Skoventyr
Skoventyr Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview and Components
Skoventyr is a solo/cooperative game for one to four players.
Gamle Erik pursues Vogter through the Forest, represented by a circle of Tree cards. If he catches him, the game is lost!
To win, you must help Vogter defeat all of Gamle Erik's Minions. To do this, you will need to gather Ally cards and place them on Tree cards; once enough Allies are in the Forest, you can defeat a Minion and remove its card from the game.
Instead of playing an Ally card from your hand into the Forest, you may also discard it to benefit from its special power.
You recruit Allies from a row of three cards called the Future. The Future can be corrupted by Adversary cards, which will force you to move Gamle Erik closer to Vogter.
The game's theme is inspired by Danish folklore. For pronunciation and details on the creatures, see the Folklore and Pronunciation Guide sections below.
Base Game Components
25 Ally cards (5 of each of the 5 types: Ellefolk, Formskifter, Huldre, Nisse, Trold) — these are the cards you will place in the Forest to defeat Gamle Erik's Minions, or discard from your hand to activate beneficial powers. Each Ally card shows, in the left box, the cost to take that card into your hand from the Future, and in the right box, either the power triggered when you discard this card from your hand, or a special placement power.
13 Adversary cards (13 Gamle Erik) — these cards are shuffled together with the Ally cards and will therefore appear in the Future. You will sometimes be forced to take one of these cards into your hand, which moves the Gamle Erik pawn closer to the Vogter pawn — and you closer to defeat! Note that these cards never stay in your hand for long, and are rarely discarded: they return to the deck and so may come back to trouble you later.
6 Minion cards (2 Lindorms, 2 Mares, 2 Gengangers) — these cards represent the Minions (values 4/4/3/3/2/2) that you must defeat to win the game.
8 Tree cards — these cards form the play area, and are double-sided: Healthy and Damaged.
4 Vogter cards — these cards present the actions you can take during the game.
1 Vogter pawn and 1 Gamle Erik pawn.
Note: for ease of reading, these rules abbreviate "Ally card(s)", "Adversary card(s)", "Minion card(s)" and "Tree card(s)" as "Ally/Allies", "Adversary/Adversaries", "Minion(s)" and "Tree(s)". Likewise, the "Vogter pawn" and "Gamle Erik pawn" are abbreviated as "Vogter" and "Gamle Erik".
Expansion Module Components
These modules are presented on the following pages, and can be added to the base game (independently or combined).
Expansion module: The Lygtemands Get Involved — 6 Lygtemand cards, 1 Vogter card (Vogter's Reconciliation).
Expansion module: Rescue — 6 Acorn tokens (3 pairs of identical tokens), 5 Hostage tokens (including one x2 token), 1 Vogter card (Vogter's Rescue).
Base Game Rules
Setup
- Place 6 Trees on their Healthy side in a circle (put 2 Trees back in the box).
- Place Vogter and Gamle Erik on two Trees separated by two other Trees.
- Place the 6 Minions in a row.
- Place the Vogter cards within reach.
- Shuffle the Allies and Adversaries together to form a deck (leave room for a discard pile).
- Draw cards from the deck and lay them face up in a row until you have revealed three Allies (set the Adversaries aside). This row of 3 cards forms the Future.
- Each player draws a card from the deck to form their starting hand. If an Adversary is drawn, set it aside and draw another card (until an Ally is drawn).
- Shuffle all the Adversaries set aside this way back into the deck.
- The last person to have seen a badger goes first.
Adjusting the difficulty: For a harder game, start the game with one Tree (or more) on its Damaged side (before placing Vogter and Gamle Erik). For an easier game, add one or two Trees to the Forest during setup. These Trees may be placed on their Healthy or Damaged side, depending on how much easier you want the game to be.
Author's note: at standard difficulty, winning 3 games out of 4 solo is possible, but reaching that point may take a little experience to build up. The multiplayer game is a bit harder, as is combining the two included modules; don't hesitate to add one or two Trees to the Forest for your first games.
Movement
Vogter and Gamle Erik always move from one Tree to the Tree directly adjacent to it.
If the two ever end up on the same Tree, the game is lost!
The circle of Trees represents how far away and well-hidden Vogter is from Gamle Erik, not their literal positions:
- Vogter always moves clockwise, to get farther from Gamle Erik.
