Rats of Wistar Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Common Components
• Player Components
• Overview
• General Concepts
  • Player area
  • Resources
  • Victory Points (VP)
  • Performing Actions
• The Farm in Details
• Setup
  • Common Setup
  • Player Setup
  • Last Steps
• Gameplay
  • 1. New Round Phase
  • 2. Actions Phase
• The Action Wheel in Details
  • 2.1 Wheel Actions
  • Main Actions
• Actions in the Forest Area
  • Collecting Wood
  • Digging Rooms
• Actions in the Lair Area
  • Collecting Metal
  • Building Beds
• Actions in the Farm Area
  • Developing Projects
  • Exploring
• Guest Mouse Tiles in Details
• 2.2 Bonus Actions
• Playing Invention Cards
  • Invention Cards in Details
• Electricity
• Completing a Mission
  • Mission Cards in Detail
• Abilities of the Player Board
• 2.3 Alchemist's Action
• 2.4 Fast Actions
  • Buying a Wild token
  • Buying the Electricity token
  • Using a Movement token
  • Using a 1x effect
  • Moving Workers on the Board
  • Pitching a Tent
  • Claiming an Objective
• End of the Round
• End of the Game and Final Scoring
• Appendix
  • Type of Effects
• Iconography of the Invention Cards
• Some Invention Cards Explained
• Credits

Common Components

• 1 Board
• 1 Wheel + 1 Pin
• 10 Door tokens
• 6 Wheel Sectors
• 6 Home Mission cards
• 100 Basic Invention cards
• 80 Advanced Invention cards
• 5 Hero cards
• 4 Basement Mission cards
• 15 Home Guest Mouse tiles
• 10 Basement Guest Mouse tiles
• 2 Cheese tiles
• 13 Objective cards
• 20 Movement tokens
• 4 Electricity tokens
• 5 Skill tokens
• 12 Wild tokens
• 18 Wood tokens
• 18 Metal tokens
• 12 Multiplier tokens (4x 5, 8x 3)
• 12 1x tokens

Player Components

(for each of the 4 colors)

• 1 Player board
• 1 Summary tile
• 6 Bed tiles
• 6 Underground tiles
• 10 cubes
• 5 discs
• 2 Tent pawns
• 9 Worker pawns
• 3 Chief pawns

Overview

In Rats of Wistar you will play the role of one of the four rats who organized the escape from the famous Wistar Institute. As such, you must lead your family to prove that you are the most worthy to guide the entire colony. Thanks to your extraordinary skills, you will be able to explore the Farm until you reach the pantry to be able to grab the desirable cheese; by exploiting the artifacts abandoned by humans at the edge of the Woods, you will create new inventions and expand your lair under the trees, digging new rooms and building new beds. You will meet native mice that you will welcome into your family and visit the Alchemist mouse to gain some extra advantage.

The game takes place over 5 rounds, and you will score Victory Points (VP) as follows:

• building Beds
• digging Rooms
• completing Missions within the Farm
• welcoming Guest Mice
• creating new Inventions
• claiming Objectives

At the end of the game, the player with the most VP will be the winner. In the event of a tie, the tied player first in turn order wins.

General Concepts

Player area

A player's play area is represented by all played cards, tokens, and tiles on and next to their Player board.

Resources

Whenever you get a Wood, Metal, Movement, or Wild token, take it from the general supply and place it in your play area. Whenever you have to spend one of these tokens, take it from your play area and put it back in the general supply. If the supply runs out of Wood or Metal tokens, you can use the corresponding Multiplier tokens.

Victory Points (VP)

Each time you score VP, advance your disc on the VP track a number of spaces equal to the VP you scored. Each time you lose VP, move your disc back on the VP track a number of spaces equal to the VP you lost.

Performing Actions

When you perform an action, you can always decide to perform only a part of it (for example, if you don't have enough resources to pay for the action at its full strength).

The Farm in Details

The Farm is divided into three floors: basement, ground floor, top floor. The latter two are considered the Home.

It also shows 7 rooms separated by Doors; in each room you can find Guest Mouse tiles and/or Mission cards. In the back room of the Basement, you can also find the coveted Cheese.

It is possible to enter the Farm through 2 Doors, one on the ground floor and the other on the top floor (reachable through the ivy that covers the facade of the Farm).

At the beginning of the game your Explorer waits outside the Farm (the entrance).

