Forfort
Forfort Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Be the first to finish constructing your fort, and attack your opponents to thwart their construction efforts. The game can be played individually (2, 3, 4 players) or in teams of two (4 players).
Components
- 120 Cards (30 x 4)
- 4 Card holders
- 4 Drawbridge tokens
- 1 First player token
- 1 Rulebook
- 4 Player aids
Player Setup
- Choose a coat of arms and shuffle your 22 wall cards. Be sure to rotate some of them to make sure the arrows on the back point in various directions. Place your wall cards face down in your card holder. This creates a draw pile called the 'dungeon'.
- Place your camp cards, army cards, and drawbridge token within reach.
- Draw 3 wall cards from your dungeon into your hand, keeping them from your opponents.
- Place 1 of your camp cards on one of the 8 spaces surrounding your dungeon.
- Make sure each of your opponents knows which line of your fort is closest to them: this is referred to as your 'front line' for that opponent.
The player who most recently visited a castle receives the first player token.
On Your Turn
- Advance an army card (if possible).
-
Play a card from your hand, of your choice:
- Construct a wall in your fort.
- Trigger the effect of a card from your hand.
- Place a camp card.
If you cannot carry out any of these 3 actions, you must discard a card.
- Activate the drawbridge (optional).
- Draw 1 wall card of your dungeon.
Construct a Wall
Choose 1 card from your hand and place it face up on one of the spaces surrounding your dungeon.
Placement rules:
- You can place a wall card on one of the spaces indicated by the 2 arrows on the top dungeon card, or on top of a visible camp card anywhere in your fort.
- Angled walls must be placed in one of the corner spaces of your fort. Straight walls must be placed on a space orthogonally adjacent to your dungeon.
- Wall cards can cover a card that's already present in your fort. The covered card is not discarded, but becomes inactive. It will not score points at the end of the game.
There are 2 types of walls:
- Regular x14, plus the gate-symbol wall (the drawbridge wall) x4.
- Protected (shield-symbol) walls x4.
Trigger the Effect of a Card from Your Hand
Choose a card from your hand and trigger the effect of its symbol (or 1 of its symbols if there are 2). Then place it in your personal discard pile.
- MASON. Choose a card from your discard pile and place it in your fort, following its placement rules.
- BATTERING RAM. Destroy all cards on a space in an opponent's front line. Cannot destroy protected walls.
- TREBUCHET. Destroy all cards on a space in an opponent's second or third line. Cannot destroy protected walls.
- SIEGE TOWER. Destroy the top card of an opponent's dungeon.
- GARRISON. Place an army card on an empty space in an opponent's fort, and indicate the direction it will attack in. This will be the direction of attack for all subsequent turns. or Defeat an invading army card.
Notes on army cards:
- At the start of your next turn, advance each of your army cards 1 space in a straight line. An army card destroys any cards in the space it moves into. If the army card is still in play at the start of your next turn, advance it again.
- If your army card manages to exit the fort, you retrieve it.
- An army card prevents construction on its space.
- An army card is automatically defeated once it advances into a protected wall.
- Once defeated, remove the army card from the game by flipping it to its reverse (skull) side.
Place a Camp Card
Choose a card from your hand, discard it without triggering any effects, and place a camp card.
Placement rules:
- A camp card can be placed on any empty space of your fort. You don't have to refer to the arrows on the top dungeon card.
- A camp card gives you an extra placement option when constructing a wall (check "placement rules" of a wall card).
- A covered camp card is not discarded, but becomes inactive. It will not score points at the end of the game.
- Camp cards can be destroyed.
Activate the Drawbridge
(Printed in the source as "(optionnel)"; rendered here as "optional".)
Place your drawbridge token on a wall of your fort that has the gate symbol. You may now draw a card and immediately TAKE AN EXTRA TURN! If the space is destroyed or covered by a wall card, you retrieve the token.
Combined Effects
When you construct a wall in your fort and, in doing so, create a pair of two identical symbols side by side, you may immediately trigger the symbols' combined effect. If you create 2 pairs at the same time, you may trigger both combined effects in the order of your choice.
The rulebook illustrates a valid pair (marked with a green tick) and an invalid arrangement (marked with a red cross).
The combined effect of each pair:
- Two Mason symbols: Construct a card from your discard pile or the top card of your dungeon on any of the 8 spaces surrounding your dungeon. You don't have to refer to the arrows on the top dungeon card.
- Two Battering Ram symbols: Can destroy protected walls.
- Two Trebuchet symbols: Can destroy protected walls.
- Two Siege Tower symbols: Trigger this effect twice.
- Two Garrison symbols: Trigger this effect twice.
End of the Game
The first player to fully construct their fort (all visible cards are walls, 4 angled and 4 straight) immediately wins the game.
The game end is also triggered if one of the dungeons runs out of cards. In this case, continue playing until everyone has had an equal number of turns. Players who at this point still have 1 or more wall cards in their dungeon score 2 bonus points.
Then, all players (or teams) calculate the score for their fort(s) as follows:
- 2 points per wall card,
- 1 point per camp card,
- 1 point per army card in an opponent's fort.
In case of a tie, the victory is shared.
Notes:
- Players with an empty dungeon can still be attacked.
- Unused, inactive or destroyed Camp and Army cards will not score points at the end of the game.
(The source prints "destoyed" in this note; transcribed as printed.)
Glossary
- A player's "fort" is made up of 8 "spaces" surrounding their dungeon.
- If a card is "destroyed", place it on the personal discard pile of the player who was attacked.
- Your "discard pile" is personal, and contains cards that were destroyed and discarded. All players may FREELY EXAMINE any of the discard piles during the game.
- Once an army card is "defeated", flip it to its skull side. It's considered inactive for the rest of the game.
The Game with 4 Players
Players play in teams, sitting diagonally across from each other. The following rules are added:
- Only 1 teammate needs to complete their fort in order for their team to win the game.
- You may place a camp card in your teammate's fort.
- You can use a garrison symbol to defeat an army card in your teammate's fort.
Overview of Wall Cards
The rulebook's card overview shows the wall-card types with these counts, as printed:
- Trebuchet x3
- Garrison x3
- Battering Ram x3
- Siege Tower x3
- Protected (shield) x4
- Gate (drawbridge) x4
- Mason x5
Note: the printed counts total 25, while the rules text states 22 wall cards per player (Regular x14, gate x4, protected x4). The figures are transcribed as printed; the discrepancy is left for the publisher to resolve.