The 7th Dwarf
The 7th Dwarf Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 3 game board pieces
- 14 betting tokens in pointed hat form (2 in each of 7 colors)
- 7 dice in 7 colors
Setup
First, connect the game board pieces with the puzzle nose; put the third piece into the appropriate slot (the side you choose does not matter for now).
Each player gets the 2 betting tokens in the color of his choice. (The color of the betting tokens have nothing to do with the color of the dice.) Get a pen and piece of paper to note the points you will receive later on. Let the smallest player start the game – he takes the 7 dice.
You can find the following important areas on the game board pieces: The dice row consisting of 7 dwarf spots (1a) and 2 evasion spots (1b); each dwarf spot has one color associated with it (2); betting area (3); Dragon's Lair (4).
Goal of the Game
One of you will always be the active player. He will throw the 7 dice, but always one die after another and in the order of his choice. It will be the goal to be able to put all 7 dice on the dice row in either ascending or descending order. Ideally, you will be able to also match the color of the die with the associated color of the dwarf spot. After 3 dice have been placed, all the other players will be able to bet on the outcome: will the active player be able to place all the dice on the dice row or not? After all bets have been placed the active player will continue placing the remaining 4 dice - one after the other. Now a scoring will happen: the active player will receive points according to how well he performed and the betting players will receive points, if they wagered correctly.
Flow of Play
The player with all 7 dice in front of him is called the active player. Only after the active player has thrown and placed all 7 dice and a scoring occurred will the active player change. Then the next player in clockwise order will receive the 7 dice and be the active player. If you are the active player, follow these steps in order:
1st Die
Take any one die and throw it. Decide on which spot you wish to place the die. Consider these two things while placing the die:
A) It will be your goal to place all 7 dice onto the dice row of 9 spots. Only then will you score the 7 bonus points. Take note, however, that all dice will have to be in either ascending or descending order – and once a die has been placed on a spot it cannot be removed until after scoring has taken place.
B) Additionally you should try to match the color of the die to the color associated with the dwarf spot on which you place it. For each color match you will score 1 bonus point during scoring.
2nd Die
Choose a 2nd die to throw and then place it on an available spot (still without a die) on the dice row. You now have to choose if all dice will be ascending or descending. Put the remaining game board piece into the slot according to your choice:
Do you want to place the dice in ascending order – so the lowest number on the left of the dice row and the largest on the right side? Use the side of the game board piece where the smallest of the dwarves is on the left, and the largest of the dwarves on the right. Do you want to place the dice in descending order? Use the opposite side of the game board piece.
Exception: If the result of the 2nd die is identical to the 1st, you don't have to decide yet. Only when you first throw a die with a different result, do you have to decide in which order you want to place your dice and therefore have to switch the game board piece to the appropriate side.
(Source note: the printed 2nd Die paragraph reads "available spot spot"; the duplicated word has been removed here.)
3rd Die
Now throw and place the 3rd die on another available spot, as you have done before.
Betting: Before you can continue playing, however, all your opponents now have to place a bet: Will you manage to place all your 7 dice on the dice row or not? All the players who think you will succeed, take the pointed hat token of their color with the green check mark and place it face down on the betting area (so that nobody will know what your bet was). Players who believe you will not succeed place the token with the red cross face down instead.
4th to 7th Die
Now you can continue throwing and placing the rest of the dice one after the other like you did before.
Additional Dice Placement Rules
While placing dice you only have to take note of the ascending or descending order on the dice row. Dice that are next to each other may have an identical number on top, or any amount that is higher or lower, depending on your choice.
Examples for valid dice placements on the dice row: three rows of seven dice shown in the printed rulebook (ascending and descending sequences, with identical numbers allowed next to each other).
Whenever you throw a die that you can place - you must place it. You may never voluntarily choose to not place it.
The outermost spots on the dice row are called the evasion spots. They have no color associated. So you cannot gain bonus points for a color match there.
Quite the contrary: If you place a die on an evasion spot you will loose 2 points during scoring – but only if you managed to place all 7 dice on the dice row. And yet: These two spots can help you in a pinch to still score the 7 bonus points.
Should it happen (and it will happen!), that you cannot legally place a die onto the dice row then it must be placed into the Dragon's Lair instead (see below). Once you have done that you will not be able to place all 7 dice on the dice row and therefore not be able to score the bonus points.
Scoring
Once you have thrown and placed all 7 dice a scoring will occur. These points can be scored: If you have managed to place all 7 dice on the dice row and none are in the Dragon's Lair you will score 7 bonus points. However, for every die placed on an evasion spot you have to reduce the bonus points by 2. Therefore, with all 7 dice on the dice row you might be able to score 7, 5 or 3 points, depending on how many dice are on the evasion spots.
Additionally you will score 1 bonus point for every die that has a color match on the dwarf spot. (For easier reference during scoring, slide the color matching dice onto the color spots.)
| Scoring item | Points |
|---|---|
| All 7 dice on the dice row | 7 |
| Each die on an evasion spot | -2 |
| Each color match | 1 |
| Correct bet | 3 |
Now turn over all the pointed hat tokens and see who had the right hunch. Every opponent who has guessed correctly will now score 3 points. Write down all scored points on a piece of paper. Now give the 7 dice to the player on your left. He is now the active player.
Scoring example: The active player has managed to place all 7 dice onto the dice row. He had to place one of the dice onto an evasion spot, so he gains (7-2) 5 bonus points. He managed to color match 3 dice (yellow, purple and blue) so he scores 3 additional bonus points. In total, that player managed to score 8 points. Each opponent who placed his bet correctly (in this case the pointed hat token with the green checkmark) will also score 3 points.
End of Game
After each player has been the active player 3 times, the game will end. Whoever has managed to score the highest amount of points total is the winner! If there is a tie, you share the victory.
Solo
Even as a lonesome dwarf, you can play a game of The 7th Dwarf. All rules are unchanged, but there will be no betting. Instead, you try to beat your personal high score! How many points can you score in 3 tries?