WolfWalkers: The Board Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • On your turn
  • Special symbols on a die
  • The tiles you can buy
• The End of the Game
  • Winning the game – a soul is safely at home
  • Losing the game – soldiers find the Lair
• Modes of the Game
  • Have fun discovering new strategies!
  • 1. Getting to know the woods
  • 2. The soldiers are getting closer and closer!
  • 3. The WolfWalkers learn new skills!
  • 4. Healthy competition (competitive mode)
• Challenges and Achievements
  • General
  • In Mode 1
  • In Mode 2
  • In Mode 3
  • In Mode 4

Components

1 Board, 1 Custom die, 4 WolfWalkers figures with plastic stands, 2 Soldier pawns, 35 Rune tokens, 4 WolfWalker tiles, 60 Tiles, 1 Special tile.

Setup

1. Put the board, die and runes on a playing surface.
2. Place soldiers on the two rune symbols at the top of the board.
3. Symbols in the top right corner of some of the tiles mark different game modes. For the first mode remove the 18 tiles and 1 special tile marked with symbol [sun-in-square icon] or [spiral icon] (shown in the illustration: a tile with a circular-arrow icon and a small corner mark, with an arrow pointing to the special tile) and put them back in the box. You will not need them for the first mode.
4. Divide the remaining tiles based on the colour of the back (representing town and forest) and shuffle each stack.
5. Evenly distribute the tiles according to the area. Place two town tiles face down in each town area and four forest tiles face down in each forest area as shown on the left.
6. Give each player a WolfWalker tile.
7. Give each player a corresponding WolfWalker figure and place it in the Lair. The player that begins the game (first player) is the player who was the last one in the forest.

Gameplay

This is a cooperative game mode – you all win or lose as a group.

You will take turns starting with the first player and continuing in a clockwise direction.

You will learn more about the objective on page 5 (Winning the game).

On your turn

1. Roll a die and move

You are exploring the area. Will you find the wolf souls you are searching for? This game has special movements. Roll a die and move your figure along any road. You have to stop on the first field with a symbol matching the symbol on the die.

• You can pass over other WolfWalkers and ignore symbols below them.
• If you decide to follow the road back to the Lair you have to stop in the Lair since it has all four symbols.
• You cannot pass soldiers.

The die faces show four symbols: tree, deer, paw print and bird. Two special symbols on a die will be explained later on page 4.

If you are trapped by soldiers and cannot move then you must skip your turn. Note that you cannot move left and right between the four runes near the Lair. All the runes near the Lair lead directly to it.

The example on page 2 shows a player's move in the middle of the game. Mebh is located on the top left part of the board. She rolled a tree. The possible roads where she can move are shown in white and the ones that are not available are marked with a cross (note that she cannot pass soldiers but she can pass Robyn). She decided to go to the field marked with the wolf symbol. She passed two runes and therefore takes two rune tokens. She reveals the tile, connected with a path to the field she is standing on. The revealed tile in this example is a soldier so she has to move one of the soldiers toward the green arrow on the board (in direction toward the Lair). If the revealed tile would have runes in the left upper corner she could buy it and would have to use it immediately.

2. Take as many runes as you passed

While exploring the area you have found and gathered runes. Count the rune symbols you pass on your way. You will use runes to buy tiles. It is possible to get more than one rune in one turn (if you pass two rune symbols, you get two runes, etc.). Find the best way!

Each player can never have more than 7 runes. You can still follow the roads that would give you more than you can have, but you receive only up to 7 runes.

3. Reveal ALL top tiles you are CONNECTED to with a path (flip them face-up)

You have found something interesting! What could it be? If you have found a path leading to the stack of tiles, reveal the top tile of that stack.

If your field is connected with two paths to two stacks of tiles, reveal top tiles from both stacks. Leave the top tiles that are already revealed face-up.

If your field is not connected with a path to any stack of tiles your turn ends. Pass the die to the next player in a clockwise direction.

4. If you revealed a soldier, move one of the soldiers

Soldiers are moving closer to the Lair! For each revealed soldier tile shown below choose one of the soldiers and move it along the road to the next rune in the direction shown on the tile. Then discard the tile (put it in the box).

Follow the coloured arrows at the edges of the board to know in which direction you should move the soldier. The three soldier tiles show arrows pointing left (blue arrow edge), down (green arrow edge) and right (yellow arrow edge).

• Soldiers are moving from rune to rune (they ignore other fields).
• Soldiers can pass by/over WolfWalkers.
• On each rune symbol there can be only one soldier.
• Soldiers cannot pass each other.
• You cannot choose a Soldier that cannot make a move.

If neither of the soldiers can move, nothing happens. Discard the tile.

