The Mines of Zavandor Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Play of the Game
• Phase 1: Income
• Phase 2: Trade
• Phase 3: Auction
• Phase 4: Upgrade
• End of the Game
• Variant with Different Player Boards
• Examples and Explanations of the Card Layouts

Setup

1. Place the game boards in the middle of the table, with the King piece on the starting space.

2. Sort the big cards (Improvements and game overviews) by their reverse side.

3. Take one player board per player – this is your own mine gallery. In the base game, all players use the front side.

4. Place one Upgrade cube on the Family clan's starting space. This shows that you currently receive a yield of 2 cards per round from the WOODEN MINECART deck.

5. Each player receives a Starting Spell scroll (background has no gem symbol). Place it on any space in your mine gallery, then place a cube on the top space. Remove leftover starting spell scrolls from the game.

6. Each player also receives a game overview card.

7. Improvement cards: In the 4-player game, all improvement cards are used. With 3 players, remove the improvement cards with the RUBY symbol; with 2, remove all RUBY and DIAMOND cards. Shuffle the decks, then place the pile of cards with the dark background on top of the pile with the pale background. Next, turn the whole pile over so that they are face up, with the cards with the dark background underneath.

   During the game, players can look at the improvement card decks at any time, but they may not change the order. Place the top card on the right-hand space on the auction board, the second on the middle space and the rest of the deck on the left-hand space. Both auction boards are always used – even in the 2-player game.

8. Place the Victory point markers (silver is worth 1 victory point, gold 5) and the Upgrade marker cubes beside the board.

9. The smallest player becomes the starting player and takes the starting player piece.

10. Sort the gem cards by their reverse side and place them in four face-down piles beside the board. The starting player and his/her left-hand neighbor each receive a starting hand of 6 cards from the WOODEN MINECART deck; other players receive 7 cards each. (This compensates for the slight advantage to the first two players). There are four types of gem, which are distributed through the piles:

    • SAPPHIRE / BLUE
    • EMERALD / GREEN
    • DIAMOND / WHITE
    • RUBY / RED

Play of the Game

Each round comprises 4 phases: Income, Trade, Auction and Upgrade. During the Income phase (see below), each player receives income from his/her Family clan and from his/her improvements, by drawing the corresponding number of gem cards from the appropriate decks. Each deck contains the types of gems that are pictured on the reverse of the cards the larger (they are, the more often they occur).

During the Trade phase (see page 5), players can trade gems with one another or with the bank.

Following this, in the Auction phase (see page 6), all players make a secret bid. The cards in the right-hand column of the board are auctioned simultaneously. The player who bids the most of a particular type of gem receives the corresponding improvement if s/he bid at least 3 cards; otherwise s/he receives a victory point. There are bonus victory points for particularly high bids.

The winner of the SAPPHIRE auction moves the King piece one space along the Path to Kingship, towards the Coronation Chamber.

During the Upgrade phase (see page 7), players can upgrade their improvements.

The game ends at the end of the round in which the King piece reaches the Coronation Chamber.

Phase 1: Income

Beginning with the Starting player, each player earns new gems and upgrade markers through their Family clan and affiliated Dwarven clans. The more the clans have been upgraded, the more income they yield. Cards are drawn from the face-down decks; upgrade markers are taken from the supply.

There are two steps in the Income phase:

• First, each player earns income:
  • Gem cards or Upgrade markers from the Family clan, cards from the Dwarven clans.
  • Gem cards go into the player's hand; Upgrade markers may be placed immediately at no cost.
• After that, players can use spell scrolls to gain additional income.

The Family clans

In the base game, all players have an identical Family clan. At the beginning of the game, it yields an income of 2 gem cards from the WOODEN MINECART deck, more after it has been upgraded. From level 6, it yields 2 gem cards and a free Upgrade marker. If the free Upgrade marker is placed on a Clan or on a Packdragon, its income is not increased until the following round.

Players can only ever take the current level of income (not a lower level); Upgrade markers can never be removed.

• Level 1: 2 gem cards from the WOODEN MINECART deck.
• Levels 2-5: 3 gem cards from the WOODEN MINECART deck.
• Levels 6-8: 1 Upgrade marker and 2 gem cards from the WOODEN MINECART deck.

Example: Anna has 2 fully upgraded Dwarven clans which yield her a total of 4 cards from the IRON MINECART deck. Her Family clan is on level 2, which yields 3 cards from the WOODEN MINECART deck. This would give an income of 7 cards, but she can only receive 6. She decides to take 4 IRON MINECART cards and 2 WOODEN MINECART cards.

In any round, a player can receive at most six gems in total from his/her Family clan and Dwarven clans combined. If s/he could mine more, s/he can decide which of the possible cards to draw. Players must draw all their cards at once: a player may not draw a few cards and then decide how to continue. One-off income (e.g. from the Dragon's Hoard or Spell scrolls) does not count towards the limit. Once a player has fully upgraded his/her Packdragon, the income limit no longer applies.

A fully upgraded Packdragon removes the income limit.