- When Gamle Erik moves clockwise, he gets closer to Vogter; if an effect lets you move Gamle Erik counter-clockwise, that means he has lost Vogter's trail.
If Gamle Erik is right behind Vogter (moving clockwise), it means he has almost caught up! If Vogter is right behind Gamle Erik (moving clockwise), it means he is as far away from him as possible (and so cannot move any farther away).
Gameplay
On their turn, each player must choose an action on a Vogter card and carry it out.
In the base game, you have a choice between 4 Vogter cards (the actions are explained in detail in the "Actions in Detail" section below):
Vogter's Call — You will need many Allies to prevail. This action lets you take an Ally from the Future and add it to your hand (or, at least temporarily, set aside an Adversary from the Future).
Vogter's Gambit — If the Future doesn't contain the card you need, or is corrupted with too many Adversaries, this action lets you renew it with other cards. But this action also forces you to damage a Tree, which could shrink the Forest (and make it easier for Vogter to be caught).
Vogter's Command — This action lets you use the Allies in your hand, either by placing them in the Forest, or by discarding them to benefit from their powers.
Vogter's Wrath — This is the action that lets you remove Minions from the game in order to win.
Notes:
- The Vogter cards remain available throughout the game.
- You are allowed to choose the same action several turns in a row.
- If a card has several steps, you must resolve all of them.
- If a card offers several different actions, you must choose one of them (in the base game, the Vogter's Command card gives you a choice between Position and Mission; in the "The Lygtemands Get Involved" expansion, the Vogter's Reconciliation card gives you a choice between Rally and Involve).
After your turn's action:
- If you have more than 5 cards in hand, you must discard down to 5.
- If there are fewer than 3 cards in the Future, you must refill it.
Refilling the Future:
- If, at the end of your turn, there are fewer than 3 cards in the Future, you must refill it.
- Slide the remaining cards to the left to fill the empty spaces.
- Reveal cards from the deck, one at a time, until there are 3 cards in the Future.
You are allowed to show your hand to your fellow players, and discuss the best choices, but on your turn, you have the final say on what to do.
Take turns until an end-of-game condition is reached.
End of Game
Victory/Defeat:
- The game is won immediately as soon as the last Minion is removed from the game.
- The game is lost immediately if Gamle Erik is on the same Tree as Vogter.
Actions in Detail
Vogter's Call
- If the leftmost card of the Future is an Adversary, you must choose that card. Otherwise, choose any card in the Future.
- You must resolve the effect described in the left box (see the effect explanations in "The Allies" section below). If you cannot or do not want to resolve this effect in full, you must make a Risky Draw.
- Add the chosen card to your hand.
Risky Draw: For a Risky Draw, follow this procedure:
- Reveal the top card of the deck.
- If it is an Adversary, Gamle Erik moves twice toward Vogter (that is, once clockwise from the Tree he is on to the directly adjacent Tree, then once more clockwise from that Tree to the next).
- If it is an Ally, nothing happens.
- Put the revealed card on the bottom of the deck.
Note: afterward, you still add the card you chose from the Future to your hand without resolving the effect in its left box, regardless of the card revealed during the Risky Draw.
Discarding a card / Putting a card on the bottom of the deck: Some effects will ask you to put a card on the bottom of the deck: place that card face down beneath the deck. Note: do not confuse "putting a card on the bottom of the deck" with "discarding": discarded cards are placed face up on the discard pile. You may look through the discard pile at any time, but never through the deck.
Vogter's Gambit
Damage a Tree, then put as many cards from the Future on the bottom of the deck as you wish.
Damaging/Healing a Tree: If an effect asks you to Damage a Tree:
- If there are already one or more Free, Damaged Trees in the Forest, choose one of them and discard it.
- If there is no Free, Damaged Tree in the Forest, choose a Free, Healthy Tree and flip it to its Damaged side.
If an effect asks you to Heal a Tree: choose a Free, Damaged Tree and flip it to its Healthy side.
Free: A Tree is Free if there is neither Vogter, nor Gamle Erik, nor an Ally on it. Note: only a Free Tree can be flipped or discarded.
Vogter's Command: Position
Choose an Ally from your hand and place it on a Tree that has no Ally on it.
