Objective of the Game

Welcome, heroes! In Dice Forge, you're not just rolling dice; you're building them! You and your fellow heroes are competing to earn the most Glory Points and claim your rightful place among the gods. How do you do that? By strategically rolling your custom dice to gather precious Gold, Sun Shards, and Moon Shards. These resources are your ticket to acquiring powerful new die faces to upgrade your dice and performing epic heroic feats. It's a race to forge the best dice and make the biggest splash!

Preparation (Setup)

Let's get this divine adventure started! Here's how to set up your game of Dice Forge:

1. First things first, unfold the Islands Board and place it next to the Foundations (that's the game box and tray).
2. Remove the Temple from its sleeve and place it on top of the Foundations. Keep the sleeve aside for now.
3. Now, let's sort those Heroic Feat cards! Based on their artwork, create small piles of 4 identical cards. Then, place these stacks in their respective locations around the Islands Board, matching the card cost and type (with or without a Moon Shard icon) to the indicated location. For an introductory game, it's recommended to use the cards marked with a small "G" icon.
4. Each player grabs a Hero Inventory and places it in front of them.
5. Take your five Resource markers of your chosen color and place one on each "0" space of your Hero Inventory (for Gold, Sun Shards, Moon Shards, and Glory Points).
6. Grab your matching Hero pawn and place it on its starting portal on the Islands Board.
7. Each player takes one Light Die and one Dark Die (already assembled in their starting configuration) and places them in the designated spaces on their Hero Inventory.
8. The youngest player gets to be the first player and takes the First Player token.
9. Adjust your starting Gold reserves based on turn order:
   • 1st player: 3 Gold
   • 2nd player: 2 Gold
   • 3rd player: 1 Gold
   • 4th player: 0 Gold
10. Place the Round tracker on space "1" of the round track.
11. Store the remaining die faces on the Temple.
12. Finally, store all other components like Single-Use tokens, Hammer tokens, Chest tiles, and extra tokens in their designated locations.

Note: For 2 or 3-player games, the setup is similar, but consult the "Setup Configurations" section of the manual for specific adjustments like the number of rounds and die faces per pool. For example, a 4-player game has 9 rounds, while a 3-player game has 10.

The Turn of Play

A game of Dice Forge unfolds over a series of rounds, with each player taking a turn as the active player. Let's break down what happens on your turn:

All Players Receive Divine Blessings

At the very start of each round, and whenever a hero is ousted or a card effect triggers it, all players simultaneously receive a divine blessing. This means everyone rolls both of their dice, places them back on their Inventory with the rolled faces up, and immediately applies the effects of those two faces. Most of the time, this means gaining resources!

Active Player Turn

When it's your turn as the active player, you'll go through four consecutive steps:

1. The Active Player May Call for Reinforcements:

   If you have any Heroic Feat cards with reinforcement effects, you can activate each of them once, in any order you choose. These effects might give you extra resources or other advantages.

2. The Active Player May Perform an Action (A or B):

   This is where you make your big moves! You can choose to do one of two things:

   • A – Make an Offering to the Gods:

     This is how you get new die faces! You spend Gold to acquire one or more *strictly different* die faces from the Sanctuary. Once acquired, you must immediately forge these new faces onto your dice. To forge a face, you remove an old face from one of your dice (using the new face as a lever), attach the new face, and place the removed face near your Hero Inventory. Remember, you can't rearrange faces or put removed faces back on!

   • B – Perform a Heroic Feat:

     Want some powerful effects or instant Glory Points? Choose a heroic feat you want to perform. Spend the required resources indicated on the card. Then, move your Hero pawn to the portal of the island containing that feat. If another hero is already there, you oust them! The ousted hero moves their pawn back to their starting portal and immediately receives a divine blessing as compensation. Finally, take the top Heroic Feat card from the stack, apply its effect (if any), and place it facedown near your Hero Inventory in one of three piles based on its effect type:

     • Pile 1: Heroic Feats with no permanent effect.
     • Pile 2: Permanent effects activated throughout the game under certain conditions.
     • Pile 3: Permanent effects active throughout the game, activated during step 2 when you are the active player.
3. The Active Player May Perform an Extra Action:

   Feeling ambitious? Once per turn, you can spend 2 Sun Shards to perform an additional action, either A (Make an Offering to the Gods) or B (Perform a Heroic Feat), just like in the previous step!

4. End of the Active Player’s Turn:

   Your turn ends immediately after step 4, whether or not you performed an extra action. The next player in clockwise order becomes the new active player.

End of Round

When all players have taken their turn as the active player, the round ends. Advance the Round tracker one space. If it's the end of the final round (9 rounds for 2 or 4 players, 10 rounds for 3 players), the game ends. Otherwise, a new round begins!

End of Game and Scoring

The game concludes at the end of the final round. It's time to see who truly earned their place among the gods!

Each player adds up all the Glory Points they've collected from their Heroic Feat cards and their Hero Inventory, including any Glory Point tokens they might have. The player with the most Glory Points is the winner! In case of a tie, all tied players share the victory.

Tips for Winning

Ready to dominate the dice-forging arena? Here are a couple of tips to get you started:

1. Specialize Your Dice (But Don't Forget Balance!):

   Early on, consider focusing your dice on generating specific resources. Do you need a lot of Gold for new faces, or Sun Shards for extra actions? However, don't put all your eggs in one basket! You'll need a mix of resources to perform various heroic feats and acquire different die faces. A balanced approach with a slight lean towards your current strategy can be very effective.

2. Don't Underestimate Heroic Feats:

   While upgrading your dice is crucial, performing heroic feats is often where the big Glory Points are! Keep an eye on the available cards and their costs. Sometimes, spending resources on a powerful card effect or instant Glory Points can be more beneficial than another die face, especially if it ousts an opponent and gives them a blessing they don't immediately need.