Upgrading

Any Upgrade markers produced by the Family clan can be placed immediately. Any Upgrade markers that are not placed are forfeited. These Upgrades do not cost gem cards. Any number of improvements can be upgraded, as can the Family clan and the Packdragon. A player with two Upgrade markers can use them either to upgrade two different cards - in this phase only - or as a double upgrade on one improvement. An Improvement that is upgraded at no cost at this step can also be upgraded during Phase 4.

Spell scrolls

After all players have received their Income, they can use their Spell scrolls in clockwise order beginning with the Starting player. Any gems that they receive from this do not count towards the income limit.

Example: With this Spell scroll on Level 2, the player can choose to draw 6 cards from the COPPER MINECART deck, 6 cards from the IRON MINECART deck or 4 from the BRONZE MINECART deck.

After use, the Spell scroll is removed from the game – it can only be used once.

Once the last card is drawn from a deck, the corresponding discard pile is shuffled to create a new deck. If at any time there are no cards of one type in the draw pile or in the discard pile, a player instead draws a card of the next available lower type: instead of a BRONZE MINECART, an IRON MINECART; instead of IRON a COPPER MINECART; and instead of COPPER a WOODEN MINECART. If no more WOODEN MINECART cards are available, a player who is entitled to draw one may draw a card of the next highest available type.

Phase 2: Trade

In this phase there is no player order, all players act simultaneously. Players can exchange any number of gem cards with other players and/or with the bank, but may never trade Improvements, victory points or other items.

Trading with the bank: A player can discard any two cards (any type of gem from any deck) from his/her hand to choose a gem card from one of the discard piles. Players may do this several times during this phase, if they wish.

If a player wants to take a gem card that is not in any of the discard piles, s/he can turn over cards from the corresponding deck until the gem is revealed. S/he retains that card and places the others on the appropriate discard pile. Players always look for a gem in the deck that is most likely to contain it:

• SAPPHIRE → WOODEN MINECART
• EMERALD → COPPER MINECART
• DIAMOND → IRON MINECART
• RUBY → BRONZE MINECART

Example: Bert would like to have three RUBIES. He trades an EMERALD for a RUBY from Anna. Then he discards 4 other gem cards to take 2 additional RUBIES. Because there isn't a BRONZE MINECART discard pile yet, he draws cards from the BRONZE MINECART deck until he has found two RUBIES, discarding the other cards he draws.

Phase 3: Auction

During the Auction phase, players can acquire improvements and sometimes even victory points. There is only one big auction, in which the players bid on all four items simultaneously.

At the start of the Auction phase, each player secretly selects a number of his/her gem cards and places them in his/her left hand, holding them over the table. All players simultaneously reveal their bid, sorted according to gem types.

The four parts of the Auction are evaluated one after another, from top to bottom in the order RUBY, DIAMOND, EMERALD, SAPPHIRE.

RUBY: The winner of the RUBY auction is the player who bid the most RUBY cards. If there is a tie, the player who is first in player order wins. If no player has bid at least one RUBY card, there is no winner of the RUBY auction.

The winner places his/her bid on the corresponding discard pile; the other players leave their bid cards on the table in front of them. They cannot return these cards to their hand until the end of the round – they are not available to them during Phase 4.

The reward for winning the RUBY auction depends on the number of RUBY cards that the winning player bid:

• 1 or 2 RUBIES: The player receives 1 victory point;
• 3 or more RUBIES: The player receives the Improvement card in the right-hand column on the corresponding row of the auction board – or, if s/he prefers, 1 victory point (as with 1 or 2 RUBIES) instead of the Improvement;
• 6 or more RUBIES: The player receives a bonus of 4 victory points (in addition to the Improvement or victory point that was earned for 3 or more RUBIES).

Players place acquired improvements on their mine gallery. If there is no room remaining, a player can discard an existing Improvement, together with any upgrade markers that are on it, without penalty. The discarded improvement is removed from the game. New Improvements are always placed without upgrade markers.

DIAMOND: Following this is the DIAMOND auction. It runs exactly the same way as the RUBY auction, with one small exception:

• The bonus of 4 victory points is only paid for 7 or more DIAMONDS.

EMERALD: The third auction is for the EMERALDS. In this auction:

• The bonus of 4 victory points is only paid for 8 or more EMERALDS.

SAPPHIRE: The final auction is the SAPPHIRE auction. In this auction:

• The bonus of 4 victory points is only paid for 9 or more SAPPHIRES.
• The winner of the SAPPHIRE auction moves the King piece one Hall in the direction of the arrow. S/he will usually have the choice of two different paths.

If there is no winner of the SAPPHIRE auction, because no player bid at least one SAPPHIRE card, the player with the Starting player piece moves the King.

Example: Bert bids 9 SAPPHIRES and 2 EMERALDS. Anna bids 1 SAPPHIRE, 3 EMERALDS and 1 DIAMOND.

