Schattenwald
Schattenwald Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Adventure Book
- 16 Forest Cards
- 12 Forest Frames
- 4 Backpack Tiles
- 8 golden magic drops made of wood
- 96 Ingredient Tiles
- 4 Forest Boxes
- 10 envelopes and 1 small box with secret contents (DO NOT OPEN!)
IMPORTANT: Open the envelopes or the box only when the game tells you to.
Goal of the Game
Over 18 chapters you will, step by step, become true masters of magic. In each chapter you receive different tasks. You collect ingredients for potions, find secret paths and rescue animals from the forest.
A chapter is completed when you together complete all tasks. If you do not find enough ingredients or overlook too many forest spirits, you fail. Talk to each other and work together, and you can pass the chapters.
After each chapter you can decide whether to play another chapter straight away or to save your game and continue another time.
Setup
General
Before the first game: Punch all parts out of the punch frames and set them aside.
Before each game:
- Place the Adventure Book in the middle of the table.
- Place all Ingredient Tiles next to the Adventure Book.
- Each player takes one Backpack and places it in front of them.
- Each player takes one Forest Box and 3 random Forest Frames. Slide the 3 Forest Frames into the 3 slots of your Forest Box.
Chapter Setup
Prepare the chapter as follows:
- The chapter: Open the Adventure Book to the current chapter. (If you are playing for the first time, begin with chapter 1.)
- Chapter description: Read the chapter description aloud for everyone.
- (From chapter 2) New rules: Read the new rules aloud and pay attention to any special features.
- Tasks: These tasks must be completed to finish the chapter.
- Card sets: Take all Forest Cards indicated for the current chapter and set them out (in chapter 1 this is card set A).
- (From chapter 2) Golden magic drops: Place as many magic drops on the field as indicated. The field next to it (marked X) stays empty.
- (From chapter 2) Protective amulets: Take all amulets indicated for the current chapter and set them out.
- Discard pile: This is where you place Forest Cards during the chapter.
- Chapter end: Read the chapter end only once the current chapter is over.
The illustrated example spread on this page carries two captions: "Super! You may now open the envelope and play the next chapter." and "Try again. Before you start, each of you may choose one ingredient and put it in your backpack."
Preparing the Forest Box
-
Shuffle all Forest Cards and deal them out as evenly as possible to everyone. It does not matter if someone receives more cards.
-
Place the Forest Cards into your Forest Boxes as follows:
- 2 Forest Cards into the front compartment
- 2 Forest Cards into the middle compartment
- all remaining Forest Cards into the back compartment, always with the side shown in the illustration facing forward
In chapter 1 with 4 players, no Forest Cards go into the back compartment.
-
Now swap Forest Boxes with each other as often as needed until nobody knows which box was filled by whom. The moon always points upward while you do this.
Two small numbers printed on the illustration of this step are labels for the illustration only.
All other materials, such as the envelopes or the small box, which have not been named so far, are not needed yet. Leave them in the game box until the game asks you to open them.
Game Flow
Whoever was last in a forest begins. After that, play continues clockwise. This continues until you reach the end of the chapter. Together you now try to complete the chapter's tasks.
Your Turn
When it is your turn, look at the front of your Forest Box and carefully examine the visible Forest Card. Change your viewing angle on the Forest Card by turning your Forest Box slightly in your hand. This lets you see some spots that were hidden before. Look carefully, then choose one of two options:
- A. Stand still.
- B. Collect an ingredient.
A. Stand still. If you do not want to go into the forest, tell the others. You do nothing in this turn, and play continues clockwise.
B. Collect an ingredient. To collect an ingredient you must go into the forest. To do so, take the front Forest Card out of your Forest Box and place it face down on the discard pile in the Adventure Book. The back of the card shows all the ingredients you can collect.
IMPORTANT: You may collect only one ingredient, even if several are shown on the card. Choose one, take it from the supply and place it on your Backpack.
Then check whether you can complete a task. How this works is explained in the next section.
Swapping Forest Boxes
Before you collect an ingredient or stand still, you may swap your Forest Box with the Forest Box of another player. You may swap your Forest Box as often as you like and with as many players as you like. However, you may only swap when it is your turn.
Agree on swaps with each other. It is often sensible to swap Forest Boxes. Examples can be found under Game Tips (page 8).
Your Tasks
Each chapter holds different tasks for you. In chapter 1 there are 5 tasks to complete. You will see 5 circles, each showing ingredients. These are the ingredients you must collect.
Completing a Task
To complete a chapter you must complete all tasks together. It is important that each individual task is completed by only one person.
After collecting an ingredient, you may complete a task, but only if all the ingredients for that task are in your Backpack. You then place all the required ingredients from your Backpack onto the respective task in the Adventure Book.