If there are no Allies in the Forest, place this Ally on the Tree where Vogter is.
If there is already at least one Ally in the Forest, each new Ally must be placed on a Tree with no Ally that is adjacent to a Tree with an Ally.
Important: all Allies in the Forest must be of the same type (exception: Formskifter, see the Formskifter entry in "The Allies" section below).
- If there is no Ally in the Forest, any Ally from your hand can be placed on the Tree where Vogter is.
- If a Trold has already been placed in the Forest, only a Trold or a Formskifter can now be placed, on a Tree adjacent to a Tree occupied by an Ally.
Notes:
- You may only place an Ally this way from your hand (not directly from the Future).
- Ignore the left and right power boxes (whether when placing the Ally, or while the Ally is in the Forest). Exception: if the Ally shows the Formskifter icon, a special rule applies to it (see the Formskifter entry).
Hidden and Revealed: When you place an Ally on a Tree, orient it parallel to that Tree. This Ally is considered Hidden. If Gamle Erik is on a Tree with a Hidden Ally, he ignores it.
Some effects will ask you to reveal an Ally. To do so, turn that Ally perpendicular to the Tree it is on. The Ally is now Revealed. If Gamle Erik is on a Tree with a Revealed Ally, discard that Ally immediately.
Notes:
- The only differences between a Hidden and a Revealed Ally are: (a) a Revealed Ally is discarded if it is on the same Tree as Gamle Erik; (b) you cannot reveal an Ally that is already Revealed. Apart from these two points, there is no difference between a Hidden Ally and a Revealed Ally.
- Since Allies are placed Hidden, it is permitted to place an Ally on the Tree where Gamle Erik is.
Vogter's Command: Mission
Most Allies have a beneficial power in their right box. To trigger this power, discard this Ally from your hand.
Notes:
- You may only discard an Ally this way from your hand (never directly from the Future or from the Forest).
- The left box is ignored when you discard an Ally this way to benefit from the power in its right box.
Vogter's Wrath
- Remove from the game a Minion whose value is less than or equal to the number of Allies in the Forest.
- Shuffle the deck (and only the deck — never shuffle the deck and the discard pile together).
- Choose one of the following three rewards:
Refuge: Move Vogter to a Tree with an Ally on it, then discard all Allies in the Forest. Notes: Vogter moves clockwise only, and only through Trees that have an Ally on them. You may choose not to move Vogter.
Revenge: Discard all Allies in the Forest, then discard an Adversary from the Future. Note: this is the only way (in the base game) to discard an Adversary (and so get rid of it for good).
Restoration: Discard all Allies in the Forest, then Heal a Tree.
Note: you must resolve every step of this action, so you cannot choose Vogter's Wrath if the number of Allies in the Forest is lower than the strength of the weakest Minion still in play.
Expansion Module: The Lygtemands Get Involved
With their lanterns, the Lygtemands trick your allies, making them unable to find Gamle Erik's minions. Fortunately, the Lygtemands love a good story... Send your allies to tell them one, and they will switch sides, showing you the way through the dark forest!
Components
6 Lygtemand cards — double-sided: Trickster and Rallied. 1 Vogter card — Vogter's Reconciliation.
Setup Changes
Set up the game as described in the base game Setup, with the following changes:
- Place a Lygtemand card at random on each Minion (Trickster side up).
- Place the Vogter's Reconciliation card near the Minion cards.
The two actions on this new Vogter card are:
Rally: You cannot choose this action if there is already a Minion on the table that is not covered by a Lygtemand card. Choose a Trickster Lygtemand, and put a matching Ally from your hand on the bottom of the deck (if you chose the Lygtemand marked with a "?", you may choose any Ally from your hand). Then, remove this Lygtemand from the Minion (this reveals the Minion, which becomes "vulnerable" and can now be targeted by the Vogter's Wrath action), flip it to its Rallied side, and place it near the Future.
Involve: Remove 1 Rallied Lygtemand from the game, then reveal cards from the deck until you reveal an Ally. Place that Ally on top of the deck, and any other card revealed this way on the bottom of the deck, in an order of your choice. OR: Remove 2 Rallied Lygtemands from the game, then reveal cards from the deck until you have revealed at least one Adversary and 2 Allies. Place the two Allies on top of the deck, discard an Adversary, and place any other card revealed this way on the bottom of the deck, in an order of your choice.
