How to play Dorfrivalen
Dorfrivalen is a settle-and-trade board game for two to eight players. Everyone starts with two villages on a hex island. The dice decide which tiles produce, and you turn what they give you into roads, villages and towns. The first player to reach the island's points wins. The game deals the cards, checks every move and keeps the score, so you can learn as you play.
The island
The board is an island of hexagonal tiles. Each tile has a number from 2 to 12 and gives one resource:
| Tile | Resource |
|---|---|
| Forest | Wood |
| Hills | Brick |
| Pasture | Wool |
| Fields | Grain |
| Mountains | Ore |
| Desert | Nothing; the cat robber starts here |
Villages and towns stand on the corners where tiles meet, and roads run along the edges between them. A corner touches up to three tiles, so a good village collects from three numbers. Two dice make 6 and 8 the likeliest numbers after 7, and 2 and 12 the rarest.
Setting up
Each player places a village and a road beside it, in turn order. Then everyone places a second village and road, in reverse order, so the last player places two in a row. Your second village pays out at once: one card for each tile around it. No village may stand on a corner next to another village; there is always at least one free corner between two buildings.
A turn
- Roll the dice. Every tile with the rolled number produces: each village on its corners takes one card of its resource, and each town two. Everyone collects, not just the player rolling.
- Trade. Offer cards to the other players, or trade with the bank at 4 of one resource for 1 of any other. A village or town on a harbour trades better: 3:1 for any resource at a plain harbour, 2:1 for its own resource at a special one.
- Build. Spend your cards on the pieces below, as many as you can pay for. Then end your turn.
What things cost
| Piece | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Road | 1 wood, 1 brick | Extends your network. New villages must touch one of your roads. |
| Village | 1 wood, 1 brick, 1 wool, 1 grain | 1 point. Collects 1 card from each tile it touches. |
| Town | 2 grain, 3 ore | Replaces one of your villages. 2 points, and collects 2 cards. |
| Development card | 1 ore, 1 wool, 1 grain | A card from the deck (see below). |
Each player has 15 roads, 5 villages and 4 towns. A town hands its village back, so you can build it again somewhere else.
The cat robber and the 7
Nobody's tiles produce on a 7. Instead, everyone holding more than 7 cards gives back half of them, rounded down. Then the player who rolled moves the cat robber to another tile and takes one random card from a player with a building there. The tile under the cat robber produces nothing until it moves on, so it pays to keep it off your best numbers. Each player's hand size is shown on their plate, so you can see who is at risk.
Development cards
The deck has 25 cards. You can't play a card on the turn you buy it, and you can play at most one a turn.
- Knight (14 cards): move the cat robber and take a card, as on a 7. You may play it before you roll.
- Victory point (5): 1 point, kept hidden in your hand until you win.
- Road Building (2): build two roads for free.
- Year of Plenty (2): take any two resources from the bank.
- Monopoly (2): name a resource. Every other player gives you all of theirs.
Scoring and winning
- Village: 1 point. Town: 2 points. Victory point card: 1 point.
- Longest Road: the first player with an unbroken road of 5 or more pieces gets 2 points. Anyone who builds a longer one takes it over.
- Largest Army: the first player to play 3 Knights gets 2 points, until someone has played more.
The Classic rules play to 10 points. Other islands set their own target, from a short game on Cosy cove to a long one on the eight-seat Continent; the setup screen shows it. You win the moment you reach it on your own turn.
Playing your first game
Press Start a new island, keep the Classic island and rules, and add two or three computer rivals on Easy or Normal. Tap a corner or edge to see what a piece there would collect or cost; buttons only light up when you can afford them. When you're ready, read the strategy guide, try the daily challenge, or turn on one of the expansions.