Keydom's Dragons Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set Up
  • Game board
  • Player screens
  • Workers
  • Start player marker
  • Wand artefacts
  • Other artefacts
  • Guard tiles
  • Spell cards
  • Treasure cards
  • Treasures in the treasury
  • Players' starting treasures
  • Treasure cards (selection)
• Playing the Game
  • Phase 1: Placing workers
  • Phase 2: Resolving locations
    • A‒E: Dragons' caves
    • F: Stables
    • G: Market
    • H: Cottage
    • I: Roundhouse
    • J: Guard room
    • K‒O: Castle rooms
    • K‒O: Castle rooms ‒ 6-player rule
• End of Round
• Start of New Round
• End of Game
• Artefacts
  • Amulet — Cancel one spell just cast
  • Key — Avoid the guard and enter the castle
  • Mirror — Create a duplicate worker in one location
  • Raven — Send a strength 3 raven to any location
  • Scroll — Break a tie at the end of the game
  • Wand — Cast any number of spells this round
• Spells
• Variations
  • Muggles (non-magic) variation
  • Spooky variant (for 2 to 5 players)
  • Foreknown variant
• Rules for 1 and 2 Players
  • 1 and 2 player components
  • 1 and 2 player set up
  • Playing the 1 and 2 player game
    • Phase 1: Placing workers
    • Phase 2: Resolving locations
  • End of round in a 1 or 2 player game
  • End of a 1 or 2 player game
  • Ghost action cards
    • Explanation of cards
    • Action card directives
  • Artefacts - ghost powers
  • Spells in a 1 and 2 player game

Components

The following components are used in a 3‒6 player game. Refer to the "Rules for 1 and 2 Players" section for the additional components when playing with 1 or 2 players.

• 1 double sided game board.
• 95 treasures: 14 small treasures and 5 large treasures (worth 3 small treasures) of the following types: red crowns, white pearls (mother of pearl shaped), blue gemstones, black goblets and gold bars. (Note: at any time, a large treasure can be exchanged at the treasury into 3 small treasures of the same type and vice-versa. Other players should help facilitate this if necessary.)
• 45 treasure cards.
• 48 round worker counters: 8 in each of the 6 player colours (featuring the workers doing their day jobs!): black (blacksmiths), blue (fisher-folk), green (grocers), red (viticulturists), white (bakers) and yellow (croppers). These are numbered 1, 2 and 4‒9. The 3 is missing. The number indicates the strength of the worker.
• 36 square artefact tiles: 6 each of the amulet, key, mirror, raven, scroll and wand. (The magic artefacts have a purple background.)
• 10 hexagonal guard tiles numbered 1‒10.
• 21 spell cards.
• 6 screens in the player colours.
• 1 pony start player marker (plus 3 spares).
• 2 rule books: 1 in English, 1 in German.

Set Up

Game board

Place the game board in the middle of the playing surface. The locations are named and numbered on one side of the board only. The two sides of the board are otherwise the same. Use the side of your choice.

Player screens

Each player receives a screen in their chosen player colour.

Workers

Each player receives 8 workers in their chosen player colour.

Start player marker

The youngest player takes one of the start player markers, which they place in front of their screen. The other markers are not used in this game. Each round, the strongest player at the stables may select a new start player.

Wand artefacts

Sort the artefacts by type. Set aside 1 artefact of each type equal to the number of players. Return the surplus artefacts (if any) to the game box. Then give each player a wand artefact.

Example. In the four player game, retain 4 artefacts of each type.

Other artefacts

Shuffle the remaining artefacts referred to face down. Starting in the left most castle room K and then continuing from left to right, place one stack of 5 face-down tiles in each castle room on the square spaces.

There should be the same number of stacks as there are players, as follows:

• with 3 players, place 15 artefact tiles in 3 stacks in rooms K‒M.
• with 4 players, place 20 artefact tiles and 4 stacks in rooms K‒N.
• with 5 players, place 25 artefacts tiles and 5 stacks, 1 in each room K‒O.
• with 6 players, place all 30 artefacts tiles, with one stack in each room K‒O, plus a second stack in castle room 3 (M) in the square space marked for 6 players.

Turn the top artefact tile on each stack face up.

Guard tiles

Shuffle the 10 guard tiles face down, then place them by the side of the board near the guard room. Place one of the guard tiles face down unseen in the guard room.

Spell cards

Shuffle the spell cards and place them in a face down stack near the roundhouse.

Treasure cards

Turn the top treasure card face up. This card indicates which treasures are available in the dragons' caves in the current round – as the dragons from those caves are not in residence during this round. Place treasures from the treasury onto the ledges in the dragons' caves as indicated by the card.

In a 6 player game add 1 additional small treasure to each empty shelf below a shelf with treasures.

Treasures in the treasury

Place the treasures in piles next to the lower left corner of the board. These piles become the treasury.

