Caverna: Cave vs Cave – Era II Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Action Board and Tiles
  • Cave Board and Goods Indicators
  • Rooms
  • Walls and Additional Cavern
• Course of Play
  • Additional Action
  • Donkeys Haul Ore
• Clarifications on Actions
  • Collecting and Exchanging Goods
  • Excavating a Cavern
  • Furnishing a Cavern
• Room Actions
  • Clarifications on Era I Tiles
  • The New Blue Rooms
• Anytime Action
• Game End
• Solo Game
• Quick Start Variant
  • Preparations for the Draft
  • The Draft
  • Tracking Scores
  • Whose Turn Is It?
  • End of Draft
  • Placing Face-Down Tiles
  • Preparations for Era II
  • Scoring

Components

• 1 Action Board (folded)
• 4 Action Tiles
• 21 Room Tiles
• 2 Cave Boards (folded)
• 2 Goods Tracks (folded)
• 3 Walls
• 1 Scoring Pad
• 8 Goods Indicators and 8 Replacements (two wooden tokens each of Iron and Donkeys, as well as two cardboard tokens each of Ore and Weapons)

The Action and Room tiles from this expansion are marked with a helmet symbol on the back.

For 1 and 2 players, ages 12 and up. Playing time: 30 and 60 minutes, respectively.

The Era II expansion for "Caverna: Cave vs Cave" extends the base game by four additional Rounds. Normally, in order to play Era II, you must first play a complete game of Era I. For players who do not feel like playing through both Eras, there is a variant at the end of this rule book that allows you to play Era II without playing Era I first.

Setup

Set up and play Era I (i.e., the base game) as normal. There are no changes to the base game rules whatsoever. After you complete the first Era, use the upper part of the scoring pad to tally your scores. Only then take the Era II components and set up the second Era as follows.

Action Board and Tiles

Remove the "Renovation" Action tile (on the rightmost space of the Era I Action board) from play. The corresponding space on the Era I Action board remains empty for the entire duration of Era II.

Place the new Action board to the right of the Era I Action board. Shuffle the new Action tiles and distribute them face down on the four spaces of the new Action board.

Cave Board and Goods Indicators

Place the new Cave board to the left of the Era I Cave board such that the bottom right space of the new Cave board (marked with the Cave Entrance symbol) and the Era I Cave Entrance align.

Extend the Goods track printed on the Era I Cave board to the right by placing the new Goods track next to it. We will not distinguish between the two Goods tracks—they are considered one Goods track. (The additional Goods track simply provides more room for the many Goods indicators.)

Take one Goods indicator of each of the new types (Donkey, Ore, Iron, and Weapons) and place them on space "1" of the Goods track. Make sure the "+10" side of the Weapons indicator is facing down.

Move all Goods indicators from space "0" to space "1" (except the Gold indicator if the "+10" side is facing up). Leave the other Goods indicators on the spaces they were at the end of Era I.

Goods Limits: You can still have at most 9 of each Good, except Gold and Weapons. Using the "+10" side of the corresponding indicator, you can have up to 19 Gold and up to 19 Weapons.

Rooms

Sort the new Room tiles by the illustrations on their backs.

• Place the 6 Room tiles with a light gray back (showing no pickaxe) face up in the display, adding them to the remaining tiles from Era I.
• Shuffle the 15 Room tiles with a dark gray back (showing a pickaxe) and distribute them face down on the empty spaces of the new Cave boards. Only the player who lost Era I may leave the marked space (Cave Entrance symbol) empty. (The winner must cover all of their new spaces.)

(The setup illustrations show the winner's setup and the loser's setup.)

Walls and Additional Cavern

Add the new Walls to the general supply. Leave the Additional Cavern where it is. If it is still in the general supply, the first player to completely fill both of their Cave boards with all face-up Rooms will get the tile.

Course of Play

The second Era extends the game by 4 Rounds, which are played in the exact same fashion as in Era I. The starting player changes as normal, i.e., the player who went first in Era I also goes first in Era II. In each Round, you will take 4 turns each, as you did in the final Round of Era I. (Consequently, you will each have 16 turns total over the course of Era II.)

