Zombie Princess and the Enchanted Maze Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Game Components
• Game Set-Up
• Game Play
  • Start of Turn
  • Zombie Princess Phase
    • Move the Zombie Princess
    • Place a Maze Tile
    • Rotate a Maze Tile
  • Knight Phase
  • Getting Your Key
  • Becoming a Zombie Knight
• End of the Game
• Rules and Tips
  • Rotating Maze Tiles
  • Movement
  • Placing Maze Tiles
• 5 Player Game
  • Playing the Zombie Princess With Fewer Than 5 Players
• Extra Action Tokens (Advanced Play)
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
• Zombie Knight Die Movement (Advanced Play)

Overview

The goal of the game is to create and escape the Enchanted Maze without being turned into a Zombie Knight by the Zombie Princess (or later, by other Zombie Knights). In order to escape, you need to collect your key from the opposite corner and then make your way to the center of the maze (represented by the castle piece). When you get there, the game ends and you have won!

Game Components

• 1 Board
• 4 Princess castle pieces
• 4 Keys
• 48 Maze tiles
• 4 Knight standees and bases
• 4 Zombie Knight standees and bases
• 1 Zombie Princess standee and base
• 20 Extra Action tokens (for advanced play)
• 1 Zombie Princess die

Game Set-Up

Set up the castle with doors adjacent to each other on opposing corners as shown in the diagram. Place it in the center of the maze.

Place a corner Maze tile in each of the 4 corners of the board in the orientation pictured above. (Back of Corner Maze Tiles / Front of Corner Maze Tiles)

Each player selects one of the knights, places it on their sigil on a corner tile, then places their respective key in the diagonally opposite corner tile. Unchosen Knights and Keys are returned to the box. (If you are only playing with 2 Knights, they can be on the same side or opposite corners.)

Place the Zombie Princess in the center of the maze, inside the castle.

Mix all the Maze tiles together, facedown.

Each player then takes 3 Maze tiles and places them faceup in front of them.

Place the remaining Maze tiles facedown in several convenient stacks.

The bravest player is the starting player – or choose randomly.

You are now ready to face the Zombie Princess and the Enchanted Maze!

Game Play

Your turn is split into two phases – the Zombie Princess Phase and the Knight Phase. You always play as your Knight, but whether you play as the Zombie Princess is determined by a roll of the die at the start of your turn.

Start of Turn

You always start your turn by rolling the Zombie Princess die. If you roll an X, you will skip the Zombie Princess Phase and move directly to the Knight Phase. Any other roll and you will go to the Zombie Princess Phase first, before moving on to the Knight Phase. It is worth noting that you will always have a Knight Phase on your turn.

Zombie Princess Phase

If you roll a 1, 2, 3 or ZR! then you get to control the Zombie Princess and you must perform each of the following 3 actions, in any order you choose:

Move the Zombie Princess

Move the Zombie Princess through the maze along an open path of squares, up to the number of tiles determined by the roll of the Zombie Princess die. You can stop on any square along this path or choose not to move the Zombie Princess at all. Remember, you count the number of tiles, not the number of squares for movement.

• A roll of 1: you can move the Zombie Princess up to 1 Maze tile.
• A roll of 2: you can move the Zombie Princess up to 2 Maze tiles.
• A roll of 3: you can move the Zombie Princess up to 3 Maze tiles.
• A roll of ZR! (Zombie Rampage!): she’s angry and you can move her up to as far as she can along an open path of squares.

Place a Maze Tile

Take a Maze tile from those available in front of you and place it directly adjacent (orthogonally) to the Maze tile the Zombie Princess is on, rotated in any orientation that fits the grid. If no adjacent spaces are available, then you do not place a Maze tile.

If an action is unable to be performed, then ignore that action.

Once leaving the center of the maze, the Zombie Princess cannot stop on it, but she can pass through it if it is not occupied by a Knight.

Rotate a Maze Tile

Rotate a Maze tile to any orientation that fits in the grid. You can rotate any unoccupied Maze tile, the Maze tile that the Zombie Princess occupies or the center castle piece.

The Zombie Princess cannot enter or pass through any of the corner tiles.

Once you have completed your actions for the Zombie Princess, move on to the Knight Phase.

Knight Phase

Now you play as your Knight. You have 4 actions which must be performed, in any order you choose, except for the action Draw Maze Tiles, which must be the last action of your turn:

• Place a Maze Tile: Take a section of the maze from those available in front of you and place it directly adjacent (orthogonally) to the Maze tile your Knight is on, in any orientation that fits in the grid. If no adjacent spaces are available, then you do not place a Maze tile.
• Rotate a Maze Tile: Rotate a Maze tile in any direction. You can rotate any unoccupied Maze tile to any orientation that fits in the grid, the Maze tile that your Knight occupies or the center castle piece.
• Move Your Knight: Move your Knight through the maze as far as you want along an open path of squares. Unlike the Zombie Princess, your Knight is not restricted by how far it can move (Zombie Knights excepted, see below).
• Final Action: Draw Maze Tiles: Draw Maze tiles from any facedown stacks until you have 3 Maze tiles in front of you.

If an action is unable to be performed, then ignore that action.

After you draw one or more Maze tiles, your turn is over and play passes clockwise to the next player.

Getting Your Key

In order to collect your key, a path must be created to the corresponding key squares. Once you reach your key, you must stop your movement and you cannot move any further this turn.

Take the key and put it in front of you so that the other players can see it.

