A Game by Uwe

Rosenberg For 1 and 2 players of ages 12 and

up Playing time: 20 and 40 minutes,
respectively

Era : First Wealth

Cave vs Cave
You are standing before a cleft in the mountain: the new home of your dwarf tribe. There is a lot of work to be done
with only two pairs of helping hands at the start. Soon more members of your tribe will be able to help but there is no
time to be wasted. Another nearby tribe is seemingly doing better than you.
So, chop, chop! Cut into the mountain, furnish cavern after cavern, and collect grains, flax and building resources. Look

Components
Setu p
out for precious metals and get wealthier than the other tribe could have ever imagined!

1 Action board (two-sided and folded)

Cultivation
Cultivation
Cultivat ion g Wheel
SpinninWheel
Spinning
Cultivation
Cultivation Spinning
SpinningWheel
Wheel

Cave Entrance

12 Action tiles 24 Room tiles

12 Goods indicators and 12 replacements
(two wooden tokens each of Wood, Stone,
Emmer*, and Flax, as well as two cardboard
tokens each of Food and Gold; the extra
„reserve“ indicator tiles may be used as
replacements or spares) 4 Action markers
* Emmer is an ancient form of grain. 2 Cave boards (folded)
1 Additional
Cavern tile 7 Walls and this
rule book
LAYE

1 Note! We will explain the two-player game rules

first. For the solo game rules, see page 8.
1 Starting Player tile
1
 Setup
Action Board and Tiles
Unfold the Action board, turn it to the side showing the symbol on the first space, and place it in the center of the
playing area, between the two players.
Place the four Action tiles with a dwarf on the
back face up on the unnumbered spaces of Shuffle the remaining Action tiles. Place them
the Action board (in any order). face down on the designated spaces of the Action
board, according to the numbers on their backs.

Cultivation Housework Excavation Undergrowth

per

Cave Board and Goods Indicators

Unfold your Cave board and place it in front of you. Take one of each Goods
indicator (Wood, Stone, Emmer, Flax, Food, and Gold) and place them on space
“1” of the Goods track. Make sure the “+10” side of the Gold indicator is facing

Goods Track and Limits

Use the Goods track on the right of your Cave board to indicate how
many Goods of each type you have. You can have at most 9 Goods of
each type, except Gold. Using the “+10” side of the Gold indicator when
necessary, you can have up to 19 Gold. If you ever get more Goods of a
type than the track allows, the excess is lost.

down.
Rooms
Sort the Room tiles by the illustrations on their backs.
Turn the 6 Rooms with a light gray back side (showing small rocks and no pickaxe)
face up and place them in a central display to the side of the Action board.
Turn the 18 Rooms with a dark gray back side (showing debris and a pickaxe)
face down and shuffle them. Distribute the face-down Room tiles among the
Cave Entrance

empty Cavern spaces of your Cave boards, except the space marked above
the
“Cave Entrance”.
Additional Cavern, Action Markers, Walls and Starting Player
Place the Additional Cavern tile and the Action markers nearby. Keep the Walls ready
at hand in a general supply. Randomly determine who gets the Starting Player marker.
 (Alternatively, let the smaller player begin.)
2
 Course of Play
The game is played over 8 Rounds. Every Round goes through three phases.
D
I. New Action
At the start of each Round, reveal the next Action tile Cultivation Housework Excavation Undergrowth

adjacent to an already-revealed Action tile. (In other per

words, the Action tiles are revealed in order, beginning

with the Action tile next to the face-up starting tiles. The
depicted walls have no impact.)

II. Action Phase

Beginning with the Starting Player, you choose a face-up Action tile from the Action board, carrying out the Actions of
that tile (see next page). To do so, move the Action tile off the Action board to your side. You can only choose Action tiles
that are still on the Action board. Only the active player carries out the Actions of the chosen tile. Turns will alternate (you
take a turn, then your opponent takes one).
The final Round introduces the “Renovation” Action tile, which you may only choose if, on your turn, you have more Gold
than your opponent. If you are tied on Gold, neither of you may choose the tile, until one of you gains more Gold. (The
depicted Gold nuggets on the Action board below the space remind you of that prior to the final Round.)

