The Hobbit: An Unexpected Party Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• How to Play
• Taking Your Turn
• Doors
• Sing
• Hustle
• Sit
• Game End
• Scoring
  • Scoring Example
• Terms and Clarifications
  • Locations and Rooms
  • Dropping Items
  • Clean
  • Clean Up
  • Curious and Furious
  • Removing Curious and Furious
  • The Effects of Furious
  • Points Stack
  • Dwarf Stack

Components

• 1 Bag End Playing Board
• 54 cards (30 Party Cards, 13 Dwarf Cards, 11 Bag End Cards)
• 21 Curious/Furious tokens
• 1 Supply Bag
• 26 Item tokens
• 75 Point tokens (15 doubles, 60 singles)
• 15 Character standees with stands
• 4 Player Boards

Setup

1. Place the Board displaying Bag End in the centre of the playing area.
2. Place the 15 double Point tokens around the board as shown. One each on the 15 numbered spaces around the Game Board. Create a pile of single Point tokens near the game board in easy reach of all players.
3. Create a pile of Curious/Furious tokens near the game board in easy reach of all players.
4. Put all the Items in the Supply Bag then: a. Draw 3 Items and place them face up in the Kitchen Item spaces as shown. b. Draw 4 Items and place one face up on the floor of the Kitchen, Pantry, Parlour, and Entrance Hall as shown. These are dropped Items.
5. Place the Bilbo™ standee in the Entrance Hall, the Gandalf™ standee in the Garden, and all Dwarf standees to the side of the game board in easy reach of all players.
6. Give each player a Player Board where they will keep their Dwarf Cards and Items, as well as track the amount of Curious and Furious they have gained.
7. Place the Thorin card face down on the Dwarf deck space of the game board. Shuffle the remaining Dwarf Cards. Deal one face up to each player and three face up in the waiting Dwarf spaces of the game board as shown. Place the remaining Dwarf Cards face down on top of the Thorin card.
8. Shuffle the Bag End deck and place it face down on the Bag End deck space of the game board.
9. Shuffle the Party deck and deal two Party Cards to each player. Place the deck face down on the Party deck space of the game board.
10. Each player should find the Dwarf standee that matches the character on their Dwarf Card then place those standees in the Garden space outside Bag End. For ease of play you can also put the related Dwarf standees on the face up waiting Dwarf Cards.
11. The Player with the lowest numbered Dwarf begins the game and play proceeds clockwise.

How to Play

In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Party you will get the chance to play several Dwarves in Thorin's company as they invite themselves into Bag End and have a party while they wait for Thorin to show up. Each round you will move your Dwarf to a new space and perform the available action there. Play proceeds clockwise around the table until one of the game end conditions is met.

Taking Your Turn

On your turn you perform each of the following steps in order:

1. DISTRACT: You may gain one Curious to move Bilbo™ to your Dwarf's current room.
2. MOVE: You must move your Dwarf to a new space: DOOR, SING, HUSTLE or SIT.
   • A. The space may be in any room except Bilbo's™ room.
   • B. The space cannot be the same one the Dwarf was already on.
   • C. You may move to a space another Dwarf already occupies. In this situation you BARGE them off the space into the same room and gain one Curious.
3. PICK-UP: If you move into a room with Gandalf™ you may pick up one dropped Item in that room.
4. ACT: You must perform the action on your space. The actions are listed below. Note: You can only move to a space where you can perform the action.
5. DISCARD: Discard down to three Party Cards.
6. CLEAN UP: If any room has four or more Items dropped on the floor then Bilbo™ will move to that room and Clean it. All dropped Items are returned to the Supply Bag and each Dwarf in that room gains one Curious.

Doors

Bag End is filled with doors and behind each door there are all sorts of surprises. Which room will you choose to rummage around in: Bilbo's™ Kitchen, Parlour or perhaps even the Pantry, as you search for something to liven up this unexpected party.

Each of the five Door spaces works in a different way and allows you to collect Items and/or Party Cards:

• ENTRANCE HALL - Draw three Party Cards.
• PARLOUR - Take an Item from supply and draw two Party Cards.
• KITCHEN - Take one face-up Item from the Kitchen shelves and replace with a new face-up Item.
• PANTRY (COLD STORAGE) - Take three Items from supply and gain two Curious.
• PANTRY (WINE CELLAR) - Take two Items from supply and all players gain one Curious.

NOTE: Players may only hold five Items (less if they have Furious tokens). After drawing Items or gaining Furious you must immediately drop any excess Items (your choice) into the room you are in.

If you try and draw an Item from the bag, either for yourself or for the kitchen, and there are none left, choose one of the dropped Items instead.

Sing

A good party requires a good song and these Dwarves don't disappoint. During the party the Dwarves will learn all the things that Bilbo™ hates (or at least some of them). By singing their song they hope to prove to Bilbo™ that they can be good guests (and be gentle with his plates).

Each of the main rooms has a Sing space which allows you to perform the Sing action at the top of a Party Card as follows:

1. Perform the Sing action as written on the card in the required room.
2. Any dropped Items are placed face-up in the room you are in.
3. Place the Party Card on its numbered space around the game board and collect the double Point token there. If that line of the song has already been sung, discard the card and gain a single Point token instead.
4. Reveal the top Bag End Card and complete all instructions on the card in order.

GANDALF™ MOVEMENT: If Gandalf™ moves rooms then he drops one Item into the new room from the supply. Discard the card.

Hustle

The Dwarves are here to have a good time, but they also want to convince Bilbo™ to join their company for a grand adventure. Unfortunately Dwarven etiquette doesn't please Bilbo™ so these Dwarves are going to have to Hustle to appease their host.

