Fallout Shelter: The Board Game
Fallout Shelter: The Board Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 30 Rooms
- 5 Elevators
- 31 Items
- 18 Threats
- 2 Dice
- 4 Resource Trackers
- 72 Resource Cubes
- 28 Dwellers
- 42 Happiness
- 1 First Player Token
Setup
Step 1: Build the Vault
Locate the elevator and six rooms with red backs and arrange them as indicated.
Step 2: Choose Colors
Each player chooses a color and adds the elevator of the matching color to the vault in a column in any order. Then, each player takes the resource tracker and two dwellers of their chosen color, leaving the other dwellers in the game box.
Note: Dwellers in front of you are referred to as your 'available' dwellers.
Step 3: Create Supply
Separately shuffle the items, threats, and remaining rooms and place each deck of cards above the vault as indicated. Place the resource cubes, happiness, and dice within reach.
Step 4: Create Tracks
Draw three items and place them face up to the left of the item deck. This is the item track.
Draw three rooms and place them face up to the right of the room deck. This is the room track.
Step 5: First Player
The player who was most recently underground takes the first player token, and now you're ready to start playing!
Playing the Game
In Fallout Shelter, each of you plays as an officer in your vault. Whoever generates the most happiness by the end of the game, wins! The game is played over a number of rounds, each consisting of three steps:
- Spawn Threats: Threat cards are spawned in the vault. This step is skipped the first round, so it is explained later in these rules in the 'Threats' section.
- Place Dwellers: Starting with the first player, you each take turns placing one dweller on any available space in the vault. You continue taking turns in clockwise order until each of you is out of dwellers or has passed.
- Recall Dwellers: Recall all of your dwellers by removing them from the vault and placing them in front of you again. Then, a new round begins.
Placing a Dweller
On your turn, you take one of your available dwellers and place them on a space in the vault. You cannot place a dweller on a space that already contains a dweller, nor on a space from one of the rooms in the room track.
To place a dweller, you must first pay all costs shown in red above the space. Then, from left to right, you gain each reward listed in green above the space.
These rewards (and costs) are explained starting on the next page, icon-by-icon. Each has its own section presented with any relevant rules, and all icons are summarized on the back cover.
Diagram callouts: Reward (points to the green icon above the space), Cost (points to the red icon above the space), Space (points to the space itself where the dweller is placed).
Passing
If you don't want to (or can't) place a dweller, you can instead pass. Once you've passed, you cannot take any more turns that round.
Resources
For each of these icons (power, food, water, or the wildcard "?") on the space, you gain one resource of the corresponding type. Take a resource cube from the supply and place it in the matching resource track. If there is no more room in the track (six max per track), you cannot gain any more of that resource and that cube is lost.
When you need to pay a resource (when it appears in the red cost area above the space), return that many cubes from the corresponding track to the supply.
The '?' icon represents a resource of your choice.
Note: Happiness is not a resource.
Exchanging
If this icon is on the space, you do not gain the resources shown with it as normal. Instead, you may pay the resources shown on one side of this icon to gain the resources shown on the other side. You may do this as many times as you'd like this turn.
Happiness
For each of this icon on the space, you gain one happiness. Take a happiness from the supply and place it in front of you. The player with the most happiness at the end of the game is elected as the new overseer of the vault and is the winner!
New Dwellers
For each of this icon on the space, you gain one new dweller for the remainder of the game. Take a dweller of your color from the game box, and place it directly on this icon. When you recall your dwellers, this dweller will be recalled as well, and will be available to place on future turns.
Note: You cannot have more than seven dwellers.
Exhausting Cards
Most items have abilities that require you to 'exhaust' the item to use it. To do this, turn the card 90 degrees to be on its side. An exhausted item cannot be exhausted again. At the end of each round, you 'ready' all of your exhausted items by turning them 90 degrees to be upright again.
Items
For each of this icon on the space, you gain an item of your choice from the item track. Place that item in front of you, then draw a new item to replace that item in the track.