5. Discard peaceful forest tiles

This part of the forest is currently peaceful and the girls are playing. If you revealed this tile, discard it (put it back in the box).

6. You can buy ONE of the face-up tiles you are connected to with a path

You have found part of the wolf soul or something to help you find one! If a tile has runes in the left upper corner, you can buy it. Pay as many runes as is shown and use the tile. If you cannot buy it or decide not to buy it, leave it face-up.

Note that even if you are connected to two stacks of tiles, you can buy only one of the tiles.

7. Pass the die to the next player in a clockwise direction.

Special symbols on a die

The die has two special faces, shown on the die illustrations as a sun-in-square symbol and a starburst symbol.

Buy any revealed tile OR roll the die again (starburst face)

Instead of moving, buy any revealed (face-up) tile and end your turn OR roll the die again.

The tile can be anywhere on the board, you do not have to be connected to it with a path.

Reveal the top tile OR roll the die again (sun-in-square face)

Instead of moving, reveal the top tile of any stack on the board and end your turn OR roll the die again.

If you choose to reveal a tile, reveal it by turning it face-up and place it on top of the stack. If the revealed tile is a soldier, you must move the soldier immediately and discard the tile. If you reveal any other tile, leave it on the stack face-up. Then your turn ends. Note that you cannot buy a revealed tile in that turn.

The tiles you can buy

Parts of wolf souls

As Wolfwalkers you try to collect and bring to the Lair one completed wolf soul before soldiers find its Lair. There are three parts of wolf souls in three colours which you will try to find in the Forest and Town – a head, body and tail in red, yellow and blue.

Completed wolf souls have three parts – a head, body and tail in the same colour.

If you buy a part of a wolf soul, place it face-up near the game board so all players can see it.

There are multiple parts in the same colour, but you only need one of each part to complete the wolf's soul. The head parts are available only in the Town.

Multicolour wolf soul

You can use this tile as any part of a wolf soul in any colour. There is only one of these tiles in the game and it is located in the Forest. If you buy it, place it face-up near the board.

Swiftness of the wolf – another turn

If you buy this tile, you have another turn immediately. Then discard the tile.

Chase – move a soldier in any direction

If you buy this tile, you can move one soldier to the next rune in any direction immediately. Then discard the tile.

The End of the Game

The game ends when one of the following happens:

Winning the game – a soul is safely at home

The objective of the game is to collect one completed wolf soul as a group and bring it back to the Lair (in this mode it does not matter which player buys which part of the wolf soul).

• Once you collect all three parts in the same colour (head, body and tail) they become connected.
• Then any one of the players has to come safely back to the Lair with their WolfWalker figure and with that bring the completed wolf soul back home.

Congratulations! The wolf's soul is safe and the game ends with a Win for all of you!

Each game session is unique. For higher difficulty and different experience try the game modes described on pages 6 and 7 and the challenges described on the last page.

Losing the game – soldiers find the Lair

If either of the soldiers comes to one of the last runes near the Lair, the game ends with a Loss for all of you.

Try again, practice makes perfect!

Modes of the Game

Have fun discovering new strategies!

Here you can find different modes of the game so you can adjust play time and difficulty (marked with number of paws). It is suggested to start with Mode 1 to get to know the game. Mode 1 through 3 are cooperative (you win or lose together) and Mode 4 is competitive (there is only one winner).

1. Getting to know the woods

10 min. Difficulty: 1 paw.

Play the game as presented in the rules on previous pages. You will get to know the mechanics and objective of the game.

2. The soldiers are getting closer and closer!

20 min. Difficulty: 2 paws.

Play with the following changes:

Setup – When preparing the game, use also the tiles marked with [square symbol]. Distribute the tiles according to the area as evenly as possible – 4 tiles in each Town area, 5 tiles in six Forest areas and 4 tiles in three Forest areas near the Lair. Effects of the new tiles are described below.

Gameplay – The main change in the gameplay is that each player buys their own tiles with parts of wolf souls (and not like in Mode 1, where all wolf souls belong to all players). When you buy a part of wolf soul or multicolour wolf soul, place it face-up in front of you. To win a game you have to cooperate to have the completed wolf soul in front of one player. The player with a completed wolf soul has to then come safely back to the Lair with their WolfWalker figure and with that bring the completed wolf soul back home.

To achieve that you have to be careful which tiles which player buys and use the tile Gathering the pack to exchange tiles between players.

Gathering the pack – give/take tiles

If you buy this tile, choose one of the other players immediately. You may give and take any number of parts of the wolf souls from them (with their permission). Then discard this tile.

Double threat – soldier moves two times

If you reveal a tile with two arrows, move one of the soldiers in both directions shown by the arrows. You cannot choose a soldier that cannot make a full movement. Then discard this tile.

