Karak: Labyrinth
Karak: Labyrinth Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 labyrinth sheets
- 8 speed tokens *
- 49 Objective cards (1 tutorial; 8 Easy; 18 Medium; 22 Hard)
- 56 minigame tiles (4+4 per type and difficulty)
- 4 markers with erasers
- 30s sand timer
- 4 Reference cards
Why 8? If you have the second set of Karak Labyrinth, you will be able to play all together and tokens 5–8 will come in handy.
Minigame tiles have a puzzle side and an artwork side. Easy minigames are represented by a light background on the artwork side; Hard minigames have a dark background and a grey dot on the artwork side. We recommend all players use the tiles of the same difficulty in the game, but when you play with kids or beginners, you may allow more experienced players to use the Hard tiles, while children and beginners can use the Easy tiles to balance the difficulty for them.
How to Properly Clean the Components
In Karak: Labyrinth, you will use dry erase markers to draw a path on your sheets and to solve minigames. We strongly advise to clean all the components with erasers as soon as the game ends and points are counted. Even so, the marker ink might become visible over time, which can spoil the solution of the puzzle minigames. Therefore, we recommend a thorough cleaning using technical alcohol or specialized whiteboard cleaner spray once in a while.
Are you missing a component or are any of the components damaged? Write to us for a replacement through [email protected].
Idea and Goal of the Game
Karak: Labyrinth is a real-time drawing and puzzle-solving game in which players must simultaneously try to find the path through a labyrinth that will earn them the most victory points according to a drawn Objective card.
Setup
Before the first game, carefully remove the tiles and tokens from the punchboards.
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Each player takes one labyrinth sheet and one marker with eraser. Agree on whether you want to use the "A" or "B" side of the labyrinth sheet and place it in front of you accordingly.
Note: The "B" side contains more squares, and you can score more points using it, but it is also more difficult to work with under time pressure. For beginners we recommend starting with the "A" side.
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Each player takes a full set of minigame tiles (one of each of the following: the Key, the Treasure, the Sword, the Bow, the Minotaur, the Spider, the Troll) and places it near their labyrinth sheet artwork side up.
Note: In the game there are two difficulties for each of the minigames.
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Place the sand timer in the middle of the table and place the fastest player token (labelled with number "1") on it. Place the other speed tokens (labelled with numbers 2, 3 and 4) near the sandtimer.
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Select which difficulty of the Objective card you want to play with. There are three decks (Easy, Medium and Hard), represented by the number of skulls (one, two or three) on its back: Easy, Medium, Hard.
Choose one of the decks, randomly draw one card and place it face down on the table next to the sand timer, so all players have a good view of it.
Note: If you want to select your Objective card randomly without knowing its difficulty, simply shuffle all three decks together into one deck and draw the card from the bottom of that deck.
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Once everyone is ready, flip the Objective card and start playing!
Gameplay
Every player plays on their respective labyrinth sheet simultaneously. In order to score points at the end of the game, the player must draw a viable path between the entry point and one of the available exit points. The player must start drawing their path on the staircase specified on the objective card (A, B or C). If there is no letter specified, the player may start drawing on any staircase, but they can't change their mind later.
Rules for Drawing
If the line (path) the player draws leads through a square, this square is considered "visited". Players may never visit the same square twice, which effectively means that it is impossible to cross your own path. At the end of the game, players earn points according to the symbols on the Objective card that they visited.
Players are not allowed to draw through walls, but apart from that, they can draw through a squares even if they do not match their prerequisites (see further). Players can only connect neighbouring squares vertically or horizontally, never diagonally.
Players may erase their path, but always only to the last visited symbol on their sheet, no further.
If the player gains an item or defeats a monster while visiting a square, they mark it by circling the respective symbol on their labyrinth sheet.
IMPORTANT: in the rare occasion that the player can't continue drawing their path because all the viable neighbouring squares have already been visited and even returning to the last visited symbol won't help them out of this situation, they're out of the game and they score no points in this playthrough.