Each item grants you a bonus or ability that you can use at any time while it is in front of you (or when specified by the card).
First Player
If this icon is on the space, you gain the first player token. You will take the first turn in the next round.
Building Rooms
For each of this icon on the space, you choose a room from the room track to build in your level of the vault. A 'level' of the vault is a horizontal row of rooms stretching out to either side of an elevator. The elevator card matching your color indicates which level of the vault you own. Only you can place a dweller in the elevator matching your color.
To build a room, take its card from the room track and place it in your level of the vault. Then, draw a new room to replace that room in the track. The room must be placed in your level immediately next to your elevator, or next to a room you have already built. You cannot have more than three rooms on each side of your elevator.
Note: This icon indicates that you must pay the cost in the lower-right corner of the selected room to build it.
Income
When another player places a dweller on a space in a room in your level of the vault, you may gain one resource of your choice from the supply. However, you do not gain this income if they go to a space on a threat in your level (explained later).
Training
This icon does not grant any reward at the time the dweller is placed on that space. Instead, when you recall that dweller at the end of the round, that dweller becomes trained in a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat. Place that dweller in a slot of your choice along the top of your resource board. If there is a letter inside the training icon, you must place your dweller in the slot matching that letter.
This dweller can be placed in a future round just like your other available dwellers, but it gains a bonus at certain spaces the next time it is placed.
Note: A dweller's training only applies for the next time it is placed, and you can only have one dweller trained in each letter at a time.
S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Spaces
Some spaces are labeled with letters. If you place a dweller that has been trained in a letter onto a space containing the matching letter, you gain the rewards of that space twice!
Note: The letters inside of spaces have no other effect. Any dweller can be placed on those spaces; trained dwellers just get a bonus.
Linked Spaces
Spaces with two linked circles require you to place two of your available dwellers on your turn instead of one. You pay the cost of and gain the reward from the space as normal.
Threats
At the start of each round after the first, threats are spawned in random locations around the vault. For each level of the vault (starting with the top), roll both dice and add together their results to determine where a threat spawns on that level.
Each column of spaces is labeled with a number (listed next to each space in the top level). To spawn a threat, draw the top card of the threat deck and place it over the space in the column corresponding to the dice results. If there is not a room in that column, if there is already a threat card in that space, or if you roll a '7,' no threat is spawned on that level this round.
A threat card on a space replaces that space, its cost, and its reward until the threat card is removed.
Diagram: "Roll Once Per Level" — the columns are numbered 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 from left to right (matching the sum of two six-sided dice). The diagram shows three example dice rolls, one per level of the vault, each pointing to the column matching its total (a roll of 7 is marked with an X, since no threat spawns on a 7).
Fighting
Threats with this icon require your dweller to fight! When you place your dweller in that space, roll both dice and add together their results. If the result is equal to, or greater than, the number shown on this icon, your dweller wins! You gain the reward shown on the threat. If the result is less than the number shown on this icon, your dweller loses. You do not get the reward, and you tip your dweller on their side to show that they are injured.
At the end of the round, when recalling dwellers, discard each threat from which an uninjured dweller is recalled—these threats have been defeated. Leave each threat from which an injured dweller was recalled (as well as each threat that had no dweller placed on it).
Refresh Tracks
This icon indicates that you must refresh the track corresponding to this icon—either the item track or the room track. To refresh the track, discard all three cards in the track and draw three new cards to replace them.
If either of these decks runs out, shuffle the corresponding discard pile to create a new deck to draw from.
Injured Dwellers
This icon in the space's cost indicates that the dweller that was placed on the space becomes injured. When a dweller is injured, tip them on their side (they remain tipped until they are healed). Injured dwellers cannot be placed on normal spaces.
After being recalled, an injured dweller can only be placed on a space labeled with this icon. Uninjured dwellers cannot be placed on these spaces.
Healing
This icon indicates that you heal the dweller in that space. Stand them back right-side up. They are no longer injured.
