RULE BOOKLET
Back story
Every ten years a game in the abyss, xSoul , is played to determine who is the best of the best. Soul from all over the land come to participate. The first battle takes place in the middle of ruin kingdom inside the region’s center castle. Each winner from the various land then competes against others in further to become a free soul.
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Components
Character cards (x18) Path Tiles (x35) Item Cards (x36) Key Card (x1) Player Pieces (x6) Dice (x7)
Find the Key Get to the Gate Objective
Explore the ruin dungeon each turn. Gather unique items and engage in combat with other players. The first player to get the key and escape through the Gate wins. (Or the last player standing wins.)
Artwork and game design by Xin Rong William Wu Published in 2022 Institute of Art Design & Technology Kill Ave, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland Phone: +353 1 239 4000 Email: info@iadt.ie www.iadt.ie Copyright © 2022 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed , or trasmitted in any form or by any means , including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the publisher.
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Game Guardian
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Tile
Item
Setup Cards
There are 3 different types of cards. Each is used for a different element of the game.
Character Cards have the stats of your player and their unique ability. Path Tiles are what you build the board with. Item Cards give you stronger stats, heal you, and a few other things.
Separate out the blue die and Key Card. Then shuffle each of the different decks and place them aside. (Item Cards, path Tiles, and the character Cards) Next, deal each player with 2 character cards. Pick one to use now and place the other face down under it. Every player also gets an HP to die placed next to them.
Dice
The red die keeps track of your Character’s HP (Heart Points) during the game. The blue die is for rolling. Place the Start tile in the centre of the play area. Everyone grab your favourite colour player piece and place it on the board.
Number of Players
If you have 2-4 Players turn the HP die to 4. If you have 5-6 Players turn the HP die to 6.
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Who Goes First
Every player rolls the blue die and the person with the highest roll goes first.
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First Turn
When starting the game, you have the choice of laying down a path Tile in one of 4 directions. Choose which direction you wish to go and move your player piece to the space before drawing a Path Tile. Once you’ve drawn a tile, lay it down in any way you like, as long as it connects with the tile you came from. After you do this, your turn is over.
Exploring
You can go to a new area by moving your player piece then drawing and laying down a path Tile that connects to the dungeon. After you lay down a path Tile your turn ends, even if you have more SPD left.
Moving
Every character has their own unique stats, one of these controls how fast your character is. This stat is called Speed (SPD), you can move up the number of your character’s SPD. For example, if your character has 3 SPD you can move 1-3 spaces. You can not move back onto the same space in one turn. For example, If you want to stockpile items you have to move off of the Chest Tile. Then, on your next turn move back to it.
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Comba Attacking
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Once the Key has been found, combat begins. To attack someone, land on the same tile as them and get ready to kick some butt! (You must fight someone if you land on their tile after the Key has been found.) The only thing that matters when you attack someone is your Attack Stat (ATK).
Defending
If another player lands on the same tile as you, after the Key has been found, they are attacking you. That means you have to put up a fight and defend yourself! The only thing that matters when someone attacks you is your Defense Stat (DEF).
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Winning combat
The attacking player’s ATK goes up against the defending player’s DEF and the person with the higher stat wins. The losing player takes damage. For example, if you attack someone and you have an ATK of 1 and they have a DEF of 3, you take 2 damage. (Turn your HP die down 2.) Items change a player’s stats and can be the deciding factor in combat. For example, if you have 2 ATK and use an attack item that gives you a +2 ATK your total ATK would be 4. (You can only use one item at a time per fight, and then it needs to be discarded.) Also if your ATK and their DEF ties, nothing happens. If combat ends with someone losing all of their HP, that character is now out of the game. If they had the Key, they give it to the opposing player. The losing player moves their player piece to the Start Tile and becomes the other character if they have any left. Finally, you can only engage in combat with one person each turn.
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Attack Defence Speed
Name Ability Uses 1010
Name
Speed(SPD)
Every character has a name, make sure to get familiar with yours.
The number of tiles your character can move each turn
Attack(ATK)
Defense(DEF)
The number of attack your character has.
The number of defense your character has.
Every character has a unique ability. These abilities range from moving tiles, to provoking fights. Make sure to read your character’s ability carefully.
Uses
Because some abilities are more powerful than others, they have different amounts of uses. Make sure to keep track of how many times you’ve used your character’s ability to keep the game fun and fair.
Guardian
Ability
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Your ability can sometimes be the difference between winning or losing a game. Try to think strategically when using your character’s ability.
Special character Ability Rules Some character must land on the correct space to use their ability. This is also very important to win the game.
Items
Attack Item
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Defense Item
Assist Item
Surprise Tile Attack items can increase your ATK and defense items can increase your DEF. Assist items add unique changes to the game to help or hinder players.You can hold up to 5 items, if you pick up a 6th item card discard your least favorite.
Item Specials Some items have specials that can give you HP, deal damage in a unique way, and even move your tiles. (Some items interact with different characters in different ways.)
Winning There are two different ways to win in xSoul: 1. Safely make your way to the gate while holding the Key. 2. Defeating everyone in your path, while destroying friendships in the process.
Surprise Items
After the Triple Bomb, Cursed Voodoo Doll, or The Void of Darkness item is drawn, follow the instructions on the card then discard it.
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Different Tiles Start Tile
This is where every game starts. If you move back to this tile at any point in the game you can swap your characters. Your HP stays the same when you swap.
Gate Tile
Landing on this tile is how you escape the dungeon and win the game, but you must have the Key Card to unlock it.
Key Tile
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This is perhaps the most important tile in the game. It holds the Key Card, that unlocks the gate, and discovering this space starts combat in the game. Landing on this space gives you the Key Card, unless someone else already has it.
Chest Tile
This handy space gives you one item for landing on it. (If you attack a player on this space, you get an item before combat.)
Portal Tiles These 2 tiles allow you to travel from one side of the board to the other. (With the scroll Item Card, you can teleport to one of these tiles.)
Spike Tile
This tile will harm you when you try to move out of this tile. You must roll the blue die to see if you escape unharmed. (An even number, you do not take damage, but an odd number will give you 1 damage.)
Slime Tile
You have to roll the blue die when moving out of this tile. (An even number you can move out of the tile, but an odd number will leave.
Monster Tile
This is special tile, when moving out of this tile. You must offer your 1 heart point or an item card.(if you don`t have item cards loses 1 heart point instead.)
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