Shock! Knights & Poisons Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
• How to Play
• Chest Challenge
• Poisons
• Anaphylactic Shock
• Potions
• Withdrawal
• End of a Round
• End of the Game
• Simplified Variant
• Credits

Components

• 44 Number Cards — 1-11 in four suits: hearts, spades, diamonds, and clubs
• 24 Chest Cards — 6 Poisons and 18 Gems
• 1 Round Track Board
• 1 Round Marker
• 5 Treasure Bags
• 90 Gems — 55 transparent Gems worth 1 point each, 25 red Gems worth 5 points each, 10 golden Gems worth 10 points each

Goal of the Game

By the end of the fifth round, the player with the highest total value of Gems in their Treasure Bag wins the game.

Setup

1. Place the Round Track Board in the center of the table where all players can easily see it.

2. Place the Round Marker on the first space of the round track at the bottom of the Round Track Board.

3. Create a general supply with all the Gems within reach of all players.

4. Give each player a Treasure Bag and have them place it on the table in their play area.

5. Shuffle all Chest Cards (Poison and Gem Cards) to create a Chest Deck and place it face down next to the Round Track Board.

6. Return the Number Cards indicated below to the box, based on the number of players:

   • 3 players: Remove the 1s and 11s of every suit.
   • 4 players: Remove the 11s of every suit.
   • 5 players: No cards are removed.

7. Shuffle the Number Cards and deal as follows:

   • 3 or 4 players: 9 cards each.
   • 5 players: 8 cards each.

   These cards form each player's hand. The players may look at their own hand but should keep it hidden from other players.

8. The remaining Number Cards form a facedown Dungeon Deck. Place it next to the Chest Deck.

9. Reveal the top Number Card from the Dungeon Deck, then slide it face up under the Round Track Board so that only the top half remains visible. The suit of this card becomes the trump suit for the first round.

10. The player with the most allergies becomes the first Leader. If there is a tie, choose randomly.

How to Play

A game of Shock! Knights & Poisons is played over 5 rounds. Each round consists of multiple turns, called TRICKS.

A trick consists of each player, starting with the Leader and proceeding clockwise, playing one card from their hand face up on the table. The Leader may play any card from their hand. The suit of this card becomes the lead suit for the trick. The other players must follow suit if possible. Following suit means that each player must "follow" the suit choice of the Leader; i.e., they have to play a card from their hand of the same suit. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play a card of a different suit.

If any player, including the Leader, plays a card showing a transparent Gem icon below its number, take one transparent Gem from the general supply and place it on that card.

After each player has played exactly one card, determine the winner of the trick:

• First check if any cards of the trump suit were played (if at least one of those cards has the same suit as the trump card placed under the Round Track Board at the start of the round). If so, the player who played the highest trump card wins the trick.
• If no cards of the trump suit were played, the player who played the highest-ranking card in the lead suit (the suit of the card first played by the Leader) wins the trick.

The winner of the trick collects all transparent Gems from the cards played during the trick, if any, and places them on their Treasure Bag, not inside.

If any Poison Number Cards ("7" of hearts, spades, and diamonds) or Potion Cards ("5" and "7" of clubs) were played into the trick, the winner of the trick takes that card (or cards) and places it face up on the table in front of them. Poisons can cause the player to be eliminated from the round (see "Anaphylactic Shock" below), while potions may help them recover (see "Potions" below).

All other cards played into the trick are placed face up in a discard pile next to the Dungeon Deck.

Then, if the winner of the trick has not been eliminated they must perform a Chest Challenge (see "Chest Challenge" below).

Finally, the winner of the trick becomes the Leader and starts the next trick.

However, if the winner of the trick suffered an Anaphylactic Shock, the next clockwise player still in the round becomes the Leader of the next trick instead.

Important: Jewels gained by winning tricks and from Chest Challenges are not placed directly inside your Treasure Bag. Instead, they remain on top of your Treasure Bag and will be stored after you withdraw from the round (see "Withdrawal" below) or if you reach the end of the round without suffering an Anaphylactic Shock (see "Anaphylactic Shock" below).

Chest Challenge

If the winner of the trick has not been eliminated, they must reveal the top card of the Chest Deck.

If the revealed card is a Gem Card, you gain one transparent Gem from the supply for each large Gem icon on the left side of the card, and each other player still in the round gains one transparent Gem from the supply for each small Gem icon on the right side. Each player places the Gems they gained on top of their Treasure Bag. Place the revealed Gem Card face up in a discard pile next to the Chest Deck.

If the revealed card is a Poison Card of any of the three types, you gain one transparent Gem (as indicated on the left side of the card), and all players, including you, become affected by poison. Place the card face up in the center of the play area. All players still in the round are considered to be affected by this poison.

After revealing and resolving the first Chest Card, you may reveal and resolve up to two additional Chest Cards, but make sure to resolve each card completely before revealing the next.

Note: If the player performing the Chest Challenge is eliminated (see "Anaphylactic Shock" below), the Chest Challenge ends immediately.

Poisons

During a round, players can be affected by three types of poison: Jellyfish Poison, Spider Poison, or Bee Poison. These venomous creatures can be found:

• On Number Cards with the number 7 of hearts, spades, and diamonds. These cards inject poison into the player who wins the trick they were played in. This player places the Poison Number Cards they gained in front of them.
• On some Chest Cards, which release poison and affect all players still in the round.

