Dwarves Inc.
Dwarves Inc. Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Colored gemstones of 8 colors, representing 8 different mining companies.
These gems (called mining gems) are used to mark squares on the board where a company is digging.
The same gems represent players' investment in different companies. We will be referring to them in this role as investment gems.
A set of 9 board tiles, including one center tile. Each tile is a 6×6 grid of fields that represent underground locations.
Dwarf tokens.
Play money and overtime tokens.
Player mats.
Chance cards.
Board Tiles and Fields
Fields with no special borders are empty. You can freely put mining gems on them.
The center tile contains 8 fields with flags.
Other than that, the fields may contain, in random order, symbols from the following set:
- Dwarf
- Gold
- Safe Deposit Box
- Treasure Chest
- Tunnel Entrance
- Danger! (a field with a red border)
Notice that each symbol has a white square border around it, except for danger fields that have a red border.
- Danger field (red border): No digging! You cannot place a gem on it.
Player Mats
The player mats are used to organize the player's tokens and investments. They have an area for investment gems and an area for dwarf tokens.
The player mats also contain a short summary of the rules by which money is distributed in the game:
- First place, uncontested: get 2 coins for each dwarf token you have.
- First place, tied (no second place awarded): get 1 coin for each dwarf token you have.
- Second place, uncontested: get 1 coin for each dwarf token you have.
- Second place, tied: get 1 coin for every 2 dwarf tokens you have.
- Finder gets at least: 1 coin for each dwarf token you have.
Game Setup
- Create the game board by placing the tiles around the center tile (the one with the flags and the dward camp) on the game table, in random order and with random orientation.
- Place a mining gem of the corresponding color on each flag drawn on the center tile.
- Distribute player mats. Each player starts with a team of 4 dwarves that are already painted on their mats. More dwarves may join your party over the course of the game.
- Place the game money and tokens in a separate area of the game table (called "treasury").
- Shuffle the deck of chance cards and set it aside.
- Determine who moves first.
Playing the Game
Players take turns clockwise around the table, starting from the first player. Each player's turn consists of the following phases:
- Digging, taking profit and performing actions
- Changing investments
Digging
To dig, take up to three gems of one color from the treasury and place them on free fields on the board. This represents digging tunnels while working for the corresponding mining company.
Starting rule: the first player to move uses only one gem; the second player uses two, and then all players continue with three.
When you place a gem, it has to be adjacent (by side) to a gem of the same color that is already present on the board. You cannot place a gem on an already occupied field.
When you dig, you also need to abide by the following rules:
- You cannot place a gem on any field with a red border.
- When you place a gem on a "Tunnel Entrance", you have to choose a different free Tunnel Entrance on the board, and place your next gem there. Both gems need to be placed on the same turn; you cannot play on the first tunnel entrance if you don't have a gem to follow up on the second.
Actions and Profit
For each special square you covered with a gem on your turn, do the following:
- Dwarf: For each "Dwarf" you covered, immediately take one dwarf token from the treasury and place it on your player's mat. Another dwarf has joined your party!
- Safe Deposit Box: If you covered a "Safe Deposit Box", you immediately get one investment gem from the treasury. You can choose what kind of gem (that is, a gem for which mining company) you take. Place the new investment gem on your player's mat.
- Treasure Chest: If you covered a "Treasure Chest", take the top card from the "chance" deck, show it to everyone and follow the instructions on that card. Card effects apply immediately; if it can be delayed, it says so.
- Gold: If you covered a field with "Gold", count each player's investment gems for the company whose gem was used to cover the gold square. Players will receive money from the treasury according to their investments:
- The player with the largest investment gets 2 coins for each dwarf token he or she has.
- The runner-up gets 1 coin for each of his or her dwarf tokens.
- If several people are tied up, they split the profits:
- If two or more players are tied for the first place, each of them gets one coin per dwarf token; other players get no money.
- If two or more players are tied for the second place, they get 1 coin per 2 dwarf tokens.
- If on your turn you are getting less than one coin per dwarf for the gold square you covered, you are entitled to the finder's bonus: take one coin per dwarf token instead.
Changing Investments
- If this is your first turn, take four investment gems of different colors and put them on your player's mat.
- If this is not your first turn, then during this phase you can exchange one investment gem for a gem of a different kind. To do that, take any gem in your possession (on your player's mat) and exchange it for any gem from the treasury. Place the new gem on the investment area of your player's mat.
Game End and Winning
The players continue making turns until all gold deposits on the board are covered.
After the last gold square has been covered, the game ends. At this point the money is counted; whoever has the most wins the game!
Treasure Chest Cards
SECRET TUNNEL
Some dwarves were trapped in a tunnel. Immediately give each player, including yourself, one dwarf token from the treasury.
Keep this card until use. To use it, on your turn select a free field with a red border and place any mining gem on it. Then discard this card.
OVERTIME
Keep this card in front of you, and place three overtime tokens on it.
On your turn, you can take one overtime token off this card and play an extra mining gem on the board. Discard Overtime when all tokens are removed.
CTHULHU
Keep this card in front of you. Next time when another player covers a Dwarf field, you get a Dwarf token instead of them. After that, discard Cthulhu.
LABOR UNION
You can keep this card or discard it at any time. As long as you keep Labor Union, add +3 to your number of dwarves every time you receive money. However, while you keep Labor Union you cannot change any of your investments.
SUMMER INTERNS
Keep this card in front of you. Every time you receive less than 2 coins per dwarf, add +2 to the number of dwarves in your calculations.
STOCK MARKET
Keep this card in front of you. Choose two investment gems of different color from the treasury and place them on this card. From now on these gems count as your investments along with the ones on your player's mat. They cannot be exchanged.
FINDERS KEEPERS
Keep this card until use. On the turn you use it, other players receive no money for any Gold you dig out. The money you receive does not change. Discard this card after use.
CAVE IN
Keep this card until use. To use it, place Cave In on the table and place on it two mining gems of your choice from the treasury. As long as gems of certain color stay on Cave In, this color can't be used for digging. After their turn, other players can take one gem off this card. When all gems are gone, discard Cave In.