Sub Terra

To set up Sub Terra, each player chooses a caver character, placing health tokens on the white squares of their player board. If playing with 4-6 players, each player chooses one caver; for 2-3 players, each chooses two; and for a solo player, four cavers are chosen. The first player marker is placed on the starting caver's board. The start cave tile is placed in the center of the table, and all chosen caver pawns are placed on it. The 64 cave tiles are shuffled, then 5 tiles are taken and shuffled with the exit tile, which is then placed at the bottom of the remaining cave tile stack. Hazard cards are prepared by removing specific cards based on the chosen difficulty level (Normal, Advanced, Expert). The remaining hazard cards are shuffled, and a certain number are drawn based on the number of cavers and difficulty, then placed on top of the 'Out of Time' card to form the hazard deck. The game is now ready for play.

The primary objective of Sub Terra is for all conscious cavers to successfully find their way out of the cave through the exit tile. This must be achieved before the hazard deck runs out, signifying that time has expired, or before three or more cavers become unconscious and are removed from the cave. Players must work cooperatively, using their unique abilities and strategic actions to navigate the treacherous cave, overcome various hazards, and ultimately escape to safety.

Each round in Sub Terra consists of four distinct phases: the Action Phase, the Horror Phase, the Hazard Phase, and the End Phase. In the Action Phase, each conscious caver has two time units to spend on basic actions like Reveal (placing a new tile), Move (moving to an adjacent tile), or Explore (combining Reveal and Move). For two time units, cavers can Run (move up to three times) or Heal (regain one health). Taking an extra action requires a skill check, with failure resulting in one health loss. If a caver loses all health, they become unconscious. The Horror Phase follows, where any horrors in the cave move one space towards the closest conscious caver (or the one with the lowest player board number in case of a tie), attacking if they reach a caver. If horrors are more than seven spaces away, they are removed. The Hazard Phase involves revealing the top card of the hazard deck, which can trigger events like Tremors (skill checks for all cavers), Floods (placing flood markers and damaging cavers on water tiles), Gas (damaging cavers on gas tiles), Cave-ins (placing rubble markers and damaging cavers on matching tiles), or Horrors (moving existing horrors or spawning new ones). The 'Out of Time' card triggers skill checks for all cavers not on the exit tile, removing those who fail. Finally, in the End Phase, the start player marker is passed to the next caver on the left, and a new round begins.

Scoring in Sub Terra is determined by the number of cavers who successfully escape the cave. If three or more cavers fail to make it out, the players lose the game. If two cavers are left behind, the players achieve a Bronze ranking. A Silver ranking is awarded if only one caver is left behind. The highest achievement, a Gold ranking, is earned if all cavers successfully escape the cave. This system encourages players to prioritize the survival of the entire team rather than individual success.

The game concludes under one of two conditions: either all remaining conscious cavers have successfully reached and are on the exit tile, signifying a collective escape, or there are no conscious cavers left in the cave, meaning the entire team has been incapacitated. Additionally, the game ends in a loss if three or more cavers are lost (unconscious and removed from the cave) at any point. The outcome is then evaluated based on the number of cavers who made it out, determining if the players achieved a Bronze, Silver, or Gold ranking, or if they lost.