Somnicum Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Dream Cards
  • Goal Cards
  • Meeting Cards
  • Sleep Sand Tokens
  • Dream Flywheels
• Setup
• Goal of the Game
• Overview of Play
• Player Turn
  • 1. Adding a Dream Particle (Optional)
  • 2. Moving a Dream Flywheel and Taking a Dream Card
  • 3. Attaching the Dream Card (and Taking Meeting Cards)
  • Playing Meeting Cards
• End of a Round
• End of the Game and Scoring
  • Determining the Winner

Components

• 88 Dream cards
• 8 Goal cards
• 72 Sleep Sand tokens
• 24 Meeting cards
• 2 dream flywheel pieces
• 1 bag for the Sleep Sand tokens
• This rulebook

Dream Cards

Good Dream cards form the basis of the game. Each player builds their dream from these cards. Every good Dream card belongs to one of three storylines, and carries 1 to 3 dream particles (images):

• Fairy Tale
• Underwater World
• Space

Dream particles specific to a storyline never appear on cards of another storyline. For example, the "mermaid" particle appears only on Dream cards of the "Underwater World" storyline.

The number on a Dream card (shown as a star) is the number of victory points (VP) it scores. A Dream card can score ×2 or ×3 its printed value if it is placed on a deeper level of the dream (see Deepening the Dream below).

Nightmare cards are also Dream cards, but they do not belong to any storyline. Each Nightmare card shows six dream particles from different storylines, which makes it useful for building a dream. At the end of the game, Nightmares subtract victory points equal to their number (and they also subtract ×2 and ×3 their value if they are on deeper levels of the dream).

Goal Cards

At the start of the game each player receives one Goal card, which shows three dream particles. The player scores extra victory points at the end of the game for these particles. Each player keeps their Goal card secret from the other players until the end of the game.

Meeting Cards

During the game you will receive Meeting cards by attaching Dream cards that bear the meeting symbol. These magical creatures and powerful artifacts may give you various advantages during the game, or victory points at its end.

Sleep Sand Tokens

Sleep Sand tokens are the main resource of the Sandman. Each token shows a specific dream particle and has several ways to be used, explained later in this rulebook. Some tokens show Sleep Sand on their reverse side and some do not. This affects how the end of a round is determined.

Dream Flywheels

The black and white pieces that players move around the playing field in order to receive cards.

Setup

1. Shuffle the Dream card deck. Lay out the playing field from Dream cards, face up, in the centre of the table, as shown in the printed example. The number of cards depends on the number of players:

   • 16 cards for a 2-player game
   • 21 cards for a 3-player game
   • 24 cards for a 4-player game

   Put the remaining Dream cards aside. You will need them later.

2. Put all the Sleep Sand tokens into the bag and place it in the centre of the playing field, where all players can conveniently reach it.

3. Shuffle the Meeting card deck and place it face down next to the playing field.

4. Shuffle the Goal cards and deal one to each player. Each player keeps their Goal card secret until the end of the game. Return the remaining Goal cards to the box.

5. The first player is the one who saw a dream last (or who woke up latest today).

6. Each player draws random Sleep Sand tokens from the bag, starting with the first player and continuing clockwise:

   • first player: 0 tokens
   • second player: 1 token
   • third player: 2 tokens
   • fourth player: 3 tokens

   Hold your Sleep Sand tokens so that the other players cannot see which dream particles are on them. The number of Sleep Sand tokens each player has is open information.

7. The player seated to the right of the first player places the first dream flywheel between any two Dream cards. The second flywheel is placed on the opposite side of the circle, directly opposite the first flywheel, between cards.

Goal of the Game

Your goal is to create the most vivid dream, that is, to score the greatest number of victory points from the stars on Dream cards, from the dream particles on your Goal card, and from some Meeting cards. You will lose points for Nightmare cards in your dream.

Overview of Play

The game consists of three rounds. Each round consists of an undetermined number of player turns. Players take turns in order, starting with the first player. Turns pass clockwise. On your turn you must move one of the dream flywheels and add a card to your dream.

A round ends when only as many cards remain on the field as there are players in the game. It may also end when no cards remain between the two flywheels after a movement.

The playing field is refilled at the end of the first and second rounds. The game ends after the third round. Points are then counted, and the player with the most victory points wins.

Player Turn

On your turn you perform three actions in order. Two of them are mandatory:

1. Optional action: Add a new particle to a Dream card.
2. Mandatory action: Move a dream flywheel and take a Dream card.
3. Mandatory action: Attach the Dream card to your dream (and take Meeting cards, if required).

1. Adding a Dream Particle (Optional)

Before performing the two mandatory actions, you may use your Sleep Sand tokens to add one particle to a Dream card in your dream. This makes it easier to build dreams later (see "Attaching the Dream Card", page 10 of the printed rulebook).

A. You may place a Sleep Sand token on any rightmost Dream card of your dream that matches the token's storyline (colour). That card is then considered to also contain the particle shown on the token. The placed token stays on the card until the end of the game.

B. You may place a Sleep Sand token on any rightmost Dream card of your dream that does not match the token's storyline (colour). To do this you must have two identical tokens (with the same particle). One of them is returned to the bag, and the other is placed on the chosen rightmost card. That card is then considered to also contain the particle shown on the token. The placed token stays on the card until the end of the game.

Note: a Nightmare card counts as a Dream card of any storyline (colour), so any Sleep Sand token may be placed on it.

2. Moving a Dream Flywheel and Taking a Dream Card

You choose one of the dream flywheels and move it clockwise around the circle. At the start of each turn, the flywheels are located between cards.

• The first step moves the flywheel to the nearest card clockwise.
• Each further step moves the flywheel from card to card. One step is one card.

