Trinket Trove
Trinket Trove Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 rulebook
- 2 first/last tokens
- 8 character tiles (Wander, Brisby, Templeton, Gouda, Patches, Penfold, Bernard, Nimbus)
- 112 trinket cards (see Trinket Cards & Scoring for card information)
Setup
- Shuffle the deck of cards and give each player 4 cards for their starting hand. If any player has a mirror they must swap it with another card from the deck and reshuffle the deck.
- Create a face-down "timer deck" with 6 cards from the deck (10 cards in a 5- or 6-player game). Place the deck of cards and the timer deck on opposite sides of the play area.
- Place the "first" and "last" tokens on the left and right sides of the play area in the center of the table. The space between these tiles is called the "turn order row." The space above this forms another area called the "bid row."
- Select 1 character tile for each player. Return any unused turn order tile to the box.
- Set the initial turn order for the game by randomly placing the character tiles, 0-side down, side by side in the turn order row.
Gameplay
Trinket Trove is played over 6 rounds (5 rounds in a 5- or 6-player game). Each round consists of three phases:
- Round Setup
- Bidding
- Drafting
Maximize your trinket points by collecting sets of matching trinkets. Mirrors are "wild", and each Mirror may be added to any set of trinkets at the end of the game. The collector with the most trinket points wins!
Round Setup
From the deck, reveal 1 card per player face up into the center of the table. Each card or pile of cards is considered a separate "lot" that can be claimed by a player during the drafting phase.
Add a face up card from the timer deck to the first lot. In a 5- or 6-player game, add 1 face up card from the timer deck to each of the first 2 lots.
Lots with multiple cards should always be splayed vertically so that their names are visible.
Bidding & Turn Order
Players now offer trinkets to determine turn order. Players take turns creating their bid, from first to last, as shown in the turn order row.
- Choose any number of cards from your hand to place into the bid row. You may choose to bid 0 cards from your hand. In this case, flip over the top card of the draw deck and place it face up as your bid.
- Place your character tile on top of your bid. If you chose to bid 0 cards from your hand, place your character tile 0-side up on top of the card you drew from the deck. If you bid using cards from your hand, place your character tile 0-side down. Bids with multiple cards should be splayed vertically so the names are visible.
- Determine Turn Order. As bids are added to the bid row, they should be arranged left to right, based first on how many cards are in the bid, and then by trinket value. Bids with more cards are considered higher and should be placed to the left. Bids with the same number of cards should be arranged left to right, based on the total trinket value of each bid. For bids with the same number of cards and the same total trinket value, place the later bid to the left.
Turn order is determined by the quantity of cards a player bid, with ties being broken by the total trinket value of the bid cards. Continued ties favor the player who bid later.
Bidding Example
Wander (purple) bids first, placing 1 Key in the bid row. Next Brisby (red) offers two cards from their hand, placing to the left of Wander's bid, since Brisby bid more cards. Next Templeton (blue) decides to "bid 0," so they flip a card up from the deck, use the 0 side of their character tile, and place their bid to the right side of the row, since "0 cards" is less than Wander's 1-card bid. Finally, Gouda (orange) bids 1 card, like Wander, but since Gouda's card shows a 3, which is less than Wander's 4, Gouda places their bid between Wander and Templeton.
After all players have bid, slide each character tile down to the turn order row, directly beneath the associated bid. This indicates turn order for the drafting phase and serves as a reminder of which player bid which cards.
(The resulting turn order in the example: 1st Brisby, 2nd Wander, 3rd Gouda, 4th Templeton. The colored name tags above are used in the Drafting Example below.)
Drafting
Players take their turn, from first to last, as shown in the turn order row.
On your turn, claim two lots of trinket cards and add them to your hand.
You may take any lot from round setup or the cards bid by other players. Each bid is a separate lot. The last player claims all remaining cards. This is the only way in which a player may end up claiming their own bid.
Drafting Example
In the example on the left, Brisby takes their turn first. They cannot claim their own bid. Instead, they take the crayon and feather from round setup as their first lot, and they take Templeton's bid as their second lot. Wander is up next. They claim Brisby's bid (Shell and Thimble) as their first lot, and the Thimble from round setup as their second lot. For Gouda's turn they take the Shell and Key. This leaves only the Gear and Bell for Templeton to take.
End of Round
Once all players have claimed two lots, the round is over. Keep your hand of trinket cards and leave your character tile where it is in the turn order row.
If any cards are left in the timer deck, begin a new round.