Prerequisites
The players score points for visited symbols as specified on their Objective card. However, some symbols have additional conditions that must be fulfilled to count them towards the total points at the end of the game.
More specifically it concerns the rat, skeleton and the treasure. To score points for these (if displayed on the Objective card), the player must first find the respective items by visiting the appropriate square; sword for the rat, bow for the skeleton or the key for the treasure.
Remember: You can move through these squares even without fulfilling the prerequisites, but you won't receive the respective reward (or avoid any penalty) while doing so.
The minigame must be resolved immediately after the player visits the respective square – it can't be resolved later, and the player may not move on until they either resolve the minigame or decide not to resolve it. Immediately after the minigame is resolved, the player circles the respective item (or boss) on their labyrinth sheet and in case of items, continues to play by drawing their line further.
Hit Points
Each player has 3 hearts (hit points) on their labyrinth sheet. Every time they draw their line through trap, through rat without possession of sword and through skeleton without possession of bow, they lose 1 hit point and must cross out 1 heart symbol.
IMPORTANT: Once a player crosses out all three hearts, they're out of the game and can't score any points in this playthrough.
Exits
In order to score points the player must reach one of the exits with their line. There are three exits for the Easy and Medium Objective cards, each represented by one of the bosses (minotaur, spider and troll). To exit through the boss square, the player must first resolve the respective minigame.
Players can exit through any of the exit points, however usually there is one preferred exit specified on the Objective card. This preferred exit grants extra points if the player manages to exit through that square.
When playing with certain Objective cards, players might be allowed to exit through staircases in addition to the boss squares. This is always specified on the Objective card.
End of the Game and Scoring Points
Once the first player successfully exits their labyrinth, they take the Fastest player token and flip the sand timer.
In order to score points, the other players must successfully exit their labyrinths before the time runs out. Once a player exits their dungeon, they take next available Speed token with the lowest number.
The player with the Fastest player token is responsible for announcing when the time runs out. Everyone must immediately stop drawing and put down their pens.
Note: Fastest player token is usually worth to the player that gets it. This is always indicated on the Objective card.
Then, proceed to scoring.
IMPORTANT: only the players that haven't crossed all of their hearts and successfully managed to exit the labyrinth (reached the exit point and solved the appropriate minigame) in time can score points.
Also, the players should now check whether they made any errors while going through the labyrinth or solving minigames. If they did, they would score no points in this game.
Go through the Objective card from top to bottom and award points for each row. You may find details on scoring conditions in the Glossary in this rulebook.
The player with most points is the winner. In the event of a tie, the player with fewer is the winner. If the tie persists, the player with the lower number of their Speed token is the winner.
Hard Objective Cards
Playing with Hard Objective cards may introduce new concepts to the game. Some cards may score points if you gain (by fulfilling a given minigame) a specific item, even without defeating a monster. Or require you to gain (by fulfilling a given minigame) a specific item in order to be able to score for a given boss.
Note that some Hard Objective cards award more points for Gems or the Fastest Player token. But some might give you negative points for getting Gems or Scrolls. Some will reward you for visiting a square with a trap, but players must still cross out a heart while doing so.
Visiting a square with a specific staircase might be rewarded with positive or negative points (ignore the starting staircase for scoring purposes). The card may specify a specific staircase as a possible exit point and give positive or negative points for using it (you may still exit through a boss square as usual).
Glossary of Icons and Minigames
Scroll symbol – This symbol can be found on some objective cards on scroll or staircase. It means that you can visit any square with scroll (in order to score points) or that you can enter the labyrinth via any staircase. Generally, in Karak: Labyrinth, this symbol means "… of your choice". There is no requirement to score these points other than visiting the respective squares.
Boss – An enemy guarding the exit. There are three bosses in the game – minotaur, spider and troll. Players must defeat the boss by solving the appropriate minigame to leave the labyrinth and score points.
