Ivor the Engine
Ivor the Engine Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Aim of the Game
Help Ivor to collect lost sheep and to complete tasks for his friends. You'll get extra rewards for clearing sheep from each area and bonuses for events from the Ivor stories. The player with the most sheep at the end of the game is the winner.
Components
- 66 cards: 50 job cards and 11 event cards (plus 5 sheep pens, 1 in each of 5 player colours)
- Tokens: 12 gold cubes; 12 coal cubes; 20 lost sheep tokens; 4 sleeping Idris tokens; 15 sheep flocks (each flock is worth 5 sheep); 2 runaway sheep tokens; 1 Ivor the engine token
- Wagons and sheep in each of 5 player colours
Setup
- Lay the board in the middle of the playing area.
- Each player chooses a player colour and takes the matching wagon and sheep pen. Give each player 1 gold and 1 coal.
- Remove the 11 event cards from the deck and put these aside for now.
- Shuffle the 50 job cards and deal each player a hand of 3 job cards face down. You can look at your own cards, but don't show them to the other players.
- Deal 4 face up job cards beside the board to make the card line.
- Shuffle the 11 event cards and put 3 of them back in the box without looking at them. Then shuffle the remaining 8 event cards with all the remaining job cards to form the draw deck. Put the draw deck face down beside the board with space alongside for a discard pile.
- Mix the 20 lost sheep tokens face down (so that the numbers are hidden). Put one on each location. Then turn all the tokens face up, revealing the numbers.
- Put a number of sheep into each location equal to the number on the lost sheep token. After you've done this, pick up all the '0' and '1' lost sheep tokens and put them back in the box. Finally, flip all the '2', '3' and '4' tokens face down and leave them on the board in their location.
- Put all the remaining gold and coal on the spaces on the board, and put all the remaining sheep and the sheep flocks beside the board. Each flock is worth 5 sheep.
- Give the Ivor the engine token to the youngest player. This player will start the game. If you have Ivor, keep him in front of you for the whole game.
- Place the sleeping Idris and runaway sheep tokens beside the board.
- Starting with the player with Ivor, and taking turns clockwise, place your wagon on any location. There can only be one wagon on any location.
You are now ready to play.
How to Play
The player with Ivor goes first. Play then continues clockwise. On your turn do the following things in order. These actions are explained in more detail in the "Taking a Turn" section.
- Take a sheep: Take 1 sheep from your location and put it into your sheep pen.
- Move and play cards: Make 1 move with your wagon along any of the connected single-track railway lines to an adjacent, unoccupied location. Before or after each move, you may play a job card from your hand to complete a job or take special actions.
- Take a card: Take any 1 card from the card line. If you have more than 4 cards in your hand at the end of your turn, you must discard any extra cards and lose 1 sheep per card from your sheep pen.
- Refill the card line: Draw 1 card from the draw deck and put it face up in the card line to replace the card you took. If the card is an event card, follow the instructions on the card.
Winning the Game
The game is played until one player collects enough sheep to trigger the end of the game. Here's how many sheep you need to collect:
- 3 or 4 players: 25 sheep
- 5 players: 20 sheep
When one player collects at least this many sheep, continue to play until everyone has had the same number of turns, then end the game. The player with Ivor went first, so keep playing until the player on that player's right takes a turn, and then stop. Before the winner is decided, everyone collects bonus sheep for any gold they have, and for their event cards. The player with the most sheep is the winner!
Sheep Pens
Keep your sheep pen in front of you. One side shows a summary of what happens in each turn. When you are familiar with the game, you can use the side with the larger pen instead. The bottom of the card reminds you that you will always earn 1 bonus sheep for each gold you have at the end of the game.
Locations: Towns and Villages
The board shows 20 locations connected by single-track railway lines. The locations with pink labels are towns. The locations with beige labels are villages.
Coal and Gold
You start the game with 1 coal and 1 gold. You may use your coal on your turn to move your wagon further than usual. You may use your gold during the game to take event cards or buy more coal, or keep the gold until the end of the game to collect bonus sheep.
Job and Event Cards
Each job card is a job that players can complete during the game to earn sheep, coal or gold, and is also a special action that players can take instead of completing the job. A job card shows the name of the job and where you need to visit to complete it, how many sheep, coal or gold you earn for completing the job, and the special action you can take if you play the card instead of completing the job.
Each event card is an event that will change the board or affect one or more players when it is revealed, and is also a way for players to earn bonus sheep at the end of the game. You must pay 1 gold to take an event card. An event card shows the name of the event, what happens when the event card is revealed, and how many bonus sheep you can earn at the end of the game if you have this event card.
Sleeping Idris and Runaway Sheep Tokens
These tokens are used as reminders during the game if players choose to play certain job cards to take special actions.
Taking a Turn
1. Take a Sheep
Take 1 sheep from your location, and put it into your sheep pen.
If the sheep you take is the last one remaining in the location, take the lost sheep token and keep it in front of you. If you collect a lost sheep token, also take 2 bonus sheep from the stock and put them into your sheep pen. If you take the last sheep from a location by taking a special action, take the lost sheep token and 2 bonus sheep for it as usual.
If there are no sheep in the location where you begin your turn, simply skip this step. Do not take a sheep from the stock.
2. Move and Play Cards
Make 1 move with your wagon along any of the connected single-track railway lines to an adjacent, unoccupied location. Before or after each move, you may play a job card from your hand to complete a job or take special actions.
Moving your wagon
In each turn you may make 1 free move to any connected and adjacent location. Locations are connected by the single-track lines. An adjacent location is simply the next one along any single-track line.
- You may only move along the single-track railway lines and over the lighter borders between locations. You can't move over any of the dark borders between or around locations, or into or through areas that do not have a town or village label.
