Ravine
Ravine Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What's Included
- Forage: 103 cards
- Night: 41 cards
- Madness: 21 cards
- Craft & Guides: 20 cards
- Wreckage: 9 cards
- Fire token: 1
- Heart tokens: 36
Overview
Skip these instructions and watch a brief how-to video of how to play Ravine here: playravine.com/howto
Setup
Separate the cards into their respective decks and shuffle them. Place the Forage and Madness decks face down in the middle of the group.
Deal 1 Wreckage and 1 Crafting Guide card to each player face up, then set the rest aside. Craft cards can be left in the box until needed. Choose the number of Nights your group will attempt to survive (see Difficulty), and place that number of Night cards face down in a pile, in the center of the group. Find and shuffle "The Rescue" card (it's disguised as a Night card) into the last 3 Night cards on the bottom.
Difficulty
Difficulty is controlled by the number of Night cards you decide to play with; follow the recommendations below as a guide:
- Beginner: 8
- Normal: 12
- Difficult: 16+ (includes Rescue card)
Place the Fire token in the center of the group, face down (this means the Fire is out). Give each player 6 Heart tokens. Players should place 3 tokens heart side up in front of them, then take their remaining 3 Heart tokens, shake them like dice, and cast them onto the table. This roll determines each player's starting health after the crash. A player's tokens should be placed visibly in front of them at all times.
Round Cycle
The game begins by drawing a Night card. The round cycle has four steps, starting with Night:
- Night (start here) — Draw a Night card, play as instructed.
- Health Check — Anyone with 1 Heart remaining must draw a Madness card. Play the card as instructed.
- Day — Decide to either rest at camp or Forage. If Foraging, flip Hearts over, then draw cards.
- Prepare — Eat and craft supplies with your team to prepare for what the Night may bring.
The cycle restarts to Night, and continues until rescue or death.
Day
Players hunt for food and supplies by Foraging. After returning to camp, players can choose to eat any food they've found and use supplies they've gathered to craft items to help prepare them against the perils of the Night.
Foraging
Each player can Forage once per day, everyone does this at the same time. To Forage: each player can flip over a full Heart in return for a single Forage card (ex. 2 Hearts = 2 Forage cards). A maximum of 3 Hearts per player can be turned over at once. You may gather an extra Forage card if you have a Basket (see Crafting). Wait until all players have returned to camp to flip over their new cards. You may share what you found or keep it to yourself. Alternatively, players can rest, although this doesn't increase their health.
Note: You may Forage on your final Heart, but if you don't discover Food, you die.
After Foraging, players can decide individually (or as a team) how to use what they've collected; cards can be used, shared, traded, or saved for later. All Forage cards are discarded after 1 use.
Forage & Craft Card Types
Food
Players may eat food to regain health. The number of Hearts on the bottom of the card denotes how much health is regained by eating it. Food worth 2 Hearts or more can be divided between players (i.e. a Food card worth 2 Hearts can give 2 players 1 Heart each.)
Food cannot be eaten during an event or during the Night to preempt the effects — in other words, eating that handful of blackberries while being mauled by a cougar won't save your life, or keep you from going crazy immediately after.
Uh-Oh
Ravine is a mysterious and sinister place, full of danger and peril. As you Forage, you may uncover mushrooms, encounter animals, and discover other mysterious things. The actions on these cards occur immediately. You can protect yourself from them, but you must have the protective item in your hand as it occurs; other players cannot help you.
Bone Pile
(view more house rules at: playravine.com/rules)
Find 4 Bone Pile cards and assemble them into a bone circle to unlock the powers of the island. Once assembled, you may bring 1 dead player back to life (if there is one), they start with 3 Hearts. All living players also gain 2 Hearts.
Crafting
Wood, Fiber, and Stone can be used to craft useful items for survival (see list below). When an item is crafted, you may take that item's card from the box. If an item is single use, it must be discarded after it's used.
- Fire (1 Wood) — Repels animals and provides warmth and comfort. Fire lasts only through the Night, and goes out in the morning of the next day before Foraging begins. Note: Some Night Cards prevent Fire from being lit until the following Day.
- Spear (1 Wood + 1 Stone) — Fends off 1 Animal or Human attack. Protects a single player. Breaks after 1 use.
- Basket (1 Wood + 2 Fiber) — Allows a single player to draw 1 additional Forage card each Day. A player must Forage (flip 1 Heart) to use a Basket.
- Shelter (2 Wood + 2 Stone + 2 Fiber) — Protects up to 3 players from most weather events, and lasts indefinitely, unless destroyed. When a Shelter has been built, before Night begins, each player who chooses to be in the Shelter must put a finger on the Shelter card to show who's protected.
Night
Each Night in Ravine holds new danger for the players. After Foraging and Crafting are complete, begin the Night by turning over a Night card and read the card to the group. The effects of the Night are felt by any players without the ability to protect themselves.
Players with the appropriate Crafted items or Wreckage cards can use these items to defend themselves (or others, if allowed) against the dangers of the Night.
If a player's Hearts ever drop to zero (0), they are dead. Their remaining Forage or Wreckage cards are placed by the Fire to be shared by the remaining players however they see fit.
After the events of the Night card are complete, everyone's health must be checked to see if anyone must draw a Madness card.
Madness
If a player's health drops to 1 Heart at the end of the Night (Health Check), they must draw a Madness card. Read the instructions on the card to yourself, place the card on the table, and then follow the instructions. Some Madness effects only last the Night, others persist until the player regains health, and some last until death or rescue. Be sure to read the Recovery section of the Madness card to understand the implications.
If a player drops to 1 Heart at any point during Health Check (e.g. due to an effect of another player's Madness) they must also draw a Madness card. After the chaos of any Madness, dawn breaks, and Day begins.
Note: If a Madness event involves 1 player attacking another player, the victim can use a weapon (if they have one) to defend themselves; the person hit with the weapon loses 1 Heart.
Winning
Your stay in Ravine will end in one of two ways.
- If your entire party perishes before "The Rescue" card is turned over, your doomed trip in the wilderness fades into history.
- If at least 1 of your party can survive until the Rescue card is found, congratulations! You've survived to be rescued from Ravine.