Spiderwick Chronicles: The Fantastical Field Guide Mystery Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Part 1: IN SEARCH OF THE FIELD GUIDE
    • The Children's Turn
    • Setting Steps in the House
    • Object Tokens
    • The Gruzels' Turn
  • Part 2: THE RACE TO ARTHUR SPIDERWICK OF MULGARAAT
    • Board Layout
    • On the Way to the Finish
    • Turn Order
• Fighting
  • When does a fight take place?
  • How is a fight fought?
• Consequences of a Fight
• Extra Turns for the Gruzel Player
• The Winner

Components

• Game board
• 3 playing pieces (Jared, Simon and Mallory) with plastic holders
• 50 action and fight cards
• 4 object tokens (voorwerpfiches)
• Rulebook
• 3-D Spiderwick house with cardboard holders
• 3 gruzels
• 6 cage tokens (kooifiches)
• 1 die

Goal of the Game

In this game the children Jared, Simon and Mallory fight against the gruzels. The children want to deliver the field guide to old Arthur first, while at the same time the gruzels try to bring the field guide to Mulgaraat. The player who finishes first with the field guide wins the game.

Setup

1. Press the house and the black cardboard holders out of the frame. Then press out the cardboard pieces on the left and right of the house and of the game board. Place the black cardboard holders in the 2 openings in the game board. Then place the house in the cardboard holders so that it stands stably on the board.
2. Press the playing pieces of the children (Jared, Simon and Mallory) out of the frame and place them in a black plastic holder.
3. Press the 6 cage tokens (with the picture of the gruzels on the back) and the 4 object tokens (with the "AS" logo on the back) out of the frame.
4. Divide the 50 cards into 2 piles: a pile of green cards and a pile of blue cards. Shuffle both piles.
5. Each player chooses a playing piece. Only the gruzels are controlled by one player (= the gruzel player). For clarity:

Number of players	Number of gruzels	Children
2	1 gruzel	Jared
3	2 gruzels (controlled by 1 player)	Jared, Mallory
4	3 gruzels (controlled by 1 player)	Jared, Mallory, Simon

6. All players place their playing piece on their own starting space. For the children this is the "START" space in the house. For the gruzels this is the "gruzel camp" in front of the house.
7. The gruzel player places 1 object token, picture side down, in four (of the five) rooms of the house.
8. The gruzel player rolls the die and takes the number of cage tokens that the die shows. He places them in front of him, with the cage picture facing up.
9. The turn order each round is: Jared, Mallory, Simon and finally the gruzels.

Playing the Game

The game consists of 2 parts.

Part 1: IN SEARCH OF THE FIELD GUIDE

The children go searching for the field guide in the house, while the gruzels try to collect extra turns that may come in handy later in the game.

The Children's Turn

In the house the children must turn over the four object tokens in the correct order:

1. The dumbwaiter (this takes the child to the secret library)
2. The key (this opens the chest)
3. The chest (the field guide lies inside it)
4. The field guide

Setting Steps in the House

On each turn the players roll the die and move forward the number of spaces indicated. The following rules apply:

• You can only move into another room through the open connections, not when a brown wall is between the rooms.
• You may move your playing piece horizontally and vertically, but not diagonally.
• You must move exactly the number of spaces the die indicates. If that is more steps than you need, you may choose to stay where you are. Your turn is then over.

Object Tokens

When a player ends on an object token, he turns it over and shows it to all players. If it is an object token with:

• Number 2, 3 or 4: the token is turned face down again and the player's turn is over.
• Number 1 (dumbwaiter): the player may immediately turn over other tokens, as long as they are turned in the correct order (number 1, then 2, 3 and finally 4).
• A token turned over in the wrong order (for example number 1 and then number 3): all tokens must be turned face down again, with the picture facing down. The turn of this player is over.

As soon as a child has turned all tokens over in the correct order, he takes the last token, the field guide, and places it in front of him. From then on all the children go out of the house towards Arthur as quickly as possible. As soon as a child is through the door of the house, "Part 2" begins for this player (see the explanation further on in these rules).