Ending the Game
The game ends at the end of the round in which either:
- A player builds the sixth room on their level of the vault.
- The threat deck runs out of cards.
At the end of that round, each player must discard one happiness for each threat on their level of the vault. Then, the player with the most happiness wins!
Note: If the threat deck runs out but some threats still need to be spawned, shuffle the discarded threats and use them to spawn the remaining threats.
Tie-breakers
In the case of a tie, ties are broken by the following, in order:
- Most total resource cubes
- Most dwellers
- Most items
If there is a still a tie, you both win! You will just need to figure out how to oversee the vault together!
Icon Reference
- Gain (or pay) a resource cube from the corresponding track.
- Gain (or pay) a resource cube from a track of your choice.
- Gain one happiness.
- Permanently gain a new dweller from the game box. Place it on this icon.
- Gain the first player token. You will go first next round.
- Build a room of your choice from the room track on your level of the vault.
- When you recall this dweller, train it in a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat.
- You may exchange the resources shown on either side at the rate indicated.
- Heal this dweller.
- Gain an item of your choice from the item track (or pay an item from in front of you).
- Ready an item of your choice.
- Discard all cards from the corresponding track and draw new cards to replace them.
- Injure the dweller that was placed on this space.
- Roll the dice. If the total is below this number, injure the dweller. Otherwise, gain the reward.
- Pay the resources shown in the lower-right corner of the room you are building.
- A dweller trained in the matching S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat gets the space's reward twice.
- Only an injured dweller can be placed in this space.
- You must place two dwellers in the same turn to use this space.
Note: Text in parentheses above explains how the resource-cube icons work if they appear in the cost of a space (i.e. that the resource is paid rather than gained).
Credits
Fantasy Flight Games
- Game Design and Development: Andrew Fischer
- Producer: Jason Walden
- Editing: Mark Pollard
- Proofreading: Carol Darnell
- Graphic Design: Michael Silsby
- Graphic Design Manager: Christopher Hosch
- Sculpting: Gary Storkamp
- Sculpting Lead: Cory DeVore
- Sculpting Manager: Derrick Fuchs
- QA Coordination: Andrew Janeba and Zach Tewalthomas
- Licensing Coordinator: Sherry Anisi and Zach Holmes
- Licensing Manager: Simone Elliott
- Production Management: Justin Anger and Jason Glawe
- Visual Creative Director: Brian Schomburg
- Senior Project Manager: John Franz-Wichlacz
- Senior Manager of Product Development: Chris Gerber
- Executive Game Designer: Corey Konieczka
- Head of Studio: Andrew Navaro
Bethesda Softworks
- Bethesda Softworks Licensing Approval: Mike Kochis
Playtesters
The Oaklawn Room 141 5th Graders, Christina Achrazoglou, Kael Barend, Ryan Billington, Chris "Chico" Brown, Luke Carrington, Jim Cartwright, Kara Centell-Dunk, Cliff Charles, Mark Dale, David Dzwonek, Kelly Dzwonek, Colin Fassold, Matteo Ferrari, Rachel Garitson, Sam Griebel, Paul Grimes, Gage Hadden-Peck, Elizabeth Hadden-Peck, Brandan Haines, Josiah "Duke" Harrist, Matt Hart, Sterling Hershey, Mary Hershey, Grace Holdinghaus, Alanna Lewis, Kortnee Lewis, Scott Lewis, Rob Lowe, Robb Lowe, Andrea Maldini, Erik Miller, Lacey Miller, Anthony Orme, Stefano Padovani, Spencer Palmer, Taylor Palmer, Damien Perry, Robert Quillen II, Jerry Santos, Jesus Santos Jr., Patrick William Smalley, Danielle Smock, Eric Smock, Will Vaughan, Amudha Venugopalan, Simone Vittoria, Paul Wallwork, Matthew Wigdahl
Special thanks to James Kniffen and all our beta testers!
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