Players' starting treasures

Each player takes 3 different small treasures of any type from the treasury. Treasures are kept behind a player's screen until they are spent. (Note: a player's colour is not related to the treasure colours.)

Treasure cards (selection)

In a 3 or 4 player game select the 15 cards that have 3 or 4 treasure chests respectively on the back. In a 5 or 6 player game select the 15 cards that have 5 treasure chests on the back. Return the other treasure cards to the game box ‒ they will not be used in this game.

Shuffle the selected treasure cards face down. Then place the treasure cards next to the game board.

Playing the Game

The game is played over several rounds (usually 5‒7). Each round has two phases:

1. Placing workers on the board.
2. Resolving locations.

At any time, a player may invoke the power of any one of their artefacts. They may also invoke a second artefact in a round if they are the strongest player in the cottage location (see Artefacts). If a player invokes their wand artefact, they may subsequently cast any number of spells in that round, at any time (see Spells).

Phase 1: Placing workers

Starting with the start player, and then in clockwise order, each player places one worker from behind their screen, face down, onto any active location on the board. Continue until all players have played all their 8 workers.

Note: all locations are active locations except a dragon's cave without any treasures and a castle room without an artefact.

Example: Milena (playing red) has placed one worker face down in the market. Steph (playing green) and Alan (playing white) subsequently play a worker into the market. Milena really wants to win this location and plays a second worker into the market.

Players may look at their own face down workers at any time to remind themselves of the worker's strength.

Each location offers a different reward. The locations are listed in alphabetical order and explained in detail below.

The locations on the game board are on three levels. In the bottom level there are 5 dragon caves (locations A‒E). In each cave lives a different type of dragon, each of which covets and hoards treasures of their own unique colour. In the middle level, outside the castle walls, are the buildings in Keytown. From right to left, there are the stables (F), the market (G), the cottage (H) and the roundhouse (I). In these locations players can gain benefits to aid their endeavours.

In the top level is the castle with the guard room (J) and 5 castle rooms (K‒O), where players can exchange their treasures for valuable artefacts.

Phase 2: Resolving locations

Starting in the first location containing workers, resolve all the locations containing workers in alphabetical order.

To resolve a location, turn all the workers in that location face up. Each player adds together the strength of all of their workers in that location in order to determine their total strength. The strongest player wins the location. Ties are broken in turn order ‒ starting with the start player and then clockwise.

Example of resolving location with a tie break: Milena is the starting player (playing red) and has placed a 5 and a 1 worker in the market. Steph (playing green) has played a 6 worker and Alan (playing white) has played a 5 worker. As Milena and Steph are tied, Milena (the starting player) will win the tie and have the ability to trade one treasure for three treasures.

The rewards for winning a location depend on the location and are detailed below. In the dragon's caves and the roundhouse (and in the 6-player game castle room 3) more than one player may obtain rewards.

After the first location is resolved, play proceeds to the next location containing workers, which is then resolved in the same way. Continue until all locations with workers have been resolved. Leave the workers in the locations that have already been resolved face up in those locations until the end of the round.

A‒E: Dragons' caves

Each of the five caves is home to a different coloured dragon. The dragons have stolen treasures matching their own colour, which they have hoarded on the ledges in their cave.

Workers are placed in the dragons' caves in an attempt to recover the stolen treasures. The number of players who may recover treasures in a cave is equal to the number of ledges with treasures in the cave. For example, if there are 3 ledges in the cave holding treasures, then 3 players may recover treasures from the cave. The strongest player in the cave takes the treasure from the top ledge, the next strongest player takes the treasure from the second ledge, if any, and so on.

Example 1: The workers in the red dragon's cave are turned face up. Simmy, playing red, has placed a strength 9 worker; Simon, playing yellow, has placed a strength 8 worker and Alan, playing blue, has placed a strength 2 worker. The ledges contain the treasures that are available in the cave this round: the top ledge has 4 crowns (a large crown worth 3 and a small crown worth 1), the second ledge has a large crown and the bottom two ledges are empty. Simmy has the highest strength and takes the 4 crowns. Simon has the second strongest worker and takes the large crown on the second ledge. Alan has the lowest strength worker and gets nothing as the third ledge is empty.

Example 2: In the gold dragon's cave, the total strength of Vicki's (playing yellow) and Lee's (playing green) workers is both 14, Charlie's (playing blue) worker's strength is 4 and Alan's (playing red) worker's strength is 1. Ties are broken in favour of the start player or the player closest to the start player in clockwise order. In this example, Alan is the start player, followed in clockwise order by Charlie, Lee and Vicki. As Lee is closer to the start player than Vicki, Lee is considered to have the strongest workers and takes the 5 gold bars from the top ledge. Next, Vicki takes 3 gold bars and then Charlie takes 2 gold bars. Alan gets nothing.

F: Stables

The strongest player may choose a new start player with immediate effect. The new start player takes the start player marker and places it in front of their screen.