Note: if the game is played with two players (1 gruzel and Jared) and Jared has turned over number 1 but the other tokens are in the wrong order, Jared may stay where he is on his next turn and try to turn the tokens over in the correct order, provided he rolls 3 or higher. If he rolls 1 or 2, his turn is over.

The Gruzels' Turn

When the gruzel player is on turn, he rolls the die. If the number the die shows is the same as the number on one of the cage tokens in front of him, he wins that token and turns it over, with the picture of the gruzel facing up. Each cage token he wins is worth an extra turn later in the game. As soon as the first child is out of the house, Part 2 of the game begins for the gruzel player.

Part 2: THE RACE TO ARTHUR SPIDERWICK OF MULGARAAT

Board Layout

• Gruzel path: recognised by the green paw prints of the gruzels. At the end of the path you see Mulgaraat, the finish for the gruzels.
• Children's path: recognised by the orange leaves. At the end of the path you see old Arthur, the finish for the children.
• Red squares: if a gruzel ends on a red leaf on the children's path, that gruzel must go back to the gruzel camp. If a child ends on a red paw print on the gruzel path, a fight takes place (see "Fighting"). If a player ends on a red square of his own path, nothing happens.
• Children may switch to the gruzel path, and gruzels may also enter the children's path, but both are safest on their own path.

On the Way to the Finish

For each round the children choose which child has the field guide in his possession during that round. That player places the field guide in front of him. If the gruzels have the field guide, it does not matter which gruzel has it; they manage it together.

Turn Order

All players in the game follow this turn order:

1. Roll the die.
2. Move your playing piece the number of spaces the die indicates. When the gruzel player plays with more than one gruzel, he chooses which gruzel he moves. All players may choose each turn whether to move forward or backward on the board.
3. Take a card from the pile. Children take a blue card; the gruzel player takes a green card each time.
   • Most cards are action cards. These must be played immediately.
   • Cards with the text "Keep this card until you need it" are fight cards. You may place such a card face down in front of you on the table until you can play it during a fight.

If the action on a green card applies to one gruzel, it refers to the gruzel that was moved on that turn.

Note: the children may show their cards to each other, but may not swap them or give them to another child. The gruzel player may play his fight cards for any gruzel.

Fighting

When does a fight take place?

A fight takes place as soon as:

• a gruzel ends on the same space as a child.
• a child ends on the same space as a gruzel.
• a child ends on a red paw print of a gruzel.
• a player ends on the space with the swords. If a gruzel ends on this space, he must choose which child he fights (before the fight begins), and vice versa.

Note: if you end up in one of the situations above through a played action or fight card, you must also fight.

How is a fight fought?

A fight is fought with cards. The child always places a fight card first, face up on the table (recognisable by the text "Keep this card until you need it").

• If the child has no fight card, or if the gruzel player also has a fight card to ward off the played card, the gruzel wins.
• If the gruzel has warded off the child's first fight card, but the child has more than one fight card, the fight continues if the child chooses to play one (or more) further fight card(s). If the gruzel cannot, or does not want to, ward off the child's card, the child wins the fight. If the gruzel player wards off every fight card of the child, the gruzel wins.
• The played cards are placed on a discard pile.

Translator's note: the first bullet's wording as printed ("...or if the gruzel player also has a fight card to ward off the played card...") appears to omit a negation. The surrounding rules make the intended meaning clear: the gruzel wins if the child has no fight card, or if the gruzel player has no fight card to ward off the played card. The translation above follows the printed text; the intended reading is the one stated in this note.

Consequences of a Fight

The loser of the fight must:

• give the field guide to the opponent (the gruzels to any child, and vice versa).
• place the cards he holds in his hand on the discard pile.
• roll the die and move back that number of spaces on the board. The space where he ends is in this case a "normal" space, even if ending there would normally cause a new fight (for example by ending on the space with the swords).

Extra Turns for the Gruzel Player

At the end of his turn, the gruzel player may choose to play a cage token, provided he collected it in Part 1 of the game. He then receives an extra turn directly after his "normal" turn.

The Winner

The children win as soon as a child with the field guide reaches old Arthur. The gruzel player wins if one of his gruzels arrives at Mulgaraat with the field guide.