Dwarven Inventors:

a game of preposterous prototypes and implausible explanations

Designed by Josh Feldblyum/Mindermast Game Lab

Playtest rules, updated 8/30/23

Tried it out? Send feedback to mindermastgames@gmail.com

What is this game?
In Dwarven Inventors, each player is an
inventor competing for lucrative contracts
with dwarf aristocrats. Each round begins
with one of these aristocrats (the “Patron”)
making a request. Players then use their cards
to create something that will fulfill the
Patron’s request. Whichever player had the
best invention wins that contract, and whoever
has won the most contracts at the end wins the
game.
When does the game end?
Decide on an endpoint with your group -
maybe after a certain number of rounds, or
when someone has collected a certain number
of contracts, or just when you all decide
you’re ready to be done for now. 6-8 rounds
is probably a good amount but there’s no
reason you can’t go past that if you want to.
The cards
There are three different decks of cards in the
game:
Patron (50 cards) - things the dwarf
aristocrats might request
Base (153 cards) - the object you are using
as the core of your invention
Modifier (or just Mod) (123 cards) - how
you are improving the base object
Materials - how well your invention works
depends, at least in part, on what you made it
out of. This is represented abstractly by
Material icons which are printed on each Base
and Modifier card, and on the faces of the
Material Die. These icons don’t represent
anything specific. If your Base and Mod card
have matching Material icons, it means that
you built your invention especially well,
which will give you an advantage when it
comes time to vote. The materials may have
other uses during the game as well (see
below).
Game setup
Shuffle all decks of cards. Deal out 3 Base
cards and 3 Modifier cards to each player.
You may look at your own cards, but not
anyone else’s.
Assign each player a number from 1 to 8.
This will be used for voting, and does not
affect anything else in the game. Give each
player one voting dial.
Gameplay
Each round of play follows these steps:
1. One player (it doesn’t matter who) draws a
Patron card and puts it where everyone can
see it.
2. All players choose 1 Base card and 1 Mod
card from their hands and place them on
the table, face down. Once the cards are
on the table they cannot be changed.
3. When all players have played their cards,
turn them face up.
4. Going around the table, each player
announces and explains their invention in
as much detail as desired. In the first
round it doesn’t matter who starts; in
subsequent rounds, we recommend starting
with whoever won the previous round.
5. Everyone votes for the invention that best
fits the Patron’s request. Turn your dial to
the number of the player you are voting
for, then place it face down in the middle
of the table. You may not vote for your
own invention, no matter how amazing
you think it was.
6. Any invention in which the Base and Mod
have the same Material icon earns 1 extra
vote (increase this bonus to 2 extra votes if
you have six or more players).
7. The player with the most votes takes the
Patron card to mark their victory. Used
Base and Mod cards are then discarded.
8. Draw Base and Mod cards as needed until
each player has 3 of each type, give each
player a voting dial (it doesn’t matter if it’s
the same one they had before), then
proceed to the next round.
During step 4 you are not required to describe
your invention, but doing so might make it
easier for the other players to recognize your
brilliance and vote in your favor. Players are
encouraged to get creative with this, and to
make up any relevant “facts” about the world
as long as they sound plausible.
Some cards may have different ways that you
could interpret them - for example, “pipe”
could refer to plumbing or to smoking,
depending on your specific invention. You
can use these cards with whichever meaning
you prefer; just make sure to clarify it when
describing your invention.
Breaking ties
If two or more players are tied for the most
votes, this can be resolved in two different
ways:
Roll the Material die. If one of the tied
players used a card with the indicated
Material and other tied players did not,
then that player wins. This method is not
recommended if some, but not all, of the
tied players used matching Materials in
their inventions.
Each player in the tie plays an additional
Mod card on their opponent’s invention (if
there are three or more tied players, go in a
circle such that each player gives and
receives one new Mod). Each of the
players in the tie tries to explain how this
addition further improves their own
invention. Players then vote again to
resolve the tie. There is no bonus for
matching Materials in the tiebreaker.
You can use either one of these methods to
break a tie, and if the votes are still tied after
the first one then try the other. If the votes are
still tied after that then discard that Patron,
along with all inventions, and move on to the
next round.
Duplicates
If you have two of the same Base or Mod
cards in your hand, you may shuffle one or
both of them back into the respective deck.
You must do this before the Patron card is
drawn for the current round.
Wild cards
The Base and Modifier decks both contain
wild cards. You can use one of these cards as
any item of the appropriate type - either a
duplicate of an existing one, or something new
that you make up. You may not play a wild
Base and a wild Mod in the same invention.
Wild cards do not count as any Material for
purposes of matching or other relevant rules.
Discarding your whole hand
If you are thoroughly dissatisfied with the
cards in your hand, there is a way to swap
them out. Before playing an invention, you
may discard all of your Base and Mod
cards. Draw the first Base and Mod cards from
their respective decks and automatically play
that as your invention (you may look at them
first and have a little time to think through
your explanation - you don’t have to go in
completely blind). In the unlikely event that
you draw a wild card from both decks, shuffle
them back into their respective decks and
draw again. At the end of the round, draw
three of each so that you have a full hand like
normal.
Optional rule: Get on with it
You may choose to set a time limit for
explaining inventions. 45 seconds is a good
default, but you can change it for more (or
less) of a challenge. And for players who
already have difficulty expressing themselves,
we encourage giving a more generous time
limit, or waiving the limit altogether.
Optional rule: Dwarves of wealth and taste
Some patrons are more discerning, and don’t
just care about what you made but also how
it’s made. To represent this, roll the Material
die after drawing the Patron card for this
round. Any invention which uses at least one
card with the material icon that was rolled will
earn one bonus vote, separate from the bonus
for matching Base and Mod materials.