The two Hustle spaces allow you to use the Hustle action at the bottom of a Party Card as follows:

1. Perform the action as written on the card.
2. Discard the Party Card.
3. Draw a new Party Card.

Sit

During the party, Bilbo™ will get more and more frustrated with his uninvited guests. His curiosity can quickly turn to fury if the Dwarves are too rowdy. It is probably best to take a seat when that happens and let another of your company join the unexpected party at Bag End.

In the Dining Room you may choose to take the Sit action and start a new Dwarf as follows:

1. All other players gain one Point.
2. Discard all your Furious and Curious tokens.
3. Choose one of the three face-up waiting Dwarf Cards and place it on top of your current Dwarf.
4. Move the standee for your old Dwarf into the Dining Room and the standee for your new Dwarf into the garden so it is just outside the Front Door.
5. Replace the Dwarf Card with a new one from the top of the Dwarf deck (if able).

NOTE: A player that has filled their Curious/Furious slots with Furious must take the Sit action on their turn. They may not move to any other space.

SIT Example: Bombur chooses to sit down before Bilbo™ makes him. He moves to the Sit space and then into the room to make space for all the other Dwarves! He then clears all his Curious and Furious tokens from his Player Board, but leaves all his Items. The Player now selects a new Dwarf, Dwalin. The Dwalin card is placed on top of the Bombur card on the Player Dashboard. The Dwalin standee stands just outside the Front door to Bag End, waiting to go in to cause some mischief on his next turn!

Game End

The game will end when one of the two following conditions is met:

• Thorin enters play
• OR
• All cards in the song have been played around the board.

In either situation the player who triggers the end of the game finishes their current turn and all other players have one more turn, then move all Dwarves to the Dining Hall and count up points.

Scoring

Each player looks through their collection of Dwarves and adds single Point tokens to their Points stack if they meet the requirements for bonus points on each Dwarf.

Each player then counts how many points they have in their stack. The player with the highest value wins the game and will have the support of Bilbo™ and Thorin in the adventures to come.

In the case of a tie, all players who are tied win.

Scoring Example

Player 1 will end the game with three extra bonus points for having Ori, Dori and Nori in their collection. They will get two points from having the Ori card due to having both Nori and Dori in their collection. One extra point from the Dori card for having Ori in their collection. No points from Thorin as Player 1 didn't manage to get the Thorin card in their collection. From the Nori card, they will earn one point from having Ori in their collection - but will lose it again for having Dori in their collection!

Terms and Clarifications

Locations and Rooms

There are several locations in Bag End which Dwarves, Bilbo™ and Gandalf™ can move between. Many locations have several action spaces that you can use on your turn, but each location also provides an open space where any Character may end up.

The Dining Room is where you will Sit your Dwarf down so you can bring a new Dwarf into Bag End and continue the party. The game will mostly take place in the four main rooms (Entrance Hall, Parlour, Kitchen and Pantry). When an ability refers to "a room" it means one of these four.

Dropping Items

When a player is instructed to drop Items they are placed face-up into the room the current player is in.

Clean

When Items are cleaned, they are returned to the supply. Items can be cleaned from the floor of a room or from a player's collected Items.

Clean Up

At the end of each player's turn each location is checked to see if there are four or more Items on the floor. If a location has four or more Items in it, Bilbo™ will move there and Clean. Each Dwarf at that location gains a Curious. If there is more than one such location then the current player chooses the order in which the cleaning happens.

CLEAN UP Example: Four Items have dropped onto the Parlour floor. Bilbo™ comes into the room to clean up the mess! All dropped Items are returned to the Supply Bag. Both Bombur and Ori gain a Curious for making a mess. The extra Curious flips one of Ori's tokens to the Furious side and he must now drop an Item. The Item is dropped into the clean room!

GANDALF™ MOVEMENT Example: Gandalf™ is moving rooms from the Kitchen to the Parlour. Gandalf™ now drops an Item from the Supply Bag into the new room he moved into.

Curious and Furious

Players can gain Curious in the following ways:

• Barging a Dwarf off a space;
• Distracting Bilbo™ by moving him to your room at the start of your turn;
• Being present when Bilbo™ Cleans a room;
• Certain abilities and events in the game will instruct you to gain Curious.

If a Curious token is gained and that player's Curious spaces are full, flip one Curious to Furious instead.

Removing Curious and Furious

Each time you remove Curious you may choose to either flip a Furious token back to Curious or remove a Curious token from your board.

The Effects of Furious

Players can hold up to five Items; however each Furious token they have lowers that number by one. For example, a player with two Furious can only hold three Items. They must immediately drop any excess Items they have.

If a player fills their Curious spaces with Furious tokens they immediately discard the top Point token from their Point stack. A player that starts their turn with full Furious may only take the Sit action.

DISTRACT Example: Because Bilbo™ is in the Parlour, Bombur cannot move to the Sing space in the Parlour. Luckily, by gaining one Curious, Bombur can move Bilbo™ into their room. Now, the way is open for Bombur to move into the Parlour.

BARGE Example: Bombur needs to use the Hustle space, but Ori is sitting there! Bombur can gain a Curious to Barge Ori off that space, into the Parlour. Bombur is now free to move onto the Hustle space.

Points Stack

As Point tokens are earned they are placed on the top of a Point stack. Once in the stack they shouldn't be moved unless instructed to by a rule or card.

Dwarf Stack

When a player begins a new Dwarf they place the new Dwarf Card on top of the old one. Only the abilities of the Dwarf on top of the stack are in effect; however at the end of the game all Dwarves in the stack will score bonus points for matching with their fellow Dwarves as indicated on their card.