Bow – The item required to defeat the skeleton. When a player gains the Bow, they circle it on their labyrinth sheet.
Bow minigame – To gain the Bow, the player must solve the Bow minigame while visiting the appropriate square. To solve it, the player must draw a line through the maze connecting the skeleton with one of the arrows.
Fastest player token – Speed token with number 1 on it. It is to be placed on the sand timer during the setup and the player who takes it usually gets a (specified on the Objective card) reward.
Gem – An Objective card may specify how many gems every visited square is worth. Usually it's one.
Ghost – An Objective card may specify how many squares with ghost symbol are needed to visit to get a specified number of victory points. A player must visit exactly as many squares with ghost as specified – no more and no less. Please note that visiting a square with ghost does not lead to losing a hit point.
Heart – Symbolizes player's hit points. Some effects, such as visiting a square with a trap or visiting a square with a monster without the appropriate item, result in the player losing a hit point (player immediately crosses out one of their hearts). If the player crosses out their third heart, they're out of the game and not eligible for the final scoring.
Item – There are four items in the game: sword, bow, key and treasure, each with their own respective minigame. Sword, Bow and Key usually serve as prerequisites for scoring points via other means, while Treasure scores points directly.
Key – The item required to gain Treasure. When players gain the Key, they circle it on their labyrinth sheet.
Key minigame – To gain the Key, the player must solve the key minigame while visiting the appropriate square. To solve it, the player must circle a prescribed number of Keys matching the selected shape.
Labyrinth Sheet – A sheet on which each player draws their path through the labyrinth. It also serves to track the number of hit points, items gained, enemies defeated, and points scored.
Minotaur – One of the three bosses in the game.
Minotaur minigame – To exit the labyrinth through the square with minotaur, the player must solve the Minotaur minigame. To do that they must find one or more symbols to fill in the blanks in such a way that no symbol forms 4-in-a-row neither orthogonally nor diagonally.
Monster – A symbol on the labyrinth sheet that causes the player to lose a hit point unless it is defeated. A monster is defeated when the player possesses a specified item at the moment they visit the square with a monster. Defeated monsters are to be circled. There are two monsters in the game: rat and skeleton.
Minigame tile – A tile with a specific puzzle the player has to solve in a specified moment of the game (usually when visiting a square). Each player has a full set of minigame tiles. There are two big sets of minigame tiles: light, which are easier to solve, and dark, which are more difficult.
Rat – A type of monster. An Objective card may specify how many points are awarded per defeated rat. In order to defeat the rat the player must possess the sword. If they do not, they must lose a hit point when they visit a square with a rat.
Scroll – An Objective card may specify the way the points for Scrolls are awarded. If there is only one Scroll, the player must simply visit the square with the specified Scroll. If there are two or three, the player must always visit them in the specified order indicated by arrows, otherwise the reward is not awarded.
Skeleton – A type of monster. An Objective card may specify how many points are awarded for a defeated skeleton. In order to defeat skeleton the player must possess a bow. If they do not, they must lose a hit point when they visit a square with a skeleton.
Speed tokens – These tokens indicate the order in which the players exit their labyrinths. Every time a player exits their labyrinth, they will take the next available speed token with the lowest number (1 first, then 2 etc.).
Trap – A symbol on the game board that causes – when visited – the player to immediately lose a hit point. Some Hard objective cards may award points for visiting a square with a trap, but players must still lose a hit point.
Sword – The item required to defeat the rat. When a player gains the Sword, they circle it on their labyrinth sheet.
Sword minigame – To gain the Sword, the player must solve the Sword minigame while visiting the appropriate square. In order to solve it, the player must draw a line connecting all the numbers from lowest to highest.
Spider – One of the three bosses in the game.
Spider minigame – To exit the labyrinth through the square with spider the player must solve the spider minigame. To do so they must find and circle all symbols that are present on the same position both on the artwork side and the puzzle side of the Spider minigame tile.