Change to Vogter's Wrath: From now on, you may only target a Minion if it is vulnerable (that is, it has no Lygtemand on it).
Expansion Module: Rescue
Gamle Erik has taken some of your allies hostage, discouraging their kin from helping Vogter. And as if that weren't enough, his minions have stolen the Seeds of Life that could have let the Forest regenerate. Free the captives to win back your allies' help, and recover the Seeds to guarantee the Forest's renewal!
Components
6 Acorn tokens (3 pairs of identical tokens), 5 Hostage tokens (including one x2 token), 1 Vogter card — Vogter's Rescue.
Setup Changes
Set up the game as described in the base game Setup, with the following changes:
- Before shuffling the deck, find one copy of each Ally and lay these 5 cards face up on the table. Place a Hostage token at random, face up, on each of them.
- Place the Vogter's Rescue card next to these cards.
- Shuffle the 6 Acorn tokens, place one at random on each Minion, then reveal these tokens.
Hostages: As long as a Hostage token is on an Ally card, you cannot use Vogter's Command on an Ally of that type (neither to place such an Ally in the Forest, nor to discard it from your hand to benefit from its power). Note: if you are playing with the "The Lygtemands Get Involved" module, you may still Rally a Lygtemand even if the Ally it shows still has a Hostage token.
Vogter's Rescue: This action lets you get rid of Hostage tokens. Damage a Tree, remove a Hostage token from an Ally (damage twice if it is the x2 token), and place the Ally that token was on top of the deck.
Acorn tokens: When a Minion is removed from the game, place the Acorn token that was on it in the center of the Forest. If, at the start of your turn, there are two identical Acorn tokens in the center of the Forest, remove those two tokens from the game, and recover a discarded Tree. Place this Tree in the Forest, on its Healthy side, between two adjacent Trees, in such a way that Vogter is not moved farther from Gamle Erik.
The Folklore
The Adversary and His Minions
Gamle Erik appears in many Danish folktales, but (this may come as a surprise) not always in a particularly terrifying way. He is fairly easy to fool, and often ends up outwitted (if not outright humiliated) by a peasant who is cleverer (or just stronger) than he is. Even so, he remains a fearsome being — sometimes beaten, but never permanently defeated.
Unlike the Devil, the other sinister creatures that haunt these folktales rarely appear in a comical light, but a brave hero may still manage to kill them or banish them from this world.
The Lindorm is a terrifying, gigantic monster, sometimes improperly translated as "dragon" or "serpent" (it actually falls somewhere between the two), which often guards a treasure and devours any careless soul who ventures too close — save, of course, for the occasional hero who manages to slay it.
The Mare is a mysterious creature, a bringer of nightmares, a trait reflected in her name: in Danish, "nightmare" is "mareridt", literally "the Mare's ride" (on the chest or the psyche of the poor sleeper...).
In Danish, "Genganger" means "one who walks again." Countless folktales mention these revenants, often encountered on the roads. These poor souls are usually sent back underground (not without sometimes leaving victims in their wake...).
The Allies
Presented in a far kinder light than the creatures above, most of Vogter's allies nonetheless carry troubling ambiguities of their own.
The Ellefolk can bring help and fortune, but their irresistible dances are also the cause of unsettling disappearances...
Likewise, the very seductive Huldre also has a destructive side, and an unsettling "hollow" back.
The Trold is a rather formidable monster, not always wicked, but far from subtle or delicate.
Folktales are full of Formskifters, and while these shapeshifters are often the most valuable allies, they are also suspected of dealing with the Devil.
The Nisse is the most homebound of them all. Sometimes portrayed as rather touchy (especially if one forgets to serve him his well-earned porridge), he is generally a blessing for the household where he lives, taking care of all the hard chores and ensuring prosperity and health for everyone there.
Pronunciation Guide
The guide below will give you an idea of the Danish pronunciation. Note that the stress always falls on the first syllable.