III. Round End Cultivation

Furnishing
The Round ends after both players have
had a certain number of turns. This per
number is indicated on the space, where
the most recent Action tile has been
revealed. (It is also shown in the form
of a group of dwarfs below the spaces.) Excavation

Consequently, each player takes two

turns in Rounds 1 to 3, three in Rounds
4 to 7, and four in Round 8.
Return the chosen Action tiles to the
Action board and pass the Starting
Player marker to the other player. Housework Undergrowth

(Effectively, the new Starting Player is per The dwarfs show

taking two turns in a row—the last one how many turns each
in the previous Round and the first one player may take: two
in the next Round.) turns in each of the
first three Rounds.

3
 Action Types
The following pages explain the nine different types of Actions that you can find on Action and Room tiles (and at the top
of your Cave board).
Most Action tiles feature multiple Actions separated by fine yellow lines. You may take some or all of the depicted Actions
in any order, but each Action only once per turn. (You may choose an Action tile and ignore all of its Actions.)
If two Actions are separated by a diagonal cut (a long slash), you must choose one or the other Spinning Wheel Undermining

(or neither), not both. The same applies to Room tiles (see page 7 on how to use Room tiles).
(even

When spending or gaining Goods, move the appropriate Goods indicators accordingly. Mind the through
walls)

Goods track limit (see page 2).

Collecting Goods
+ indicates you get the depicted number of Goods (Wood, Stone, Emmer, Flax, Food, or Gold).
Slashes indicate that you must choose exactly one type of Good.
Tunnel

Many Room tiles also use plus signs to indicate that

you get Goods. The Tunnel is special in that it restricts
whether or not you get Stone: if you already have 3 or
(to a maximum
more Stone, you do not get one from the Tunnel. (See of 3 stone)
Example: Here, you page 7 on how to use Room tiles.)
get your choice of
1 Wood or 1 Stone.

Bakehouse
Exchanging Goods
indicates you may spend Goods—usually, to get
other Goods. Spend the Goods on the left to get the Goods
on the right of the arrow. Sets of Goods are printed on
parchment. Slashes let you choose what to spend.

Usually, the Goods you

must spend are specified. Junction Room
The Junction Room allows
Example:
4 to spend any three
you
The Bakehouse allows you
different Goods for 2 Gold.
to spend 2 or 3 Emmer to
(See page 7 on how to use
get
Room tiles.)
1 or 2 Gold, respectively,
and 4 Food. In this example,
you choose to spend 2
Emmer.
Building a Wall
+1 indicates you may place a Wall from the general supply between Cave Entrance

any two adjacent Cavern spaces of your Cave board. (Small rocks and cracks on
the ground indicate where Walls can go.) Walls are needed to Furnish Caverns
(see Furnishing a Cavern, page 6). The supply of Walls is limited; the action has
no effect if there are no Walls left. Walls can return to the supply via the next
Action.

Razing a Wall
1 indicates you may remove a previously placed Wall from your Cave board
and return it to the general supply. If you do, you get the depicted Goods (all of them, as they
are depicted on parchment). Removing the Wall does not affect already-placed Rooms. You
cannot remove the outer Walls of your Cave.

Excavating a Cavern
indicates you may Excavate a Cavern. Remove an accessible (see below) face-down Room tile from your Cave board,
turn it face up, and place it in the central display (making it available for both of you). If you uncovered “ ”, you
immediately get 1 Food. You cannot remove face-up Rooms. This Action has no effect if you have no face-down Rooms
left.
A Room is accessible if there is a clear (orthogonal) path to it from the “Cave Entrance”, with no Walls or other face-
down Rooms in the way. The Action on the right of the “Undermining” Action tile allows you to Excavate through Walls;
face-down Rooms always block the way.
Undermining

Excavation
?
(even
through
walls)
Warehouse

Example: Green check marks

show accessible tiles. The
Cave Entrance
green question mark on a tile
is behind a Wall. At the
moment, this tile can only be
The “Excavation” Action Excavated via the
tile lets you Excavate once
or
X X “Undermining” Action tile.
Red Xs are on tiles that are
twice. The latter costs 2 inaccessible for now,
Food. Regardless of your regardless of which
choice, you also get 1 Stone. Excavation Action you use.
 Furnishing a Cavern Number
indicates you may Furnish a Cavern. Pay the cost (Wood, Name rehouse Points
Stone, and/or Gold) depicted below the name of a Room tile in Wa
the central display and place the tile on an empty Cavern space Cost Walls
of your Cave board with regard to the Wall configuration shown
on the tile (see below). Other than the required Walls, there are no
restrictions as to where you place the Room tile (e.g., a clear path
from the “Cave Entrance” is not required). If you have no empty Action
Cavern with the required Wall configuration, the Furnishing a
Cavern action has no effect.

