Saboteur Gold Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Pieces
• Object of the Game
• Preparation
• How to Play
  • Playing a Path Card
  • Playing an Action Card
  • Passing
• The End of a Round
  • Handing Out the Gold
• A New Round Begins
• End of the Game
• Saboteur 2 Rules
  • Set-Up
  • The New Dwarf Cards And Their Victory Conditions
  • Playing the Game
  • New Path Cards
  • New Action Cards
  • Discarding Two Cards
  • Passing
  • The End of a Round
  • Splitting the Treasure
  • Start a New Round
  • The End of the Game

Game Pieces

• 44 Path cards
• 27 Action cards
• 28 Gold Nugget cards
• 7 Gold Miner (dwarf) cards
• 4 Saboteur (dwarf) cards

Object of the Game

The players are secretly divided into two teams: gold miners and saboteurs. The gold miners want to build an unbroken tunnel of path cards from the start card to the goal card that holds the treasure. The saboteurs want to stop them. At the end of each round the winning team is rewarded with gold nugget cards. The game lasts three rounds, and the dwarf who has collected the most gold nuggets overall wins.

Preparation

Separate the cards into path, action, gold nugget, and dwarf cards.

The number of gold miner and saboteur cards used depends on the number of players (put the remaining dwarf cards back in the box — they will not be needed for the rest of the game):

• 3 players: 1 saboteur and 3 gold miners
• 4 players: 1 saboteur and 4 gold miners
• 5 players: 2 saboteurs and 4 gold miners
• 6 players: 2 saboteurs and 5 gold miners
• 7 players: 3 saboteurs and 5 gold miners
• 8 players: 3 saboteurs and 6 gold miners
• 9 players: 3 saboteurs and 7 gold miners
• 10 players: all dwarf cards

Shuffle the required number of gold miner and saboteur cards together. Deal one card to each player, who looks at it and puts it face down in front of him without revealing his role to the other players. The last (undealt) card is set aside, also face down, until the end of the round.

Find the one start card (showing a ladder) and three goal cards (one with the gold treasure and two with mere stones) from among the 44 path cards. Shuffle the three goal cards and place them face down on the table, together with the start card (face up), as shown in the game's setup diagram. The goal cards are placed a distance of seven card widths away from the start card, and one card length apart from each other. Over the course of the game a maze of pathways will be created between the start card and the goal cards. These pathways may extend beyond the borders of the 5-by-9 card pattern indicated in the diagram.

Quick game setup: use the scale printed on the right side of the game rules to measure the distance between start and goal cards.

Add all the action cards to the remaining 40 path cards and shuffle to create one draw pile. Deal out a starting hand to each player, again depending on the number of players in the game:

• 3 to 5 players: each player is dealt 6 cards.
• 6 to 7 players: each player is dealt 5 cards.
• 8 to 10 players: each player is dealt 4 cards.

Put the rest of the deck (the draw pile) next to the goal cards. Shuffle the gold nugget cards and place them face down next to the leftover dwarf card.

The youngest player takes the first turn, with play passing to the left.

How to Play

On his turn, a player must first play 1 card. This means either:

• Add 1 path card to the maze; or
• Place 1 action card in front of any player; or
• Pass, by putting 1 card face down on the discard pile.

Then the player must draw the top card off the draw deck and add it to his hand. This ends his turn, and play passes to the next player.

Note: When the draw deck is used up, the players do not draw cards anymore — a turn then consists only of playing a card.

Playing a Path Card

The path cards are used to build a path from the start card to the goal cards. A path card can only ever be played by connecting to a path card that is already on the table (including the start card). All paths on the sides of the new card must fit with the other cards already in play, and cards can never be played crosswise.

Important: Newly placed path cards must always have an uninterrupted connection back to the start card.

Playing Hint: The gold miners will try to build an uninterrupted path from the start card to one of the goal cards, while the saboteurs will try to prevent just that. However, you should not be too obvious, or your identity will be guessed very easily!

Playing an Action Card

Action cards are always played face up in front of a player (yourself or another player). Action cards can be used to hinder or help the players, remove a card from the pathway maze, or gain information about the goal cards.