Example: The yellow player Mike has the strongest worker (and is the only player) in the stables. He chooses to become the new start player himself and takes the start player marker.

G: Market

The strongest player may exchange any one small treasure from behind their screen for any three small treasures available in the treasury.

Example: Inka's (playing white) worker is stronger than Markus's red worker. Inka chooses to exchange a small blue gemstone for two small red crowns and 1 small gold bar. Markus cannot exchange any treasures.

H: Cottage

The strongest player can additionally invoke the power of a second artefact (which can be a duplicate of the first artefact) in the remainder of this round.

Example: Tony (playing white), has the strongest (and only) worker at the cottage. Tony invoked his raven artefact earlier in the round. However, Tony can now invoke a second artefact in this round and later chooses to invoke the key so that he can get past the castle guard (location J).

I: Roundhouse

At the roundhouse, the sorceress awards 2 spells to the strongest player. The strongest player draws the top 2 cards from the stack of spell cards, selects 1 card, and gives the other card undisclosed to the second strongest player at the roundhouse. Both players place their spell card behind their screen. If only one player visits the roundhouse, that player keeps one card and places the other card face down at the bottom of the stack of spells.

Example: Penny (playing red), is the strongest player in the roundhouse with her 8 worker. Ann (playing yellow) is the next strongest with her 6 worker. Sally (playing white), is the weakest with her 5 worker. Penny draws the top two cards from the spell card deck. She selects one to keep and gives the other card to Ann. Sally does not get a card.

J: Guard room

In the guard room a castle guard protects the entrance to the castle. The guard's strength ranges from 1‒10.

To resolve the guard room location, first turn over the guard tile to show the strength of the guard for this round. Then turn over the players' workers.

To enter the castle, a player must have workers in the guard room (unless they have invoked the key artefact) with a total strength that is equal to, or exceeds, the strength of the guard.

If the strength of a player's workers is less than the strength of the guard, they may still enter the castle by bribing the guard. In turn order, the guard will accept a bribe of an amount of treasure (of any types) equal to the difference between the guard's strength and the strength of the player's worker/s. A player may not bribe the castle guard if they do not have a worker (or raven) in the guard room.

Example: the guard has a strength of 8. Ferdinand (playing green) and Barbara (playing blue), may both enter the castle as they both played their strength 9 worker in the guard room. Rüdiger (playing red), played a strength 7 worker, so he must bribe the guard with one treasure to enter the castle. Christof (playing white), played a strength 6 worker, so he must bribe the guard with 2 treasures in order to enter the castle.

Players do not compete for entry to the castle. All players may enter the castle if their workers are strong enough or if they can successfully bribe the guard.

If a player cannot enter the castle, they must remove all their workers in the castle and return these to the area behind their screen. That player cannot acquire artefacts in this round.

K‒O: Castle rooms

The aim of the game is for players to acquire artefacts, which are only available from the castle rooms. Only the top artefact in a castle room is available each round.

The castle rooms are resolved one at a time, from left to right (K‒O). The player with the highest total strength of workers has the first chance to buy an artefact.

To buy an artefact, the player must pay treasures equal to the strength of each of their workers in the castle room. For each worker the player must pay a different type of treasure. The player places the artefact they have acquired behind their screen.

Example: In the first castle room Bernd (playing black), has placed his strength 7 and 1 workers and Karl-Heinz, (playing green), has placed his strength 2 worker. Bernd's workers have the greater total strength. So to obtain the key artefact, Bernd must pay 7 treasures on one type and 1 treasure of a different type. Bernd cannot pay 8 treasures of one type only.

If the strongest player cannot, or chooses not to, pay treasures in the combinations required, the player with the second most worker points in the room gets a chance to pay the strength of the workers they bid with, and so on, until the artefact is bought. If no player pays the required treasures, the artefact remains unsold in the castle room and remains available to buy from this room in the next round.

Example 2: In the second castle room, Jay (playing red), has the greater total strength and must pay 8 treasures of one type to acquire the raven artefact. If Jay cannot pay for the artefact, Rio (playing yellow), gets an opportunity and must pay 4, 2, and 1 treasures of three different types.

K‒O: Castle rooms ‒ 6-player rule

In the 6-player game there are two stacks of artefacts in castle room 3. While artefacts remain in both stacks, the player whose workers are the strongest can choose which of the two face-up artefacts to take. The player with the second highest total strength workers takes the other face-up artefact.

Example: Tina (playing black), has placed her strength 4 worker in castle room 3. Britta has played her raven artefact and Herman (playing white) has played his strength 2 worker. Tina pays 4 treasures of one type and chooses the scroll. Britta pays 3 treasures of one type and takes the amulet. Herman does not get an artefact.

