You will need:
The Board (above), printed or recreated on an A3 Size sheet of Paper or larger.
An Opaque Bag (Dig bag) that contains:
(The cubes used are standard board game cubes in various colours)
- 1 Yellow “Treasure” cube.
- 71 Black “Dirt” cubes
- 12 Red “Bobby Dazzler” cubes
- 24 Light Blue “If So” cubes
- 28 Green “Ad Break” cubes
To the side you will also have
- Pile of $100 notes
- 36 Dark Blue “Clue” cubes
- One token for each character (Blue, Green, Red, Black, Purple, Yellow, Orange, White, Pink)
Before the game begins, remove 7 cubes unseen from the Dig bag, and hide these. (no one knows what was removed). You can use a pocket, or underneath a cloth etc.
Start the Game with the Laird Character Token on the Interpretive Center.
How to play
Each Round has one “War Room” phase, and two “Episode Phases”. Play Rounds until someone finds the Treasure and wins, or the Dig Bag is empty.
War Room Phase
Each Player receives $100.
All Character Tokens (Except for Laird) are placed on the Compass on the Board. Players then take turns moving any one Character from this place to a location on the map. You can also relocate a character that has already been moved for $100 dollars paid back to the bank.
The player to move a character first is determined by who has the most Bobby Dazzlers, if a draw, who has the most Money, if a draw the youngest player goes first.
Once all characters have been moved “Out of the War Room”, the first Episode Phase starts….
Episode Phase 1
Players now take turns (same rule as above to determine first player to act) selecting a Location that is Active and performing the Action for that Location.
A Location is active when it contains the required Characters. The Character requirements are shown on the board. Each line of coloured dots represents Characters required in that Location.
Lines with Coloured dots containing the number 2, means you needs two Characters from that line.
You must also have the required amount of Money to perform the action. You pay this to the bank when performing the action.
Each Location will allow you to Dig a number of cubes from the bag. (It’s best to do this one at a time for dramatic effect.) The number of cubes you can dig is shown on the board (before the + symbol)
Note: Each player will keep a pile in front of them made up of “If So” cubes, “Clue” cubes, “Bobby Dazzler” cubes, Money, and sometimes the “Laird Character”, so it’s best to place cubes taken from the Dig Bag during your turn onto the middle of the board. When your turn ends, move all dirt cubes to the Dirt Pile (a pile of dirt cubes accumulates to the side of the board), and all other cubes into your pile.
For each Light Blue Cube you dig out, you should say “If So”. For each Red Cube you dig out you should say “It’s a Bobby Dazzler!”. For each Green you pull out you can say “Ad Break!” or “What’s that?!”.
If you Pull the Yellow Cube out you win instantly.
Note: If you Dig a Red Cube during your turn at the “Swamp” or “Lots” Locations, place Laird in front of you.
Note: You can only have a total of six “If So” and “Clue” cubes (combined) in front of you. Any excess you pull from the Dig Bag on your turn should be returned to the bag at the end of your turn.
In the Swamp, and Money Pit locations, You may dig extra cubes from the bag for each Dark blue “Clue” cube you have in front of you. However, there is a limit to how many extra cubes can be pulled, this is shown on the board after the +. For example, you dig a Bore Hole, and you take 2 cubes from the Dig Bag, (and you have 6 Clue cubes in front of you) – you are allowed to Dig an extra 2 cubes from the Dig Bag.
When you pull a Green cube, you instantly get $100 from the bank.
Episode Phase 2
Same as Episode Phase 1. Characters all stay where they are etc.
After this Episode Phase 2, move back to the War Room Phase.
Interpretation Center
There is a location on the map for “Interpretation” Center. Here you can trade each of your “is So” cubes for a “Clue” cube or $100.
OR
You can use the turn to convert one Bobby Dazzlers into $200 and a “Clue” cube.
If you have Laird in front of you, he follows you to the Interpretation Center and stays there.
When “If So” cubes and “Bobby Dazzler” cubes are converted in this way, They are removed from the game (put them in the Dirt Pile).
Laird (The Archaeologist)
If you have Laird in front of you at the start of your turn, you can’t dig in the “Lots” or the “Swamp”.
You can get rid of Laird by using the Interpretation Center on your turn, he follows you there and stays there. Remember, you must trade in your “If So” cubes or a “Bobby Dazzler” cube if you have any. Or you can wait for someone else to dig a Bobby Dazzler and take Laird from you.
No Treasure?
It’s possible that every cube gets removed from the bag, and no treasure is found. In this case, Whoever has the most Bobby Dazzlers in front of them wins. (If a tie, the youngest wins)