Broken Tools: If one of these cards is in front of a player, he may not play any path cards — of course he may still play other cards. At any time, only one card of each type can be in front of a given player. A player can only add a path card to the maze if there is no broken tool card in front of him at the beginning of his turn.

Fix Tools: These cards are used to repair broken tools — in other words, to remove one of the broken tool cards from in front of a player. They can be played on oneself or on another player. Either way, both the repair card and the broken tool card are placed in the discard pile. The repair card must match the type of broken tool. For example, if there is a broken mine cart in front of a player, it can only be repaired by an (unbroken) cart, not by a lantern or pick card. Some repair cards show 2 tools; if one of these is played, it can be used to repair either one of the tools shown, not both.

Important: All repair cards can only be played if the matching broken tool card already lies in front of the player.

Rockfall: This card is always played in front of the player who plays it, who may then take 1 path card of his choice (except the start and goal cards) out of the maze of pathways and put it in the discard pile, together with the rockfall card. Gaps created in this way can be filled with an appropriate path card during a later turn.

Playing Hint: A saboteur can use this card to interrupt a path from the start card, or a gold miner can remove a dead end, providing a new route for the path.

Map: When a player plays this card, he carefully picks up one of the three goal cards, looks at it, then puts it back in its place and places the map on the discard pile. He now knows whether or not it is worth digging a path to that goal card (since only one of the three shows the treasure).

Passing

If a player cannot or does not want to play a card, he must pass by putting 1 card from his hand face down on the discard pile without showing it to the other players. If players pass, there will be both face-up and face-down cards in the discard pile — that's okay.

Note: Towards the end of a round, there is a chance that some players will have no cards left in hand — in which case they must pass (without discarding, of course).

The End of a Round

If a player plays a path card that touches a goal card and creates an uninterrupted path from the start card to that goal card, he must turn that goal card over:

• If it is the treasure card, the round is over.
• If it is a stone, the round continues. The face-up goal card is placed next to the last path card played so that the paths fit.

Note: In rare cases, it is possible that the goal card cannot be played in such a way that all the paths fit the adjacent path cards. As an exception to the general rule, this is legal — but only for the goal card.

The round also ends if the draw deck runs out of cards and no player has any playable cards left in hand.

When the round ends, all dwarf cards are turned over: who was a gold miner, and who was a saboteur?

Handing Out the Gold

The gold miners win the round if there is an uninterrupted path from the start card to the goal card that shows the treasure. If they do, the player who played the last path card (that connected to the treasure) draws a number of gold nugget cards face down equal to the number of gold miners (e.g., 5 cards if there were 5 gold-diggers), looks at them in secret, and chooses 1 card to keep. Then he passes the rest of the gold nugget cards counter-clockwise to the next gold miner (not a saboteur!), who also chooses 1 card and passes the rest — and so on until each gold miner gets 1 card.

The saboteurs have won the round if the goal card with the treasure wasn't reached. If there was only 1 saboteur, he gets gold nugget cards from the deck worth a total of four nuggets. If there were 2 or 3 saboteurs, they each get 3 nuggets worth of gold. If there were 4 saboteurs, each gets 2 nuggets.

All players keep their gold nugget cards secret until the end of the game.

Note: In a game with 3 or 4 players, it is possible that there will be no saboteur during a round. In this case, if the treasure is not reached, none of the dwarves get any gold nuggets.

A New Round Begins

After the gold nuggets are handed out, it's time for the next round. Place the start card and goal cards on the table, just like at the beginning of the game. Shuffle the same dwarf cards as before (including the one that was set aside) and deal them out again. Shuffle the path and action cards, creating a new draw deck, and deal the starting hands.

The players keep their gold nuggets from the earlier rounds. The rest of the gold nugget cards are shuffled again and placed next to the extra dwarf card.

The player to the left of the one who played the last path card in the previous round starts the next round.

End of the Game

The game ends after 3 rounds. Each player counts the gold nuggets on all of his gold nugget cards. The player with the most nuggets wins the game. If there is a tie, they share the win.

Saboteur 2 Rules

You need a copy of the original Saboteur game to play this expansion.