Example 1: After collecting, you have 2 pink clovers in your Backpack. You can now complete the task and place both clovers on the task with the bat in the Adventure Book.
Example 2: After collecting, you have 1 pixel flower in your Backpack. Luisa also has 1 pixel flower in her Backpack. You cannot complete the task with the squirrel yet. You or Luisa need a second pixel flower to complete it. That is why it is so important to swap Forest Boxes during the game.
IMPORTANT: You must have collected all the ingredients for a task yourself and have them in your own Backpack. Never take ingredients from another player's Backpack!
Overview of the Ingredients
- Special Feather
- Blood-Red Flower
- Honey of the Shadow Forest Bees
- Crystal
- Glowing Mushroom
- Magic Berry
- Pink Clover
- Pixel Flower
- Rainbow Herb
- Snail Shell
- Cone of the Sugar Stick Tree
- Magic Branch
All symbols or animals on Forest Cards that have not yet been described may be ignored for now!
Game Tips
Talk to Each Other!
When it is your turn, say out loud which ingredients you can see or which ingredient you would like to collect. Remember: before you collect an ingredient, you may swap Forest Boxes with others at the table as often as you like!
Example 1: You already have a Magic Berry in your Backpack. To complete a task that needs 2 Magic Berries, you need one more. You do not see a Magic Berry in your Forest Box. You ask the others whether they see one in theirs. Laura responds, and you swap your Forest Boxes. Now you go into the forest, collect the Magic Berry and complete the task.
Example 2: You see honey in your Forest Box but do not need it right now. Paul says he would like to collect the honey. You swap your Forest Boxes. Now you look at your new Forest Box and may again decide whether to collect an ingredient, stand still, or swap your Forest Box once more.
Discuss together which action is the best. However, the player whose turn it is always makes the final decision.
Divide the Tasks
The number of ingredients in the forest is limited. Try to complete different tasks. If you all collect the same ingredients, at the end perhaps none of you will have enough in your own Backpack to complete a task.
Swapping Forest Boxes
It is often sensible to swap your Forest Boxes with each other before collecting ingredients.
IMPORTANT: Only the player whose turn it is may swap their box with someone else!
Chapter End
A chapter is over when you have either completed it together or failed it together.
- You completed the chapter when you have completed all tasks. As soon as you complete the last task, the round ends. Then read the green section in the book aloud and follow the instructions.
- You did not complete the chapter when you have played all your Forest Cards but unfinished tasks remain. (From chapter 2) OR when you must move a magic drop onto the X field but have none left. Then read the red section marked with the X in the Adventure Book aloud and follow the instructions.
If you also see this symbol, you receive a bonus. Read the next section.
Each time you have finished a chapter, whether completed or not, discuss whether you want to play another chapter. If you want to play another chapter, continue reading under Preparing a New Chapter (page 11). If you do not want to continue this time, read under Playing Another Time (page 11) and save your game state.
The Bonus
If you see this symbol at the bottom right of the book page, you receive a bonus at the end of the chapter. It does not matter whether you completed the chapter or not; the bonus is received in both cases.
Each player in turn may mark 1 ingredient that is still in their Backpack on the Bonus page, the last page of this manual, with a pen. In a 2-player game, each player may mark 2 ingredients. To do so, choose one of the 3 sections and mark the respective ingredient.
As soon as all ingredients in one section are marked, you may open a bonus envelope. Begin with Bonus Envelope 1, then 2 and 3.
- If you have no ingredient left, you may not mark anything.
- If you have only ingredients that are already marked, you may also not mark anything.
The Bonus page (page 20) shows three sections. Each section shows the 12 ingredients as icons, which can be marked with a pen.
What Does the Bonus Give You?
The printed page for this section contains three placeholder boxes, one for each bonus envelope, each reading: "Here is space for the contents of Bonus Envelope 1 / 2 / 3." The actual contents are in the sealed envelopes, which are not part of this document.
Preparing a New Chapter
If you decide to play the next chapter straight away, take all the Forest Cards that are still left in your Forest Boxes and place them on the discard pile. Also return all ingredients to the supply. You do not take Forest Cards or collected ingredients from a previous chapter into a new chapter.
Then prepare the next chapter as described in the section Chapter Setup on page 4.
Playing Another Time
If you want to play another time, you should save your game state so that you know later which chapter you start with. To do so, take the bookmark and place it at the top edge of the chapter page where you stopped playing. If you completed the chapter, place the bookmark with the green side up. If you did not complete the chapter, place it with the red side up, marked with an X.
When you start another time, you will know where to begin:
- If the bookmark is green, turn one page further and play the following chapter.
- If the bookmark is red, play the open chapter again. Then read aloud the red section marked with the X in the book and follow the instructions.
