Please Don't Burn My Village! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Includes
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Bribe the Dragon
    • Step 1: Make the Bribe
    • Step 2: Gain the Dragon's Favor
    • Step 3: Refill the Black Market
  • Visit the Black Market
    • Step 1: Buy Treasure Cards
    • Step 2: Curse a Treasure
  • Draw 1 Card
• Game End
• Scoring
• Credits

Objective

The goal is to have the most points in bribes at the end of the game. You will play sets of Treasure cards in front of you as bribes and each card in a set is worth the points shown by the matching Treasure token in the Dragon's Favor. (See Game End and Scoring for details.)

Includes

• 84 Treasure cards (14 each of Enchanted Swords, Magic Scrolls, Phoenix Feathers, Healing Potions, Barbarian Axes, and King's Crowns)
• 20 Wild cards (Gold coins)
• 6 Treasure tokens: 1 of each Treasure
• 1 board
• 5 Player Aid cards
• Rules
• 1 Promo card (Bribe) to be used in your copy of Castle Panic

Setup

1. Set up the board where all players can reach it. The top section shows the Dragon's Favor, ranked from 1 to 4. The bottom section shows the Black Market with costs from 3 to 0.

2. Adjust the number of Wild cards used in the game based on the number of players:

   • 2 players: Remove 9 Wild cards
   • 3 players: Remove 7 Wild cards
   • 4 players: Remove 2 Wild cards
   • 5 players: Remove no Wild cards

   Return any removed Wild cards to the box. They will not be used.

3. Shuffle all remaining Wild cards and Treasure cards together to create the deck, and deal 7 cards facedown to each player. (Keep your cards private, but keep the number of cards in your hand visible throughout the game.)

4. Mix up the 6 Treasure tokens and randomly place 1 in each of the Dragon's Favor spaces under the shields.

5. Draw cards from the deck and place one faceup underneath each Market Stall in the Black Market.

6. Place the deck facedown next to the Black Market. Leave space for a discard pile.

7. The player who most recently put out a fire is the first player.

How to Play

On your turn, perform one of the following actions:

• Bribe the Dragon (3 steps)
• Visit the Black Market (2 steps)
• Draw 1 card

Bribe the Dragon

Maybe he'll spare us for a pile of Magic Scrolls?

Step 1: Make the Bribe

Choose 1 or more Treasure cards of the same type (plus any Wilds) from your hand to offer the Dragon.

• You may play only 1 type of Treasure card each turn.
• You may make a new Bribe OR add to an existing Bribe.
  • Make a new Bribe — If you are Bribing with a type of Treasure that you haven't played before, play the cards faceup in front of you as a set. Keep them arranged in a column so all players can see how many cards you are offering. Wild cards CANNOT be played on their own as a new Bribe. They must be played with at least 1 Treasure card.
  • Add to an existing Bribe — If you have already Bribed this type of Treasure before, add your cards to that existing set. Wild cards CAN be added to an already existing Bribe on their own.
• When Bribing with more than 1 card, you may include any number of Wild cards from your hand. These are counted as the type of Treasure they were played to.
• Each set of cards may be made of only 1 type of treasure (plus any Wild cards).

Step 2: Gain the Dragon's Favor

The Dragon is pleased, and your Treasure increases in value.

• Move the Treasure token matching the Treasure card you played one space to the right for every card you used (including Wilds) to make a Bribe this turn.
• Treasure tokens you pass are moved down to make room for yours.
• You may Bribe with as many Treasures of one type that you have in your hand, but a Treasure token can never go beyond the 4 space.
• If you Bribe with the Treasure type already in the 4 space, the Treasure token does not move.

Step 3: Refill the Black Market

Turn over cards from the deck, and place them faceup in the Market Stalls.

• Always place the first Treasure drawn in the 3 Market Stall, the second drawn in the 2 Market Stall, and so on.
• After placing a Treasure in the 0 Market Stall, the next Treasure card will start the line over in the 3 Market Stall, then the 2 Market Stall, and so on.
• Continue placing Treasures like this until either a card matching the Treasure card you played in your Bribe OR a Wild card is placed in a Market Stall.
• When placing Treasure cards, be sure to create columns where all cards in the column are partly visible.
• If during this step the deck runs out and a matching Treasure card or Wild card has still not been turned over, the game ends. (See Game End.)