In this expansion, there are new roles for the dwarves to take as well as new action and path cards that await the players. There are the usual gold-digging dwarves, but now they are split in two teams: the Green Team and the Blue Team. As before, the gold diggers want to drive a mine towards the treasure. But this time, they're not on their own, but have to co-operate with their team mates in order to succeed. One of the new characters is The Boss. He wins whenever the Green or the Blue Team wins, but always gets one Gold Piece less than them. Then there is The Profiteer, who, true to his name, doesn't just win when the gold-diggers (Green or Blue) win, but also when The Saboteurs win. However, he has to be content with two Gold Pieces less. The Geologist doesn't care much for treasure hunting. He is after the valuable crystals in the tunnels. For each visible crystal, he receives 1 Gold Piece. Play the expansion over three rounds (like the base game), and in the end, the player with the most Gold Pieces wins.

Use the rules from the base game with the changes indicated below. All cards from this expansion have a "2" in the lower left corner for easy sorting.

Set-Up

First, take the Dwarf Cards and the Gold Piece Cards from the base game deck and put them aside. You won't need them for this game.

Next, find the Start Card and the three Goal Cards and lay them out as described in the base game.

Shuffle all Path and Action Cards from the base game and this expansion together and put them to the side in a face-down pile. Before each round, take the 10 top cards off this pile and remove them from the game without looking at them. Then deal each player 6 cards, no matter how many of you are playing.

Then shuffle all 15 new Dwarf Cards and deal one face-down to each player. Again, it does not matter how many players are taking part in the game.

Each player looks at his or her Dwarf Card and puts it back down, taking care not to reveal to the other players which role he or she is going to play in this round. The remaining Dwarf Cards are not dealt, but put aside face down. The players' Dwarf Cards are only revealed at the end of each round.

The youngest player goes first, then the other players follow in a clockwise direction.

The New Dwarf Cards And Their Victory Conditions

Blue and Green Gold-Diggers (4 each)

Both teams try to tunnel their way towards the treasure, but they are in competition. A team wins if:

• a dwarf from that team creates the connection to the treasure and the way there isn't blocked by a door of the other color, or;
• a dwarf from the other team creates the connection to the treasure, but the way there for his or her own team is blocked by a door of the wrong color.

Both teams win (along with all other "non-Saboteurs") if The Boss, The Geologist or The Profiteer creates the connection to the gold and the way there isn't blocked by a door of the other color.

The Boss (1 in the game)

The Boss builds tunnels for both the Green and the Blue Team and wins every time one of the teams wins. When the treasure is split, The Boss always gets one Gold Piece less than the other winners.

The Profiteer (1 in the game)

The Profiteer always wins, no matter if The Gold-Diggers or The Saboteurs are successful. However, when the treasure is divided, The Profiteer gets two fewer Gold Pieces than the others.

The Geologist (2 in the game)

The Geologist dig at their own expense, so to speak. They aren't particularly interested in gold. When the treasure is split, a Geologist gets as many Gold Pieces as there are crystals visible in the maze of tunnels. If both Geologists are in play, they split the Gold Pieces (rounded down).

Playing the Game

When it is your turn, you have to take one of the four following actions:

• Place a path card in the tunnel maze.....then draw 1 card.
• Play an action card.....then draw 1 card.
• Discard two cards from your hand to remove a card in front of you.....then draw 1 card.*
• Pass and discard 1-3 face-down cards from your hand.....then draw 1-3 cards.

Then your turn is over and it's the next player's turn.

Note: When the pile is used up, no cards are drawn, but players still have to play at least one card. If a player runs out of cards, that player has to pass on all remaining turns in this round. (This can happen towards the end of the game.)

Note: The printed rules mark this action with an asterisk, but no footnote for the asterisk is printed.

New Path Cards

The Bridge (2 in the game)

This card shows two straight paths that are not connected. You cannot turn left or right on this card. When you play this card, at least one of the two paths has to be connected to the Start Card.

The Double Curve (2 in the game)

Again, this card shows two paths which aren't interconnected, and, when played, at least one has to be connected to the Start Card.

Path with a Ladder (4 in game)

The path on this card is always connected to the Start Card and to all other cards with a ladder. It always has to touch a path card and cannot be placed next to a goal card.

Path with a Door (3 for each color in the game)

A path with a green or blue door can only be used by the team of the same color.