A flywheel must be moved at least one step. The first 3 steps cost nothing. For each step beyond the first three, you must pay one Sleep Sand token from your own supply, returning the spent token to the bag. If you cannot pay, you cannot move the flywheel any further.

Then you take the Dream card on which you stopped the flywheel.

If you moved the flywheel less than 3 steps, you receive new Sleep Sand tokens:

• moved 1 step: you draw 2 random Sleep Sand tokens from the bag
• moved 2 steps: you draw 1 random Sleep Sand token from the bag
• moved 3 steps: you draw no tokens

Tokens you receive are kept in front of you face down for the rest of the game. You may look at the face of your tokens at any time.

3. Attaching the Dream Card (and Taking Meeting Cards)

The Dream card you took must be attached to your dream. At the start of the game there are no cards in the players' dreams, so the first card is simply placed on the table in front of you. This forms the first level of your dream. If you already have one or more cards, the new card is attached by the rules below.

Extending the dream. A Dream card is always attached on the right side of the cards already in the row. If both cards have at least one matching dream particle, the dream is continuous (example A in the printed rulebook). Otherwise, you draw a random Sleep Sand token from the bag and place it face down between these two cards. This is a gap (example B in the printed rulebook). Try to avoid gaps! Their negative effects are described later.

Deepening the dream. A dream may contain up to 3 levels: the first, the second and the third. The lower a Dream card lies, the more victory points it scores at the end of the game. However, to place cards lower than cards already laid out, there must be no gaps in the rows above.

To place a card on the second or third level, the pair of cards directly above it must have no gap (there must be no Sleep Sand token between the cards of that pair).

In this way, players build their dreams like an inverted pyramid. A card placed on the second or third level does not have to match the storyline of the pair above it.

The first card you place on the second or third level must be placed under the leftmost pair of cards without a gap. When extending the second or third level, remember that there must be no gap in the row above the card being placed.

Note: sometimes you cannot extend your dream on the second or third level because the row above has a gap. In that case you may place the Dream card under the first available pair of cards without a gap, counting from the left.

Note: when deepening the dream, the card you place may differ in storyline (colour) from the cards on the level above it.

Taking Meeting cards. Some Dream cards carry the meeting symbol. After you attach such a card to one of your rows, you take random Meeting cards in a number equal to the level of the row in which you added the card. If you receive more than one Meeting card, you keep one of your choice and discard the others face up next to the Meeting deck. A Meeting card is kept secret from the other players until it is played.

Playing Meeting Cards

At any time during your turn you may play as many Meeting cards as you like. To play a card, you announce its effect and place it in front of you face up.

Meeting cards are of two kinds: one-time cards and permanent cards (marked with the permanent symbol):

• A one-time card is discarded after it has been used.
• A permanent card stays in front of you until the end of the game. For as long as it lies in front of you, you may use its effect during your turns.

Meeting cards that have not been played by the end of the game score victory points at the end of the game (see Scoring below).

End of a Round

A round may end in one of two ways:

a. If only as many cards remain on the playing field as there are players in the game. In this case the round ends immediately after the player takes and attaches a Dream card.

b. If, after a flywheel is moved, no cards remain between it and the other flywheel. In this case the player on whose turn this happened draws Sleep Sand tokens from the bag, as follows:

• if that player moved the flywheel 1 step, they draw 2 tokens from the bag
• if that player moved the flywheel 2 steps, they draw 1 token from the bag

If at least one of the drawn tokens has a blank reverse side (no Sleep Sand on it), the round ends immediately after the player takes and attaches their Dream card. The drawn tokens remain with the player who drew them, under the normal rules.

Explanation: if you move a dream flywheel 3 or more steps (and therefore draw no Sleep Sand tokens from the bag), you cannot end the round by the second condition.

Important: the player still receives the Dream card on which the moved flywheel stopped, and attaches it to their dream.

Starting the next round. Players form a new playing field from the Dream cards left over after setup, in the same way as at the start of the game. The new first player is the one seated to the left of the player on whose turn the round ended. The player seated to the right of the new first player places the flywheels as at the start of the game.

Note that starting Sleep Sand tokens are not dealt at the start of the second and third rounds.

Players' dreams (the Dream cards laid out in front of them, their Sleep Sand tokens, Meeting cards and Goal cards) are kept until the end of the game. Do not remove them.

End of the Game and Scoring

The game ends after the third round. Players score victory points (VP) as follows:

1. The sum of the values on the Dream cards of the first level.
2. The sum of the values on the Dream cards of the second level, multiplied by 2.
3. The sum of the values on the Dream cards of the third level, multiplied by 3.
4. Unplayed Meeting cards (lying face down in front of the player) score 1 VP each.
5. Each dream particle on the player's Dream cards that matches a particle on the player's Goal card scores 1 VP. Sleep Sand tokens on cards are not counted for this.

From the resulting total, subtract the sum of the Nightmare values in the player's dream. The Nightmare values on the second and third levels are also multiplied by 2 and 3 respectively.

Dream cards that have a gap on both sides (on the right and left; only on the right if the card is the first in its row, or only on the left if it is the last in its row) are not multiplied by 2 or 3, even if they lie on the second or third level of the dream. Count such cards as being on the first level.

Example from the printed rulebook: Karl assembled the dream shown in the rulebook. He scores 7 VP for the Dream cards on the first level, 10 VP on the second level and 9 VP on the third level. He scores 2 VP for an edge card that has a gap. He scores 1 VP for an unplayed Meeting card. He scores 4 VP for his Goal card (1 for the cloud, 2 for the octopus and 1 for the dragon). He loses 1 VP for a Nightmare card. Karl scores 32 VP in total.

Determining the Winner

The player with the most victory points is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the most Sleep Sand tokens in their supply wins. If the tie remains, the tied players share the victory.