The Four Doors
The Four Doors Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 6 Adventurers
- 6 Pawns
- 1 Shadow Level
- 4 Doors
- 48 Player Cards
- 4 Relics
- 1 Beacon
Setup
1. Separate the Cards
Separate cards into 5 groups, according to the contents.
2. Build the Tower
Place the Beacon card with the unlit side face up, then arrange the 4 Door cards below it (in any order). Make sure that the doors have their fully open side face up. Note that each door has a different pattern on its left and right edges.
3. Build Player Deck
Take a moment to look through the 48 Player cards and note the different types of cards inside. (See Player Cards below for details.) Then shuffle the cards and stack them to form a draw pile. Leave room for a discard pile.
4. Add 9 Shadow Cards
Draw and place 9 cards from the draw pile, face up, next to the Door cards. Place them so their bottom edges (Shadow areas) match up with the patterns on the left and right edges of the matching doors.
Cards placed in this way are called "Shadow cards." Overlap additional matching cards as shown.
Important! There may never be more than 3 Shadow cards on the same side of a Door card. During setup, if placing a Shadow card would bring the total number of cards on one side of a door to 4 cards, shuffle that card into the draw pile and draw a replacement card.
5. Add Adventurers
Shuffle the Adventurer cards and deal 1 randomly to each player along with their matching pawn. Each player starts their pawn on the door card shown on their Adventurer card.
Flip over any extra Adventurer cards to use as reference cards. (See Adventurers below for more details.)
6. Deal Player Cards
Deal the following cards from the draw pile to each player to form their starting hands:
| Players | Cards |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |
| 2-3 | 3 |
| 4-5 | 2 |
Keep your cards face up in front of you.
7. Put the 4 Relic Cards Nearby
Place them on the side without their powers. (See Relics below for details.)
8. Set the Shadow Level
Place the Shadow Level card beneath the bottom door, using the side that matches the number of players. (Indicated in the top-left corner of the card.) If you've never played a cooperative game before, place an unused pawn on the Intro space of the Shadow level. Otherwise, place it on Standard. The number next to this space is called the "Shadow rate." It starts at 2.
Important! The area below the Shadow Level forms "The Hollow." You'll be instructed to toss some cards into the Hollow during the game instead of discarding them. Note that all cards in The Hollow are out of play for the rest of the game, unless retrieved by a Summon spell. Keep the cards in The Hollow separate from the cards in the discard pile.
Object
Find all 4 relics, get everyone up to the Beacon, and play a Luminous Flux spell to light it and banish the Shadow Veil before it's too late!
How to Play
The player who last saw their shadow goes first and play continues to the left. On every turn, follow these three steps in order:
- Do Up to 3 Actions
- Draw 2 Cards
- Shadows Fall
1. Do Up to 3 Actions
During this step, you may do up to 3 actions. Actions can be done in any order and an action can be done multiple times per turn. Cards that are used for actions, must come from your hand and are discarded to the discard pile.
There are 5 different actions:
Illuminate
Discard a card from your hand with a lantern icon that matches your pawn's current door to discard any 1 Shadow card from either the left or right side of the door. Put both cards on top of the discard pile.
Example: The Placeshifter discards a purple lantern to also discard 1 Shadow card from their door.
Move
Move your pawn to an adjacent card (either to a door or the Beacon).
Search
Draw the top card from the draw pile. If you have more than 5 Player cards, you must immediately discard the excess to the discard pile.
Give Card
Give 1 card from your hand to a player who is at your current door: either a Player card or a Relic card. If they have more than 5 Player cards, they must immediately discard the excess to the discard pile.
Find Relic
Discard 4 cards from your hand with relics that match your current door. Then, take the matching Relic card and place it in front of you, power-side up.
2. Draw 2 Cards
Draw 2 cards (together) from the draw pile and add them to your hand. If you have more than 5 Player cards, you must immediately discard the excess to the discard pile.
Player Cards
In the Deck
- 8 of each relic
- 4 Luminous Flux spells
- 2 of each other spell
Each Player card shows a Relic icon and a Spell icon in its corners, with Lanterns and a Shadow Area printed along its bottom edge.
3. Shadows Fall
Draw a number of cards from the draw pile, one at a time, equal to the Shadow Level. (Starts at 2.) Look at the Shadow area of each card and place it next to the matching side of the matching door, overlapping cards so the shadows are still visible on each card.
Closing Doors
If placing a card in this way would bring the total number of Shadow cards on either side of the door above 3 cards, the Shadow Veil manage to push on the door! Instead of adding the Shadow card:
If the door is fully open, flip the Door card over to show its partially closed side. Then, toss the card you drew into The Hollow instead of adding it to that door.
If the door is partially closed, the Shadow Veil has managed to shut the door forever! Toss that Door card plus all of the Shadow cards to the left and right of it into The Hollow. If you have not yet collected the relic for that door, you all lose the game.