On some other path cards you may see Crystals. They have no effect on the path's connections.

New Action Cards

As in the base game, in this expansion no player can have 2 action cards of the same type affecting them at the same time.

Theft (4 in the game)

You play this card face-up in front of yourself. At the end of the round, after the Gold Pieces have been distributed, you can steal 1 Gold Piece from any one player (if they have one). Then discard this card. You cannot use this card if you are trapped.

Hands Off (3 in the game)

If you play this card, you can remove one Theft card from in front of any player. Discard both cards.

Swap Your Hand (2 in the game)

The player who plays this card chooses one other player and exchanges hands with them. Discard the action card, then the other player gets to draw 1 card!

Inspection (2 in the game)

If you play this, you may look at the dwarf card of any one other player. Then discard this card.

Swap Your Hats (2 in the game)

Choose one player (including yourself) who has to discard their current Dwarf Card (without showing it to anyone), then the player in question draws a new Dwarf Card from those leftover at the beginning of the game. Discard the action card.

Trapped! (3 in the game)

Play this card face-up in front of another player of your choice. This player is trapped and cannot play any more path cards. If a player is trapped when the round ends, they don't get counted as one of the winners and don't get a cut of the treasure.

Free at last! (4 in the game)

If you play this card, remove one Trapped! card from in front of any player. Discard both cards.

Discarding Two Cards

By discarding any 2 cards from their hand, a player can remove any one of the cards in front of him or her and discard it. Please note that the player then only draws one new card. If you do this, you reduce the size of your hand by one each time.

Passing

If a player can't play a card or doesn't want to, he or she has to pass and discard 1-3 cards from his or her hand face-down. He or she then draws the same number of cards.

The End of a Round

The round is over when a path is completed from the Start Card to the Goal Card with the Gold Nugget OR no player can play any more cards.

Splitting the Treasure

Depending on whether there is an uninterrupted path from the start to the treasure or not, the Gold-Diggers or the Saboteurs win the round. If the path to the treasure is blocked by a door, only the dwarves from the team of the same color win. Now, work out the total number of points worth of Gold Pieces (GP) each of the winners receives. Depending on the number of winners, each winner gets the following amount of GP from the pile:

Winners	GP each
1 Dwarf	5 GP
2 Dwarves	4 GP
3 Dwarves	3 GP
4 Dwarves	2 GP
5 or more Dwarves	1 GP

Players who have a Theft Card in front of them can steal one GP from another player. Players can make change as necessary. The last player to play a Theft Card can steal first, then other players with Theft Cards go in clockwise order. Players cannot conceal whether or not they have GP but they can keep the total a secret.

Example for the distribution of Gold Pieces at the end of a round

Playing: 1 Blue and 2 Green Gold-Diggers, 1 Boss, 1 Profiteer and 2 Saboteurs. The Boss completes the path to the goal card with the treasure. The path is blocked by a Blue Door. Both Saboteurs have a "Theft" card in front of themselves. One Saboteur has been trapped (having the "Trapped!" card in front of him).

The treasure is split like this: The Blue Gold-Diggers have won (including the Boss and the Profiteer). Number of winners: 3 (1 Blue Dwarf, 1 Boss, 1 Profiteer). The Blue Dwarf receives 3 GP; the Boss gets 3-1=2 GP, the Profiteer gets 3-2=1 GP. The Saboteur who has played the "Theft" card takes 1 GP from any one of the other players. The other Saboteur, who has played the same card, gets nothing, as he's trapped.

(If a Green Gold-Digger had connected the treasure to the start card, the Blue team would have won anyway, as the path to the treasure is closed to the Green team by a Blue Door.)

Start a New Round

Put the Start and Goal cards back on the table. Shuffle all action and path cards, including the 10 cards you have put aside before the start of the last round, and put them to the side in a new face-down pile. Again, take the top 10 cards off the pile and put them aside. Deal 6 cards from the pile to each player.

Re-shuffle all 15 Dwarf cards and deal one to each player. The player who sits to the left of the player having played the last card of the last round starts off the new round.

The End of the Game

The game ends after the third round. Each player totals up the Gold Pieces he or she has collected and the highest total wins. If two or more players are tied, they all win.