There are two types of Rooms—orange ones and blue ones (see Room Actions,
page 7). You begin the game with one preprinted orange Room, the “Cave Treasury Equipment Room

Entrance”. You must always have more orange Rooms than blue Rooms. You
may not build a blue Room if you would have an equal number of orange and
blue Rooms. (Consequently, the first Room you build in the game must be an
orange one.)

Some Furnishing Actions require that you pay an amount of Food (or
Gold) before you take the Action. This Food (or Gold) is paid on top per
Example: This Action costs 2 Food
of the cost printed on the Room tile. The Food cost can be defined by during the first three Rounds,
the number of turns that Round (see example at the right). You only then 3 Food for the next four Rounds,
have to pay a cost if you actually Furnish a Cavern. and 4 Food during the final Round.

Wall Configurations
Each Room tile shows a Wall configuration required to Furnish the Room, depicted to the right of the cost.
Dark segments indicate necessary Walls, which must be present; light segments indicate optional Walls,
which may be present, but they do not have to. If a Wall is not shown, there may not be one. You may rotate
the tile to demonstrate the required configuration (and then place the tile positioned for ease of reading).
The natural Walls all around your Cave also count as Walls! Room tiles never count as Walls (not even
when still being face-down). Spinning Wheel

Sacrificial Altar

6
 Additional Cavern
The first player to completely fill their Cave board with all face-up Room tiles
gets the Additional Cavern, placing it with either side facing up near their
Cave board. The Additional Cavern comes pre-Excavated and has two or three
(natural) Walls, depending on which side you choose to be facing up. You may
add Walls and Furnish the Cavern as usual. There is only one Additional
Cavern.
Room Actions
You cannot use the Rooms that you Furnish right away. To take their depicted Actions, you must choose an Action tile
with a , , or symbol. The number indicates how many different orange Rooms you may use. (You may only use
face- up Rooms on your Cave board. You can use the provided Action markers to prevent using a Room twice.)
Blue Rooms cannot be used this way. They are always active each time the depicted situation arises.

Prospecting Site Retting Room Equipment Room Wood Storeroom Dungeon

Undergrowth

Whenever you Whenever you get Whenever you take Whenever you take Whenever you build
choose the 1 to 3 Flax (for a Wall, you also get
the or a Action, you
“Undergrowth” whatever reason), Action, you can use also get 1 Wood. 2 Gold.
Action tile, you can you also get 1 one
sell 1 Food for 1 Food. additional different
Gold. orange Room tile.

Replenishing Goods Parlor

indicates you may move the depicted Goods indicator(s) to the given value. The affected
types are shown on a shelf. Slashes indicate you must choose exactly one type. You cannot
lose Goods from this Action: if you already have more Goods than the value shown, skip
that type. Replenishing Actions are only found on Room tiles.

Anytime Action
At any time and any number of times, you may exchange Emmer, Flax, and Gold for Food at
a 1:1 ratio. This is also shown on your Cave board. Example: The Parlor makes
sure you have at least one
of each type of Good.
When you take the Action,
move
all Goods indicators that are
on 0 to 1.
 Game End

In case of a tie, the player who has built the single highest-value Room tile wins the game.
(There is only one of each Room tile of values 9 to 12.) Otherwise the game ends in a draw.

Solo Game
Changes in Setup:
Randomly remove 3 of the 6 Rooms with a light gray back from play.
Shuffle the 18 Rooms with a dark gray back and place 9 on your Cave
board as usual. Form a face-down draw pile from the remaining 9 Rooms.
Turn the Action board to the side showing the symbol and remove the
“Breach” Action tile from play. Consequently, the game only lasts for 7 Rounds.
Changes in Play:
Play the game as normal with the following two exceptions:
Each time you Excavate exactly one tile on a turn, also turn the topmost
Room tile from the draw pile face up and place it in the central display.
Ignore the “More gold than opponent” condition on the “Renovation”
Action tile. You can use that tile regardless of how much Gold you have.

Your goal is to get at least 50 Victory Points. More than 60 Victory Points should be considered a truly remarkable score.