Objective of the Game

Welcome, intrepid adventurers, to the dark and dangerous depths of Clank!: Catacombs! Your objective is simple, yet fraught with peril: delve deep into the ever-shifting catacombs, snatch a precious Artifact, and make it back to the Crypt alive. But beware! Every noisy step, every clank of your gear, draws the attention of the slumbering Dragon. The player who escapes with an Artifact and the most valuable treasures will be crowned the ultimate dungeon delver. Can you outwit your rivals, brave the Dragon's wrath, and emerge victorious?

Preparation (Setup)

Setting up your dungeon-crawling adventure is a breeze! Here’s how to get started:

1. Place the Dragon pawn on the Rage Track space corresponding to your player count.
2. Place the Starting tile in the center of your table.
3. Put the three Monkey Idols on the Monkey Shrine room.
4. Place one Mastery token for each player near the Crypt.
5. Each player places their Pawn on the Crypt.
6. Shuffle the 22 blue Depths tiles face-down to form a stack.
7. Shuffle the six purple Surface tiles, return two at random to the box, and place the remaining four on top of the Depths tiles stack.
8. Create the general supply bank with:
   • Coins and Lockpicks (both unlimited).
   • White Ghost cubes.
   • The Dragon bag with the 24 black Dragon cubes inside.
   • Stack the Artifacts face up in order of value, with the 5-point Artifact on top.
   • Shuffle and stack face down the Major secrets, Minor secrets, and Prisoners.
   • The Market board with the Item tokens stacked on it, Crowns in order of value with the 10-point Crown on top.
9. Place the following cards near the playing area: the Goblin card, and three separate stacks for Mercenary, Explore, and Secret Tome cards.
10. Shuffle the Dungeon deck and deal six cards face up to form the Dungeon Row. Replace any cards that have the Dragon Attack symbol.
11. Each player receives:
    • 30 Clank! cubes of their color.
    • 3 Lockpicks.
    • A personal deck of 10 shuffled cards: 6 Burgles, 2 Stumbles, 1 Sidestep, and 1 Scramble.
12. Finally, the first, second, and third players place 3, 2, and 1 Clank! cubes, respectively, in the Clank! area of the board.

The Game Turn

A turn in Clank!: Catacombs is a dynamic dance of card play and dungeon exploration. Here’s how it unfolds:

1. Start Your Turn: You begin your turn by drawing 5 cards from your personal deck. You must play all of these cards in any order during your turn. Played cards go to a "play area" in front of you. If your deck runs out, simply shuffle your personal discard pile to create a new deck.
2. Playing Cards & Taking Actions: Cards produce resources (Skill, Swords, Boots) that you use to take actions. You can perform actions as many times as you like, as long as you have enough resources. Unused resources are lost at the end of your turn.
   • Skill: Used to Acquire a Card (blue or yellow banners) or Use a Device (purple banners). When you Acquire a Card, pay its cost and place it in your discard pile. When you Use a Device, perform its "USE" text immediately and place the card in the Dungeon discard pile.
   • Swords: Used to defeat the Goblin (multiple times per turn if you wish) or a Monster (red banners). When you defeat a Monster, gain the reward listed in its "DEFEAT" text and place the card in the Dungeon discard pile. Swords can also sometimes be used as part of the Movement action.
   • Boots: Used for the Movement action. All tunnels require at least one Boot to move between rooms. Some tunnels have additional requirements:
     • Some require an additional Boot.
     • Some cause 1 damage (you can prevent this by spending a Sword per damage).
     • Some are locked and require a Lockpick to open (once per game for all players).
     • One-way tunnels can only be used in the direction of the arrow.
     • If you move into an empty space, draw the next tile from the stack and place it adjacent to your current tile (they must share an entire edge). You can rotate the tile before placing it, but you must be able to interact with its new requirements. You can interrupt your movement to take other actions.
   • Card Effects:
     • ACQUIRE: Execute the text once when you acquire the card.
     • ARRIVE: Execute the text when the card is revealed in the Dungeon Row, before any attack.
     • DANGER: Draw an additional cube during a Dragon Attack for each Danger card in the Dungeon Row.
     • +/- CLANK!: Add or remove cubes from the Clank! area.
     • CARD DRAWS: Draw cards from your deck.
     • DISCARD: Discard a card from your hand that you haven't played yet.
     • TRASH: Place the card in the game box.
     • TELEPORT: Move to an adjacent room, ignoring tunnel icons.
     • EACH PLAYER: If order matters, start with the current player.
   • Tile Interactions:
     • Market: Spend 7 Gold to buy an Item token from the Market. You can buy multiple items.
     • Artifact Rooms: When a new tile with an Artifact room is placed, take the top Artifact token from the stack and place it there. For + or ++ icons, take tokens one or two below the top. You can pick up an Artifact if you are in its room, but you can only carry one. Picking up an Artifact enrages the Dragon.
     • Major Secret Access: Cover the icon with a Lockpick (once) to immediately draw and reveal a random Major Secret.
     • Secret Tome Access: Cover the icon with a Lockpick (once) to immediately acquire a Secret Tome from the supply and place it in your discard pile.
     • Prisoner Access: Cover the icon with a Lockpick (once) to immediately draw and reveal two random Prisoner tokens.
     • Crystal Cave: Entering a Crystal Cave exhausts you, preventing you from spending more Boots for the rest of your turn (you can still Teleport).
     • Haunted Tile: When a Haunted tile is added, place a white Ghost cube in the Clank! area.
     • Portals: Move to any portal in the dungeon, then continue moving normally. Spending 1 Boot allows you to move from one room, through both portals, and into another room.
     • Shrines: Place one of your cubes from your personal supply onto an empty space of a Shrine. You cannot mark a Shrine if you have no cubes left or if you've already marked it. You gain 1 Gold for each Shrine you marked (1st: +1 Gold; 2nd: +2 Gold, etc.).
     • Rewards (when entering a room): You can only claim a reward once per turn.
       • Take a random Minor Secret and reveal it.
       • Take a Monkey Idol from the room (not an Artifact).
       • Gain the shown amount of Gold.
       • Heal 1 damage.
3. Ending Your Turn & Dragon Attacks: Once you've played all your cards and taken all desired actions, declare the end of your turn:
   1. Move cards from your play area to your personal discard pile. Draw five new cards for your next turn.
   2. Refill empty spaces in the Dungeon Row with new cards from the deck. If there are no more cards to draw, the game ends immediately, and all remaining players are knocked out.
   3. If any new cards revealed have a Dragon Attack symbol, the dragon attacks (only once, regardless of how many symbols were revealed).
      • Take all cubes from the Clank! area and put them into the Dragon Bag.
      • Shake the bag and draw a number of cubes equal to the number on the Dragon pawn's space on the Rage Track.
      • Black cubes are set aside in the bank.
      • Colored cubes are placed on the Health Meter of the corresponding player.
      • Whenever a white Ghost cube is pulled, every player takes one damage. Return white cubes to the Clank! area.
      • If the Dragon Bag is empty after an attack, the game ends immediately, and all remaining players are knocked out.
4. Health & Damage: Your health is tracked on your Health Meter. When you take damage, place your cubes on your meter. If you run out of personal cubes, use a black cube. If your Health Meter is completely filled, you are knocked out.

Game End and Scoring

The game concludes when all players have either escaped or been knocked out.

• Escape: To escape, you must arrive at the Crypt with an Artifact. Finish your current turn, then before refilling the Dungeon Row, remove your pawn from the board and take one Mastery token.
• Knocked Out: If your Health Meter becomes full, you are knocked out. Lay your pawn on its side.

Players who have escaped or been knocked out no longer add Clank!, are unaffected by cards, and take no damage from the Dragon. However, each time their turn comes, they still draw four cubes from the Dragon Bag (six in a 2-player game), ignoring the Rage Track and Danger cards.

Only players who retrieved an Artifact AND were not knocked out in the Depths are eligible to score. Their final score is calculated by adding up:

• Artifact value.
• Gold value (each Gold is worth 1 point).
• Tokens value (from Minor Secrets, Major Secrets, Prisoners, and Market Items).
• Cards value in their deck, including their hand and discard pile (value found in the top right corner).

The player with the most points wins! In case of a tie, the tied player with the most valuable Artifact is the winner.

Note: The Dragon pawn moves up one space on the Rage Track when a player picks up an Artifact or certain Minor Secrets or Prisoners.

Tips for Victory

To conquer the catacombs and emerge with the most loot, keep these tactical insights in mind:

1. Manage Your Clank! Wisely: Every Clank! cube you add to the Clank! area is a potential hit from the Dragon. While taking risks can lead to great rewards, be mindful of how much noise you're making. Sometimes, a quieter path is a safer path, especially as the Dragon gets more enraged!
2. Prioritize Artifacts, But Don't Forget the Exit: An Artifact is essential for scoring, but it's not the only way to earn points. Don't get so greedy for the deepest, most valuable Artifact that you can't make it back to the Crypt alive. A smaller Artifact and a safe escape are better than a huge Artifact and being knocked out!
3. Adapt to the Dungeon: The catacombs are constantly changing with new tiles. Be flexible with your strategy. If a valuable Major Secret or Prisoner appears nearby, consider diverting your path. If a Crystal Cave blocks your way, plan your movement carefully to avoid getting stuck. The dungeon rewards those who can adapt!