Game End
The game ends after 6 rounds (5 rounds in a 5- or 6-player game). At this point the timer deck will be depleted.
Final Score
Arrange your hand of cards into sets of cards with the same name. Mirrors count as "wild" and each mirror may be added to any set of trinkets. If a player has a complete set for one of their trinkets, they may begin a second set of that card type and score points for both sets.
Add up the trinket points from all of your sets to determine your final score. The collector with the most trinket points wins. In the case of a tie, the tied player closest to "first" in the turn order row is the winner!
Scoring Example
At the end of the game, Brisby has 4 feathers, 3 thimbles, 3 crayons, and 1 mirror. They have arranged it as shown above to make it easier to see the trinket points for each set. The set of 4 feathers is worth 50 points total. The complete set of thimbles is worth 35 points. Brisby's 3rd thimble begins a second set, worth 5 points. Brisby decides to count their mirror as a crayon (rather than a feather or thimble). This creates a set of 4 crayons, worth 90 points, rather than the 0 points they would have scored for the 3 crayons alone.
Adding these set scores together, Brisby's final score is 180 trinket points. (50+35+5+90=180)
Two-Player Rules
For a game with two players, use special rules for Nimbus to simulate a third player. Nimbus is a simple, automated player that improves the gameplay experience.
Nimbus acts just like any player with two exceptions:
- Nimbus does not score any points.
- Nimbus bids with cards from the deck.
Setup
Set up the game as usual for a 3-player game, but be sure to include Nimbus as one of the 3 character tiles.
Bidding
When it is Nimbus' turn to bid, they always bid 2 cards face up from the deck.
Drafting
When it is Nimbus's turn to claim lots, they claim the two lots with the highest bid strength and set them aside. If a tie must be resolved, the player closest to first in the current turn order decides which of the tied lots are claimed by Nimbus.
Reminder: Nimbus may not claim their own bid unless they are last in turn order.
Nimbus Example
The image above shows a 2-player game at the start of the drafting phase. Patches takes the first turn and drafts the bell and mirror from round setup and Nimbus's bid (bottlecap and gem). For Nimbus's turn they claim the 2 lots with the largest bid strength. Since Patches's bid is the only remaining lot with 2 cards, Nimbus claims it as his first lot. This leaves 3 equally-sized lots: the button, bottlecap, and marble. Looking at their trinket values, the bottlecap and marble are tied at 5. Patches is first in the current turn order, so they get to resolve the tie. Patches decides that Nimbus should draft the marble, leaving the button and bottlecap for Penfold.
Trinket Cards & Scoring
Trinket Value is used in bidding and indicates how many cards make a full set for that trinket. There are 2 full sets of each trinket in the deck (there are only 4 Mirrors total). Trinkets with the same name will have the same suit icon as well.
Trinket points are scored at the end of the game, depending on how many cards are in the set. The top number is scored for a set of 1 card, while the bottom number scores for a full set. A set of 2 Marbles, for example, would score 10 points.
Each trinket card shows its Trinket Value (top-left), Suit Icon, Trinket Name, and a ladder of Trinket Points for a set of that many cards (1 card up through a full set).
| Trinket | Value | Points per set size (1 → full set) |
|---|---|---|
| Mirror | 8 (WILD — only 4 in the deck; no points of its own, counts as any other trinket) | — |
| Lure | 7 | 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 80 / 175 |
| Feather | 7 | 5 / 10 / 25 / 50 / 90 / 110 / 145 |
| Gem | 6 | 10 / 25 / 25 / 60 / 60 / 125 |
| Crayon | 6 | 20 / 10 / 0 / 80 / 100 / 120 |
| Bottlecap | 5 | 5 / 5 / 5 / 50 / 90 |
| Marble | 5 | 5 / 10 / 20 / 40 / 80 |
| Key | 4 | 10 / 20 / 30 / 70 |
| Shell | 4 | 10 / 20 / 40 / 60 |
| Gear | 3 | 5 / 20 / 65 |
| Button | 3 | 10 / 25 / 45 |
| Thimble | 2 | 5 / 35 |
| Bell | 2 | 10 / 30 |
Credits
Game Design: Rocco Privetera Development: Paul Salomon Illustration: Sandara Tang Graphic Design: Manny Vega
Playtesting: Tommy O'Brien, Pete Wissinger, Richard Nava, Emily Nava, Patrick Fitzgibbon, Henry R. Seymour, Gabrielle Stewart, Patrick Logan, David Burleyson, Dave Deenik
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