Castle Dash
Castle Dash Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
These rules, 6 Castle cards, 6 Player Aid cards, 18 Armory cards, 30 Treasure tokens in 6 colors, 16 Cannonball tokens, 66 Glass Soldier tokens in 6 colors, two 6-sided dice, two 4-sided dice, and 1 First Player marker.
Game Overview
You will use your soldiers to fight battles and claim Armory cards in order to steal coins and rescue soldiers. Be the first player to steal 3 coins TOTAL from your opponents to win.
Set-up
Each player takes a Castle card, its matching Treasure and Soldier tokens, and 2 Cannonball tokens. The Castle cards are then arranged as follows based on the number of players:
(The printed rulebook shows a Castle card layout diagram for 3, 4, 5 and 6 player games.)
Each player then gives one soldier to the player to their left, to their right, and across from them. IN 3 AND 5 PLAYER GAMES, ONLY GIVE SOLDIERS TO THE LEFT AND TO THE RIGHT.
Place the extra Cannonball tokens to the side of the play area. Shuffle the Armory cards and set them aside. Randomly choose First Player and give them the First Player marker.
Special Set-up note for 3 player AND 5 player game
Each player places one soldier back into the box. It will not be used in the game.
Sequence of Play
Each round consists of the following steps:
- Reveal Armory cards
- Place Soldiers
- Claim Armory cards
- Battle
- Loot
1. Reveal Armory cards
The First Player draws 2 Armory cards for each player in the game and places them face-up in the center of the table. If there are not enough cards left in the Armory deck, shuffle the discard pile and draw the remaining cards.
2. Place Soldiers
Starting with the First Player, players take turns placing soldiers onto the board. When placing soldiers, a player will either:
- Claim an Armory card with a single soldier, or
- Place soldiers in a single battle.
(The printed rulebook shows an illustration of soldiers placed into battle and a soldier claiming an Armory card.)
Soldiers placed into battle can be placed to the left of the castle, to the right of the castle, or in front of the castle. IN 3 OR 5 PLAYER GAMES, SOLDIERS ARE ONLY PLACED TO THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT OF THE CASTLE.
A player can place a maximum of 6 soldiers at the same time in a single battle.
Once a player has placed soldiers in a battle, she CANNOT add soldiers to that battle later in the turn.
A player CANNOT pass on placing soldiers unless the player has none left to place or there is nowhere else the player can place them.
3. Claim Armory cards
Every player takes any Armory cards that were claimed during Step 2. Once all of the Armory cards are claimed, any Armory cards with a blue flag icon are resolved immediately.
If multiple players have cards with a blue flag icon, the Armory cards are resolved one at a time starting with the First Player.
4. Battle
Starting with the First Player, each player resolves every battle the player has. Battles can be resolved in any order. Battles are resolved as follows:
A. Choose battle B. Use Cannonballs (optional) C. Use Armory cards (optional) D. Roll battle dice and resolve battle
A. Choose Battle
The active player chooses which battle to resolve. In 4 and 6 player games, battles occur with opponents to the left, to the right, and across from the player. In 3 and 5 player games, battles occur to the left and the right of the active player.
NOTE: If a battle only has soldiers on one side of the battle, the side with soldiers automatically wins the battle. Place the soldiers onto the opposing castle wall without rolling battle dice.
B. Use Cannonballs (optional)
Each player has 2 cannonballs each round that can be fired at opposing soldiers. Each battle, the players battling simultaneously choose how many cannonballs they will be using. NOTE: There are Armory cards that grant extra cannonballs for one round ONLY.
For each cannonball used, the player rolls a 6 sided die. If the roll is LESS THAN OR EQUAL to the number of opposing soldiers in the battle, one opposing soldier is removed from the battle.
Place used cannonballs in the center of the table.
C. Use Armory cards (optional)
Starting with the active player, each player chooses whether they will use any Armory cards in the battle. NOTE: Some Armory cards apply to every battle the player has.
D. Roll battle dice and resolve battle
Each player in the battle rolls a 4-sided die and adds the result to the player's remaining soldiers. The highest total wins the battle. Reroll ties.
The winner of the battle places soldiers equal to the difference in the battle totals on the loser's castle wall opposite the winner.
Example: Blue and Red are battling! Blue's final total is 5 and Red's final total is 6. Red wins by 1! Red places 1 soldier onto Blue's castle wall.
5. Loot
Once every battle has been resolved, check for looting on each player's castle. If a castle wall has three or more soldiers on it, the soldiers break through the wall and loot the castle. The looting player can choose to either rescue its captive soldier or to steal a coin. If the looting player's soldier has already been rescued, the looting player must steal a coin. The looting player also takes back her soldiers.
If a castle wall has less than three soldiers on it, the soldiers stay on the castle wall.
Example: Green's castle is checked for looting. Red has broken through and decides to take a coin. Red then takes back her soldiers. Blue and Yellow have not broken through yet, so their soldiers stay on the castle walls.
Round End
If no player has stolen at least 3 coins, play continues. All Armory cards are discarded, all soldiers not on castle walls are returned to their owners, all players discard down or draw back up to having 2 cannonballs, the First Player marker is passed to the left, and a new round begins.
Game End
If at least one player has stolen 3 or more coins, the game ends. Whoever stole the most coins is the winner. If there is a tie, the player who rescued the most soldiers is the winner. If there is still a tie, the player with the most coins total is the winner.