The Grimwood Game
FOLLOW: 
A CHAOTIC CARD GAME
THAT TAKES YOU INTO
THE DARK FANTASY OF
THE GRIMWOOD
$19.99
Now available in German and the U.K.!
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The Story
You might be a bounty hunter looking for fame and fortune. You might be a peasant looking to feed his starving family. You might be a maiden running away from her arranged marriage, or just a random dude who has gotten lost. Anyway, you’ve ended up at The Grimwood, a forest where supernatural creatures reside. In The Grimwood, you find, collect, or steal these supernatural creatures to maximize your points. Search the forest and compete with others to collect the most supernaturals, animals, or places. You usually get something from The Grimwood, you just want the most somethings.
The Gameplay
The Grimwood is a highly chaotic, slightly strategic game of competition and sabotage. Players take turns drawing or stealing cards to make the highest scoring combinations to win the game. The deck is made up of 64 cards that can help you or hurt others. Draw from the deck, steal from other players, and unleash the powers of your supernaturals to get the most points. There’s only a limited time to make your moves though, because the game ends when the last card is drawn. The deck goes quicker than you think!
To start you get 3 cards. You can have up to a max of 7 cards in your hand.
STEP 1
Draw from the deck or Steal from
another player.
STEP 2
Play the power of a supernatural creature
And/Or Place a combo.
There are 3 different types of combos:
Animal Combos
3 OWLS = 10 pts.
3 CROWS = 10 pts.
Setting Combos
1 CLEARING
+ 1 PATH
+ 1 SWAMP = 5 PTS.
3 CLEARINGS = 3 PTS.
3 PATHS = 3 PTS.
3 SWAMPS = 3 PTS.
Supernatural Combos
1 SUPERNATURAL = 1 PT.
2 SUPERNATURALS = 2 PTS.
3 SUPERNATURALS = 5 PTS.
4 SUPERNATURALS = 10 PTS.
5 SUPERNATURALS = 15 PTS.
You might be lucky and find a RUNE to play more
or find
an AMULET to block a steal
Game objective
The Grimwood is a forest where supernatural creatures reside. Players search the forest (deck) and compete with each other to collect the most supernaturals, animals, or settings to maximize their loot (points). The player with the most points wins.
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Starting the game
Shuffle the cards and deal 3 cards to each player face down. Place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table.
Players may now look at their cards; these are their starting hands. Players can have a maximum of 7 cards in their hand. If they have more than that, they must discard their cards down to 7 by the end of their turn.
The player whose birthday is the soonest starts the game by taking his/her turn. Then the turns proceed clockwise. Every turn, the player can do up to 2 actions and/or place one or more combos. There’s only a limited time to make your moves - the game ends when the last card is drawn.
Once the last card is drawn, each subsequent player finishes one last turn, and then everyone scores his/her combinations.
Turn overview
On a turn, a player may do the following:
Draw or steal 1 card
- Draw: take the first card from the top of the deck.
- Steal: pick randomly 1 card from another player’s hand.
Stealing is only from a player’s hand, not from his/her combos. Some supernatural powers allow taking a card from another player’s combo.
NOTE: If an amulet is played against you when you attempt to steal, you lose the rest of your turn. However, if you are stealing using a supernatural’s power, an amulet only blocks one steal and the rest of your turn proceeds as usual.
Play 1 card
You can only play a supernatural or a rune. When playing a supernatural, place it in front of you to start building a supernatural combo. The card’s effect is only valid at the time you play it unless another card allows you to reactivate it.
After playing a Rune, place it in the discard pile after you do your additional actions. Actions are: Draw a card from the deck, steal a card from a player’s hand, or play a card’s power.
Place a combo
Anytime during the turn, you can place a combo(s). While you may Draw or Steal and Play a card once per turn, you can place a combo as many times as you are able during your turn.
Types of combos and scoring
Combos must be placed in front of the player and remain in his/her possession (combos can get destroyed or taken) to count as points and make up the player’s final score at the end of the game.
SUPERNATURAL COMBOS:
1 supernatural .............. 1 pt.
2 supernaturals ............ 2 pts.
3 supernaturals ............ 5 pts.
4 supernaturals ............ 10 pts.
5 supernaturals. ............ 15 pts.
ANIMAL COMBOS:
3 Owls ............ 10 pts.
3 Crows .......... 10 pts.
SETTINGS COMBOS:
1 Swamp +1 Path +1 Clearing .......... 5 pts.
3 Swamps ........................................... 3 pts.
3 Paths ................................................ 3 pts.
3 Clearings .......................................... 3 pts.
Card powers
Amazon
All players must give you a card from their hand of your asking. If they don’t have it, you missed your shot.
Centaur
Take the top card of the discard pile. May play immediately.
Dracula
Steal 2 cards from a player’s hand.
Boogeyman
Exchange hands with another player.
Dark Unicorn
Force all players to discard a card from their hand. You choose randomly.
Dragon
Protects the set it is part of by making the set immune from special powers. Once played, it freezes the set it is part of and no more cards may be added to that combo.
Bride
Take any male supernatural already played. May play the card’s effect immediately.
Demon
Send any combo into the discard pile.
Dwarf
Take top card of discard pile and top card of deck. Choose one, discard the other.
Elf
Reactivate the power of any supernatural under your control this turn.
Giant
Take any card from the discard pile. May play immediately.
Hydra
You may look at 1 player’s hand.
Faeries
Take any 2 cards from the discard pile into your hand. May play one.
Goblins
Steal 3 cards from 1 or more players’ hands.
Mage
Draw 2 cards from the deck.
Ghouls
You may draw from the deck or steal a card from a player’s hand.
Highwayman
Swap combos with another player.
Nymph
Take any supernatural card already played. Play that card’s effect.
Shadow Queen
Look at every player’s hand. Steal 1 card blind from 1 player’s hand.
The Laraki
Draw as many cards from the top of the discard pile as there are players. Pick 1 to put in your hand. Give 1 card face up to each player.
Amulet
Play to block any 1 steal from your hand. Discard after use.
Sorceress
Sacrifice a set of owls or crows to take any combo as your own.
Troll
Force a player to discard a card. Choose a card from the player’s hand at random.
Rune
Player can take 2 additional actions this turn.
The Eternals
Fill your hand to 7 by drawing from the deck and/or stealing from other players’ hands.
Werewolf
Choose a player to lose a turn.
"All I can say is wow...Would I recommend it? AB-SOUL-LOOT-LEE " - IndieTableTop (click for full review)
"Thank you for creating a spectacularly fun game. My friends and I really enjoyed playing it right out of the box. And we loved the art! More power to you!!" - Migs, Kickstarter backer
"Love the game - thank you so much. Look forward to seeing what you do next!" - Craig, Kickstarter backer
"I just really wanted to shoot a message to say how much I love the game! It's been so much fun to have a two player game for me and my boyfriend to play." - Dallas, Kickstarter backer