Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure - The Ultimate Guide to Dragon Thievery!

Alright, aspiring thieves! Ready for an epic adventure deep into the lair of the fearsome Nictotraxian, the grumpiest dragon in the realm? In Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure, you and your friends will challenge yourselves to steal valuable artifacts, recruit allies, and, of course, try to escape with your lives. But beware! Every misstep, every little noise, can awaken the beast and turn your plan into a fiery nightmare. Let's dive in!

Game Objective

In Clank!, your objective is twofold and thrilling:

1. Steal an Artifact and Escape: You need to enter the dungeon, snatch one of the dragon's precious Artifacts, and most importantly, escape the dungeon alive, returning to the outside where you started. Remember, you can only carry one Artifact at a time, so choose wisely!
2. Accumulate More Points: Besides escaping, you want to be the richest and most famous thief in the realm! Accumulate points with your Artifact, loot, and other tokens to outscore your rivals.

Escaping alive is technically optional, but infinitely more recommendable if you want to tell your story and, more importantly, count your points!

Setup

Let's set up the table for your grand adventure. Follow these steps:

1. Each player takes 30 Clank! cubes of their color and places them in front of them, forming their personal supply. Also take the player pawn of the same color and a starting deck of 10 cards, containing: 6 Burgle, 2 Stumble, 1 Sidestep, and 1 Divert.
2. Place the seven Artifacts (with values from 5 to 30) face up on the corresponding numbered spaces on the board. If playing with fewer than 4 players, shuffle the Artifacts face down and randomly remove some:
   • With 3 players, return one Artifact to the box.
   • With 2 players, return two Artifacts.
3. Shuffle the Major Secrets face down and place one on each Major Secret space. The remaining ones return to the box without being revealed.
4. Shuffle the Minor Secrets face down and place two on each Minor Secret space.
5. Place the Market items in the designated area: Two Master Keys, Two Backpacks, and Three Crowns (valued at 10, 9, and 8).
6. Place the three Monkey Idols in the Monkey Shrine Room.
7. Place the Deep Knowledge Tokens near the top left corner of the board, one for each player.
8. Place the Gold coins (valued at 1 and 5) near the board to form the Bank.
9. Place the Dragon Marker (black) on the Rage Track:
   • With 4 players, on the first space.
   • With 3 players, on the second space.
   • With 2 players, on the third space.
10. Place the 24 Dragon Cubes (black) in the Dragon Bag and leave it near the board.
11. Place the Goblin monster card in the Reserve, near the board, next to the Mercenary, Explore, and Secret Tome piles.
12. Shuffle the Dungeon Deck and reveal six cards to form the Dungeon Row. If any card has the Dragon Attack symbol, replace it until all six do not. The replaced cards return to the Dungeon Deck and it is reshuffled. Leave an empty space next to the Dungeon Deck for the Dungeon discard pile.
13. Each player places their pawn at the top of the board, outside the dungeon. Shuffle their starting deck of 10 cards and draw five cards.
14. The stealthiest player starts the game (or choose randomly). The game proceeds clockwise. The first player places 3 Clank! cubes in the Clank! Area. The second places 2, the third 1, and the fourth (if any) none.

For your first game, we recommend using the "front" side of the board. A different dungeon awaits on the other side for future adventures!

The Game Turn

In Clank!, you are a thief who builds their own deck! Each turn is a chance to improve your deck and advance through the dungeon.

Start of Turn

You start each turn with five cards in hand. You will play all of them in the order you choose, using the resources they generate.

Resources and Actions

Your cards can generate three types of resources, which you will use to perform actions:

• SKILL: Used to acquire new cards for your deck.
• SWORDS: Used to fight monsters in the dungeon.
• BOOTS: Used to move around the board.

You can perform actions as many times as you want, as long as you have enough resources. You can play all your cards and then perform the actions, or intersperse actions between played cards.

Possible Actions

Here are the actions you can perform during your turn:

Acquire a New Card for Your Deck

• Use Skill to buy cards from the Dungeon Row (blue banner) or the Reserve (yellow banner).
• The Skill Cost is in the bottom right corner of the card.
• After paying, the card goes to your discard pile, becoming part of your deck.

Use a Device

• Devices are cards from the Dungeon Row with a purple banner.
• You acquire them with Skill, but they do not enter your deck.
• You immediately perform the effects of the card's "USE" text and then place it in the Dungeon discard pile.

Fight a Monster

• Monsters are cards from the Dungeon Row with a red banner.
• You fight them using Swords. The required amount is in the bottom right corner of the card.
• When defeating a monster from the Dungeon Row, you gain the reward indicated in the "DEFEAT" text and the card goes to the Dungeon discard pile.
• You can also fight the Goblin from the Reserve as many times as you want, gaining its reward with each defeat. It is not discarded.

Buy from the Market

• If your pawn is in a Market room, you can make a purchase.
• All Market items cost 7 Gold.
• Purchased items are placed in your play area. Items like the Master Key, Backpack, and Crowns offer advantages and points.