Setup

Common Setup

1. Put the Wheel and the Board together with the pin (the flat part of the Wheel touching the board), then place the Board in the center of the table.
2. Randomly put the 6 Wheel Sectors over the Wheel. The 3 Sectors showing the icons (2), (2-3), and (3-4) must be placed with the side matching the player count face up.
3. Shuffle the Objective cards, draw 3 randomly and place them on the Board in the designated spaces. Place the remaining Objective cards to the side of the Board (they may be brought into play by some game effects).
4. Shuffle the Basement Mission cards and the Home Mission cards separately. Without looking at them, place them face down on the designated Farm spaces on the Board. The space with the icon (3-4) is only used in games with 3 or 4 players; the space with the icon (4) is only used in games with 4 players. Return any unused cards to the box.
5. Stack the 2 Cheese tiles on the corresponding Farm space on the board, placing the tile showing 6 VP on top and the one showing 3 VP below. The Cheese tile with the icon (3-4) is only used in games with 3 or 4 players. Put it back in the box when playing with 2 players.
6. Shuffle the Basement Guest Mouse tiles and the Home Guest Mouse tiles separately. Without looking at them, place them face down on the corresponding Farm spaces on the board. Spaces with the icon (3-4) are only used in games with 3 or 4 players; spaces with the icon (4) are only used in games with 4 players.
7. Randomly select, among those left, 3 Home Guest Mouse tiles and 2 Basement Guest Mouse tiles, then form a face-down Round stack with them, placing the 2 Basement Guest Mouse tiles below and the 3 Home Guest Mouse tiles on top. Place the Round stack in the designated space in the lower-right of the Board. Reveal the first tile and place it, face up, in the space just above. Place the remaining Guest Mouse tiles, divided into two separate stacks (Home and Basement), in the general supply to the side of the Board.
8. Shuffle the Door tokens and place them face down on the designated Farm spaces on the Board. Spaces with the icon (3-4) are only used in games with 3 or 4 players; spaces with the icon (4) are only used in games with 4 players. Return any unused tokens to the box.
9. Create a general supply next to the Board with the following tokens: Electricity (in a number equal to the player count), Wood, Metal, Multiplier, 1x, Wild, and Movement tokens. Place the Hero cards and Skill tokens next to the Board.

The setup image in the rulebook shows a sample setup for a 4-player game. If you play with fewer than 4 players, follow the image on the right of that page and place a disc of an unused color on the Objective cards, covering the spaces indicated by icons of the player count.

Player Setup

Each player:

10. Takes a Player Board and places it in front of them.
11. Chooses a color and takes all components of that color: 5 Discs, 3 Chief pawns, 9 Worker pawns, 10 Cubes, and 2 Tent pawns.

Then, each player places the following components on their Player Board in the designated spaces:

12. 10 Cubes,
13. 3 Chief pawns,
14. 6 Underground tiles (VP-icon covers VP-icon),
15. 6 Bed tiles (VP-icon covers VP-icon),
16. 1 Worker pawn on each Bed tile; and other 2 above the Bed tiles (on the entrance of the lair),
17. the last Worker pawn on the Board, in the entrance area of the Farm. From now on, this Worker inside the Farm will be called the Explorer.
18. Each player places 3 Discs and 2 Tent pawns in their play area next to their Player Board,
19. 1 Disc on space "10" of the VP track around the Board.
20. Each player takes 2 Wood tokens, 2 Metal tokens, and 1 Movement token and places them in their play area next to their Player Board.
21. Each player takes 1 Summary tile and places it in their play area.

Last Steps

22. Randomly define the turn order. Each player places their last Disc accordingly on the corresponding space of the Turn Order track above the Alchemist's Hut, from left to right.
23. Shuffle the Basic Invention cards and the Advanced Invention cards separately and place the 2 decks face down next to the Board. Reveal a number of Basic Invention cards equal to the number of players; then reveal the same number of Advanced Invention cards and randomly pair them (1 Basic Invention card + 1 Advanced Invention card). Then, in reverse turn order, each player chooses a pair of Invention cards. It will be their starting hand.
24. Finally, draw 4 Basic Invention cards and 4 Advanced Invention cards and place them face up to the right of the respective decks to form a display of two rows. Leave some space for a discard piles to the left of each deck.

Gameplay

The game is divided into 5 rounds (which represent the 5 days during which the challenge between the families of Rats takes place).

Each round consists of 2 phases to be carried out in the following order:

1. New Round Phase
2. Actions Phase

1. New Round Phase

Skip this phase in Round 1.

In the New Round Phase, carry out the following steps in order:

a. Update the turn order based on the position of your Chiefs on the Alchemist's Hut. If there are no Chiefs on the Alchemist's Hut, the turn order doesn't change. If there are multiple Chiefs of the same color, consider only the position of the leftmost Chief to determine the turn order change.

b. Take your 3 Chiefs back from the Board and put them back on your Player Board.

c. If still present, discard the Guest Mouse tile of the previous round (the face-up tile in the lower-right corner of the Board) and reveal a new one from the top of the Round stack.

d. Turn the Action Wheel 1 Sector clockwise (60°).

e. Receive income from the Invention cards you have played and the tiles on your Player Board with the income icon. All players can do this step at the same time. In the rare event that you need to follow an order, use turn order.

f. Remove 1x tokens from your Invention cards (put them back in the common supply).

g. Discard the 2 rightmost cards from the display of Basic Invention cards into the corresponding discard pile; slide the remaining cards rightward and restore the row to 4 face-up cards, drawing 2 new ones from the deck. Do the same with the row of Advanced Invention cards. In the rare event that a deck runs out, shuffle the corresponding discard pile and form a new deck.

2. Actions Phase

Following the turn order, take your turn by placing a Chief on the Action Wheel or on the Alchemist's Hut to perform the corresponding actions. During your turn, you can also perform one or more Quick actions that do not require placement of the Chief.

When all players have completed their 3 turns (i.e. they have placed their 3 Chiefs), the Actions Phase and the current round end.

The Action Wheel in Details

The Action Wheel shows 6 Sectors. Each Sector has from 1 to 3 exclusive Action spaces, and each space offers different Bonus Actions.

Each Sector is related to a Main action whose icon is shown outside the Action Wheel. Furthermore, in pairs, the Sectors are related to one of the 3 Areas outside the Wheel: Forest Area, Lair Area, and Farm Area. You will place your Workers in these Areas.

• The space where you place your Chief determines which Bonus action and which Main action you will perform.
• The number of Workers in the related Area determines the Strength of your Main action.
• At the beginning of each round, the Action Wheel turns 1 Sector (60°) clockwise.