End of Round

After all locations have been resolved:

1. If there are any artefact tiles remaining in the castle rooms, follow steps 2‒5 below and then go to Start of new round. If there are no remaining artefact tiles in the castle rooms, then go to End of game.
2. Each player removes all their workers and any artefacts they invoked to the area behind their screen. Both workers and artefacts are available to be played again in future rounds.
3. Any treasures that were not recovered from the caves are returned to the treasury.
4. All used spells are placed on the spell discard pile.
5. Mix the guard tile face-down into the supply of guard tiles.

Start of New Round

At the start of the new round do the following:

1. Turn the top artefact tile in each castle room face up, unless there is already a face up artefact in that room.

   In the unusual circumstance that only one stack of artefacts remains and that stack contains more than one artefact, redistribute those artefacts among the castle rooms (but not to more rooms than there are players) so that, as far as possible, there is one artefact available in each room. Then turn all the top artefacts face up.

2. Place a new guard from the face-down guard tiles, face-down into the guard room, without revealing the strength of the guard shown on the front of the tile.

3. Turn over the top treasure card. Place treasures from the treasury onto the ledges in the dragons' caves as indicated by the treasure card.

   In a 6 player game, add 1 additional small treasure to each empty shelf below a shelf with treasures.

   In the unusual circumstance that there are insufficient treasures of a particular size in the treasury to fill the ledges in a cave, players should exchange treasures from their own collections with the treasury, if possible, to make the required size of treasure available. If there are insufficient treasures of a particular type in the treasury, then substitute any missing treasures with treasures available of the type found in the next cave to the left.

   Example 1: There is no large gold bar to fill a ledge in the gold dragon's cave. Substitute with a large blue gemstone.

   Example 2: There are no small red crowns to fill a ledge in the red dragon's cave and 2 are required. Substitute with a two small gold bars. (The gold dragon's cave is considered the next left to the red dragon's cave for this purpose.)

End of Game

The end of the game is triggered immediately, when the last artefact is acquired.

Each player counts the number of artefact they have. The player with the most artefacts is the winner.

If there is a tie, then of the tied players the player with the most scrolls is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tie is broken between the tied players in player order ‒ starting with the start player and continuing clockwise around the table.

Artefacts

As advised in Playing the Game, a player may invoke the power of any one of their artefacts at any time. (They may also invoke a second artefact in a round if they are the strongest player in the cottage location.)

A player invokes the power of an artefact by placing the artefact in front of their screen or, in the case of the raven, on a location being resolved. The other players always have the opportunity to respond to an artefact which has been invoked.

The powers of the artefacts are detailed below, and are also summarised on the backs of the players' screens for ease of reference:

Amulet — Cancel one spell just cast

The amulet must be invoked before any players have been affected by a spell that has just been cast. The amulet enables you to cancel the effect of the spell. The cancelled spell is placed on the spell discard pile.

Key — Avoid the guard and enter the castle

The key allows you to enter the castle without playing workers into the guard room location, although you may still choose to do so.

Note: Even if a player has the key artefact, it can still be a good idea to place a low strength worker in guard room. Then, if the guard happens to be weak, the player can invoke a different artefact in the castle rooms instead.

Mirror — Create a duplicate worker in one location

Choose one of your face-up workers to be reflected in the mirror. You now have two workers of that strength in that location.

Note: If a player invokes the mirror in a castle room in order to buy an artefact, it creates an additional worker of that strength. This increases both the total number and the number of different types of treasures that are required to buy the artefact.

Example: Frank (playing white) has a worker strength of 4 and plays the mirror artefact to increase his strength to 8, which beats Doris (playing yellow) whose worker strength is 6. Frank has to pay a total of 8 treasures of 2 different types to secure the scroll artefact. Frank pays 4 of one type of treasure and 4 of a different type of treasure.

Raven — Send a strength 3 raven to any location

Instead of placing the raven in front of their screen, as with other artefacts, a player sends a raven to a location (which can be the guard room) as it is being resolved. The player does not already have to have a worker in that location. The raven is subsequently considered a strength 3 worker for that player in that location.

Example of the playing sequence: Robin, the starting player (playing red), and Graham (playing yellow) have worker strengths of 7 in the market. As they are tied, Robin will win and be able to trade 1 treasure for 3 treasures. As he is winning, he has no need to invoke artefacts or cast spells to enhance his position. Graham wants to trade and sends his raven to add 3 points to his total strength, giving him the lead. Robin, still wants the trade, so he sends his raven to bring his total strength to 10. Graham has nothing else to play, so as the starting player, Robin wins the tie and gets the 1 for 3 trade.

Note: If a player sends the raven to a castle room in order to buy an artefact, the raven counts as a strength 3 worker, and increases both the total number and type of treasures required to buy the artefact.

Scroll — Break a tie at the end of the game

Scrolls are automatically invoked at the end of a game to break a tie among the players with the most artefacts. A player with more scrolls would win against a player with fewer scrolls.

Wand — Cast any number of spells this round

If a player invokes the wand, they may cast any number of spells in this round.

