Visitor in Blackwood Grove
Visitor in Blackwood Grove Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Players
You need a minimum of three people to play.
New players should consider playing as the Kid or Agent for their first game.
- One player: Visitor
- One player: The Kid
- Everyone else: Agents
Gameplay and Goals
Visitor + The Kid. The Visitor and the Kid work together. The Visitor makes up a "Pass Rule" about the types of objects that are admitted through the forcefield — like "things that contain metal" — and hopes the Kid can solve it. If the Kid proves she knows the Pass Rule before any of the Agents do, both she and the Visitor win.
Agents. Each Agent is from a different agency and is racing to figure out the Visitor's Pass Rule and get through the forcefield. The first Agent to figure it out wins.
The Agents are not on a team and do not share information.
Win Conditions
- Visitor + The Kid win: The Kid proves the Pass Rule.
- An Agent wins: An Agent proves the Pass Rule (that Agent wins).
- All Agents win: Visitor has 0 cards in hand at start of turn.
Components
- Forcefield Board
- Object Deck (142 Object Cards)
- Visitor Shield
- Trust Board and Trust Token
- 6 Role Cards (4 Agent, 1 Visitor, 1 Kid)
- 13 Example Pass Rule Cards
- 5 Card Markers (4 Agent, 1 Kid)
- 4 Guess Tokens
- Not Pictured: 5 Extra Card Markers, 1 Cloth Bag, This Rulebook
- 14 Card Stands (Kickstarter Only)
Setup
Each Agent:
- Choose an Agent role card.
- Take the matching card marker.
- Draw 7 object cards for your hand.
The Kid:
- Take the Kid's role card.
- Take the Kid's card marker.
- Draw 7 object cards for your hand.
- Put the trust token on the trust board.
Visitor:
- Take the Visitor's role card.
- Flip over 2 cards from the object deck and place them face up near the forcefield.
- Draw 7 object cards for your hand.
- Make up the Pass Rule (see next page).
Arrange the play area: the Forcefield board in the center, the Trust Board and Trust Token near the Kid, the Object Deck and the 2 flipped Object Cards near the Visitor, and the Visitor Shield and Guess Tokens within reach of the table.
Making the Pass Rule
Before the game begins, the Visitor looks at her hand and the 2 flipped object cards and secretly makes up the game's Pass Rule: a simple rule that dictates what kinds of objects she will admit through the forcefield, for example "Things that contain metal." First-time Visitors are encouraged to secretly choose or modify an example card to create the Pass Rule.
The Visitor wants to make a Pass Rule that...
- will be hard enough to guess that the Agents won't figure it out
- won't be too hard for the kid to eventually figure out
- admits some objects in her hand through the forcefield, but not all
But there are a few restrictions. The Pass Rule...
- must consider the objects pictured on the cards
- cannot consider the spelling of the names of objects
- cannot consider info that would give a player an unfair advantage
The Pass Rule can admit both, neither, or 1 of the 2 flipped cards.
Good Pass Rules vs. Bad Pass Rules:
| Good Pass Rules | Bad Pass Rules |
|---|---|
| Things that are lighter than a textbook | Things that are lighter than a feather — admits too few things, allowed, but too easy |
| Things that are red | Things with double consonants in their names — must be about the objects, cannot be about words |
| Things that are in this room | Things in my childhood bedroom — cannot advantage family |
Starting the Game
The Visitor now places the 2 flipped object cards according to the Pass Rule.
- Cards that pass the Rule are "admitted" — placed in a space on the board.
- Cards that don't pass the rule are "repelled" — placed in a space beside the board.
During the game, cards that pass the Rule will always be placed on the board, and cards that don't pass the Rule will always be placed off the board.
Example: Making the Pass Rule. Looking at her hand and the 2 flipped cards ("Airplane" & "Plastic Cup"), the Visitor decides her Pass Rule will be "Things that contain metal." Now she must place the 2 flipped cards. "Plastic Cup" is repelled because plastic cups do not contain metal, so she places it in a card space beside the forcefield board. "Airplane" is admitted because airplanes contain metal, so she places it in one of the card spaces on the forcefield board.
Agent's Turn
Log 23:13 hours - Agent [redacted]: I will play this visitor's little game for now because the quicker we can get the craft back to R&D, the better. Fortunately, the operations team will complete its containment fence soon and then we'll have all the time we need to get through the forcefield.