NOTE: Remember, if you make a Bribe, you must ALWAYS refill the Black Market!

Visit the Black Market

It's a deal too good to pass up!

Step 1: Buy Treasure Cards

You can visit the Black Market to buy more Treasure cards and curse a Treasure token to reduce its value.

• Decide which Market Stall you would like to buy cards from.
• Discard the number of cards from your hand equal to the cost shown on the chosen Market Stall.
• Put the discarded cards faceup in the discard pile with the Treasure you want to Curse on top. The top card cannot be a Wild card. (See Step 2: Curse a Treasure.)
• You may discard Treasure cards of any type to pay the cost. They do not need to be all the same.
• You can discard Wild cards to count towards that total, but you can never discard ONLY Wild cards. You must discard at least 1 Treasure card.
• Take all the cards from the Market Stall and add them to your hand.
• Cards in the 0 Market Stall may be taken for free without discarding any cards, as they have no cost.
• There is no limit to the number of cards you may have in your hand.

Step 2: Curse a Treasure

• The top Treasure card you discarded (not a Wild) is the Treasure token that is cursed.
• Move that Treasure token down 1 space to the left in the Dragon's Favor for every card you discarded. This decreases the value of that Treasure.
• Treasure tokens you pass are moved up to make room for yours.
• If you choose the cards in the 0 Market Stall, you do not curse a Treasure token because no cards were paid.
• Unlike when making a Bribe, you CANNOT discard more cards than the cost of the cards you are buying.

NOTE: Remember, every time you buy Treasure cards, you must Curse a Treasure token! And you cannot Curse a Treasure without buying Treasure cards.

Draw 1 Card

Maybe we can find something good lying around?

• Instead of Making a Bribe or Visiting the Black Market, you may draw the top card of the deck and add it to your hand.
• There is no limit to the number of cards you may have in your hand.
• If there are no cards left to draw, the game ends. (See below.)

Game End

The game ends immediately when the Treasure deck is empty and a player is unable to perform the Draw 1 Card action OR to add a card into the Black Market during Step 3 of Bribing the Dragon.

• Once the game ends, you may add all Treasure cards in your hand to matching Bribes you have already made.
• Any Treasure cards you haven't used in Bribes will stay in your hand.
• Unlike when Bribing the Dragon, Wild cards left in your hand CANNOT be added to your existing Bribes.

Scoring

• Every card in a Bribe is worth the value shown for the matching Treasure token in the Dragon's Favor.
• For every Wild card left in their hand, players lose 2 points.
• For every Treasure card left in their hand, players lose the value shown for the matching Treasure token in the Dragon's Favor.
• Total each player's score. The player with the highest score will have their village spared and is the winner!
• In case of a tie, the player who has the most cards of the highest value Treasure token is the winner.
• If still tied, the player with the most cards of the next value to the left in the Dragon's Favor wins, and so on.

Credits

Game Design: Simon Weinberg

Game Development: Anne-Marie De Witt, Justin De Witt

Graphic Design and Layout: Justin De Witt

Art: Tad Lambert

Special Thanks to: Paul Mulders and René Coenen who inspired Simon to design the game. James Ernest for his insights during game development.

Playtesters: Mindy Baker, Sam Baker, Isaac Bendixen, Rachelle Bendixen, Rudy Bendixen, Victor Bendixen, Thick Biscuit, JD Cash, Ray Cash, Joe Chacra, Edgar Fisher, Julie Fisher, Miguel Flores, Scott Glasgow, Alan Hutcheson, Ethan Hutcheson, Ezra Hutcheson, Jennifer Klocke, Lynn Klocke, Philip Klocke, Sariah Klocke, Stefan Klocke, Aniek Leenen, Chris Leleux, Gaurisha Matai, Nina Morris, Avery Morse, David Morse, Wendy Morse, Zach Morse, Kollin Ott, Kyle Ott, Justin Phillips, Judson Spillar, Jeremy Storckman, Josh Storckman, Matt Titelbaum, Gillian Weinberg, Sarah Weinberg, Thomas Weinberg, The Estec Boardgames Club

Players have permission to make copies of this Score Sheet, or download printable versions at firesidegames.com/product/please-dont-burn-my-village.