece on the Sherwood forest old Oak can never be moved further back in the forest. If required (and if possible), another player piece must be selected to move back.

Each player must apply all groups of arrows from their Mission card to playing pieces if possible. They may not just ignore one group. This may force players to move specific playing pieces in order to apply all arrow groups from their Mission card.

Example: Ann must move one playing piece forward 2 spaces and two playing pieces back one space. She cannot move the Blue or Green playing piece back as they already are on the old oak space. She must apply as much of the arrow groups as possible so she cannot move Yellow or Red forward: she must move Yellow and Red back and move Blue or Green forward.

After moving the player pieces, the exchanging players now put the exchanged cards in their hand.

Should the Contribution stack become empty, draw 5 cards from the Mission stack and place them in a new face up Contribution stack under the board.

3.2 Use a special Mission card

The active player may use a special Mission card instead of offering a trade. He just plays the special Mission card, applies its effect and that special Mission card is then removed from the game.

Please note that the three 'dual Mission' special Mission cards cannot be used as action 3.2 instead of offering a trade, these are passive and they can only be used as part of a winning combination. They can however be offered as a trade.

Game End

At the end of any player's turn, if one player has collected 7 Mission cards of the same type he must show them to the other players and he wins the game.

• Mission tokens on the road track count as one Mission card of that type in the player's hand if his playing piece is on the corresponding space of the road track when he shows his hand.
• Dual Mission special cards count as cards of the two Mission types shown on the card.
• Showing your cards to win may only occur at the end of a player turn (your turn or the turn of another player). This means the exchange and player pieces movement must happen before.
• If 2 players have collected 7 Mission cards in the same turn, the active player wins the game.

Special Mission Cards

1. Secretly look at one player's hand of cards.
2. Steal one card at random from another player's hand and secretly add it to your hand.
3. Draw the two top cards from the Mission stack.
4. Choose one card from the Contribution stack and add it to your hand. Do not show it to other players.
5. Swap the position of two player pieces on the road track.
6. Swap your whole hand of Mission cards with another player of your choice.
7. Swap two Mission tokens on the road track. 8-10. The three dual type Mission cards count as both Mission types displayed on the card. They help you get a series of 7 cards faster.

2 Players Variant

Setup

Place 2 visible and one hidden Mission cards in a row next to the game board. These cards represent the hand of a third neutral player. Place the first player's playing piece on space 1/0, the second on space 2/-1 and the neutral player on space 3/-1 of the road track.

Game play

Players play in sequence. The neutral player never plays.

Trade

When trading a player may trade with one of the neutral player's 3 cards instead of accepting the opponent's card. In this case, the active player's traded card is discarded face up next to the Mission stack. It is not activated and no playing piece is moved. Only the card received by the active player is resolved, and he moves the playing pieces accordingly. Replace the neutral player's card with one from the Mission stack, face up or down as the exchanged card was.

If the opponent does not offer a card for trade, the active player must trade with the neutral player.

Blocus

The neutral player blocks one space. If a playing piece should stop there it is instead moved to the next space forward or backwards. The neutral player can however be moved to an occupied space.

Exhausted Mission stack

Should the Mission stack ever be exhausted, reshuffle the discard stack to form a new face down Mission stack.