And now it is time to begin! Read the next sections of the manual only later, when a chapter asks you to.
Printed as a heading on the illustrated example spread: "Into the Schattenwald!"
New Rules
IMPORTANT: Read further here only when the Adventure Book asks you to.
Here you will find the new rules that are important for individual chapters. Read them only when the Adventure Book shows the corresponding symbol for them in the chapter setup. Read only the individual sections that are important for a chapter.
- New rules for the current and all following chapters (pages 12–15)
- New rules for individual chapters (pages 16–19)
1. New Rules for the Current and All Following Chapters
IMPORTANT: Once these rules have appeared, they apply to all following chapters!
New Forest Cards
In the chapter setup (step 5) it is always stated which card sets are used in a chapter. If new Forest Cards are added, shuffle them together with all other Forest Cards and fill your Forest Boxes with all the Forest Cards indicated.
To sort the cards easily, you will find a letter in the lower left corner on the back of each card (the illustration shows the letters A–B–C–D–E).
The Magic Drops
From now on, at every chapter setup (step 6), place as many magic drops on the field as indicated in the respective chapter.
The magic drops are very special drops that help you against the forest spirits.
New Forest Spirits
Forest spirits come into play from chapter 2 onwards. From now on you must look carefully before you collect an ingredient and before you draw a Forest Card from your Forest Box, because a forest spirit could be hidden on the card. The forest spirits are shown on both the front and the back of the Forest Card.
Printed as captions on the illustrated example spread on this page: "Super! You may now play the next chapter." and "Try again. Before you start, each of you may choose one ingredient and put it in your backpack, or take one more magic drop."
IMPORTANT: Once you have drawn a Forest Card, you may no longer change your mind! You must then draw that Forest Card out completely, even if you have now spotted a forest spirit.
The Protective Amulets
When new forest spirits come into play, you always receive the matching protective amulet. Divide the protective amulets as evenly as possible among you. Place the protective amulets into the recess on your Backpack. If you have more than one protective amulet during the game, place all further ones next to your Backpack.
A protective amulet that you have can be used again and again. It never loses its effect.
Matching Protective Amulet
If, on your turn, you draw a card from your Forest Box that shows a forest spirit, and you have the matching protective amulet, you ward off the forest spirit. You may then collect an ingredient shown on the card and place it in your Backpack.
Example 1: You spot a Ghost on the Forest Card. You have the Ghost amulet and can ward it off, so nothing happens to you. You draw the Forest Card from your Forest Box and place it on the discard pile. Afterwards you may collect an ingredient shown on the card. You decide on the cone and place it in your Backpack.
Example 2: While looking at your Forest Box you spot a Moss Monster. Since you do not have the matching protective amulet, you decide not to draw the Forest Card, but to swap your Forest Box with Jana, because she has the matching amulet. On her turn, Jana can ward off the Moss Monster and collect an ingredient. Your new Forest Box shows no forest spirit. So you can draw the Forest Card and collect an ingredient.
No Matching Protective Amulet
If, on your turn, you draw a card from your Forest Box that shows a forest spirit, and you do not have the matching protective amulet, you cannot ward off the forest spirit. You may not collect an ingredient. To keep the forest spirit from catching you, you must move one of your magic drops onto the X field. If you have no magic drops left and overlook another forest spirit, you are driven out. Read under Chapter End "Chapter not completed" (page 9) what you must do.
Example 1: You overlooked the Flower Spirit and draw the Forest Card from your Forest Box. Unfortunately you do not have the matching protective amulet. You may not collect an ingredient and must move one magic drop onto the X field.
Overview of the Forest Spirits
- Eichelschling
- Ghost
- Moss Monster
- Gnome
- Flower Spirit
- Mushroom Eye
- Tree Spirit
Sorcerers
Welcome to the chapters of the budding sorcerers.
What Is New?
First you must sort the card sets again. Chapter 1 for the sorcerers is played only with card set A. In later chapters, new card sets are added.
Also, the hourglass is now part of the game. Read under The Hourglass for more.
The Hourglass
Before the First Game with the Hourglass
When you play with the hourglass for the first time, first stick all the hourglass stickers onto the corresponding Forest Cards. Forest Cards that should receive an hourglass sticker are marked on the back with a dashed circle. Place one hourglass sticker on each such circle.
Before Each Game with the Hourglass
During chapter setup, place the hourglass on the round hourglass symbol in the Adventure Book. When you begin the chapter, turn the hourglass over.
Make sure the hourglass is always running. You may turn the hourglass at any time. However, when you turn the hourglass, you must also place one magic drop on the X field. Once all magic drops are used up, you can no longer turn the hourglass.
