Dig Mars
Dig Mars Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Idea
Humanity is on the verge of its biggest discovery. A probe sent down to one of the canyons on Mars, has found clues that the depths of the planet contain extraordinary objects of unknown origins. Back on Earth, only a handful of corporations have the means to actually send someone to find these objects and bring them back. You run one of these corporations. Outplay your rivals and gain the most fortune, and you will make history.
In 'Dig Mars' you explore a canyon on Mars, dig the ground and carry away the treasures, thus gaining fortune points. Use the fortune points to upgrade your equipment in order to dig through more difficult ground and terrain, carry more difficult treasures and expand your expedition fleet. Your aim is to be the first to get a certain amount of points.
Game Contents
- 16 Station tokens in 4 colors
- 10 Fortune tokens
- 12 Equipment markers in 4 colors
- 60 tiles: 48 Exploration tiles and 12 Equipment tiles (Digging equipment, Carrying equipment, Expedition fleet)
Exploration tiles show (unexplored side / explored side): the digging difficulty of the ground, the Fortune points and the carrying difficulty of the treasure, and a bonus action (if any). Equipment tiles show the equipment level.
Game Setup
Each player takes 4 Station tokens and 3 Equipment markers of one color and 3 Equipment tiles (1 Digging, 1 Carrying and 1 Expedition fleet).
Shuffle the Exploration tiles and place them face down in a 4x4 grid with 3 tiles per stack. Place your Equipment tiles in front of you and put your Equipment markers on the first level of each Equipment tile. Put the Fortune tokens near the grid in easy reach for all players (they will be used as change). Randomly determine the starting player. Beginning with the starting player and proceeding in clockwise order each player places one of his Station tokens on any stack on the grid (even if it is occupied by another player's Station token).
Now you are ready to begin the game!
Playing the Game
Players take their turns in clockwise order starting with the first player. In his turn a player may perform up to 3 actions. You may perform actions in any order and each action may be performed more than once. The possible actions are:
Dig
Choose an unexplored tile on top of a stack with at least one of your Station tokens on it. If your Digging equipment level is equal to or greater than the tile's Digging difficulty level, you may flip this tile and it becomes explored. All Station tokens that were on this unexplored tile before digging remain on the explored tile.
If you flip a tile that has a bonus action on it, you may use this bonus action once during this turn (see "Bonus actions").
It is possible to dig ground of higher difficulty if there is more than 1 Station on an unexplored tile (see "Cooperation").
Example: The blue player can dig the ground on the left, as his Digging equipment level is sufficient for doing so. However, he cannot dig the ground on the right, as his Equipment level is insufficient.
Carry
Choose an explored tile on top of a stack with at least one of your Station tokens on it. If your Carrying equipment level is equal to or greater than the tile's Carrying difficulty, you may take this tile and place it face down in front of you. Always keep your Fortune points hidden from other players! All Station tokens that were on the tile remain on the same stack (even if it becomes empty).
It is possible to carry treasures of higher difficulty if there is more than 1 Station on an explored tile (see "Cooperation").
Example: The blue player can carry the treasure on the left, but cannot carry the treasure on the right.
Move
Move one of your Station tokens to a horizontally or vertically adjacent stack. If you want to move in a direction where the adjacent stack has been emptied, you may skip it (them) and jump to the closest stack in the same direction. You may also choose to move to an empty space in order to move in a different direction later.
(Illustration: possible moves for the blue and the red Station tokens, including moves through empty spaces.)
Upgrade
Choose one of your Equipment tiles and pay the following amount of Fortune points by discarding your Exploration tiles or Fortune tokens:
- From level 1 to level 2 — 1 Fortune point;
- From level 2 to level 3 — 2 Fortune points;
- From level 3 to level 4 — 3 Fortune points.
Use Fortune tokens or discarded tiles for change, if needed. Then move the Equipment marker on the chosen Equipment tile to the next level (for example, from 2 to 3).
Each Expedition fleet upgrade lets you place one more Station token on the grid. When upgrading the Expedition fleet, player must immediately place the new Station token on any stack (even an empty one) on the grid.
Example: If the blue player wants to upgrade his Digging equipment from 2 to 3, he has to pay 2 Fortune points. He discards a tile of value 3 and takes back a Fortune token (or an Exploration tile with value 1) and moves his Digging equipment marker from 2 to 3.
Once a player has performed his actions it is the next player's turn.
Bonus Actions
Many tiles have a special one-time bonus action. Only when you flip a tile using the dig action and the tile has a bonus action, you may use this bonus action once at any time during this turn. The bonus action may be used only during the same turn and only by the player, who performed the dig action and flipped the tile.
The possible bonus actions are:
- Extra Dig: You may perform an additional Dig action (according to the basic rules).
- Extra Carry: You may perform an additional Carry action (according to the basic rules).
- Relocate Station: You may move any Station token (your own or another player's) to any stack on the grid. You may not place it on an empty space!
- Extra Fortune Point: You may take a Fortune token or a discarded Exploration tile with value 1.
- Inspect Ground: You may look at any unexplored tile from the top of any stack on the grid (don't show it to the other players). Then put the tile back, face down, on the same stack.
Cooperation
If there is more than 1 Station on an Exploration tile, you can cooperate to dig ground and carry treasures of higher difficulty with the following rule: every additional Station token (your and your opponents') on the same tile adds one level to your current Digging and Carrying equipment levels. You cannot avoid cooperation — as soon as there is more than 1 Station token on a tile they are considered to be cooperating. Note that cooperation does not affect your Equipment markers!
Splitting
When taking a tile with the Carry action that is occupied also by other Stations belonging to different players the Fortune points are divided equally between the players (exchange the tile for other tiles from the discard or the Fortune tokens). Any remaining Fortune points that cannot be split equally are given to the player who performed the Carry action.
Important! When calculating the split, the Fortune is split by the players, not the Station tokens!
Example (Digging): The red player cannot dig this ground — his Digging equipment level is 1 and he gets +1 for the blue Station, which is not enough. However, the blue player could dig this ground — his Digging equipment level is 2 and he gets +1 for the red Station, which adds up to 3 and is enough to dig this ground.
Example (Carrying): The red player can choose to perform the Carry action — his Carrying equipment level is 2 and he gets +1 for each other Station, which makes it 4 — enough to carry the treasure. If he does so, he receives 3 Fortune points and the blue player receives 2 Fortune points (each player receives an equal amount — 2 points, and the remaining one is given to the player, who performed the action — the red player). Note that the blue player could not choose to perform the Carry action — his Carrying equipment level is 1 and even after getting +2 from two other Stations it is only 3, which is not enough, as this tile's Carrying difficulty is 4.
If any player chooses to perform the Carry action, he gets 2 Fortune points. These 2 points are considered to be the remaining amount, as it is not possible to distribute 2 Fortune points between three players.
Game End
A player may declare victory, if he has at least the following amount of Fortune points:
- 2 player game — 40 points;
- 3 player game — 30 points;
- 4 player game — 20 points.
A player may declare victory only in his turn. This player immediately becomes the winner, even if some other player has more Fortune points.
In case nobody has declared victory after the last tile has been taken, the winner is the player with the most fortune points.