2.1 Wheel Actions

To perform a Wheel action, you must place your Chief in an unoccupied space on a Sector of the Wheel. Then carry out the corresponding Main and Bonus actions, in the order you prefer. You must, however, complete all effects of the first chosen action before performing the second.

Important: You cannot place more than 1 Chief of your color in the same Sector.

Main Actions

There are 6 different Main actions, divided into 3 Areas:

• Forest Area - Collecting Wood / Digging Rooms
• Lair Area - Collecting Metal / Building Beds
• Farm Area - Developing Projects / Exploring

Note: The Strength of the Main action is equal to the number of your Workers in the related Area.

Actions in the Forest Area

Collecting Wood

Take a number of Wood tokens equal to the Strength of your action.

Example: Danilo (red) performs the Main action Collecting Wood with a Strength of 2 because he has 2 Workers in the Forest Area. He takes 2 Wood tokens from the general supply.

Digging Rooms

You can dig as many Rooms as the Strength of your action.

Each Room costs 2 Metal. Each time you dig a Room, remove the Underground tile with the lowest VP value from your Player Board; keep the Underground tile in your play area.

You will use Rooms to host Bed tiles and Guest Mouse tiles. Each Room can host only 1 tile. At the beginning of the game, you have 3 Rooms already available. If you want more, you must remove the Underground tiles from your Player Board by performing the Digging Rooms action.

Example: Danilo (red) performs the Main action Digging Rooms with a value of 3, so he could dig up to 3 Rooms. Unfortunately, he doesn't have enough Metal; so he decides to dig 2 Rooms, paying 4 Metal tokens (2 for each Room). He removes the 2 Underground tiles with the lowest values from his Player Board (0 VP and 1 VP).

Actions in the Lair Area

Collecting Metal

Take a number of Metal tokens equal to the Strength of your action.

Building Beds

You can build as many Beds as the Strength of your action.

Each Bed costs 2 Wood. Whenever you build a Bed, take the Bed tile with the lowest VP value, flip it, and place it into an unoccupied Room on your Player Board. Place the Worker that was on the tile on the space above (the entrance of your lair).

You will be able to move this Worker to the Board using the corresponding Quick action (see Quick Actions on page 15).

If you have no unoccupied Rooms, you cannot perform this action.

Example: Danilo (red) performs the Main action Building Beds with a Strength of 2, so he could build up to 2 Beds. Unfortunately, however, he has only 1 unoccupied Room on his Player Board; so he pays 2 Wood tokens to build 1 Bed and moves the lowest-value Bed tile (2 VP) to the unoccupied Room. Then, he places the Worker on the entrance space.

Actions in the Farm Area

Developing Projects

This action allows you to take new Invention cards and add them to your hand. You have as many Project points available as the Strength of your action.

Taking 1 Basic Invention card costs 1 Project point; taking 1 Advanced Invention card costs 2 Project points.

You can choose cards from the display, and/or you can draw them from the tops of the decks.

At the end of your turn, restore the rows of Invention cards by sliding the remaining cards to the right and filling the empty spaces with new cards drawn from the corresponding decks. In the rare event that a deck runs out, shuffle the corresponding discard pile and form a new deck.

Important: There is no limit to the number of cards you can have in your hand.

Example: Danilo performs the Main action Developing Projects with a Strength of 3. He has 3 Project points available. He chooses to take the Advanced Invention card "Sonic Jet" (2 Project points) and the Basic Invention card "Wooden Bicycle" (1 Project point). He puts the cards in his hand. At the end of his turn, he slides the remaining cards in each row of the display to the right and draws a card from each deck to fill the empty spaces on the left.

Exploring

This action allows you to enter the Farm and explore its Rooms with your Explorer. You have as many Exploration points available as the Strength of your action.

For each Exploration point, you can perform one of the following actions, as indicated in the upper-left corner of the Board:

You can repeat the same action several times, provided that you have the necessary Exploration points and fulfill all the requirements.

Opening a Door - Open a Door adjacent to a Room where your Explorer or one of your Tents is located (see Quick Actions on page 15). If your Explorer is on the Entrance of the Farm, you can choose whether to open the Door on the ground floor or the top floor. To open a Door, flip the Door token over and immediately get the indicated bonus (for the meanings of the bonuses, see the Appendix on page 18). Then remove the Door token from the Board and place it, face down, in your play area. Once a Door token is removed, the corresponding passage between two Rooms is considered open for the rest of the game, and any Explorer will be able to move through it (see Moving the Explorer below).

Moving the Explorer - Move your Explorer from one Room to an adjacent one. You can only do this if the passage between the two Rooms is open (the Door token has already been removed). There is no limit to the number of Explorers in the same room.

Revealing a Mission Card - Reveal a face-down Mission card in a Room where your Explorer or one of your Tents is located (see Quick Actions on page 15). You immediately get the bonus indicated in the lower-left corner of the Mission card. The Mission card will remain face up in the Room and may be completed by any eligible player (see Completing a Mission on page 13).

Taking a Guest Mouse - Take a face down Guest Mouse tile from a Room where your Explorer or one of your Tents is located (see Quick Actions on page 15). Flip the Guest Mouse tile over and place it in an unoccupied Room on your Player Board. If you have no unoccupied Rooms, you cannot perform this action. (For an explanation of the icons on the tiles, see the Appendix on page 18).