- Ellefolk: AIL-eu-folk
- Formskifter: FORMS-key-fteur
- Gamle Erik: GAM-leu EH-rik
- Genganger: GUY-ne-ga-neur
- Huldre: HOOL-eu-reu
- Lindorm: LIN-ee-orm
- Lygtemand: LEUK-teu-main
- Mare: MAR-eu
- Nisse: NEE-seu
- Skoventyr: SKOV-wain-eu-tur (the "v" is pronounced somewhere between the "v" in "voiture" and the "w" in "wasp")
- Trold: TROL-eu
- Vogter: VOK-teur (the "v" is pronounced somewhere between the "v" in "voiture" and the "w" in "wasp")
Note: "Skoventyr" is not a real Danish word or name, but a contraction of "Skov" (the forest) and "Eventyr" (fairy tale).
Credits
- Game design: Morten Monrad Pedersen
- Illustrations: Vincent Dutrait
- Development: Shadi Torbey
- Design assistance: David J. Studley and Lines J. Hutter
- Layout: Studio Emli
- Cultural consultant: Jason Perez
- Playtesters: Agnieszka, José Ángel Álvarez Quirós, Teresa Asplett, Amy Bills, Benjamin Brown, Kevin Brown, Samuel Brown, Ethan van Bruchem, Aernout Casier, Bill Collins, Joshua Calandrillo, Al Cottignies, Dusty Craine, Jasna Deas Mason, Evan Derrick, Chris Dettmar, Carl Devos, Sébastien Dujardin, Joost Dupon, Kevin Eastwood, A. Gerald Fitzsimons, Adelle Frank, Yannis Guerra, David Hanon, Elizabeth Hargrave, Diana Haase, Evan Hilberg, Martin Hohnhold, Chris Ingold, Joss Ives, Sonia Shéridan Jaquelin, Brian J Kendl, Robert Konigsberg, Léa Labaki, Mathieu Landry, Marvic de Ligne, Vasilis Liaskovitis, Ellen Losey, Dave Lyndon, Jolanta Majchrzak, Ludwika Majchrzak, Przemyslaw Majchrzak, Mino Marani, Mike Martins, Grant Mason, Matt McCue, Finn McKinnon, Maya McKinnon, Tyler McKinnon, Kim Meulemans, Eric Miller, Thom Mollinga, Noah Monrad Jacobsen, Henrik Mølgaard Hansen, Bernard Mouton, Sofia Näslund, Paul Newsham, Brett Nishikawa, Missy Nishikawa, Matthew O'Malley, Gregory Palmrose, Felicien Peterfalvi, Alex Peters, A.J, Porfirio, Karl Rahenkamp, Joe Rakstad, Michel Rowinski, Tim Rushby, Jerry Santos, Jedaiah Schilling, Rick Scholes, Nick Shaw, Manon Schrank, Chris Smith, Dario Solina, Jen Specht, Jamie Specht, Franziska Steiner, Colin Taylor, Lieve Teugels, Karel Titeca, Kobe Titeca, Lore Titeca, Lars Toft, Manuel Versaen, Etienne Vienne, Dawn Vigo, Chris Voysey, Issy Waldrom, Naja Wessel Jacobsen, Alli White, Russ Williams, Daniel Wilmer, Friederike Winter, Darren Wolford, Frank Wolf, Dimitris Xenodochiaris, Kenpei Yamamoto, Kenritsu Yamamoto, Kentoku Yamamoto, Christopher Yudichak, as well as Ed Benckert, Eddie Guida, Larry Matson, James Schultz, Darris, and all the UnPub 2016 playtesters who did not write down their names.
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The Allies (Power Reference)
Huldre
Damage a Tree.
Ellefolk
Put an Ally from the Future on the bottom of the deck.
Trold
Reveal two Allies. Move Gamle Erik up to three times counter-clockwise (you may decide not to move Gamle Erik).
Nisse
Move Vogter once clockwise. The Tree Vogter ends his move on must have a Hidden Ally; reveal that Ally.
Choose two Allies from the discard pile and put them on the bottom of the deck. These Allies must be of different types, and neither may be a Nisse.
Formskifter
Move Gamle Erik once clockwise. This power is different from the other Allies' powers, because you do not discard the Formskifter from your hand to trigger it: you may place this Ally in the Forest even if one (or more) Allies of a different type are already there. Note that if there are only Formskifters in the Forest, no Ally of another type can be placed there.
The Adversary
Gamle Erik
Move Gamle Erik once clockwise. If this card is in your hand, you must immediately put it on the bottom of the deck.