As normal, at the start of each Round, turn the next Action tile on the new Action board face up. When it is your turn, you may freely choose among all available face-up Action tiles, including those from Era I.

Additional Action

Aside from an Action tile, each space of the new Action board also features an Additional Action, printed below the space. The Additional Action is a single Action that you can take before, after, or in-between the Actions on the Action tile above. (As you may only choose face-up Action tiles, the Additional Actions of future Rounds are not available. You may only take the Additional Action printed below the chosen Action tile.)

Similar to the final Action tile in Era I, the final space of the new Action board is not available to both players. In order to use the Action tile and the Additional Action on that space, you must have more Weapons than your opponent. As the Additional Action, you get 2 Weapons for free.

Donkeys Haul Ore

At the end of each Round, except the final Round, you get a number of Ore equal to the number of Donkeys you have. This is indicated between the spaces of the new Action board. (This is not an exchange—you can keep the Donkeys. Remember you can have at most 9 Ore total.)

Note: The × symbol used for this means "for each".

Clarifications on Actions

Collecting and Exchanging Goods

Era II introduces a slightly different use of slashes when it comes to Exchange actions with more than two options. For instance, the "Cattle Market" Room Action provides three options from which you must choose one: either get 1 Donkey for free, or get 2 Donkeys for 1 Gold total, or get 3 Donkeys for 2 Gold total. Other tiles that use this notation work accordingly.

The "Gold-Donkey" Room Action provides 1 Gold for every 2 Donkeys you have. In other words, you get 1/2/3/4 Gold if you have at least 2/4/6/8 Donkeys, respectively. You do not lose any Donkeys from this. (This is not an Exchange action.)

Note: The × symbol used for this means "for every" (see also "Donkeys Haul Ore" above).

Excavating a Cavern

The new Cave board has 7 to 8 spaces to Excavate (depending on whether you lost or won Era I, respectively). Two of the new spaces provide a bonus when uncovered: 1 Ore on one and 1 Food on the other.

You can Excavate on either Cave board. When taking two Excavate Actions in one turn (via the "Excavation" Action tile from Era I), you can apply both Actions to the same Cave board or Excavate one space on each.

Cave Entrance: With the addition of the new Cave board, the Cave Entrance has moved; it is now the bottom edge of the space marked (Cave Entrance symbol) on the new Cave board. (Footsteps printed on that space indicate where the Entrance is: the steps are coming from outside the Cave.) When Excavating, you must be able to trace back a path to the new Entrance.

Note: As a consequence, the winner of Era I must Excavate the tile on the bottom right space of the new Cave board before they can Excavate any other space in their Cave.

(Diagram callouts: "Placing a Wall here will cut off the 'old' Cave." and "This is the new Cave Entrance. You should not place a Wall here!")

Furnishing a Cavern

All Rooms in the general supply are available for purchase, including those from Era I. You can place newly built Rooms on either Cave board. (Era I tiles can be placed on the Era II Cave board and vice versa.) Some of the new Rooms require Iron, Weapons, and Emmer to build; Ore Vein is free of cost.

Note: The space above the new Cave Entrance does not have any Walls at all! Accordingly, some of the new tiles do not require any Walls, showing optional Walls only.

Room Actions

Room Actions allow you to activate any orange Rooms on your two Cave boards.

The "Weekly Market" Action tile introduces a new symbol for Room Actions. Like the "2" Action symbol, the "1+1" Action symbol lets you activate two different Rooms. Unlike the "2" symbol, you do not get to activate a third Room via Equipment Room (from Era I). Even though you activate two Rooms, the "1+1" symbol is considered a single "1" Action, triggering Wood Storeroom (from Era I) and Breeding Cave (from Era II) only once. Iron Trader (from Era II) also triggers on the "1+1" symbol but not on regular "1" Actions.