If you are in the back room of the Basement, you can take the top Cheese tile and, in the same way as a Guest Mouse tile, place it in an unoccupied Room on your Player board. Each player can have only 1 Cheese tile.

For all the effects of the game, the Cheese tile is considered a Basement Guest Mouse tile.

Example: Simon (blue) performs the Main action Exploring with a Strength of 3 and thus has 3 Exploration points available. With the first Exploration point, he opens the Door next to his Explorer and gains 1 Metal as indicated on the Door token (he places the Door token face down in his play area); with the second Exploration point, he moves his Explorer to the adjacent Room (which has become accessible); with the last Exploration point, he reveals the Mission card, receiving the indicated bonus (2 Wood). Simon could have taken the Guest Mouse tile in that Room instead.

Guest Mouse Tiles in Details

All Guest Mouse tiles have an effect which can consist of:

• an immediate effect that you apply immediately when you take the tile,
• an income that you get immediately and during each New Round Phase,
• a permanent effect that you apply whenever you meet the indicated conditions.

At the end of the game, each Guest Mouse tile on your Player Board will give you from 0 to 3 VP.

For the effects of the game, the Cheese tile is considered the same as a Basement Guest Mouse tile; it has no effect, but it will give the VP indicated on it at the end of the game.

Examples of Guest Mouse tiles:

• Immediately draw 1 Advanced Invention card from the deck. At the end of the game, it will be worth 3 VP.
• Immediately and during each New Round Phase, you score 1 VP. At the end of the game, it will be worth 0 VP.
• Each time you play an Automaton Invention card, pay 1 Wood token or 1 Metal token fewer. At the end of the game, it will be worth 2 VP.
• (Cheese tile) At the end of the game, this tile will be worth 6 VP. Each player can have only 1 Cheese tile.

2.2 Bonus Actions

Bonus actions are distributed in the various Sectors of the Action Wheel in different ways depending on the number of players. They are described in detail below:

Moving Workers - As indicated by the icons, you can move 1 or 2 Workers from one Area to another. If you move more than one Worker, you can move them into different Areas.

Taking a Wild token - Take 1 Wild token from the general supply and place it in your play area. When you play 1 Invention Card (see Playing Invention Cards on page 11) or complete a Mission (see Completing a Mission on page 13), a Joker Token can replace one of the Skill icons. You cannot use a Wild token to claim an Objective (see Quick Actions - Claiming an Objective on page 16).

Taking a Basic Invention card - Take 1 Basic Invention card from the top of the deck and add it to your hand.

Taking Metal - Take 1 Metal token.

Taking Wood - Take 1 Wood token.

One Exploration point - You have 1 Exploration point available to be used immediately.

The Alchemist's Potion - Obtain the Alchemist's Potion without placing your Chief on the Alchemist's Hut (see 2.3 Alchemist's Action on page 15).

Taking the Guest for the current round - Take the Guest Mouse tile of the current round (the face-up tile in the designated space at the bottom right of the Board) and place it in an empty Room on your Player Board. If you have no free Rooms on your Player Board, leave the tile on the Board, it will be discarded at the end of the round. There is only 1 Guest Mouse tile available each round.

Playing an Invention card - If you meet the requirements, you can play 1 Invention card (Basic or Advanced) from your hand and place it face up into your play area (see Playing Invention cards below for details).

Completing a Mission - If you meet the requirements indicated by a Mission, you can take a Cube from your Player Board and place it on that row of a Mission card. You get the indicated bonus immediately (see Completing a Mission on page 13 for details).

Playing Invention Cards

Invention Cards in Details

All Invention cards have the same structure: the Name; the VP at the end of the game; the Requirements to play the card; the Effect and the Type of effect; the Type of Invention; the Icons you now possess; and the Color (gray for Basic Invention cards, yellow for Advanced Invention cards).

To play an Invention card, you must meet the requirements indicated on the card. The requirement may consist of:

• a payment in Wood and/or Metal,
• a payment in Movement tokens,
• the possession of a specific type of Invention card,
• the possession of specific icons (on cards in your play area or on your Skill tokens),
• the possession of the Electricity token, Basic or Advanced (see Electricity on page 13),
• the presence of Guest Mouse tiles on your Player Board,
• having dug a certain number of Rooms.

You have to pay Wood, Metal, and Movement tokens (discard them back to the general supply, as usual); on the other hand, you simply have to own all the other items that grant you the requirement (cards and tokens with the required icons, cards of the indicated type, the Electricity token, and the Guest Mouse tiles), without discarding them.

Once you have met the indicated requirements, place the Invention card face up in your play area. From now on, the card is active and produces its effect. There are several types of effect:

Immediate: Apply the effect as soon as you play this card.

Note: The immediate effects won't be used again for the rest of the game; you can stack cards with this type of effect on top of each other so that only the icons at the bottom of the card are visible.

1x: You can apply this effect as a Fast action (see Fast Actions on page 15) only once during the round.

Income: Apply the effect as soon as you play this card and during each New Round Phase, starting with the next round.

Endgame: Apply the effect at the end of the game.

Permanent: Apply the effect during the game, whenever the indicated conditions allow it.

Aggressive: Apply the effect as soon as you play this card. This type of effect causes opponents who are in the indicated condition to lose VP or otherwise take damage.

Example: Jade pays 2 Wood to play the "Spy Center" Invention card. Immediately, each player with more Door tokens than her loses 2 VP. Jade has 1 Door token in her play area, as does Danilo, while Simon has 2 tokens. Therefore, Simon loses 2 VP, while Danilo loses nothing. For the rest of the game, this Invention card will give Jade 1 icon. At the end of the game, Jade will gain 4 VP from this card.