Becoming a Zombie Knight

When the Zombie Princess (or a Zombie Knight) moves, and is able to land on the square occupied by your Knight, it instead stops in front of your Knight and turns it into a Zombie Knight.

The Zombie Princess (or a Zombie Knight) must have enough movement to be able to move onto the square that is occupied by a Knight.

Also, if you find yourself trapped by Zombies and cannot move, you immediately become a Zombie Knight.

NOTE: If the Zombie Princess or a Zombie Knight ends up on a square adjacent to you because of the rotation of a Maze tile, then you are not turned into a Zombie. You can only be turned into a Zombie during a ‘Move’ action.

When you are turned into a Zombie Knight, swap your Knight standee for its Zombie version.

Your goal has now changed. You no longer want to find your key to escape the maze (remove your key from the board) – you want to turn the other Knights into Zombie Knights!

On your turn you will still roll a die to see if you will take the Zombie Princess actions, and whether you do or not, you will always go on to the Knight Phase, just as you did before.

You still perform all the regular actions of the Knight Phase, with one notable exception: Moving your Knight.

When performing the Move Your Knight action as a Zombie Knight, you can move up to 2 Maze tiles.

You also have the same movement restrictions as the Zombie Princess: you cannot stop inside the castle (center of board), but you can pass through it if it is not occupied by a Knight. You cannot enter or pass through any of the 4 corner tiles.

End of the Game

There are two ways that the game can end:

• Escape: The first Knight to enter the center of the maze, with their key in their possession, is the winner. The remaining Knights are left to face an eternity trapped in the Enchanted Maze with the Zombie Princess! Note: The maze does not have to be complete for someone to escape.
• Zombie Apocalypse: The Zombie Princess has turned all the Knights into Zombie Knights. The Zombie Princess is then victorious, and all the Zombie Knights face an eternity in ignorant bliss and endless hunger.

Rules and Tips

Rotating Maze Tiles

Use the rotation of the Maze tiles to open (or close) paths through the maze.

If more than one character (Knight, Zombie Princess or Zombie Knight) occupies the same maze section then it can be rotated by any of the occupying players.

In addition to opening paths, use the rotation of the Maze tiles to hinder your opponents’ progress and manipulate the movement of the Zombie Princess.

Movement

Two players (Knights, Zombie Princess or Zombie Knights) cannot occupy the same square, but they can occupy the same Maze tile.

Knights are friendly and can pass each other through the same square.

Knights cannot pass through a square occupied by the Zombie Princess or a Zombie Knight.

Beware using the center as a safe space.

Placing Maze Tiles

If you need to place a tile, but you have none in front of you and there are none left in the piles, then you can choose any of the tiles in your opponent’s area to play instead.

Once all the Maze tiles have been placed, then the maze is complete, and the Place a Maze Tile action is omitted from each phase of a player’s turn.

5 Player Game

In a 5-player game, one player plays as the Zombie Princess from the start and the other four players each control a Knight.

The Zombie Princess player takes 3 Maze tiles and places them faceup in front of them.

During each Knight’s or Zombie Knight’s turn, the Zombie Princess player will roll the Zombie Princess die. If the roll is “X” the Zombie Princess will not act that turn and the Knight whose turn it is will move on to the Knight Phase. If any other roll results, the Zombie Princess will act during the Zombie Princess Phase. After the Zombie Princess finishes that phase, the player will draw a Maze tile. Then the Knight whose turn it is will continue with their Knight Phase.

Playing the Zombie Princess With Fewer Than 5 Players

You can also have a dedicated player playing as the Zombie Princess with fewer players:

• 3 players: one player plays as the Zombie Princess and 2 players play as Knights.
• 4 players: one player plays as the Zombie Princess and 3 players play as Knights.

Extra Action Tokens (Advanced Play)

Setup

Set up the game as normal but randomly place the 20 Extra Action tokens in a pile facedown next to the board.

Give 3 Extra Action tokens to each player (but not to the Zombie Princess player if there is one in the game). Keep these tokens facedown. A player may look at their Extra Action tokens at any time.

Gameplay

You may play one Extra Action token anytime during your Knight Phase. Simply reveal the token, resolve its effect, then discard the token out of the game. Draw a new token to replace the one you played. When the supply of tokens runs out, you will not be able to gain any new tokens.

The Extra Action tokens are:

• Remove a Maze Tile: Remove one unoccupied Maze tile and shuffle it back into one of the piles. You may not remove a corner Maze tile or the center castle piece.
• Slide a Maze Tile: Slide any unoccupied Maze tile, or the Maze tile occupied by the Zombie Princess, one space in any direction not obstructed by another Maze tile. This can cause the Maze tile to become disconnected from the maze. You cannot slide a corner Maze tile or the center castle piece. The tile’s final position must still fit in the grid.
• Rotate an Occupied Maze Tile: Rotate any Maze tile that is occupied by any standee, otherwise following normal rotating rules. (It must fit in the grid.)
• Place a Maze Tile on Any Unoccupied Space: Place a Maze tile from in front of you onto any unoccupied space in the maze. It must fit in the grid.

Zombie Knight Die Movement (Advanced Play)

When you are a Zombie Knight and are ready to perform the Move Your Knight action, instead of moving up to 2 tiles, you can choose to roll the Zombie Princess die and move according to what is rolled. An X means no movement is allowed. A ZR! means you can move as far as you wish along an open path. Note: You can still perform your rotate and place actions if you roll an X.