If you forget the hourglass and it runs out, nothing happens at first. However, if you draw a Forest Card from a Forest Box whose back shows an hourglass symbol, you must check the hourglass immediately:
- If the hourglass is still running, all is well and nothing else happens.
- If the hourglass has run out, you must move 2 magic drops onto the X field. Then turn the hourglass over so that it runs again.
Overlooked a forest spirit? If you also overlooked a forest spirit on that Forest Card, you lose one magic drop for it, as usual. If the hourglass has also run out, you lose 3 magic drops in total! Always keep an eye on the hourglass!
2. New Rules for Individual Chapters
IMPORTANT: The following rules always apply only when the matching symbol is shown in the chapter description.
No Backpacks
In this chapter you have no Backpacks, so you cannot collect any ingredients.
Ingredient Path
In this chapter you must find certain ingredients in a given order and so follow the ingredient path step by step. Once you have found the ingredient that comes next on the path, place it directly on the path. Then you must find the next ingredient on the path. The chapter is completed when you have found the last ingredient on the path.
Example: You have just discovered a Snail Shell and place it on the next space on the ingredient path. Next, you must find a Rainbow Herb to continue along the path.
Speaking Forbidden
In this chapter speaking is forbidden. Each time a word passes your lips, you must place one magic drop on the X field. Speaking forbidden applies as soon as you collect the first ingredient and thus place the first Forest Card on the discard pile.
The Fog
A dense fog has rolled into the Schattenwald. You have now received fog sheets. Each of you takes one fog sheet; place any remaining fog sheets back in the box. You do not need them.
IMPORTANT: Changed setup of the Forest Boxes (step 2).
Set up your Forest Boxes as follows:
- One fog sheet in the front compartment
- 3 Forest Cards in the middle compartment
- all remaining Forest Cards in the back compartment
The Owls
On some Forest Cards you can discover owls. Until now they had no meaning, but in this chapter they are important.
When you discover an owl, say so out loud to the others and then draw the Forest Card from your Forest Box. Instead of placing it face down on the discard pile as usual, you place the Forest Card face up in front of you, with the owl facing up.
All of you must lay out an owl in front of you in order to complete the chapter.
If you are playing with only 2 players, each of you must lay out 2 owls in front of you to complete the chapter.
Eyes Closed and Through
In this chapter you hold all your Forest Boxes upside down, so that you can only see the back of your own Forest Box. When it is your turn, all the others at the table help you, because they can look into your Forest Box. They tell you what you can collect in the forest or whether they see a forest spirit. However, they may not take your Forest Box or touch it. You make the decision whether to collect an ingredient, stand still or swap your Forest Box.
Neck-Stiffening Spell
In this chapter you may not hold your Forest Boxes in your hand. You place them on the table in front of you. You may not touch the Forest Box. Only when you swap your Forest Boxes may you move them briefly.
Protective Amulet Swap
Before you begin the chapter, swap all protective amulets with each other.
In the Dense Forest
ATTENTION: Changed setup of the Forest Boxes (step 2).
Set up your Forest Boxes as follows:
- No Forest Card in the front compartment
- No Forest Card in the middle compartment
- All Forest Cards in the back compartment
The Forest Spirit Path
In this chapter you must find forest spirits in a given order and so follow the forest spirit path step by step. You can start either from the left with the Eichelschling or from the right with the Flower Spirit.
You play as usual, taking turns, and try to find one of the two forest spirits (Eichelschling or Flower Spirit) in the Forest Boxes first. Whoever draws the Forest Card from their own Forest Box should have the matching protective amulet; otherwise you must give up one magic drop.
Place the Forest Card at the bottom edge of the book, so that you can clearly see which forest spirit comes next.
Tip: You may again need to swap with each other so that the forest spirits can be found in the right order.
Then try to find the next forest spirit shown. The chapter is completed when you have found each forest spirit shown, one after the other.
If you draw a Forest Card with a forest spirit that is not currently needed, place it on the discard pile as usual. If you do not have the matching protective amulet, you must move one magic drop onto the X field.
All Players Play at the Same Time
In this chapter you do not play in turns. Instead, you all play at the same time. This means that you may collect ingredients or swap your Forest Box at the same time. Of course, you may still talk to each other.
Adjustments
Would you rather play without time pressure? You can play the sorcerer chapters without the hourglass too. However, for this you place one magic drop fewer on the Adventure Book than indicated in the chapter setup.
Have you played through all chapters? Wow! Then you are now true sorcerers! You may now freely choose individual chapters that you particularly enjoyed or whose challenge you would like to play again.
You may also combine individual rules, such as the Neck-Stiffening Spell or the Fog, with other chapters. But be prepared that the chapters may become very difficult!
Have fun playing and combining!