Treasure – Objective cards specify the number of gems gained from a Treasure. When a player gains the Treasure, they circle it on their labyrinth sheet. In order to gain a Treasure, the player must possess the key first.
Treasure minigame – To gain the Treasure, the player must solve the Treasure minigame while visiting the appropriate square. To solve it, the player must draw a line connecting one of the Keys with the treasure chest with a ruby in it.
Troll – One of the three bosses in the game.
Troll minigame – To exit the labyrinth through the square with the Troll the player must solve the Troll minigame. To do that they must find which monster is the most common on the puzzle side and circle each monster of that type.
Victory Points – These are earned by fulfilling conditions on the Objective card. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is the winner.
Visited square – The squares on the labyrinth sheet the player draws their path through.
Wall – A barrier printed on the labyrinth sheet. Players cannot draw a line through a wall.
Exit – Players must reach one of the exit squares in time to score points. For Easy and Medium Objective cards, only squares with minotaur, spider and troll are considered exits. Some of the objective cards also specify staircase as exits. Players may exit through any of these squares, though an Objective card usually specifies one or more that are rewarded with extra points if used.
Objective card – A card that specifies for which visited squares, gained items, and defeated bosses and monsters players will score points at the end of the game (and how many). An Objective card also specifies the entry point to the labyrinth. The players always use one Objective card per game that is common for all of them.
Objective card difficulty – Objective cards have three levels of difficulty specified with the number of skulls on their back and front: Easy, Medium and Hard.
Staircase – Entry point to a labyrinth. The Objective cards usually specify which staircase the players must use to start drawing their path (A, B or C). When playing with Hard Objective cards, the staircase might also serve as an exit point. The player may visit the square with a Staircase that did not serve as an entry point. In most cases they're treated as an empty square.
Mini Campaign Mode
If you wish for a longer play experience, we recommend playing three games in a row and adding up the points. The player with the highest total at the end of the third playthrough is the winner. You can use the boxes in the top left corner to mark how many points they achieve in each of the three games.
Note: Even if you score no points (i.e. if you made an error or crossed out all the hearts) in any of the campaign's games, you can still take part in the rest of the campaign.
Timed Mode and Solo Play
In basic Karak: Labyrinth the real time pressure starts only when the Fastest player exits the labyrinth and flips the sand timer. However, if you enjoy the pressure, you may consider playing the entire session under the time limit.
To do so, we recommend using an alarm on your phone instead of the sand timer. In the table below you will find recommended time limits for each of the Objective cards' difficulties based on how difficult you want to make your session.
In this mode, any player that doesn't exit the labyrinth before the alarm goes off doesn't score any points. Do not use the sand timer in this mode – everyone plays until the alarm goes off. Speed tokens are to be used in the same way as in the normal game though, since they still serve as tiebreakers and source of points in case of the fastest player token.
Solo Play
The time limit is also used during solo play. Follow all the rules for the multiplayer game. Choose the difficulty of the Objective card and set the time limit according to your preference and the table below. Once you've finished (if you managed to exit successfully before the alarm went off), check the table below. If you reach the Score limit for the selected time limit, you've won! If you scored below, you lose.
Note: We recommend only using the "A" side of the labyrinth sheet for Solo Play.
Feel free to challenge yourself and test your limits with higher difficulties of Objective cards, Minigame tiles and Time limits!
| Objective Card Difficulty | Easy time limit | Solo score limit on Easy time limit | Medium time limit | Solo score limit on Medium time limit | Hard time limit | Solo score limit on Hard time limit | Extreme time limit | Solo score limit on Extreme time limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 2:00 | 6 | 1:30 | 10 | 1:00 | 13 | 0:45 | 15 |
| Medium | 2:30 | 8 | 2:00 | 12 | 1:30 | 15 | 1:15 | 18 |
| Hard | 3:00 |