Regardless of its effect, each Invention card belongs to one of the following 3 Types: Structure, Tool, Automaton.

Next to the Type icon, the Invention card can show none, one, or more of the following 5 Skill icons (they relate to the abilities that the Rats acquire by creating that invention): Strength, Agility, Perception, Intelligence, Stamina.

In addition, a card can also show the Energy icon.

Once you have played an Invention card, all the icons shown on its bottom part are in your possession: you can use them to meet requirements, without spending them.

Each Invention card will contribute, positively or negatively, to the final score at the end of the game.

Example: Danilo has the Electricity token and the Invention card Anti-Cat Missile in his play area; these provide him with the icons required to play the Invention card Robot Horse. Therefore, by paying 2 Metal, Danilo plays the Robot Horse from his hand. As an immediate effect, he takes a Movement token and 1 VP for each of his Cubes placed on the Mission cards.

Electricity

To play certain Advanced Invention cards, you must have the Electricity token. This token can be obtained through a Fast action (see Fast Actions on page 15), specific Invention cards, or other bonuses. To meet the Basic Electricity requirement, you must have the Electricity token on any side. To meet the Advanced Electricity requirement, you must have the Electricity token on the Advanced side.

When you obtain Electricity for the first time, take the Electricity token from the general supply (there is one for each player) and place it in your play area, with the Basic side face up (gray). If you obtain Electricity a second time, flip your token to its Advanced side (yellow). If you have the token on the yellow side, any additional Electricity you obtain will give you no other advantage.

At the end of the game, you will score 2 VP if you have Advanced Electricity.

Completing a Mission

Mission cards are inside the Rooms of the Farm. You can only complete a Mission if:

• the Mission card has been revealed (it doesn't matter by which player);
• the Mission card is in the same Room as your Explorer or one of your Tents (see Fast Actions on page 15).

Mission Cards in Detail

All Mission cards have the same structure: the Name of the Mission Card; the Spaces for Cubes; the Names of the 3 Missions; the Bonus for the player who revealed this card; the Requirements to complete a Mission; and the Rewards for the player who completes this Mission.

Each Mission card consists of 3 rows representing 3 different Missions. Each row contains one or more requirements, equivalent to those of Invention cards (see Playing Invention Cards on page 11), which must be met to obtain the corresponding reward.

Example: To resolve the Mission "Get to the lock" you must pay 2 items between Wood, Metal, or Invention cards (discard it from your hand into the corresponding discard pile), in any combination; in addition, you must possess 3 Agility icons in your play area.

When completing a Mission as a Bonus action or as a result of other game effects, choose a row on the Mission card not already occupied by a Cube (yours or another player's). You must meet the requirements indicated in that row; then, place one of your Cubes from your Player Board (see Abilities of the Player Board on page 14) in the designated space and immediately obtain the indicated reward. You can only complete one Mission row at a time. Furthermore, there can be only one Cube on each row; however, more Cubes of the same color can be placed on more than one row of the same Mission card.

A Mission can show a numbered lock (1 / 2) in the space for the Cube; in this case, as an additional requirement to complete that Mission, any player must have already completed the row that shows the same-numbered lock as a reward.

Note: Apart from the locks, the rows do not need to be completed in any particular order.

Example: Danilo performs the Bonus action Completing a Mission. The first row of this Mission card has already been resolved by Simon (blue), so Danilo cannot choose it. He then decides to complete the third row in order to get the Basic Electricity token that he doesn't have yet; thus, he pays 2 Metal and places a Cube from his Player Board on the designated space. Instead of the third row, Danilo could have completed the second one, because the lock requirement is already met (Simon has already completed the first row).

Abilities of the Player Board

There are 10 spaces on your Player board where you place your Cubes at the beginning of the game. Each space shows an ability that you unlock when you move the related Cube to a Mission card (see Completing a Mission on page 13).

The Cubes from the brown spaces (6 in total) can be placed on any Mission card; the Cubes from the gray spaces (4 in total) can be placed only on Basement Mission cards.

The description of each ability follows:

• For the rest of the game, you will pay 1 Wood instead of 2 every time you build a Bed. To remove the cube from this space and unlock this ability, however, you must pay a Wood or a Metal or discard an Invention card from your hand.
• For the rest of the game, you will pay 1 Metal instead of 2 every time you dig a Room. To remove the cube from this space and unlock this ability, however, you must pay a Wood or a Metal or discard an Invention card from your hand.
• For the rest of the game, you will have an extra Room (the Veranda) available on your Player Board. At the end of the game, you score 2 VP.
• For the rest of the game, when you use a Movement token (see Fast Actions on page 15), you move 2 Workers instead of 1. At the end of the game, you score 1 VP.
• Choose a Skill token from the general supply and place it in your play area. For the rest of the game, this token will give you the indicated additional icon (example: 1 Strength icon). At the end of the game, you score 2 VP.
• At the end of the game, you score 3 VP.
• At the end of the game, you score 6 VP.
• If you remove both these Cubes, you score 2 additional VP at the end of the game.
• You may immediately play an Invention card from your hand for free. You do not have to meet the requirements indicated on the card (See Playing Invention Cards on page 11). At the end of the game, you score 1 VP.
• You may perform one Main action of your choice (see Main Actions on page 7). In doing so, consider the Strength you have at the time. At the end of the game, you get 2 VP.
• Immediately choose an available Hero card from the general supply and place it in your play area. For each Skill icon you possess in your play area, of the same type indicated on the Hero card (including the icons on the card itself), you immediately gain 1 VP. For the rest of the game, this card will give you the 2 indicated additional icons.