Spells

Each spell card includes the following: the spell name, the spell number, the effect of the spell and the effect of the spell when cast in a 1‒2 player game. Ignore the 1‒2 player effect in the 3‒6 player game.

The spell cards are explained in numerical order below.

1. Choice. When obtaining an artefact, search the entire stack of artefacts in that castle room and choose any artefact from the stack. You do not need to reveal which type of artefact you have taken. Shuffle the remaining artefacts and place them back in the castle room face down.

2. Copy. Invoke the ability of an artefact already played by an opponent this round. This does not count as you invoking your own artefact. Copy cannot be used to copy the ability of the scroll.

3. Disclosure. From the moment you cast this spell, all other players must place their workers face up instead of face down for the remainder of a round. For greatest effect, it is best to cast this spell at the beginning of a round.

4. Donation. In player order, each player (including you) makes a donation of 5 treasures to the treasury. If a player does not have 5 treasures, then they return all the treasures they have.

5. Dragon leaves. A dragon leaves one of the caves and more treasures can now be recovered. Select the first dragon's cave (from left to right) with no treasures and place 4 treasures from the treasury onto the top ledge and 2 treasures onto the second ledge of the type collected by the absent dragon.

If there are no empty caves this spell has no effect. Players may now place workers in this cave.

This spell should be cast before phase 2 (resolving locations). If this spell is cast after the workers have been placed, players may still cast spells (Moonlight and Teleport) and other players can send ravens into the cave. Dragon leaves cannot be played after the caves have been resolved.

Note, other players will be able to send a raven to this cave, however the spell caster will not be able to as they have already invoked their wand artefact, and can't invoke a second artefact (the raven) unless they win the cottage location, which is not resolved until after the dragon's caves have been resolved.

6. Dragon returns. A dragon unexpectedly arrives back in their cave. Select a cave. No treasures can be taken from this cave this round. Move all the treasures in the cave to the treasury.

7. Evict. Remove one of an opponent's face-up or face-down workers from any location (except the guard room). If possible, this opponent then removes one of your face-up or face-down workers from any location (except the guard room).

8. Exchange. Exchange one unused artefact from behind your screen with any face-up artefact on the top of a stack in one of the castle rooms.

9. Extortion. All other players, in player order, pay one treasure for each worker that they have in the castle rooms (the guard room does not count) to the treasury. If any player does not pay for all their workers, then they must remove all the workers they have in the castle rooms and place them back behind their player screen.

10. Get even. Cast this spell on one location with face-up workers (usually the location that is being tallied). All workers with even numbers are returned to their owners.

11. Gift. Take any three small treasures from the treasury.

12. Levy. All other players, in player order, pay any 2 treasures to the treasury for each worker they have in Keytown: the stables, market, cottage and roundhouse. If a player does not pay the levy for a worker, then they must remove that worker from the location immediately. A player may consider each worker separately, either paying the levy or removing the worker.

13. Moonlight. Move a face-up or face-down worker to an unresolved location, including a location currently being resolved. Place the worker in the new location the same way up, without revealing the strength if it is face down until required.

14. Odd ones out. Cast this spell on one location with face-up workers (usually the location being resolved). All workers with odd numbers are returned to their owners, along with any ravens. (A returned raven still counts as an artefact that has been invoked.) Note, a raven artefact could still be played after the Odd ones out spell has been cast.

15. Rearrange. Look at one stack of artefacts in one of the castle rooms. Select one of those artefacts and shuffle the remaining artefacts face down. Create a new stack with these face down artefact tiles and place them back into the castle room. Place the selected artefact face up on top of the new stack.

16. Smuggler. You immediately gain the benefit of every unoccupied location in Keytown: the stables, market, cottage and roundhouse. This spell may only be cast just after the last dragon's cave has been resolved and if one or more of the Keytown locations contains no workers.

17. Substitute. All strength 1 workers become strength 9 workers and vice versa. The strength of all other workers is unaffected. This spell affects the location being resolved and all subsequent locations after it in this round, except the guard room.

18. Taboo. Cast this spell on one location. No more workers or ravens may be placed in that location for the rest of the round.

19. Teleport. Move any one of an opponent's workers to a different unresolved location. Pay that opponent any 3 treasures in compensation. You must possess at least 3 treasures in order to cast this spell.

20. Toll. In player order, each player (including you) must pay a toll of 7 treasures to the treasury. If a player does not have 7 treasures, they return all the treasures they have.

21. Trade. Trade any number of treasures with the treasury for the same number and value of treasures of any other types.

Variations

Muggles (non-magic) variation

Players still start the game with a wand, however, except for the scrolls, none of the artefacts have any powers. The cottage becomes an inactive location and no workers will go there.

The roundhouse also becomes an inactive location. No spells are available and no spells are cast during the game.

These changes mean a simpler game which may suit younger players.