The Agent sitting to the Visitor's left takes the first turn. Proceeding clockwise, each Agent takes a turn.
On an Agent's Turn
Test an Object OR Prove the Pass Rule
- Test an Object (do this to get more info about the Pass Rule): Choose one card from your hand and secretly show it to the Visitor. The Visitor places it according to the Pass Rule face down.
- Prove the Pass Rule (do this to win if you know the Pass Rule): Right — you win! Everyone else loses. Wrong — the Kid gets +2 Trust. (See Proving the Pass Rule.)
Then: Draw until you have 7 cards in your hand.
Face Down Cards
When an Agent tests an object card, the Visitor looks at it secretly and places it face down according to the Pass Rule: admitted cards are placed on the edge of the board (not in the card spaces) with that Agent's card marker on top. Repelled cards are placed face down on top of that Agent's role card. Players can always peek at the face down cards under their card markers or on their role cards.
Later in the game the Kid and the Visitor will be able to play face down cards; these are placed just like Agents' tested cards except they're placed under the Kid's card marker/on the Kid's role card.
Later in the game Agents will have to reveal one of their face down cards. When this happens, each agent will choose one of their face down tested cards and turn it face up. The face up cards are placed in one of the spaces on the board (if the card was under their card marker) or beside the board (if the card was on their role card). (Don't worry about these things on the Agents' first turns. They'll be important later.)
Once all Agents have taken a turn, the Kid takes her turn.
The Kid's Turn
You can choose if Trust is high enough.
- Predict Objects: Show everyone 1 card from your hand and predict "admitted" or "repelled." The Visitor places the card face up according to the Pass Rule. If...
- You are right: Choose: predict another card, or end your turn. Get +1 Trust for each card predicted this turn (max. 3). (Predicting again is risky! If you predict wrong, you don't get Trust this turn.)
- You are wrong: Your turn is over. Trust doesn't change.
- Prove the Pass Rule (if Trust is 2+): If you're right, you and the Visitor win. If you're wrong, your turn is over. (See Proving the Pass Rule.) (For your first few turns you should predict objects.)
Increase Trust
Increasing Trust is the only way the Kid draws cards!
After predicting cards, the Kid moves the Trust token up on the Trust board one spot for each card she predicted correctly (max 3; only if she got them all right). She gets the Reward listed under each spot as she moves to it.
Certain Trust levels unlock Powers that enhance the Kid's or the Visitor's turn for the rest of the game.
Face Up Cards
The Visitor will place face up cards over the course of the game. Face up cards are placed...
- as the Kid predicts objects
- on the Visitor's turn
- after any player fails at proving the Pass Rule
(Later in the game some of these are placed face down instead. Be sure to check the last page of this book for details about Trust Powers.)
When placed, these face up cards go in card spaces. Admitted cards go in 1 of the 8 on the board. Treat the area beside the board as if it had 8 more spaces. Repelled cards go in 1 of these 8 spaces.
Example: Predicting Objects. The Trust token is at spot 3. The Kid reveals a card from her hand and says, "repelled." The Visitor says she's right and places the card in a space beside the forcefield. She reveals another card and says, "admitted." The Visitor places the card and she's right. She chooses to stop, so she moves the token up to spot 5 (one spot for each card predicted). The Kid draws 2 cards (Reward at spot 4), then draws 1 more and the Agents each choose and reveal one of their face down cards (Reward at spot 5), placing them in the spaces on or beside the board, appropriately. Starting on her next turn, the first card the Kid predicts each turn is face down (the Power unlocked at spot 4).
The Visitor's Turn
The Visitor takes her turn after the Kid's turn. Remember: if the Visitor has no cards in her hand at the start of her turn, the Agents win.
Trust decides your action.
- If Trust is 0-2: Choose a card from your hand and place it face up according to the Pass Rule.
- If Trust is 3+: Choose a card from your hand, secretly show it to the Kid, then place it face down according to the Pass Rule.
You do not draw cards on your turn. (Save the best cards in your hand to play as hints for the Kid once Trust is 3+!)
Filling the Board
There are 8 spaces for face up object cards on the board, and 8 spaces beside the board. If all the card spaces on the board are filled when another face up card is admitted (or the spaces beside the board are filled when a face up card is repelled), the player chooses a card space and places the card on top of the other cards in that space. Players can only look at the top card in each space. If a player is placing multiple cards in a single turn, she may not cover up another card placed on that turn.
