Battle for Dream Island: the Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Setup
  • Setup - Characters
• Challenges
  • A. New Challenge Card
  • B. Take Turns
  • C. Challenge Results
  • D. Cake at Stake!
  • E. Return to Start
• Advanced Game Rules
  • Setup Abilities
  • Cake at Stake Abilities
  • Anytime Abilities
• Scene Cards

Game Contents

• Rulebook
• Board (double-sided: Basic side and Advanced side; either side may be used)
• 27 Challenge cards
• 1 Tiny Loser Chamber (the box lid)
• 24 Stars
• 21 Characters (figures)
• 21 Character cards
• 45 Scene cards
• 1 Cake at Stake die
• 3 Win Tokens
• 6 Helpful Reminder cards

Setup

1. Choose either side of the board to play on: Grass or Space.
2. Shuffle the Challenge cards and place them by the board.
3. Shuffle the Scene cards and place them by the board.
4. Place the Stars and Win Tokens on the table. This is the "supply."
5. Place the Cake at Stake die on its space on the board.
6. Flip the box lid, then place it on the side of the table to use as the Tiny Loser Chamber.
7. Each player draws 2 Scene cards, takes 1 Star, and takes a Helpful Reminder card.

Setup - Characters

1. As a group, choose to play the Basic or Advanced game, then flip all Character cards to the matching side.

   The Advanced game includes one big change: on the Advanced side, characters have a special ability! This adds more personality to the characters and strategy to the game.

2. Shuffle all Character cards, then place only 12 faceup on the table. Place the matching character (figure) on each Character card.

3. Whoever watched BFDI most recently picks a character first! As payment for picking first, they give their Star to the player to their right.

   Picking characters: Place the picked character's Character card in front of you, and place its figure on the highest empty space of the Start level. Only one figure per space!

4. Going clockwise around the table, keep picking characters one at a time until all 12 are picked.

   In a five-player game, each player will end up with two characters. Two others will be left over. Into the Tiny Loser Chamber they go! ("Aw, seriously?!")

Send the rest of the characters (cards and all) to the Tiny Loser Chamber!

Now, let the Challenges begin...

Challenges

To avoid the very risky Cake at Stake, characters must compete in a series of challenges to stay at the top of the standings!

• The top 3 characters will earn extra Stars.
• The bottom 3 characters will be at risk. One of these characters will be eliminated in Step D of each Challenge.

Stars are for drawing Scene cards and making alliances. At any time, players may spend three Stars to draw a Scene.

Each round of Challenges follows five steps: A. New Challenge Card, B. Take Turns, C. Challenge Results, D. Cake at Stake!, E. Return to Start.

A. New Challenge Card

Turn the top Challenge card faceup next to the Challenge deck. If this is not the first Challenge of the game, you will cover up the old Challenge card.

All characters immediately move right one space for EACH of their attributes matching the Challenge card.

Who's Winning Right Now? Find the furthest right level with characters, then find the highest character in that level. That character is winning.

What are attributes? All characters have attributes (and get more with Development cards, which show character growth). The five attributes are: Smart, Angry, Selfish, Active, and Nice.

B. Take Turns

Start with the player whose character is currently winning this Challenge.

On each turn, a player may play 1 Scene card or pass. Learn what each Scene card does in the Scene Cards section at the back of this book.

Most Scenes go to the discard pile (the trash) faceup when played. Developments are attached to a character and stay there for the whole game!

Turns continue until all players pass in a row, after which the group immediately continues to Step C, Challenge Results. If you pass, you might be able to play when it's your turn again!

C. Challenge Results

All characters are placed on level 3 of the board!

Fill the spaces in level 3 from highest to lowest. First, place any characters already in level 3, then place characters from level 2, then level 1, then the Start level. When multiple characters in the same level are placed, they keep the same top-to-bottom order.

D. Cake at Stake!

Now the Cake at Stake die is rolled. The player with the highest character gets the honor of rolling the die. This represents the audience's vote for which character is eliminated. The number rolled (1, 2, or 3) eliminates the character on the matching space. 1 is the lowest space with a character.

Place the eliminated character, Character card, and any attached Developments in the Tiny Loser Chamber. This might leave an empty space between characters until the next Challenge Results step.

When a player loses their last character, all other players draw 1 Scene. The eliminated player must discard all cards in their hand, and no longer plays.

The Final Challenge: When you begin Cake at Stake with only three characters left, keep rolling the die until one character remains (the winner). After a character is eliminated, leave their space empty and reroll if their space is rolled again.

E. Return to Start

Each player gains one Star for free!

Then, all characters move left to the Start level. The character returning in first place (the highest space) gains two Stars, while second and third place each gain one Star. You can have more than one character gain extra Stars for you, plus you always get one Star for free!

Advanced Game Rules

Only read this section if you are playing an Advanced game!

If players agreed to play the Advanced Game (see Setup), flip all Character cards to their Advanced side. If the text on any card contradicts the rulebook, follow the card!

Setup Abilities

Use these abilities once when you pick the character during setup.

Cake at Stake Abilities

BEFORE rolling the Cake at Stake die, all players check their Cake at Stake abilities. Many do something right away, while others will require waiting until the die is rolled to see if they apply (such as Spongy and Eraser).

Anytime Abilities

These abilities tell you when they happen!

Neighbors: A character's neighbors are those touching their space directly above or below, without a gap!

Scene Cards

• Most Scenes go to the discard pile (the trash) after you play them, except Developments.
• If a character would ever move when they are at level 3, that extra movement is lost.
• You may also play Scenes on another player's characters. It pays to make friends!

Development: Permanently attach these underneath any Character card, with the attribute on the bottom showing. That character now has an extra attribute to help them succeed in Challenges! If the new attribute matches an attribute on the current Challenge, the character moves right immediately.

Boost: Choose one character and roll the die. Your character moves right the number of spaces matching your roll.

Alliances: Before rolling to Boost, other players can offer you any number of Stars to move one of their characters from the same level.

• Characters in an Alliance Boost move the same number of spaces.
• You can accept one Alliance offer per player, or reject any of them!
• You cannot make an Alliance between your own characters.

Special Boosts (with different names): No need to roll the die. These let you move 3 spaces! Each Special Boost can be played only in a Challenge with the attribute shown, but they may be played on any character. Alliance Boost rules still apply!

Win Token: Places a Win Token under a character. If that character is rolled in Cake at Stake, gain two Stars, remove the Win Token, then reroll the die. There can only be one Win Token under each character. Remove any Win Tokens left after Cake at Stake.

Swap: Choose any two characters in the same level and switch their spaces.

Remember, players may turn in three Stars to draw 1 Scene at any time. If there are still not enough Stars, find other items to use as substitute Stars!