Spooky variant (for 2 to 5 players)

Invite 1 or 2 ghosts to join your game, up to a maximum of 6 human and ghost players. For the ghosts follow the rules for the 1-2 player games. Use the treasure cards based on the combined number of human and ghost players.

This variant will provide extra unpredictability and competitiveness.

Foreknown variant

At the beginning of each round, place the top two spell cards from the deck of spell cards face up near the roundhouse so that all players can see which spells are available. Discard any spells that were not taken in a previous round.

The roundhouse is resolved in the usual way, except that the strongest player takes the two face up spell cards, not the top 2 cards from the stack. All players will now know which spells are in the game, but not necessarily who has which spell.

This variant allows players to plan for the existence of those cards but it doesn't provide complete information.

Rules for 1 and 2 Players

by Dávid Turczi

As told in the 3‒6 player rules, dragons have plundered the lands of Keydom for its treasures, which they are now hoarding in the caves around Keytown.

In a solo game, you will compete against 2 ghosts in order to recover the treasure hoards piece by piece. The two ghosts are treated separately for all game-play purposes. Their cards and components never mix.

In a 2-player game you will compete against another player and a single ghost.

1 and 2 player components

In addition to the components used in the 3‒6 player game, allocate one set (dark or light) of the following components to each ghost in the game:

• 16 ghost worker counters: 8 dark and 8 light.
• 2 ghost mats.
• 24 action cards: 12 dark and 12 light backed.

1 and 2 player set up

For both a solo game and a 2 player game, set the game up as a 3 player game - as there are 3 players including the ghosts.

• Game board: see 3‒6 player rules.
• Player screens: each player takes either the black or white player screen (as these display, for easy reference, the effects of the artefacts when played by a ghost). If a player chooses a different colour to play, then they additionally take a screen of that colour.
• Workers: see 3‒6 player rules for the players. In addition, each ghost in the game receives a set of either the 8 dark or 8 light ghost worker counters, which are kept face down. Each ghost also receives the corresponding set of 12 action cards, dark or light backed. Shuffle these to create a face-down stack.

Allocate an area for each ghost in which to place the:

1. Ghost worker counters.
2. Draw deck of the action cards. As the game progresses this deck may also include spell cards.
3. An action card discard pile.
4. Spell cards revealed from the draw deck during phase 1. These spells are cast at the end of phase 1 and then placed in the used spell card deck.
5. Stack of spell cards obtained during the round (to be added to the draw deck at the end of the round).
6. Artefacts it collects during the game and in the step below.

For each ghost, you can use a ghost mat to organize the above.

• Wand artefacts: see 3‒6 player rules for players. Each ghost receives a wand.
• Other artefacts: see 3‒6 player rules.
• Guard tiles: see 3‒6 player rules.
• Spell cards: Remove spell cards numbers 5 and 6. Shuffle the remaining spell cards and place them in a face down stack near the roundhouse.
• Treasures in the treasury: see 3‒6 player rules.
• Players' starting treasures: see 3‒6 player rules for each player. (Ghosts do not receive, use or spend treasures at any time.)
• Treasure cards: use the treasure cards depicting the 3 treasure chests on the back. Then follow the rules for 3‒6 players.
• Start player marker: ghosts are considered older than players and therefore never start a game, but may play in any other turn order. A ghost will however still become the start player if they have the strongest workers at the stables. In a 2 player game, choose a start player as per the 3‒6 player rules and give them the start player marker.

Playing the 1 and 2 player game

As per the 3‒6 player game, the game is played over several rounds. Each round has two phases:

1. Placing workers on the board.
2. Resolving locations.

Note, at any time a player may invoke the power of an artefact or cast a spell in accordance with the rules in the 3‒6 player game.

Phase 1: Placing workers

In a 1 player game, the player can play their own workers face up for ease of reference. Otherwise, for both the 1 and 2 player games, follow the Placing workers rules in the 3‒6 player game, except when it is a ghost's turn to place a worker. Then follow the rules below:

Artefacts. On a ghost's first turn each round, before it selects its first action card, the ghost turns over one face-down artefact (if it has one) and, in addition, turns face down any artefact it invoked in the previous round. The ghost then invokes the selected artefact. (See "Artefacts – ghost powers" for the effect of an artefact played by a ghost.) Note that the wand cannot be placed face down and is never used or selected by the ghost.

Action and spell cards. Draw the top card from the ghost's draw deck. The ghost's draw-deck includes that ghost's 12 action cards and may include spell cards if the ghost has gained any spell cards in previous rounds. You will already know which type of card it is from the back of the card.

• If it is an action card, select at random one of the ghost's face-down workers and place this in the location indicated without looking at the worker's strength. Place the used card in a face-up discard pile.
• If it is a spell card, place the card face-up in that ghost's area until all placements are completed.