Example: Jade chooses Gwir the Scientist. Already having 3 Intelligence icons in her play area, she immediately scores 5 VP (3 + 2 on the Hero card). The Intelligence icons provided by the Hero card will count for all game effects.

2.3 Alchemist's Action

The Alchemist's Hut, unlike the Action spaces on the Wheel, can host any number of Chiefs, even from the same player.

When you choose to perform the Alchemist's action, place your Chief in the Alchemist's Hut, to the right of all Chiefs already there. Immediately gain 1 Movement token and the Alchemist's Potion.

Important: The position of the Chiefs on the Alchemist's Hut determines the next round's turn order. If you have performed this action multiple times, consider only the position of your leftmost Chief to determine the turn order change.

The Alchemist's Potion allows you to perform one of the following actions:

• Play 1 Invention card from your hand (see Playing Invention Cards on page 11 for details)
• Resolve 1 Mission (see Completing a Mission on page 13 for details)
• Take 1 Metal
• Take 1 Wood

2.4 Fast Actions

During your turn, you can perform a Fast action before or after each Main or Bonus action. You can perform any number of Fast actions on your turn and repeat the same action multiple times.

All the Fast actions are described in detail below (you can also find a list on your Summary tile).

Buying a Wild token

Pay 3 items between Wood, Metal, or Invention cards, in any combination. Take 1 Wild token from the general supply and put it in your play area.

Remember: A Wild token can replace a Skill icon (Strength, Agility, Perception, Intelligence, Stamina, Energy) when you play 1 Invention card (see Playing Invention Cards on page 11) or complete a Mission (see Completing a Mission on page 13).

Buying the Electricity token

Pay 4 items between Wood, Metal, or Invention cards, in any combination. Take the Electricity token from the general supply and place it in your play area, with its Basic side face up. If you already have the Electricity token on its Basic side, flip it to its Advanced Electricity side.

Remember: If you have the Advanced Electricity, any additional Electricity you gain will give you no other advantage.

Using a Movement token

Discard 1 Movement token from your play area to move one of your Workers from one Area on the Board to another.

Using a 1x effect

Place a 1x token over the icon of one of your Invention cards in your play area. Immediately apply the effect of the card. You cannot do this if there is already a 1x token on the Invention card.

Note: During the New Round Phase, remove all 1x tokens over Invention cards.

Moving Workers on the Board

Move 1 Worker from the entrance of your Player Board onto the Board, to one of 3 Areas (Forest, Lair, or Farm).

Pitching a Tent

Place a Tent in the Room where your Explorer is located. Having a Tent in a Room allows you to interact with that Room as if your Explorer were there (see the Main action Exploring on page 9). Tents of several players can coexist in the same Room.

You can place a maximum of 2 Tents in different Rooms. Once placed, a Tent cannot be removed or moved for the rest of the game. Once you have placed both of your Tents, this Fast action will no longer be available to you.

Claiming an Objective

Place one of your Discs from your play area on the topmost unoccupied space of an Objective card and immediately get the indicated bonus. To do so, you must meet the requirement indicated in the space you want to occupy.

Important: You cannot use Wild tokens to claim an Objective.

For the rest of the game, that space will no longer be available. To claim that same Objective, other players will need to place their Disc on the next space. You can place only one Disc of your color on each Objective card.

Remember: With fewer than 4 players, during setup, some spaces were covered by Discs of unused colors (see Setup on page 4).

Example: Danilo (red) has dug 3 Rooms and claims the Objective. He places his Disc on the space "3". He immediately gets the indicated bonus (he takes an Advanced Invention card from the top of the deck and scores 4 VP). The next player who wants to claim this Objective to get the same bonus, must have dug at least 4 Rooms.

End of the Round

When all players have completed their 3 turns and placed their 3 Chiefs, the Action Phase and the current Round end. If there are still Guest Mouse tiles in the Round stack on the space of the Board, start a new round; otherwise, the game is over.

End of the Game and Final Scoring

The game ends at the end of the 5th round (the Round stack on the board is empty).

Update the turn order according to the position of your Chiefs on the Alchemist's Hut, as described in the New Round Phase.

Then, calculate your final score by adding the following VP to the Victory Points scored during the game:

• VP indicated in the Ability spaces on your Player Board from which you have removed a Cube;
• VP indicated on the highest-value space on your Player board from which you have removed a Bed tile;
• VP indicated in the highest-value Room on your Player board from which you have removed an Underground tile. You score the VP regardless of whether or not the Rooms are occupied by Bed and/or Guest Mouse tiles;
• VP indicated on the Guest Mouse tiles on your Player board, including a possible Cheese tile;
• VP indicated on Invention cards in your play area;
• VP from Invention cards in your play area with an Endgame effect;
• 2 VP if you have the Advanced Electricity token;
• 1 VP for every 5 items between Wood, Metal, and Movement tokens in your play area and Invention cards still in your hand, in any combination;
• 1 VP for every 2 Wild tokens in your play area.

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner. In the event of a tie, the tied player first in turn order wins.