If removing a door in this way opens up a gap in the Tower, shift the remaining cards together to close the gap. If there are any pawns on the removed door, place them on an adjacent card of your choice (either a door or the Beacon).
Vanished Doors
If you draw a Shadow card for a door that is in The Hollow during the Shadows Fall step, toss the card into The Hollow. (It still counts as a card drawn.)
Running Out of Cards
When you need to draw a card from the draw pile and there are no cards remaining in the deck, do the following:
- Advance the pawn on the Shadow Level once.
- Shuffle the discard pile and place the cards face down to form a new draw pile. (Do not include cards in The Hollow.)
- Continue drawing cards as needed from the new draw pile.
If the Shadow rate increases during the Shadows Fall step, apply the new rate immediately.
If you need to draw a card and you cannot because the draw pile and discard pile have completely run out, you all lose the game.
Hand Limit
If you ever have more than 5 Player cards, you must immediately discard the excess to the discard pile. Relic cards do not count toward your hand limit.
Check your hand limit after:
- doing the Search action,
- drawing your 2 cards at the end of your turn,
- when a player hands you a card, or
- when you receive cards due to spells or Relic card effects.
Information
Keep your cards face up at all times.
You may examine the cards next to the doors, in the discard pile, and in The Hollow at any time.
Using Spells
When you use a card for its spell effect, toss it into The Hollow instead of discarding it. Cards with spells can be used at any time, even when it's not your turn. However, you can't play spells to interrupt the resolution of any cards.
Example: You cannot use a spell to prevent a door from shutting if you have already drawn the Shadow card for it.
Using cards for their spell effects does not cost an action.
You may use cards for their spell effect (instead of discarding them) if you are over your hand limit.
Game End
Winning the Game
To win, you must collectively find all 4 relics and everyone must be assembled on the Beacon. Then, one player must use a Luminous Flux spell to activate the relics and light the Beacon.
Flip over the Beacon card and banish the Shadow Veil for good!
Losing the Game
There are 3 possible ways to lose:
- if a door is tossed into The Hollow before you can find its relic,
- if you need to draw a card for any reason and both the draw and discard piles are out of cards, or
- if the Shadow Level ever reaches the skull.
Your Next Game
If you lose, try again! If you consistently win, try taking it up a notch by playing the Standard, Heroic, or Epic game.
For a more challenging game, try holding your cards in your hand (and not showing them to each other) to encourage everyone to talk about their cards and all the different strategies you can take.
Solo Game
Play the game as described above, with the following changes:
Setup
Deal 4 cards to yourself. After dealing yourself an Adventurer card, put the remaining adventurers and pawns nearby (face up) to form a supply.
Note: where indicated, use "Solo" abilities instead of regular abilities.
New Action: Swap Adventurer
As an action, you can swap your Adventurer card for any other adventurer that is not in use if your pawn is currently at the new adventurer's starting door. Your hand of cards is unaffected by this change and you may immediately begin using your new abilities.
Play
All other rules are the same as the normal game.
Don't be afraid to change adventurers – you may find that you'll need different abilities at different times during the game.
Adventurers
Each adventurer has a special ability they can use throughout the game.
Bestower
You may pass Player and Relic cards from your hand to other players at your current door for free at any time. (No action is required.) You may pass cards instead of discarding them if you are over your hand limit.
Solo: Toss 2 cards into The Hollow at any time to take any 1 card from it.
Illuminant
Whenever you enter a Door card (by any means) you may discard 1 Shadow card from each side that contains 3 Shadow cards.
Placeshifter
As an action, you may move any 1 pawn (even yours) to any door. Ask permission before moving others' pawns.
Solo: You may move for free. (No action is required.)
Shadowbinder
When you do the Illuminate action, you may discard up to 3 Shadow cards from a single side of your current door.
Summoner
As an action, take any 1 card from the discard pile whose Shadow area matches your current door. Add it to your hand.
Wanderer
You may do up to 4 actions each turn.
Solo: Discard Shadow cards instead of adding them to your door.
Relics
Once you have a relic in your hand, you may use it for its power:
Kindle Staff
As an action, discard a Player card with a Kindle Staff to discard any 1 Shadow card from any 1 door.
Lumen Stone
Discard a Player card with a Lumen Stone at any time to move any 1 pawn (even yours) anywhere. This is not an action.
Oil of Evermore
As an action, discard a Player card with Oil of Evermore to reduce the number of cards drawn in the next Shadows Fall step by 2.
Prism of Clarity
Discard a Player card with a Prism of Clarity at any time to pass 1 Player card to anyone. (You may do this if you find yourself over the hand limit.) This is not an action.
Solo: Discard a Player card with a Prism of Clarity to do +1 action.