Once Upon a Time... Life
Once Upon a Time... Life Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents of the Box
- Game board
- 8 pawns to choose from
- 1 die
- 53 Easy Question cards
- 53 Hard Question cards
- 45 Chance cards
- 45 Bad Luck cards
- 35 Leukocyte tokens
- 35 Medicine tokens
- 84 Globin tokens
- 30 Hemo tokens
- 4 answer detectors
- 4 conversion cards
- Rulebook
Goal of the Game
The goal of the game is to collect 7 Hemo tokens. To collect them, players roll the die and move around the board. They fight viruses and bacteria, answer questions, take part in duels, and receive either a chance or bad luck.
Setup
Before the game begins, each player receives:
- 3 Globin tokens
- 2 Leukocyte tokens
- 2 Medicine tokens
- 1 conversion card
- 1 answer detector
The remaining tokens are placed beside the board, in the bank.
Cards are placed in their designated places on the board.
Gameplay
The youngest player starts the game. They choose a pawn they want to play and place it on the START space in the corresponding body system.
NOTE! Pawns are assigned by colour to specific body systems.
Players move around the board clockwise. The first player rolls the die and moves their pawn the indicated number of spaces. If a player lands on a space with a task, they must carry it out. After completing the task, the player passes the die to the next player so that they can take their turn.
Description of the Spaces
Leukocyte space: the player receives 1 Leukocyte token from the bank.
Medicine space: the player receives 1 Medicine token from the bank.
Virus space: the player returns 1 Leukocyte token or 1 Globin token to the bank. If the player has nothing with which to defend themselves against the Virus, they lose one turn.
Bacteria space: the player gives 1 Medicine token or 1 Globin token. If the player has nothing with which to defend themselves against the Bacteria, they lose one turn.
After passing the START space of their own body system, the player receives a bonus from the bank of 3 Globin tokens, 2 Leukocyte tokens and 2 Medicine tokens.
Chance space: the player takes the top card from the Chance deck, reads the instruction aloud, and carries it out. After carrying out the instruction, the player places the card at the bottom of the deck. Among the Chance cards there are also two special kinds of card: Master and Virus. Players do not show these cards to the other players; they keep them for themselves. (See pages 6-7.)
- The Virus card is used to attack opponents.
- The Master card protects against an attack by a Virus card. It can also be used to challenge any player to a duel.
Bad Luck space: the player takes the top card from the Bad Luck deck, reads the instruction aloud, and carries it out. After carrying out the instruction, the player places the card at the bottom of the deck.
Question space: the player chooses whether to answer an Easy question or a Hard question. To do so, they take a card from the corresponding deck and read aloud the question at the top of the card. To check whether the answer is correct, the player places the answer detector on the red-blurred area of the card, just below the question.
- For a correct answer to an Easy question, the player receives 1 Globin token.
- For a correct answer to a Hard question, the player receives 2 Globin tokens.
A wrong answer earns the player nothing.
Va banque question: if the player answers the drawn question correctly, they may also play va banque. To do so, the player takes another card with a question. If they answer correctly again, they additionally receive:
- for a correct answer to an Easy question, 1 Globin token;
- for a correct answer to a Hard question, 2 Globin tokens.
A player may ask for a va banque question only once during their turn. Points earned add up. However, if the player answers the va banque question incorrectly, they lose the Globin tokens they received after the first question.
Additional spaces: the sports field (boisko), park, hospital (szpital) and pharmacy (apteka) are additional spaces. Players reach them through instructions read from Chance cards and Bad Luck cards. A player returns to play from the nearest START space.
Master Duel
If you have a Master card, you may challenge any opponent to a duel, except for players standing on additional spaces (sports field, park, hospital and pharmacy). The winner of the duel takes from the loser either 4 Globin tokens or 1 Hemo token.
If a player lacks the appropriate tokens but has others, they must exchange them according to the conversion card. If the number of tokens is still insufficient, the player gives up all the tokens they have collected. After the duel, the Master card returns to the bottom of the Chance deck.
NOTE! The challenged player may avoid the duel if they also have a Master card. After both players show their cards, both cards return to the bottom of the Chance deck and the game continues.
How the Master Duel works:
Attack: the challenger chooses one question from the deck, either hard or easy as they see fit, and reads it to the opponent. If the opponent answers correctly, they have the right to counterattack; otherwise, they lose the duel.
Counterattack: the challenged player chooses one question from the same deck and reads it to the challenger. If the challenger answers correctly, the duel remains undecided, and the winner is decided by dice rolls.
Dice rolls: the player who gets a higher total in two rolls wins.
Virus Attack
If you have a Virus card, you may choose a player you want to attack. The attacked player must give 3 Globin tokens to the bank. If they do not have them but have other tokens, they must exchange them for Globin tokens (see the conversion card). If the number of tokens is still insufficient, the attacked player gives up all the tokens they have collected, except for Hemo tokens. After the attack, the Virus card returns to the bottom of the Chance deck.
NOTE! A Master card protects against a Virus attack. If the attacked player has a Master card, they may repel the attack by showing that card. After a repelled attack, the Master and Virus cards return to the bottom of the Chance deck.
Additional Actions
Before each roll of the die, a player may take additional actions:
a. Exchange tokens:
- 4 Globin tokens may be exchanged at the bank for 1 Hemo token.
- 2 Leukocyte tokens may be exchanged at the bank for 1 Globin token.
- 2 Medicine tokens may be exchanged at the bank for 1 Globin token. b. Attack an opponent with a Virus card. c. Challenge an opponent to a duel using a Master card.
End of the Game
The game ends when one of the players collects 7 Hemo tokens.
The order of the remaining players, who have not yet reached the magic seven, depends on the number of tokens they have collected.