The ghost will continue to have a turn until it has placed 7 of its 8 ghost workers. The ghost does not play the remaining card/s from its action deck. So, if the first 7 cards the ghost draws are all worker cards, a ghost may stop playing workers on the turn before the player/s. If the ghost's deck includes spell cards, it is possible that the ghost will have more turns than the player/s and/or the other ghost.

Once placement ends, resolve all of the ghost's face up spell cards. (See "Spells in a 1 and 2 player game" for details.) Place the used spell cards on the spell discard pile. Each player may use an amulet to cancel one spell. Ghosts do not require a wand to cast spells.

Phase 2: Resolving locations

When resolving locations, apply a ghost's worker strengths as follows:

• use the smaller (upper) number in the castle,
• use the larger (lower) number in the dragons' caves and in Keytown.

If a ghost gains a spell card, place the card unseen face down in the stack of the ghost's unused spell cards. This spell is shuffled into the ghosts draw deck at the end of the round.

If a ghost is the strongest, or in the case of the dragon's caves and roundhouse otherwise receives a reward, deal with this as follows:

• A‒E: Dragons' caves. Return to the treasury the treasures that a ghost would be entitled to if they were a player. Ghosts do not collect treasures.
• F: Stables. The ghost takes the start player marker. If the ghost was already the start player, they retain the start-player marker and additionally gain a spell card.
• G: Market. Ghosts do not collect treasures. A ghost gains a spell card instead.
• H: Cottage. The player/s may not play artefacts for the rest of the round, except for the wand.
• I: Roundhouse. A ghost gains a spell card. If the ghost has a choice of 2 spell cards, select one at random without looking at the cards and give the other card to the second strongest player, if applicable, otherwise place the other card at the bottom of the stack of spell cards.
• J: Guard room. Ghosts never visit the guard room. They can always get past the castle guard and visit the castle rooms.
• K‒O: Castle rooms. Ghosts do not need to pay any treasure. They simply take the artefact on offer which they place face down.

End of round in a 1 or 2 player game

Follow the 3‒6 player rules (see End of Round). In addition for each ghost:

• Retrieve the ghost's workers from the board. Place these face down ready for the next round.
• Place all the spell cards a ghost has cast in the spell discard pile.
• Shuffle together the 12 ghost cards, any spell cards remaining in the ghost's card deck and any face-down spell cards that the ghost received during the round just ended, to form a new ghost draw-deck for use in the next round.

Then follow Start of New Round as per the 3‒6 player rules.

End of a 1 or 2 player game

The end of the game is triggered immediately when the last artefact is acquired.

Each player counts the number of artefacts they have.

For each ghost, count the number of artefacts the ghost has. In addition, if the ghost has 1‒2, 3‒4, 5‒6, 7‒8… unresolved spell cards left in its deck, the ghost scores the equivalent of an additional 1, 2, 3, 4… artefacts.

The player or ghost with the most artefacts is the winner.

Once you are familiar with the solo and 2-player games, you can choose to increase difficulty by:

• placing 1 or 2 randomly selected spell cards on the bottom of the ghost's deck in Set up.
• the ghost turning over 2 face-down artefacts at the beginning of a round, if it has them, instead of 1 (see "Phase 1: Placing workers" above).

Ghost action cards

The ghost action cards indicate which location a ghost worker will be placed in. There are two sets of 12 cards, one each for the dark and light ghost. The particular ghost is identified by the ghost worker counter in the top left of the card and by the back of the card.

The cards are numbered in the top right. Cards 1‒4 direct a ghost worker to a castle room in the top level, cards 5‒7 to a location in Keytown, the middle level, and cards 8‒12 to a dragon's cave in the bottom level.

When placing a ghost's worker counter, follow the directions shown. If direction 1 results in a tie between 2 or more locations, then follow direction 2 and, if still tied, follow direction 3.

Example: Ghost action card 1 first sends a light ghost's worker counter to a castle room that is displaying an artefact that the ghost does not yet have. If none or if tied, then from the tied locations choose the castle room with the fewest worker counters in it. If there is still a tie, choose the left-most castle room from the still tied locations.

Explanation of cards

1. "Workers" refers to both players' and ghosts' workers.
2. An active castle room is a castle room that contains an artefact.
3. An active cave is a cave that contains treasures.
4. Count large treasures as value 3 and small treasures as value 1. To break a tie, 1 large treasure is ranked ahead of 3 small treasures.