- You may make extra moves by using your coal or by playing cards to take special actions that give you extra moves.
- You may also choose not to move and stay where you are.
- You can't stop in a location with another player's wagon, but you can move through it to the next location by making an extra move.
Using coal
You may use your coal during your own turns to make extra moves:
- You may use 1 coal to make 1 extra move along the single track lines to the next connected and adjacent location.
- You may use 2 coal to move directly along the main line from Llangubbin to Tewyn, or from Tewyn to Llangubbin. You cannot travel on the main line in any other way.
- When you use coal, return it to the coal stock on the board.
You may make any number of extra moves in a turn, provided you have enough coal. You may use extra moves to return to a location you have already visited in a turn, or to move through a location with another wagon.
Movement example: The purple player can make 1 free move to Grumbly Gas Works, Grumbly Town or Post Office Crossing. The purple player cannot move to and stop at Dyffryn Bridge, but can move through Dyffryn Bridge to Gwynaudalion Halt by using 1 coal to make an extra move. Alternatively, the purple player can stay in Tan-y-Gwich.
Buying coal
At any time you may spend 1 gold to buy 2 coal. Take 2 coal from the stock and return 1 gold to the stock. However, you can never spend coal to buy gold!
Playing job cards
Each job card represents a job that you can complete if you visit the location on the card. If you complete a job you earn the number of sheep shown on the card as a reward. Some job cards show an additional reward of 1 gold or 1 coal.
However, you can only complete a job at a location with no sheep in it! Some locations start the game with no sheep, but the sheep in the other locations will need to be collected before anyone can complete jobs in them.
Each job card also represents a special action which you can take instead of completing the job. You do not need to be in the location on the card to take the card's special action, and the number of sheep at the location doesn't matter.
Each job card can be played to either complete a job or take a special action. You can't play a single card to do both.
Taking special actions
If you want to take a special action, play the card face up in front of you and tell the other players the special action you are taking. Follow the instructions, then put the card on the discard pile. You can play one or more job cards in this way during your turn, and may play them before or after you move your wagon.
Completing jobs
If you want to complete a job, you must either start your turn in the location on the card, or be able to move to it and stop there during your turn. Remember that you can't stop in a location with another player's wagon. When you are in the matching location, play the card face up in front of you and tell the other players the job you are completing. Take the number of sheep shown on the card from the stock and put them into your sheep pen. If the card shows 1 gold or 1 coal, also take this reward from the stock. Keep job cards that you complete face up in front of you for the rest of the game.
After you complete a job, you can continue your move if you are able. You may only complete one job at a single location in any turn, so if you have several cards matching a single location, you must return to that location in later turns to complete the additional jobs. However, you can complete jobs at different locations in one turn if you can move between them and stop at each one.
3. Take a Card
Take any 1 card from the card line.
Taking a job card: Choose any job card in the card line and add it to your hand. If you now have more than 4 cards in your hand, you must discard the extra cards. For each card you discard, you must also discard 1 sheep from your sheep pen and return it to the stock.
- Any face up cards in front of you do not count towards the number of cards in your hand. You may have any number of face up cards, plus up to 4 cards in your hand.
Taking an event card: If you want to take an event card, you must pay 1 gold. If you have no gold, you cannot take an event card and must take a job card instead. When you take an event card:
- Return 1 gold to the stock.
- Take the sheep that was placed on the event card when it was revealed and put it into your sheep pen.
- Play the card face up in front of you.
At the end of the game, the event cards you collect can earn bonus sheep.
4. Refill the Card Line
Draw 1 card from the draw deck and put it face up in the card line to replace the card you took. If the card is an event card, follow the instructions on the card.
If you took more than 1 card during your turn, replace all of those cards. The card line should always be refilled to 4 cards. If the draw deck is used up, reshuffle all the cards in the discard pile and place them face down to form a new draw deck.
Revealing an event card: If the card is an event card:
- Follow the instructions on the card.
- Leave the card in the card line, and put 1 sheep from the stock on the card. If any player takes the event card in a later turn, they also take the sheep and put it into their sheep pen.
If there are ever 3 event cards in the card line, discard all the cards in the card line, put the sheep from the event cards back into stock, and deal new cards from the draw deck to replace all of them. If you deal any new event cards, follow the instructions on them as usual.
End of the Game
The game is played until one player collects enough sheep to trigger the end of the game. Here's how many sheep you need to collect:
- 3 or 4 players: 25 sheep
- 5 players: 20 sheep
When one player collects at least this many sheep, continue to play until everyone has had the same number of turns, then end the game. The player with Ivor went first, so keep playing until the player on that player's right takes a turn, and then stop. Before the winner is decided, everyone collects bonus sheep for any gold they have, and for their event cards. Each event card earns bonus sheep in a different way.
The player with the most sheep is the winner! If two or more players tie with the most sheep, the player with the most completed job cards in front of them wins. If the game is still a tie, all tied players win!
Bonus Sheep
The event cards earn bonus sheep at the end of the game as follows:
- For each gold at the end of the game, 1 bonus sheep (this card also lets you, at any time, spend 1 gold to buy 2 coal): take 1 bonus sheep for each gold you have at end of game.
- Take 3 bonus sheep.
- 2 bonus sheep for each job completed at the matching named location (e.g. Llaniog): take 2 bonus sheep for each job you have completed at the matching location at end of game.
- 1 bonus sheep for each job: take 1 bonus sheep for each job you have completed at end of game.
- 2 bonus sheep for each gold: take 2 bonus sheep for each gold you have at end of game.
- 1 bonus sheep for each lost sheep token: take 1 bonus sheep for each lost sheep token you have at end of game.
- 1 bonus sheep for every complete set of 6 sheep you have in your sheep pen at end of game. If you have more than one event card, take the bonus sheep for your other cards first.