• There is no winner of the RUBY auction, as no-one bid RUBIES.
• Anna wins the DIAMOND auction and receives 1 victory point. She cannot take the Improvement card as she bid fewer than 3 DIAMONDS.
• She also wins the EMERALD auction and takes the card from the right-hand column of the corresponding row.
• Bert wins the SAPPHIRE auction and takes the card from the right-hand column of the bottom row. In addition, he receives a bonus of 4 victory points, as he bid 9 SAPPHIRES.

The 2 EMERALDS remain in front of Bert, the 1 SAPPHIRE in front of Anna. They cannot be used for Improvements and are only returned to the players' hands at the end of the round. Bert moves the King one hall.

The game ends at the end of the round in which the King reaches the Coronation Chamber.

All Improvements in the right-hand column which were not purchased (regardless of whether they were not auctioned or whether a player chose to take victory points instead) are removed from the game. This empties the right-hand column. Improvements from the middle column are then moved to the right and the top card of the deck in the left-hand column is placed in the middle column.

With 2 or 3 players, there are no Improvements for the winners of the RUBY and/or DIAMOND auctions. Instead, the winning player receives 1 victory point and, if s/he pays enough gem cards, the bonus 4 victory points.

At the beginning of the game, the King starts in the Great Hall of the castle. The winner of the SAPPHIRE auction moves him into a neighboring Hall along the path.

Phase 4: Upgrade

Beginning with the Starting player, each player has the option to upgrade their improvements, Family clan and Packdragon.

Each item can only be upgraded by one level during the Upgrade phase.

To upgrade an item, the player must pay the Upgrade costs shown on the card. Upgrades must be carried out from top to bottom; upgrade steps cannot be skipped over; and only gem cards from a player's hand may be used. Improvements may be upgraded in any order, and a benefit gained through an upgrade can be used immediately (e.g. Sapphire Fox Shrine: Use a Sapphire as a Wild card).

A single-level upgrade costs 2 DIAMOND cards. In a later round, the Altar can be upgraded again for 2 DIAMOND cards, so that it is fully upgraded and has an effect.

Cards which were part of unsuccessful (too low) bids cannot be used here (see above).

Cards that are used are placed on the corresponding discard pile. Some items, including the Family clan, have the King symbol (black pawn) as an upgrade cost. For these items, the upgrade cost varies from round to round and is taken from the Hall in which the King is currently located.

Movement of the King determines the costs of upgrades: in the first round, either 2 SAPPHIRES or 2 EMERALDS.

A player pays the upgrade costs, takes an (additional) Upgrade marker and places it on the topmost empty upgrade slot of the item. If all of an item's upgrade slots are occupied, it cannot be upgraded any further and is considered fully upgraded. The number of Upgrade markers is unlimited. In the unlikely event that there are not enough Upgrade markers in the game, players can use other items (coins, cubes, pieces of paper, veggiemeeples) as additional Upgrade markers.

After this, players return any cards that were part of unsuccessful bids to their hand.

As long as the King has not reached the Coronation Chamber, the Starting player piece is moved to the left and a new round begins with the Income phase.

Example: Anna would like to upgrade one of her Dwarven clans and her Family clan. The King is currently in a hall that requires 2 SAPPHIRES. She pays 3 SAPPHIRES, takes two Upgrade markers and places one on each of the Clan and the Family clan.

End of the Game

The game ends after the Upgrade phase of the round in which the King reaches the Coronation Chamber.

Players can now purchase victory points for 3 gemstones (of any types) each. Gemstones that were bid unsuccessfully during the Auction phase and have now been returned to the players' hands may also be exchanged.

Players then add their victory points (coins) to the victory points shown on their fully upgraded improvements and items.

The player with the highest total is the winner. In the event of a tie, the winner is the tied player with the most gem cards left in his/her hand after exchanging gems 3:1. If there is still a tie, the victory is shared.

This Clan has not been fully upgraded, so there are no victory points for this card. If it had been upgraded a third time, it would have been worth 2 victory points.

Improvements and other Items that have not been fully upgraded are worth 0 victory Points.

Variant with Different Player Boards

At the start of the game, players can decide to use the reverse sides of the player boards (shown by the shields). On these, the upgrade costs and the abilities of the Family clans vary. In addition, two boards have no Packdragon, but have space for one additional Improvement.

Examples and Explanations of the Card Layouts

• Victory points, when fully upgraded – shown at the top of the Family clan card.
• Name of the clan – flag color shows the most commonly found gems.
• Negative victory points (subtract from victory point total).
• Costs for upgrade and slots for Upgrade markers.
• Victory points depend on other cards – some Improvements (e.g. Przemek the Foreman) score victory points based on other cards a player owns. At the end of the game, 4 / 7 Victory points for 3 / 4+ fully upgraded Clans.
• Upgrade costs – shown next to the arrow on each upgrade slot.
• Info text describing the benefit of the Improvement – e.g. Galgad's Dragon Hoard: The Dragon Hoard can not be removed. It can be used exactly once during the game.
• Spell scrolls do not provide victory points.
• The Spell scroll's yield at level 2 – Spell scrolls list the alternative gem yields available at each level; after use, the Spell scroll is discarded.