Action card directives

Place a ghost's worker in a location based on the directions (1, 2 or 3 where applicable) on action cards 1‒12, as follows:

1. (1) The castle room that has an artefact displayed of a type that the ghost does not have. (2) The active castle room with the fewest workers. (3) The leftmost active castle room.
2. (1) The active castle room with fewest workers, including zero. (2) The castle room that has an artefact displayed of a type that the ghost does not have. (3) The rightmost active castle room.
3. (1) The castle room containing the fewest workers, but a minimum of one player worker. (2) The leftmost active castle room.
4. (1) The castle room that has an artefact displayed of a type that the ghost does not have. (2) The active castle room with the fewest workers. (3) The rightmost active castle room.
5. The roundhouse.
6. (1) The Keytown location containing the fewest workers. (2) The location in the following order: market, stables, roundhouse and cottage.
7. (1) The Keytown location containing the fewest workers. (2) The location in the following order: market, roundhouse, stables and cottage.
8. (1) The cave containing the most workers. (2) The cave with the most treasures.
9. The cave with the most treasures.
10. The active cave with the fewest treasures.
11. The cave with the second most treasures.
12. (1) The active cave with fewest workers. (2) The cave with the most treasures.

Artefacts - ghost powers

The ghost invokes an artefact, if possible, before placing its first worker each round (see "Phase 1: Placing workers").

The powers of the artefacts played by a ghost are detailed below and are also summarised on the backs of the player screens and on the ghost mats.

• Amulet. Players may not cast spells this round.
• Key. The guard's strength is increased by 2 this round (but with a maximum strength of 10). Cumulative if both ghosts invoke the key.
• Mirror. The strengths of the workers of this ghost are increased by +1 on the top and +2 on the bottom.
• Raven. This ghost plays all 8 of its workers this round.
• Scroll. (i) Wins tie breaks during a round ahead of first player. If two ghosts have invoked scrolls, then priority between them is turn order. (ii) Breaks a tie at the end of the game.
• Wand. Ghosts never invoke the wand, but always have the power to cast spells.

Spells in a 1 and 2 player game

Each spell card includes the following: the spell name, the spell number, the effect of the spell when cast by a player (see the Spells section above for details), the effect of the spell when cast by a ghost, and the additional or alternative effect of a spell when cast by a player in a 1‒2 player game. Both spell effects are explained in detail below.

1. Choice: For each artefact this ghost gains this round, the ghost also receives a spell card.

2. Copy: This round, all artefacts invoked by the players are also treated as being invoked by the ghost. However, if the ghost has already activated this type of artefact at the beginning of the round, they do not gain any additional benefit.

3. Disclosure: The strength of all of this ghost's workers not in the castle (locations A‒I) is increased by 2.

4. Donation: All players must donate 5 treasures to the treasury. In addition to all players having to donate 5 treasures to the treasury, you may remove 1 worker from each ghost in the dragons' caves.

5. Dragon leaves and 6. Dragon returns are not used in the 1‒2 player game (see Set up above).

7. Evict: In the highest 'lettered' location (O‒A) where both a ghost's and a player's worker are present, remove at random a worker from all parties present (which could include the other player/ghost also). If you removed a ghost worker (and not a player's worker), you must remove one of your own workers with an equal or higher strength.

8. Exchange: If possible, the ghost trades an artefact that it has more than one copy of for an artefact it does not have. Prioritise an artefact from a room that does not have a ghost present. If tied, choose the left-most castle room (K‒M).

9. Extortion: As per the 3‒6 player rules, all players pay one treasure to the treasury for each worker that they have in the castle rooms. In addition, reveal the strength of all of the ghost workers in the castle, then remove the ghost worker with the lowest strength from the castle. If 2 or more ghost workers are equally strong the player may choose which to remove.

10. Get even: The strength of all players' even-numbered workers is halved this round.

11. Gift: The ghost gains 2 spell cards.

12. Levy: As per the 3‒6 player rules, the players must pay 2 treasures to the treasury for each worker they have in Keytown. Again, as per the 3‒6 player rules, the other player must pay 2 treasures to the treasury for each worker they have in Keytown. In addition, you may remove a ghost worker of your choice from Keytown.

13. Moonlight: After resolving the dragons' caves, move the ghost's strongest worker from the caves to the leftmost castle room displaying an artefact this ghost doesn't have (or the left-most castle room if the ghost has all of the displayed artefacts). If tied, choose the left-most castle room (K‒M).

14. Odd ones out: The strength of all of the players' odd numbered workers is halved this round (round down).

15. Rearrange: The ghost trades a duplicate artefact it has (if applicable) for an artefact on display of a type it does not have.

16. Smuggler: The ghost immediately gains the benefit of every unoccupied location in Keytown.

17. Substitute: All players' strength 9 workers have a strength of 1 this round. In addition to the effect on all players where a strength 1 worker becomes a 9 and vice versa, use the lower strength of all ghost workers when resolving locations outside the castle (A‒I).

18. Taboo: In player order, each player must remove 2 of their workers at the start of the resolving locations phase.

19. Teleport: In player order, each player must remove 1 of their workers at the start of the resolving locations phase.

20. Toll: As per the 3‒6 player rules each player must pay a toll of 7 treasures to the treasury. As per the 3‒6 player rules, plus you may remove 1 worker of each ghost.

21. Trade: The strength of all of the ghost's workers in the castle (locations K‒M) is increased by 1.