Anaphylactic Shock

When poisoned by the same type of poison twice during a round, you suffer an Anaphylactic Shock and must return all Gems on your Treasure Bag to the supply. Then, place your Treasure Bag in front of you to indicate that you are out of the round. Until the end of the round:

• You are not affected by new Poison Cards;
• You do not gain any Gems from the small Gem icons on the right side of Chest Cards revealed by your opponents;
• On your turn to play a card into a trick, choose any card from your hand and place it face down (you do not have to follow suit). Then, place 1 transparent Gem from the supply on it. Your card does not count toward determining the winner of the trick, but it adds one Gem to the trick.

Exception: In 3-player games, place 2 transparent Gems on each card played face down.

Potions

While Poison and Poison Number Cards can cause poison effects on the winner of the trick, Potion Cards let them cure those effects.

There are 2 Potion Cards in the game: Number Cards 5 and 7 of clubs.

When you win a trick in which a Potion Card was played, if you have a Poison Number Card in your play area, use it immediately to cover one of your Number Poison Cards in front of you (if any), canceling its effect.

Note: This can be done even on a Poison Number Card gained in the same trick as the Potion Card, preventing a possible Anaphylactic Shock.

If you do not have any Poison Number Cards in your play area, keep the Potion Card in front of you and use it as soon as you receive a Poison Number Card.

Important: Potion Cards do not cancel Poison Cards placed in the center of the table (from Chest Cards).

Withdrawal

Right before playing your card into a trick, you may declare that you are leaving the dungeon (that is, withdrawing from the trick).

If you choose to leave the dungeon, place all the Gems you have gained inside your Treasure Bag. These Gems are safe, and may not be lost. Keep them inside your Treasure Bag - they will be counted toward your total treasure at the end of the game. Then, place your Treasure Bag in front of you as a reminder that you are out of the round.

Note: Players are not allowed to touch or count what is inside their opponents' Treasure Bags.

Until the end of the round:

• You are not affected by new Poison Cards (and therefore cannot suffer an Anaphylactic Shock);
• You do not gain any Gems from the small Gem icons on the right side of Chest Cards revealed by your opponents;
• Whenever it is your turn to play a card into a trick, you must play any card from your hand face down into the trick (you do not need to follow suit). Then, take 1 transparent Gem from the supply and place it on that card. Your card does not count toward determining the winner of the trick, but it adds one Gem to the trick.

Exception: In 3-player games, place 2 Gems on each card played face down.

• Note 1: When storing transparent Gems in your Treasure Bag, exchange them with higher-value Gems from the supply whenever possible, so there are always transparent Gems available in the supply. Each red Gem is worth 5 transparent Gems, and each gold Gem is worth 10 transparent Gems.
• Note 2: If the Leader withdraws from the trick, the next player in clockwise order becomes the new Leader for that trick.
• Note 3: If all remaining players withdraw from the round, the current trick ends without a winner and the round ends immediately.

End of a Round

The round immediately ends if any of the following conditions are met:

• All cards in the players' hands have been played; OR
• No player remains in the round because all have either suffered Anaphylactic Shock or withdrawn from the trick; OR
• Only one player remains in the round when a new trick would start.

Once the round ends, any players who remain in the round store the Gems they have gained inside their Treasure Bags, just as they would if withdrawing from the trick.

If the Round Marker is already on the fifth space of the Round Track, proceed to the End of the Game. Otherwise, follow these steps to set up the next round:

1. Advance the Round Marker to the next space on the Round Track.
2. Gather all Chest Cards, which include the Chest Deck, the Chest Cards in the discard pile, and Poison Cards in the center of the table. Shuffle them to form a new Chest Deck.
3. Each player places their Treasure Bag in their play area.
4. Gather all Number Cards, which include the Deck of Number Cards, the Number Cards in the discard pile, the potions and poisons in front of the players (if any), and the Number Card under the Round Track Board. Shuffle them and deal enough cards so each player has 9 cards in hand (8 cards in games with 5 players). Cards remaining in players' hands from the previous round carry over to the next round.
5. Reveal the top Number Card from the Dungeon Deck and place it face up under the Round Track Board, leaving only the top half visible as the trump suit for the next round.
6. Start a new round. The last player to win a trick in the previous round becomes the Leader of the new round.

End of the Game

At the end of the fifth round, the game ends. Players then remove the Gems from their Treasure Bags and total their values.

The player with the highest total value of Gems wins the game! In case of a tie, all tied players share the victory.

Simplified Variant

When playing for the first time or introducing the game to new players, we recommend using this variant:

At the end of the round, players discard all the Number Cards remaining in their hands instead of keeping them. These cards are then shuffled back into the Number Deck before players are dealt new hands of cards.

When playing with this variant, you do not need to worry about which cards you play in the tricks that take place after you withdraw from the trick or suffer an Anaphylactic Shock, since none of them will carry over to the next round. When playing a card face down into a trick, it does not matter which card you play, but it still adds Gems to the trick as usual (1 or 2, depending on the number of players).

Credits

Author: Jyujin Ohtsubo Illustrator: Jyujin Ohtsubo Graphic Designer: Luis Francisco Layout Artist: André Teruya Writer: Pedro Vinicius Proofreader: Gustavo Lopes

© 2025 Grok Games. All rights reserved.