Game Objective: Become Wyrmspan's Most Renowned Dracologist!

Prepare for an epic adventure in the world of Wyrmspan, where dragons of all shapes and sizes dominate the skies! You are an amateur dracologist who has just discovered a hidden labyrinth on your lands. Your goal? To transform this labyrinth into a thriving sanctuary, attracting these magnificent creatures to the warmth of your caves.

In Wyrmspan, you will build your sanctuary, excavating new areas and populating them with a variety of dragons. The game lasts 4 intense rounds, and the winner will be the player with the most Victory Points (VPs) at the end of the game. These points can come from various sources, such as the dragons you attract, eggs, tucked cards, public objectives, and even your influence in the Dragon Guild. So, prepare your excavation tools and draconic charms, for glory awaits the most cunning dracologist!

Setup: Assembling Your Draconic Sanctuary

Let's set up the table to begin our journey in Wyrmspan! Follow these steps for a quick and painless setup:

Central Table Items:

• Dragon Guild Board: Randomly choose 1 of the 4 Dragon Guild Tokens (double-sided) and place it in the center of the board, with the side corresponding to the number of players facing up.
• Card Display Board: This will be the temporary home for new dragons and caves.
• Dragons: Shuffle all Dragon Cards and place 3 of them face up in the appropriate spaces on the Card Display Board. Leave the Dragon deck face down next to it.
• Cave Cards: Shuffle all Cave Cards and place 3 of them face up in the appropriate spaces on the Card Display Board. Leave the Cave deck face down next to it.
• Round Track: Place the Round Marker on the Round 1 space. Shuffle the Objective Tokens and randomly place 4 of them in the designated spaces on the Round Track, with a random side facing up. The others return to the box.
• General Supply: Place the Coins, Eggs, and all other tokens (Meat, Gold, Crystal, Milk) in a general supply within reach of all players.

What Each Player Receives:

Each player chooses a color and receives:

• 1 Player Board.
• All player pieces of their color: 1 Adventurer, 8 Player Markers, and 1 Guild Marker.
• 3 Dragon Cards (drawn from the deck).
• 3 Cave Cards (drawn from the deck).

Individual Setup:

Now, each player finalizes their play area:

1. Place your Player Board in front of you.
2. Place your starting resources (3 tokens in any combination of Gold, Crystal, Meat, and Milk) to the left of your board.
3. Place your starting Egg on 1 of the 2 nest icons on your Player Board. Remember, you start with only 1 Egg, even with 2 nests available!
4. Place your starting Coins (6 Coins) to the left of your board.
5. Place your Adventurer in the Base of your Player Board.
6. Place your Guild Marker on the "START" space of the Dragon Guild Board.
7. Place your remaining Player Markers, Dragons, and Cave Cards in your play area.

Beginner Dracologist Tip: Before choosing your 3 starting resources, take a look at your 6 starting cards (3 Dragons and 3 Caves). Choose 4 of these cards to form your starting hand and discard the other 2. It's generally good to choose resources that match the costs of the Dragons you intend to play! Once everything is ready, give the Starting Player Marker to a random player, and the adventure begins!

The Game Turn: Building Your Sanctuary and Attracting Dragons

Wyrmspan is played over 4 rounds, with players taking several turns clockwise. The game continues until all players decide to "pass" in the round.

On Your Turn, You Perform 1 of 5 Actions:

To perform an action, you move your Adventurer to the action space on your Player Board, pay the cost (placing Coins and/or Eggs in the action space), and then execute it. Remember: at the end of your turn, you must discard down to a maximum of 9 Coins, 9 cards (Dragons and Caves combined), and 9 resource tokens (Meat, Gold, Crystal, Milk).

1. Excavate

This action allows you to add a new area to your sanctuary!

• Cost: 1 Coin (always) + 1 Egg (if it's the 3rd column) or 2 Eggs (if it's the 4th column).
• How it works:
  1. Choose the leftmost empty space in one of your 3 caves (Crimson Cavern, Golden Grotto, or Amethyst Abyss) to excavate. You always excavate from left to right.
  2. Pay the basic cost of 1 Coin and the additional cost of Eggs, if applicable. Eggs can come from Dragons in your caves or from the nest icons on your Player Board.
  3. Play a Cave Card from your hand into the empty space you chose. The colors of the Cave Cards are purely aesthetic, so any card works for any cave.
  4. Benefits: Activate the "when played" benefit of the Cave Card and the "when covered" benefit of the Player Board space, if any.

2. Entice

It's time to invite a new dragon to live in your sanctuary!

