Elfengold

Postal version of the game by Alan R. Moon

Once upon a time in the Land of the White Winds...

...there was an old and good-natured troll who owned a prosperous mine. The mine was so prosperous, in fact, that the troll had accumulated enough wealth to retire after several years of hard work.

Once a year, the elves who live in the forests near the mine celebrate their Great Wood Fair. One of the highlights of each fair is the mining competition. The troll, who enjoys the Fair just as much as the elves, gladly opens up the mine to let the elves dig for gold. Only the fastest and luckiest elf is allowed to keep his gold though, so while the competition is friendly, it is also very challenging. No one seems to care that the elves try to hinder each other by hiding stones where they think their fellow competitors will dig. In the end it is the most clever elf who will win and stake a claim to his gold.

1. Setup

Each player names their miner and receives 10 gold coins.
If there are 2 players, each player receives 6 counters: 2 rocks and 4 golds.
If there are 3 players, each player receives 5 counters: 2 rocks and 3 golds.
If there are 4 players, each player receives 4 counters: 1 rock and 3 golds.
If there are 5 or 6 players, each player receives 3 counters: 1 rocks and 2 golds.

All the miners start in the Equipment Hut. For the opening round, players buy equipment (2.1) and lay counters (2.5) only. On subsequent turns the sequence of play below is followed:

2. Sequence of Play

2.1 Any player who starts the round in the Equipment Hut can buy shovels and/or pickaxes. Pickaxes cost 3 gold coins each, and shovels 1.

2.2 Bearing in mind the counters laid on the previous round, each player must specify where his miner is moving to (see movement section), and whether or not he is going to dig at the target space (must contain at least one counter for digging to be allowed). Miners with a choice of tools must specify which one is being used.

2.3 At each space where one or more miner is digging, the placed counters are revealed. If one or more of them is a rock, the miner(s) break the digging tool in use. Broken tools are placed back in the equipment hut and the miner gains no gold that turn. If however, there are no rocks, each miner receives gold equal to the number specified on the square multiplied by the number of counters present if he is using a shovel. If he is using a pickaxe the number of gold coins is doubled.

2.4 All counters are then removed from the board and returned to players.

2.5 Each player must then place all his counters on the board shown below. So his orders might contain "place a rock at M, golds at F and J". Counters may only be played on numbered spaces (optional rule H and I have numbers 3 and 4 respectively). There are no restrictions on the number of counters on each space.

2.6 If a player finishes the round in the Equipment Hut with 50 or more gold coins, that player has the option to end the game. If his orders do not state one way or the other, the game ends.

3. Movement

The number of tools a miner carrying determines the how far he can move. A miner carrying 4 or 5 items may only move two spaces. A miner with 3 items moves up to 3 spaces, with 2 items 4 spaces, with 1 item 5 spaces.

A miner may move less spaces then the indicated number, including none at all.
Any number of miners may occupy the same space.
A miner may move from the Equipment Hut to the upper tunnel via the ladder at no cost.
A miner may move from the upper tunnel to the lower tunnel via the ladder for no cost.
A miner may move from the lower tunnel up to the Equipment Hut in the basket at no cost (the Troll will raise him up for free).
However a miner who wishes to move from the Equipment Hut to the lower tunnel in the basket must pay the Troll 5 gold coins to lower him down.
It counts as one space to move from the Equipment Hut to the first space in the upper tunnel and vice versa.
It also counts as one space to move from the Equipment Hut to the unnumbered space containing the basket in the lower tunnel and vice versa.

4. Final Scoring

At the end, each player adds 1 gold coin for each shovel and 3 for each pickaxe to his total. Each player on a numbered space subtracts this number from their total. The player with the most Gold Coins wins!

5. Other Rules

A miner may not have more than 5 tools at any one time. If a miner breaks his last tool he is instantly returned to the Equipment Hut. A player who breaks his last tool who has less than 5 gold coins may borrow 5 gold coins from the Troll. The debt must be repayed at the earliest opportunity.