Note: Armory (from Era II) does not provide a Room Action. (The helmet is just an illustration.)

Clarifications on Era I Tiles

• Digging Cave allows you to Excavate a space on either Cave board.
• Dungeon provides 2 Gold regardless of where you place the Wall.
• Junction Room also accepts Era II Goods (or a mixture of Era I and Era II Goods).
• Parlor lets you move all Goods indicators, including the new ones, from 0 to 1. (Note the three little dots on the tile, meaning it is not limited to the depicted Goods only.)
• Rettin Room also triggers when you get Flax from Era II tiles.
• Shelf does not extend to Era II Goods (unlike Parlor). You can only replenish the printed Goods (Wood, Stone, Emmer, or Flax).

The New Blue Rooms

• Iron Trader: Whenever you take a "1+1" or "2" Action, you also get 1 Iron.
• Equipment Cabinet: Whenever you Excavate 1 or 2 spaces, you also get both 1 Ore and 1 Food.
• Breeding Cave: Whenever you take a "1" Action (including the "1+1" Action), you also get 1 Donkey.

Anytime Action

Aside from Emmer, Flax, and Gold, at any time and any number of times, you can now also exchange Donkeys for Food at a 1:1 ratio. (This is depicted on the new Cave board.)

(The rulebook shows all anytime exchange options in one graphic, "All anytime exchange options in one graphic"; the graphic is not reproduced here. The text above is the rule.)

Game End

Score both of your Cave boards together using the bottom part of the scoring pad:

• Total the values of all of your Room tiles, including the Rooms you already scored in Era I.
• Additionally, you get 1 Victory Point for each Weapon and 0.5 Victory Points for each Iron and Gold you have. Do not round: half Victory Points are possible.

Finally, add the Era I score to the Era II score to determine your final score. The player with the higher total wins. If need be, apply the base game tie-breaker.

Note: Because the Era I score is added to the Era II score, Rooms built in Era I are effectively worth double as many Victory Points as printed; Gold collected in Era I is effectively worth 1.5 Victory Points each.

(The rulebook includes a sample filled-in scoring pad; the illustration is not reproduced here.)

Solo Game

Except for the changes detailed below, the rules above also apply to the solo game.

Changes in Setup:

• Randomly remove 3 of the 6 new Rooms with a light gray back from play.
• Shuffle the 15 new Rooms with a dark gray back and use 8 of them to cover all spaces of the new Cave board. Form a face-down draw pile from the remaining 7 Rooms. (There are two draw piles: one containing Era I tiles, the other containing Era II tiles.)
• Do not add any Walls at the start of Era II. (The three new Walls remain unused.)

Changes in Play:

• Each time you Excavate exactly one tile, turn the topmost Room from the corresponding draw pile face up and place it in the central display. If you Excavate an Era I tile, use the Era I draw pile; if you Excavate an Era II tile, use the Era II draw pile.
• Ignore the "More weapons than your opponent" condition on the rightmost space of the new Action board. You can use this space in the final Round regardless of how many Weapons you have (including 0 Weapons).

Your goal is to get more than 180 Victory Points.

Quick Start Variant

In this variant, you start the game off by drafting Era I Rooms and placing them on your Cave boards, thus simulating Era I without actually playing it.

Preparations for the Draft

Take an Era I Cave board and 3 Walls and place them in front of you. Place the Gold and Food indicators on space "0" of your Goods track, placing Gold with the "+10" side facing up. Leave the other Goods indicators in the game box for now.

Place the Era I Rooms with a light gray back face up in a central display. Shuffle the remaining Era I Rooms (with a dark gray back) and place them in a face-down pile.

Determine a starting player. This player will begin the draft as well as take the first turn in Era II.