Example: Danilo scored 22 VP during the game. At the end of the game, he adds:

• 14 VP from the Ability spaces (3+6+2+1+2+0);
• 7 VP from the Bed spaces;
• 10 VP from the Rooms;
• 4 VP from the Guest Mouse tiles;
• 14 VP from the Invention cards;
• 12 VP from the Endgame effects on his Invention cards (3 VP for one card + 4 VP for a second + 5 VP for a third);
• 2 VP from the Advanced Electricity token;
• 1 VP from the tokens in his play area and the cards in his hand (2 Wood + 1 Metal + 1 Movement token + 4 Invention cards = 8);
• 0 VP from the Wild tokens in his play area (he has only 1).

Danilo scores 86 VP in total.

Appendix

Here you can find a recap of the main icons used in the game.

• A Main Action of your choice
• Alchemist's Potion
• 1 item between Metal, Wood, or Invention card
• Main Action: Building Beds
• Main Action: Collecting Metal
• Main Action: Collecting Wood
• Main Action: Developing Projects
• Bed tile you have built
• Metal in the indicated quantity (e.g. 1)
• Wood in the indicated quantity (e.g. 1)
• 1 Project point
• Discard 1 Bed tile
• Discount of 1 Metal
• Discount of 1 Wood
• Main Action: Exploring
• Build 1 Bed
• Discard 1 Metal
• Discard 1 Wood
• 1 Exploration point
• Build 1 Bed for free
• Move 1 Worker from the entrance on your Player Board to an Area on the Board
• Take 1 Guest Mouse tile (gray or brown) - On the Wheel: Take the Guest Mouse tile of the current round
• Main Action Digging Rooms
• Objective card
• Move the indicated number of Workers from one Area to another one
• Discard 1 Guest Mouse tile (gray or brown)
• Underground tile you have removed from your Player Board
• Claimed Objective
• Movement token
• 1 House Guest Mouse tile (brown)
• Dig 1 Room
• Choose an available Hero card and play it immediately
• Discard 1 Movement token
• 1 Basement Guest Mouse tile (gray)
• Dig 1 Room for free
• Play 1 Invention card (Basic or Advanced)
• Reveal 1 Mission card
• Victory Points in the indicated number (e.g. 1)
• Play 1 Basic Invention card
• Cubes of your color on Mission cards
• Invention card of the Structure type
• Lose the indicated number of VP (e.g. -1)
• Play 1 Advanced Invention card
• Complete a Mission
• Invention card of the Automaton type
• Invention card with an Income effect
• Play 1 Invention card (Basic or Advanced) for free. You don't have to meet any requirements
• Invention cards (Basic or Advanced)
• Invention card of the Tool type
• Invention card with a Permanent effect
• Play 1 Basic Invention card for free. You don't have to meet any requirements
• Basic Invention cards
• Invention card with an Endgame effect
• Invention card with an Immediate effect
• Play 1 Advanced Invention card for free. You don't have to meet any requirements
• Advanced Invention cards
• Invention card with a 1x effect
• Invention card with an Aggressive effect
• Play 1 Invention card of the indicated type for free. You don't have to meet any requirements
• Agility icon
• Wild token
• Discard 1 Basic Invention card from your hand
• Strength icon
• Discard 1 Wild token
• Discard 1 Advanced Invention card from your hand
• Intelligence icon
• Playing an icon of the indicated type
• Discount of 1 Skill icon
• Reveal 1 Basic Invention card from the top of the deck
• Stamina icon
• Basic Electricity token
• Door token
• Reveal 1 Advanced Invention card from the top of the deck
• Perception icon
• Advanced Electricity token
• Open 1 Door
• Energy icon
• Playing an Energy icon
• Move your Explorer
• Pitch a Tent
• Draw 3 Basic Invention cards from the corresponding deck, choose 1 to play for free; discard the other 2 to the discard pile.
• Draw 3 Advanced Invention cards from the corresponding deck, choose 1 to play for free; discard the other 2 to the discard pile.
• Every time you perform a Collecting Wood action, you get 1 extra Wood.
• Every time you perform a Digging Rooms action, you get a discount of 1 Metal on the total cost.

Type of Effects

• (Income) Apply this effect when you play the card and every New Round Phase
• (Permanent) Apply this effect every time you meet the indicated conditions
• (Endgame) Apply this effect at the end of the game
• (Immediate) Apply this effect when you play the card
• (1x) Apply this effect as a Fast action, once per round
• (Aggressive) Apply this effect when you play the card

Iconography of the Invention Cards

Every time you do what's on the left... you get what's on the right.

Example: (Biomechanical Glove) Every time you reveal a Mission card, you get 1 Metal and 1 VP.

Pay/discard what's on the left... to get what's on the right.

Ex. (Lantern) Discard 1 item between Metal, Wood or Invention card (from your hand) to get 1 Exploration point to be used immediately.

All players who have more on the left item than you... discard the item on the right.

Example: (Camouflage Suit) If you have more Wild tokens than the player who played the card, then discard 1 Wild token.

If you meet the condition on the left... you get the item on the right.

Example: (Electric Torch) if you possess the Electricity token, you get 1 Exploration point to be used immediately.

Take the item on the left as many times... as you have the item on the right.

Example: (Wooden Armor) Take as many Advanced Invention cards from the top of the deck as the number of Stamina icons you possess in your play area.

Some Invention Cards Explained

12 - Universal Key / 64 - Time Bomb Take a Door token from anywhere on the Farm, flip it over, and apply its effects as if you had opened it with an Exploration point.

15 - Electric Drill Dig 1 Room for free for every Energy icon you possess in your play area.

