Caverna: Frantic Fiends

2022 · Animals

Caverna: Frantic Fiends

Defend your cave and family against plundering orcs! Use axes, build traps, or bribe and push the invaders to weaken them. Defeating orcs earns valuable rewards, while unchecked attacks threaten your plans and prosperity.

Players
1–7 best 1
Playing time
30–210 min
Age
12+
Complexity
3.7 / 5
7 on Ludoyafrom $31.99FantasyExpansion for Base-gameSolo / Solitaire GameIncrease Value of Unchosen ResourcesTurn Order: Claim Action

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Can I spend ore or rubies as soon as I build a mine?

No. Place the mine’s resources on the mine tile; they are not in your supply and cannot be spent until a donkey in that mine hauls them during the mining phase. You cannot move donkeys during that phase (pp. 4–5, 13).

Can my dwarf fight an orc before taking the rest of the expedition loot?

No. Fighting an orc must be the last expedition loot you choose. Your dwarf and any dogs they bring must have combined strength at least equal to the orc’s, and you can fight only one orc per expedition (p. 6).

If I put down a trap, can I build over it later?

No. Traps remain on the home board and their spaces stay used, even if a trap becomes inactive. Most traps are single-use; an inactive trap is worth 2 gold points, but a trap that never goes off is worth nothing (p. 7).

Can I push an orc more than once, or push it after it enters my cave?

You may push an orc at most once per orc event, and you cannot push one that has breached into your cave. Bribing is separate: you may bribe the active orc any number of times before its movement, including when it is inside your cave (p. 11).

When does an orc trapped in a holding trap become my worker?

It becomes friendly when you provide an available orc dwelling; if none is available when it is captured, you have until the next orc event to build one. A newly friendly orc can work that same round if it moved in before the orc event, but one that moves in during an orc event starts working next round; it needs 1 food in feeding phases (p. 9).

Do the orcs still enter my cave if they’re caught in a trap at the final orc event?

Yes. After the fourth orc event’s final movement, all orcs still in your forest breach into your cave, even if one was just caught in a holding trap. Orcs can also breach earlier if they move through the cave entrance (p. 12).

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.