- If any appropriate card spaces are empty, the new card goes there.
- If all appropriate card spaces are full, the card goes on top of an existing one.
- Face down cards aren't put in card spaces.
Proving the Pass Rule
In order to win, players try to prove the Pass Rule. The Visitor doesn't understand humans, so players don't say a guess out loud. Instead, when a player thinks she knows the Pass Rule, she can spend her turn to try to prove it by showing which of 4 random objects will be admitted.
- Proving player takes 4 cards from the top of the object deck and lines them up across from the shield.
- The Visitor secretly marks which of the 4 objects are admitted and which are repelled behind the shield using the guess tokens.
- Proving player pushes the cards she thinks are admitted toward the board.
- The Visitor lifts the shield. If all the positions of the cards match the positions of the tokens, the proving player wins! Otherwise the Visitor places the objects in card spaces on or beside the board according to the Pass Rule. The turn is over.
If the proving player is an Agent, the Kid gets +2 Trust.
Example: Proving the Pass Rule. The Agent wants to prove the pass rule instead of testing an object. She flips 4 cards from the deck and places them across the top of the board: Coin, Hot Dog, Apple, Crown. Behind her shield (secretly), the Visitor places the 1st and 4th guess tokens on the board, and the 2nd and 3rd tokens beside the board, indicating the 1st and 4th objects (Coin and Crown) are admitted by the Pass Rule, and the 2nd and 3rd (Hot Dog and Apple) are repelled. The Agent pushes Coin, Hot Dog, and Crown toward the board, showing she thinks they're admitted. The Visitor lifts her shield; the cards match the tokens except for Hot Dog. The Agent failed. The Kid gets +2 Trust and the turn ends.
Trust Rewards and Powers
Rewards (by Trust level)
- 1-4: The Kid adds 2 cards from the object deck to her hand.
- 5-7: Each Agent chooses and turns 1 of her face down cards face up, placing it in a card space on or beside the board (then the Kid draws 1).
- 8: Visitor adds 1 card from the object deck to her hand (& Agents reveal 1). This is the only time the Visitor draws a card.
- 9+: Each Agent reveals 1 of her face down cards as in Trust 5-7, except it happens each time Trust increases from now on.
Powers (by Trust level)
- 2+: The Kid may now spend her turn to prove the Pass Rule, just like Agents could from the start of the game, except Trust doesn't change if she's wrong.
- 3+: The card the Visitor places on her turn is face down (like a card tested by an Agent). The Kid can look at it.
- 4+: If the Kid predicts cards, the first one is face down, just like an Agent testing cards. If she continues predicting, those cards are face up.
- 8+: The Kid may predict cards and then attempt to prove the Pass Rule. She may prove the Pass Rule immediately upon reaching 8+ Trust.
Additional Rules
More Interesting Pass Rules: Once the Visitor is comfortable with the game, to make better Pass Rules she should draw 14 cards from the object deck during setup (instead of 7), make the Pass Rule, then choose 7 to keep, and put the rest on the bottom of the object deck.
Object Deck Runs Out: Occasionally in a 5-6 player game, the object deck may run out of cards before the Visitor does. When this happens the Kid and the Visitor win, so Agents should be careful when proving the Pass Rule.
Kid's Hand is Empty: The Kid only draws cards when Trust increases. There is one exception to this rule — if the Kid has no cards in her hand at the start of her turn, she may draw 1.
Credits
- Game Design: Mary Flanagan and Max Seidman
- Additional Game Design: Jim Kehoe, Joe Macisco
- Illustration: Maggie Chiang
- Graphic Design: Jack Hagley
- Concept Art: Bineshii Hermes-Roach, Spring Yu
- Production: Danielle Taylor, Sukie Punjasthitkul
- Kickstarter Campaign Planning: Alexis Wallace
- Research: Gili Freedman, Sunny Drescher, Sollana Brown-Irvin
- Stress Testing: Amanda Herz, Jaki Kimball, Isabelle Nagle
- Special Thanks: Tatum, Nick O'Leary, Geoff Kaufman, Melissa Lueking, Elizabeth Hartney, Richard Garriott, Colin McRavey, and our Kickstarter backers