The Draft

When it is your turn, draw a Room tile from the top of the pile and place it face up in the central display. Then select a face-up Room tile from the 7 Rooms in the display and place it on your Cave board according to the following rules:

• The cost of the Room does not matter. You do not pay any Goods for drafted Rooms.
• All empty spaces of your Cave board are potential candidates for the drafted Room. Rooms need not be placed adjacent to each other.
• You must place the Room with respect to the Wall configuration shown on it. If this is not possible, you must place Walls from your supply. If you do, you must place as few Walls as possible.
• You have only 3 Walls. If you run out of Walls, you may no longer be able to choose certain Rooms!
• If there are multiple eligible spaces on your Cave board where you could place the Room, you may choose one of these spaces.

You may not skip your turn! If you can, you must choose and place a tile on your turn. Regarding blue Rooms, remember the base game rule that you must have more orange Rooms than blue Rooms at all times.

Tracking Scores

During the entire drafting process, you must keep track of the total number of Victory Points of your drafted Rooms. Use the Gold indicator to indicate multiples of 10 and the Food indicator to indicate the last digit of your current total. (Read "+10" on the Gold indicator as "×10".)

Example: Your current total is 23 Victory Points. To indicate this, place the Gold indicator on "2" and the Food indicator on "3" (=2×10+3). If you select Digging Cave on your next turn, move Gold to "3" and Food to "1", indicating 31 Victory Points.

Whose Turn Is It?

Turns do not alternate between the players. At the end of each turn, check whether you have more Victory Points than your opponent. If you do, your opponent goes next. Otherwise you take the next turn. (You might recognize this mechanic from Patchwork.)

End of Draft

The draft ends for you when you achieve or surpass 42 Victory Points. Your opponent continues drafting tiles alone until the draft ends for them as well.

Details:

• If you cover all spaces of your Cave board, you get the Additional Cavern as normal. If your total is less than 42 Victory Points, you must use the Additional Cavern to place another tile (on your next turn).
• The draft ends for you prematurely if you can no longer place a tile. At the latest, this happens when you have covered all spaces of your Cave board and the Additional Cavern.
• If the draw pile runs out, no more Rooms will be added to the central display. Consequently, you will have fewer than 7 Rooms to choose from.

Placing Face-Down Tiles

After the draft is complete, if there are face-down Rooms left in the pile, take turns to distribute the remaining Rooms in the pile face down on empty spaces of your Cave boards. The player with the higher draft score or—in case of a tie—the starting player begins.

You may freely choose which spaces to cover. (The Cave Entrance symbol above your Cave Entrance does not matter for this. You are allowed to have empty spaces in places where you could not have Excavated in a normal game.)

If you run out of empty spaces or if you do not have any empty spaces to begin with, your opponent must place all of the remaining face-down Rooms on their Cave board. (It is impossible that you both have covered all spaces while there are Rooms left in the pile.)

Tip: If you cover a space with a Food bonus, you will be able to claim the bonus in Era II when you Excavate that space. If you cover a Food bonus during the draft or leave it uncovered afterwards, you will not get the bonus.

Preparations for Era II

• Leave the remaining face-up Rooms in the central display. Add the Era II starting Rooms.
• Determine the difference between the two draft scores. The player with the lower draft score starts with Gold equal to the difference plus 3 Gold. The other player starts with exactly 3 Gold. In case of a tie, both players start with 3 Gold each. (The Gold indicator reassumes its original function.)

Example: After the draft, Alice has 46 VP and Bob has 43 VP. Bob starts Era II with 3+3=6 Gold, whereas Alice starts with just 3 Gold.

• Place the remaining Goods indicators, including Food and the Era II Goods indicators, on space "1" of the Goods track.
• Unused Walls are placed in the general supply along with the 7th Wall from Era I and the 3 Walls from Era II. (You do not get to keep the Walls you did not place.)
• Set up the Era I Action board by placing all Era I Action tiles except "Renovation" face up on the board in any order.

Proceed with the remaining steps of the Era II setup rules. For this purpose, the player with the higher draft score or—in case of a tie—the starting player is considered the "winner" of Era I.

Scoring

Leave the upper part of the scoring pad empty. Your Era II score is your final score.

(Keep in mind that drafted Rooms are part of your Era II score!)