Designed by Alan R. Moon
Translation by Alan R. Moon
Last revised on March 26, 1998
ELFENLAND is the revision of ELFENROADS by White Wind Inc. For 2-6 players.
Each player should take one Elf, the corresponding set of 20 markers, one Trouble Counter, and a Playing Aid Card. Each player places one marker on each of the 20 cities on the board and places his Elf in the Elf City.
Shuffle the City Cards and give one to each player. Each player should keep his City Card face down in front of him. Put the rest of the City Cards back in the box and make sure none of the players see any of them; they are not used in the game.
Shuffle the Movement Cards thoroughly. Turn all the Transportation Counters face down on the table in a pile and mix them thoroughly.
Place the four Round Cards in the space on the gameboard.
Decide who will be the First Player for the initial Round of the game and give him the First Player Card.
The game consists of a maximum of 4 rounds. Each Round is played as follows:
1. The First Player shuffles the Movement Cards and deals 8 to each player. Any remaining cards are not used during the Round.
2. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the board, each player draws one of the face down Transportation Counters. Each player may keep this counter face down.
3. Turn 5 Transportation Counters face up. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the board, each player draws one Transportation Counter at a time until each player has drawn 3 counters. Each player will then have drawn a total of 4 counters including the one drawn in Step 2. A player may draw one of the 5 face up counters or may draw any face down counter (this is a blind draw). However, all these Transportation Counters must be kept face up. If a player draws a face down counter, he must immediately turn it face up. Each time a face up counter is drawn, another counter from the pile should be turned face up to replace it so that there are always 5 face up counters.
4. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the board, each player takes one turn at a time. On his turn, a player may either place one Transportation Counter on a route or PASS.
5. Beginning with the First Player and proceeding clockwise around the board, each player plays cards and moves his Elf.
6. The First Player removes the Round Card and puts it in the box. The First Player passes the First Player Card to the player on his left who becomes the First Player for the next Round. All Transportation Counters on routes are removed from the board and placed back in the pile, and the pile is then thoroughly mixed. Trouble Counters that were on the board are placed in the box (a player may only use his Trouble Counter once per game). All discarded Movement Cards are combined with all remaining cards in preparation for being shuffled.
There are six types of routes:
There are seven available methods of transportation. On certain types of routes, some methods of transportation are slow and some methods may not be used at all.
1. Giant Pigs may not be used on Desert Tracks nor on Mountain Trails.
2. Trollwagons are slow on Forest Paths, on Desert Tracks, and on Mountain Trails.
3. Elfcycles may not be used on Desert Tracks and are slow on Mountain Trails.
4. Unicorns may not be used on Open Roads and are slow on Desert Tracks
5. Magic Clouds may not be used on Desert Tracks and are slow on Open Roads and Forest Paths.
6. Dragons are slow on Forest Paths.
7. Rafts may only be used on Rivers and Lakes. They travel at normal speed down river; going in the direction shown by the arrows. They are slow when travelling up river; going in the opposite direction shown by the arrows. They travel at normal speed when crossing ��. Lake in any direction. They are slow crossing ��. in any direction. No other method of transportation may be used on Rivers or Lakes.
Each Transportation Card has symbols showing which types of routes it can be used on. One symbol indicates normal movement on that route. Two symbols indicates slow movement on that route. No symbol indicates that method of transportation may not be used on that route.
The placing of counters starts with the First Player and proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player may place a counter or PASS. A player who passes one turn may still place a counter on his next turn. This step ends when all players PASS consecutively.
A player may place any counter on any route on the board, except a counter of a method of transportation that is prohibited from being used on that type of route. For instance, a Giant Pig counter may not be placed on a Desert Track.
A player may place his Trouble Counter next to any Transportation Counter already placed. Only one Trouble Counter may be placed on any one route. Except for a route that has a Trouble Counter on it (in which case the route will have two counters), each route may only have one Transportation Counter on it.
A player may not keep more than one counter from one Round to the next. If at the end of the placement step, a player has more than one counter, he must discard enough counters to get down to the limit. A saved counter retains its original orientation, either face up or face down.
A player can move his Elf along any route if the following conditions are met:
1. There must be a counter on the route.
2. The player must play a card matching the counter on the route.
3. If the method of transportation is slow on this type of route, the player must play two cards instead of just one.
4. A Trouble Counter on a route increases the required number of cards by one. Example: If there is a Trollwagon Counter and a Trouble Counter on a Desert Track, a player would need three Trollwagon cards to use this route.
All cards played are discarded. A player may not keep more than four cards from one Round to the next. If a player has finished moving and he has more than four cards, he must discard enough cards to get down to the limit.
There are no Raft Counters. Players may travel along rivers or lakes just by playing Raft Cards. Trouble Counters never effect travel along rivers or lakes.
A player may move along as many routes as he is able to in the same turn. He may move along the same route more than once including backtracking (moving both ways along the same route) but the player is still required to play the appropriate cards for each move.
A player removes one of his markers from each city he passes through during the turn, as well as removing the marker from the city where he ends his turn.
In addition to the normal method of movement, a player can join a Caravan to move along any route if the following conditions are met.
1. There must be a counter on the route. (It is not possible to join a Caravan to move along a river or across a Lake.)
2. The player must play three cards. The three cards can be three of the same type of transportation, three different types, or two of one type and one of another. Raft Cards may be included.
3. If there is a Trouble Counter on a route, the player must play four cards instead of just three.
A player may join any number of Caravans in a Round or in the game.
A player can cross Mare Magnum in any direction (between Elvenhold, Strykhaven, and Virst) by playing 2 Rafts.
A player can cross Mare Nebulae in any direction (between Grangor, Yttar, and Parundia) by playing 1 Raft.
Instead of using a Raft, a player may play any three cards and hire The Boatmen to cross Mare Nebulae in any direction. The three cards can be three of the same type of transportation, three different types, or two of one type and one of another. There are no Boatmen available on Mare Magnum.
Special Victory: If at the end of Round 3, a player has visited all 20 cities, he is the winner. If more than one player has visited all 20 cities, the player among them with the most Transportation Cards in his hand is the winner. The City Cards are irrelevant.
Regular Victory: If no player has achieved a Special Victory, the game ends at the end of Round 4. All players reveal their City Cards. Each player now figures out how many cities he is away from the city on his City Card. Each player now subtracts this number from the total number of cities he visited to get his final total. The player with the highest total is the winner. If two or more players are tied for the highest total, the player among them that has the most Transportation Cards in his hand wins.
Example: Peter has visited 17 cities and finished the game in Rivinia. His City Card is Tichih', so he is only one city away. His final total is 16 (17-1).
1. In the Amigo version of the rules, each player is not dealt 8 cards each Round. He is only dealt cards to bring his hand back up to 8.
2. In the Amigo version, the only transportation on Lakes is Ferries. A Ferry costs 2 Raft Cards to cross either Lake in any direction.
ELFENLAND can be played using the ELFENROADS rules with some modifications.
(70 Cards) 9 each of the seven types of transportation and 7 Gold Cards.
(42 Counters)
You will have to make your own decisions about whether you should include Caravans, the costs for Lakes, etc., since I have never played the ELFENROADS rules with the ELFENLAND board.