Move Through a Tunnel

• Use Boots to cross tunnels and move between dungeon rooms. Each Boot allows you to move through one tunnel.
• Special Tunnels:
  • Footprint Icon: Requires two Boots to cross.
  • Monster Icons: Inflicts damage when crossing. Each Sword used reduces 1 damage (but you don't have to use Swords). You cannot take damage that completes your Health Tracker this way.
  • Padlock: Can only be crossed if you possess the Master Key token.
  • Arrow: Can only be crossed in the direction indicated by the arrow.
  • Connecting Tunnels: Connect the edge of the board to the opposite side and require only one boot.
• When moving into a room, you can pick up a token (Minor Secret, Major Secret, Monkey Idol, or an Artifact) and place it in front of you.
  • When picking up an Artifact, move the Dragon Marker one space on the Rage Track.
  • You can only pick up one token per movement into a room.
  • You cannot pick up an Artifact if you already possess one.
  • You don't have to pick up a token if you don't want to.
  • When picking up a Minor or Major Secret, reveal it and follow its instructions.
• If you enter a Crystal Cave, you cannot use any more Boots this turn.

Other Common Effects

• Gaining Gold: Take Gold from the Bank and place it in front of you. Each Gold is worth 1 point at the end of the game and can be used for purchases.
• Clank!: Some cards make you gain Clank!. Add the indicated amount of cubes of your color from your supply to the board's Clank! Area. Cards that remove Clank! allow you to take your cubes out of the Clank! Area.

End of Turn

After playing all your cards and using the resources you wish, your turn ends. Place the used cards in your discard pile and draw five new cards for the next turn. Unused resources are lost, so use them wisely!

Damage and Healing

Your Health Tracker is at the bottom of the board. When you take damage, place cubes of your color on it, from left to right.

• Damage from Dragon Attack: Use cubes drawn from the Dragon Bag.
• Damage from monsters in tunnels: Take cubes from your personal supply.

Healing effects allow you to remove a cube of your color from the Health Tracker and return it to your supply.

Dragon Attack

At the end of each turn, if there are empty spaces in the Dungeon Row, fill them. If any revealed card has the Dragon Attack symbol, the dragon attacks! (Only once, regardless of how many cards with the symbol were revealed).

For the attack:

1. Take all Clank! cubes from the Clank! Area and place them in the Dragon Bag.
2. Shake the bag and draw a number of cubes equal to the number indicated on the Rage Track space where the Dragon Marker is.
3. Each black cube drawn is set aside. Each colored cube represents 1 damage inflicted to the player of that color. Undrawn cubes remain in the bag.

The dragon's fury increases! Whenever an Artifact is picked up or a Dragon Egg is discovered, the Dragon Marker advances one space on the Rage Track, increasing the number of cubes drawn in subsequent attacks.

End of Game and Scoring

Knockout or Escape

If your Health Tracker becomes full, you are knocked out. What happens next depends on your situation:

• With Artifact and Out of the Depths: You are rescued and can count your points.
• Without Artifact or in the Depths: You are not rescued, lose the competition, and, well, have bigger problems.

If you manage to return to the outside of the dungeon with an Artifact before being knocked out, you receive a Deep Knowledge Token worth an additional 20 points!

Countdown

The first time a player exits the dungeon or is knocked out, they move their pawn to the first space on the Countdown Track. In subsequent turns, instead of playing normally, they advance their pawn one space on the Countdown Track and perform the effects:

• Second to Fourth Space: An instant Dragon Attack, with extra cubes drawn (1 on the second, 2 on the third, 3 on the fourth).
• Fifth Space: The dragon instantly knocks out all players still in the dungeon.

Other players who exit or are knocked out do not use the Countdown Track.

End of Game

The game ends when all players exit the dungeon or are knocked out. All players who escaped (or at least from the Depths) tally their points:

• The value of their Artifacts.
• Points from any other tokens they acquired (Secrets, Monkey Idols, Crowns, Master Keys, Backpacks).
• Points equal to the amount of Gold accumulated.
• Points earned by the cards in their decks (the top right corner of each card indicates its value).

The player with the highest number of points is the winner and is declared the Greatest Thief of the Realm! In case of a tie, the tied player with the highest value Artifact wins.

Tips for Winning

Being a successful thief in Clank! requires cunning and good planning. Here are some tips to help you succeed:

1. Manage Your Clank! Wisely: The dragon is always alert! The more Clank! you produce, the higher the chance of being hit by attacks. Try to balance the need for powerful actions (which often generate Clank!) with cards that allow you to remove your cubes from the Clank! Area. Good noise management is key to survival.
2. Choose Your Artifact Strategically: The most valuable Artifacts are deep in the dungeon, but the path to them is more dangerous. Consider your movement and combat capabilities when deciding which Artifact to seek. Sometimes, a lower-value Artifact that is easier to grab and escape with can be more advantageous if you can accumulate many points with other loot.
3. Don't Underestimate the Market and Secrets: Market items like the Master Key or Backpack can be