18 - Energy Sword If you have the Electricity token, take 1 Wild token.

22 - Jetpack / 27 - Sonic Jet Move your Explorer to any available Room. An available Room is connected to the Room where your Explorer is located through open passages (there are no Door tokens in the way).

25 - Time Travel Machine Each player who has more Guest Mouse tiles than you must choose between discarding one or losing 3 VP.

30 - Positronic Screwdriver Every time you play an Invention card you have a discount of 1 Wood or 1 Metal.

38 - Hot Air Balloon Draw 2 Objective cards from the deck next to the Board and choose 1 to place in your play area, face up. It will be a new Objective that only you can claim. Discard the other.

40 - Hammer / 116 - Garage Play an Invention card. You have a discount of 1 Wood or 1 Metal.

44 - Shuriken Each player who has more Invention cards in their hand than you must discard 1 (they choose).

50 - Camping Tent Pitch a Tent in any available Room. An available Room is connected to the Room where your Explorer is located through open passages (there are no Door tokens in the way). If you have already pitched both Tents, you can move one following these rules.

51 - Encyclopedia Every time you take an Advanced Invention card from the display or from the deck, take 1 Movement token.

53 - Magnetic Compass For every Intelligence icon you play, you get 1 Exploration point to be used immediately.

55 - Sailing Cart Discard 1 Cube from a brown space of your Player Board (you still need to pay the resource where required).

59 - Electric Torch If you have the Electricity token, take 1 Exploration point to be used immediately.

61 - Electric Scooter If you have the Electricity token, take 1 Movement token.

69 - Wheel Calculator Play 1 Automaton Invention card for free. You don't have to meet any requirements.

73 - Robot Snail You have an additional Room available on this card. You can place here a Bed tile or a Guest Mouse tile.

75 - Robot Mouse / 114 - Genetics Laboratory / 165 - Inn Take the indicated Guest Mouse tile from the general supply.

77 - Mechanical Chameleon Apply a 1x effect of another card; the card can be yours or of another player's.

78 - Robot Tiger For every Strength icon you play, you can play an Invention card that doesn't give Strength icons with the discount of 1 Wood and 1 Metal.

87 - Robot Mole Each player who has removed more Underground tiles than you must choose between discarding 2 Metal or losing 3 VP.

91 - Wooden Porcupine Score 1 VP for every Underground tile you have removed.

94 - Mechanical Cow Play an Invention card. You have a discount of 1 Wood and 1 Metal.

95 - Robot Dog For the rest of the game, ignore the Aggressive effect of cards played by other players (or of Rat-o-bot Track cards).

97 - Robot Cheetah If you have the Electricity token, you get the Alchemist's Potion.

110 - Electric Sawmill Every time you take any number of Wood (from an action or an effect), you get 1 extra Wood and 1 VP.

112 - Extraction Tower Every time you take any number of Metal (from an action or an effect), you get 1 extra Metal and 1 VP.

118 - Industrial Carpentry Discard 1 item between Metal, Wood, or Invention card to build 1 Bed for free.

124 - Radar Tower Immediately resolve 1 Mission; you can ignore the requirement of 1 Skill icon.

125 - Sky Observatory Every time you play an Invention card, you can ignore the requirement of 1 Skill icon.

130 - Training Center Every time you take a Wild token, score 1 VP.

131 - Control Tower Every time you claim an Objective, you can play 1 Invention card for free.

134 - Data Processing Center Discard 2 items between Metal, Wood or Invention cards in any combination to draw 3 Basic Invention cards from the corresponding deck, choose 1 to play for free; discard the other 2 in the discard pile.

136 - Radio Room Score 2 VP for every Cube you removed from grey spaces on your Player Board.

137 - Automated Laboratory Take 2 Tool Invention cards (1 Basic and 1 Advanced). Take them from the display, if there are any; otherwise, reveal cards from the deck until you find one (the cards revealed and not taken go in the discard pile).

141 - Hostel Discard 1 Bed tile that you have already built and take 2 Wood.

143 - Cartographer's Study Score 1 VP for every Cube you removed from brown spaces on your Player Board.

144 - Researcher's Tower Reveal the first card from the Advanced Invention cards deck. If it's a Tool card, take it; otherwise, discard it.

148 - Development Room Reveal the first card from the Basic Invention cards deck. If it's a Structure card, take it; otherwise, discard it.

150 - Game Library Every time you score any number of VP, score 1 extra VP.

156 - Archive Choose an Invention card from the Basic or Advanced discard pile and take it.

164 - Construction Crane Every time you play a Structure card, you have a discount of 1 Wood or 1 Metal.

176 - Metal Storage At the end of the game, score 1 VP for every Metal token in your play area.

177 - Merchant Stall Discard 1 item to take a different item.

Credits

Game Designers: Danilo Sabia, Simone Luciani

Illustrators: Candida Corsi, Sara Valentino

Art Director and Graphics: Arianna Santini

Rules and Story: Stefania Niccolini

Italian Editor and Translation: Giuliano Acquati

English Editor: Nathan Morse

The designers would like to thank: Mauro, Barbara, Marco, Ian and Massimo, Simone, Alex D., Alex M., Daniele, Alberto, Devis, Thomas, Chiara, Michele, Mauro, Ido, Claudio, Paolo, Samantha, and Daniel.

Capstone Games, 2 Techview Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45215 — www.capstone-games.com

Cranio Creations S.r.l., Via E. Romagnoli 1, 20146, Milano - Italy — www.craniocreations.it

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