3. The WolfWalkers learn new skills!

30 min. Difficulty: 3 paws.

Play with the following changes:

Setup – When preparing the game, use all the tiles. Evenly distribute the tiles according to the area – 5 tiles in each Town and 5 tiles in each Forest area. Place the Special abilities tile near the board so all players can see it. It stays there for the whole game. Effects of the new tiles are described on the right.

Gameplay – Just like in Mode 2 each player buys their own tiles with parts of wolf souls. When you buy a part of wolf soul or multicolour wolf soul, place it face-up in front of you. To win a game you have to cooperate to have the completed wolf soul in front of one player. The player with a completed wolf soul has to then come safely back to the Lair with their WolfWalker figure and with that bring the completed wolf soul back home.

To achieve that you have to be careful which tiles which player buys and use the tile Gathering the pack to exchange tiles between players. If you use effects that let you look at tiles secretly (e.g., Druidic charm, Sixth sense and special abilities) you cannot tell the other players which tiles you have seen. You can only tell them if the tiles are good or bad for the group.

Druidic charm – look at and move tiles

Immediately look at the top tile of any stack (face up or face down in secret), then place it on top of any pile face down. The tile can be placed on the same pile from which it came. Then discard Druidic charm.

Sixth sense – look at the whole row

Immediately look at top tiles of all the stacks in a chosen row secretly (e.g., all of the town stacks OR one of the rows of forest stacks). Then discard this tile.

Unpleasant surprise – all players loose their runes

When this tile is revealed all players have to immediately return all the runes they gathered. Then discard this tile. There is only one such tile and it is located in the Town.

Special abilities

On your turn you can pay 5 runes at any time to activate one of the shown abilities. The abilities are the same as on the tiles with the same symbols.

4. Healthy competition (competitive mode)

30 min. Difficulty: 4 paws.

Prepare and play the game as described in Mode 3. Play with the following changes:

1. This game mode is competitive. The player who collects one completed wolf soul and then comes back to the Lair wins the game.
2. The tiles you buy can be saved and used later at any time during your turn. You can have five tiles at most in front of you (including parts of wolf souls).
3. Move soldiers as usual, but you cannot loose the game when soldiers come to one of the runes near the Lair. When soldiers come there, they just block the roads. Soldiers can move left and right between the runes near the Lair. If you open a tile with the soldier and they cannot move, nothing happens – discard it (put it in the box).
4. Two of the tiles and one special ability have a different meaning than in other modes (as described below):

Tricks – exchange one part of wolf soul

You can exchange one part of your wolf soul for one part of another player's wolf soul without their permission, but only if it completes a wolf soul you already have (e.g., if you already have the other two parts in the same colour). Then discard this tile.

Multicolour wolf soul – exchange with one part of wolf's soul on the board

You can take one revealed (face-up) tile with part of the wolf soul from the board for free and place the multicolour wolf soul in its place face-up so another player can buy it later.

Challenges and Achievements

If you want to challenge yourself, pick a challenge from a list below in advance and put a checkmark when you achieve it. Some of them represent achievements and some change the game rules a bit in a fun, unique way. Good luck!

General

• All round players – Play all four game modes.
• All numbers of players – Play two, three and four player games.
• Friend of the wolves – Play the game eight times.
• Consistency – Win three games in a row.
• Double thinking – Play solo with two WolfWalker figures.
• We can do it! – Win without using the Multicolour wolf soul tile. If you buy it, discard it.
• Soldiers can hear you! – Win without talking to each other at all (you cannot use words but can use sounds).

In Mode 1

• Be quick! – Win the game in 5 minutes.
• Early bird – Play the game before sunrise.

In Mode 2

• Prediction – At the beginning of the game announce which colour of the wolf soul you will complete and win with that colour.
• Calculating – Win by using the Gathering the pack tile to give or take only one part of the wolf soul.

In Mode 3

• Long distance – Win without using Gathering the pack tiles. If you buy it, discard it.
• Memory – Win with the following change: each player looks at two chosen stacks of tiles in secret before the game starts. For the rest of the game you cannot communicate.
• Three – To win, complete three wolf souls (in all three colours) and bring all back to the Lair.
• Play safe – Win with soldiers being at the two rune symbols at the top of the board at the end of the game.
• No chase – Win without using Chase tiles. If you buy one, discard it.

In Mode 4

• Trapped – Win a game by trapping one of the players between two soldiers.
• Threat – Have a winner in a game with the following change: if both soldiers reach the runes in front of the Lair, everyone loses the game.
• Special tricks – Play a game with Tricks letting you take any single tile from another player. You cannot exceed the five tile limit.