• Cost: 1 Coin (always) + the cost printed in the upper left corner of the Dragon Card (usually a combination of Gold, Crystal, Meat, and/or Milk, but may include additional Coins or Eggs).
• How it works:
  1. Choose a Dragon Card from your hand.
  2. Pay the cost of 1 Coin and the additional cost of the Dragon.
  3. Play the Dragon into an excavated space on your Player Board. The Dragon must be played into a cave that matches one of its preferred habitats (indicated on the left side of the card). You must play Dragons from left to right in each cave.
  4. Benefit: Gain the "when played" benefit printed on the Dragon (if any).
• Important: You cannot play one Dragon over another unless an ability allows it. A complete Player Board can have a maximum of 12 Dragons.

3. Explore (Crimson Cavern, Golden Grotto, or Amethyst Abyss)

Send your Adventurer to explore one of your caves and activate abilities!

• Cost: The cost increases each time you explore the same cave in the round:
  • 1st time: 1 Coin.
  • 2nd time: 1 Coin and 1 Egg.
  • 3rd time: 1 Coin and 2 Eggs (rare).
• How it works:
  1. Choose a cave to explore. Pay the cost of Coins and Eggs, leaving them in the action space to record how many times you have explored.
  2. Move your Adventurer from left to right within the cave, activating all "if activated" abilities () it passes through.
     • Each time you pass an "if activated" icon on your Player Board, you can activate the corresponding ability.
     • Each time you move your Adventurer over a Dragon that has an "if activated" icon, you can activate the corresponding ability.
  3. Your turn ends when your Adventurer reaches an empty space (). Return your Adventurer to the Base.

Passing in the Round:

Players continue taking turns until they decide to pass. This usually happens when you have used all your Coins or have no Dragons you want (or can) play. Once you have passed, you cannot take any more turns this round, but you can still gain benefits on other players' turns. When all players pass, the round ends.

Experienced Dracologist Tip: Try to use as many Coins as possible before passing! You gain 6 Coins and 1 Egg at the start of each round, so optimizing your spending is crucial.

Important Terminology:

• Cave Card: Square cards that transform empty spaces into excavated spaces.
• Dragon: Rectangular cards that inhabit your excavated spaces.
• Resources: Tokens of Meat, Gold, Crystal, and Milk. Coins and Eggs are not considered "resources".
• Cave: A row of spaces on your Player Board (Crimson Cavern, Golden Grotto, Amethyst Abyss).
• Discard/Pay: Remove items from your player area, hand, or nests and place them in the general supply. Cards are always discarded face up.
• Cache a Resource: Place a resource on a Dragon. Cached resources are worth 1 VP at the end of the game.
• Tuck a Card: Place a Dragon Card face down under an already played Dragon. Tucked cards are worth 1 VP at the end of the game.
• Lay an Egg/Pay an Egg: Place an Egg in an empty nest or remove an Egg from a nest. Each Egg is worth 1 VP at the end of the game.
• Hatchlings: A special type of Dragon with unique abilities that are activated by caching resources or tucking cards under them.
• Resource Exchange: At any time, you can exchange 2 resources (Gold, Crystal, Meat, and Milk) in any combination for 1 resource of another type.

End of Game and Scoring: The Great VP Count!

The game ends after the 4th round. Then, it's time to tally your Victory Points (VPs) and see who is the most successful dracologist!

At the End of the Round (Maintenance):

After all players have passed, the round ends and you do the following:

1. Discard the Coins and Eggs that were paid as costs on your Player Board.
2. Activate all "once per round" abilities () of your Dragons.
3. The round objective is scored. Each player places a Player Marker on the Round Track below the objective, corresponding to their position. In case of a tie for 1st place, all tied players earn the 1st place VPs, and the next player takes 2nd place. If a player has "zero" for the objective, they place their marker in the "all others" space (0 VPs).

At the Start of the Next Round:

1. The Round Marker moves 1 space to the right.
2. The card display is refreshed (): the 3 face-up Dragon Cards and 3 Cave Cards are discarded, and 3 new ones of each type are placed.
3. Each player gains 6 Coins and 1 Egg. The Egg must be added to an empty nest, if possible.
4. The Starting Player Marker is passed to the next player clockwise.

Final Scoring:

At the end of the 4th round, tally your VPs from the following categories:

• Markers on the Dragon Guild: The VPs indicated by your markers on the Dragon Guild Token.
• Dragon VP Values: The VPs printed on the visible Dragons on your Player Board (tucked Dragons or those in hand do not count).
• End-of-Game Abilities: The VPs granted by the "end of game" abilities () of your visible Dragons.
• Eggs: 1 VP per Egg.
• Cached Resources: 1 VP per cached resource.
• Tucked Cards: 1 VP per tucked Dragon.
• Public Objectives: The VPs you earned at the end of each round, according to your position in the objectives. Ties are friendly!
• Remaining Items and Coins:
  • 1 VP per remaining Coin.
  • 1 VP for every 4 other remaining items (resources, Dragon Cards, and Cave Cards).