INTRODUCTION O

Long ago, the Guardian of the Realm, Galdor, battled an ancient evil known as Frenzied Flame.
Although he was able to defeat the insidious being, remnants of it lay dormant within his mind.
During a recent encounter, a Grand Telepath named Feragot sensed the lingering chaos trapped inside
Galdor and invaded his mind in attempt to extract the ancient evil and unleash its chaos upon the
world. You have volunteered your telepathic powers to enter Galdor’s mind as bait in order to lure
Feragot into his prison before he fulfills his treacherous scheme. However, you can make good use of
this rare opportunity to explore a Guardian’s mind by unlocking secret (and dangerous) knowledge
that expands your own powers.

COMPONENTS O
18 PnP cards (front & backs) on four pages for double-sided/duplex printing can be found at
https://galdorsgrip.com.

OVERVIEW O
In Galdor’s Grip, you want to score as many points (also referred to as “Knowledge”) as possible by
completing scoring objectives listed on some cards and by rotating other cards into their scoring
orientation. All cards in the deck start face-down. Each turn, you’ll interact with the top card of the
deck and then move a certain number of cards from the top of the deck to the bottom of the deck. As
more cards are revealed, more scoring objectives and opportunities to end the game (win or lose)
become available. You’ll need to carefully manipulate the order and orientation of the cards in the
deck to maximize your score while avoiding game-losing dangers until you’re ready to win the game.

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 B
CARD ANATOMY A
Active Side — Every card has two possible orientations; C
right-side up or upside-side down. The left side of a card is
always considered its active side and represents the card’s E
active value and abilities. Note: Names [A] & Attributes [B] D
F
are always active regardless of orientation.

A. Name — Some cards refer to other cards by their names.

B. Deck Construction Attributes — Every card has one or
more deck construction attributes used to mix and match
cards from the Core Set with cards from other sets to create D
new deck setups! Also, some cards refer to other cards by E
their attributes; these are always active regardless of a
card’s orientation. Learn more about Deck Construction B C
and what each attribute means in the Setup section below.
C. Values — Every card has a value in it’s top-left corner. Some cards also have an upside-down value
in their bottom-right corner. The values are used to determine how many cards will move to the
bottom of the deck each turn and also count toward some scoring objectives.
Wildcards — If a card’s active value is a Wildcard (*), you may designate its value (ranging from
1 to 6) every time you interact with it (e.g. as a moving option, toward a scoring objective).
D. Rotation Eligibility — Cards with a Rotate symbol ( ) along with a preview of the other side’s
value can be rotated whenever they are the top card of the deck (and when moving to the bottom
of the deck along with Deeproot Depths). If a card does not have this symbol, this means that the
player cannot rotate that card unless a certain ability or event occurs that allows them to do so.
E. Abilities — These are special effects, powers, or behaviors that offer scoring objectives, alter the
normal rules of play, or change the game’s state. Abilities trigger in response to certain events. An
ability’s trigger event appears in a black bar above its textbox. There are four different trigger
events in the Core Set:
• On Top of Deck — Whenever the ability’s card is the top card of the deck.
• Moving to Bottom of Deck — Whenever the ability’s card is moving to the bottom of the
deck. Note: The card does not also need to be the top card of the deck for this event.
• Anywhere in Deck — At any time regardless of where the ability’s card is at in the deck.
• Final Scoring — During final scoring after a win.

F. Knowledge — Some cards reward Knowledge. These values are added directly to your point total
during final scoring after a win only.

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SETUP
Deck Construction — You can mix and
match any non-essential Core Set card that
doesn’t have a Puzzle Piece ( ) attribute
with any card from other sets as long as
your deck contains 18 cards.
For reference, the Core Set comes with a
distribution of 12 , 6 , 5 , 4 , and 14
cards. Note: Many of the cards have several of
these attributes.
O
Cards with a Puzzle Piece are considered “essential” and
must always be included in the deck. All other cards are
considered “non-essential”.
Cards with a Skull can lose you the game.
Cards with a Trophy help win you the game.
Cards with a Book (and Pencil) alter the default rules of
the game.
Cards with a Laurel Wreath can score you points either
directly from Knowledge or by completing their scoring
objectives.

There are many methods to building a new deck, but here are a few of the most popular ones:
a. Manually swap out any non-essential cards for an equal number of specific expansion set cards.
b. Shuffle the 6 non-essential cards face down. Draw 3 cards and combine them with 3 specific
expansion set cards along with the 12 essential cards to form the 18-card deck.
c. [Suggested] Shuffle the 6 non-essential cards and all expansion cards face down together.
Then, draw 6 cards (with or without looking at them) and combine them with the 12 essential
cards to form the 18-card deck. Set the other unused cards aside out of play.

Rotate each card of the deck so that it’s in its starting upright orientation. Shuffle the deck face down,
making sure that all cards stay in their proper starting orientation.

TURNS O
The game is played over a series of turns. Each turn consists of two phases: Encounter and Explore.
Encounter interacts with the top card of the deck and Explore moves a certain number of cards to the
bottom of the deck. During each phase, you will resolve all corresponding effects and events and make
decisions based on the options available. During play, you may check the composition and order of the
deck and inspect any face-up cards at any time. You cannot peek at face-down cards (unless using the
Feragot’s Fortress ability).

You may rotate a card with a Rotate symbol ( ) whenever it’s the top card of the deck at any time
during a turn.

Note: Whenever multiple abilities trigger during the same event, you get to decide the order in which they
resolve. This means that some abilities that may have a negative impact could resolve first and fail/fizzle
even if their condition is met later (from another card’s ability) in the same event.

Note: Whenever a card is rotated from an ability, if its new active side has the same or different ability
effect that triggers from the same ability event type, it does not trigger during the same current event.

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ENCOUNTER
Start each turn by “encountering” the top card of the deck. If it’s face-down, flip it face up. Abilities
with the X On Top of Deck event trigger during this phase.

Encountering Figments of Feragot

1st Encounter: Since the card was 2nd Encounter: Since the card was 3rd Encounter: Since the card was
face-down and needed to be flipped already face-up, rotate it to its already rotated to its “dangerous”
face up, nothing happens. “dangerous” side worth Knowledge. side, you lose the game!

EXPLORE a
End each turn by moving cards to the bottom of the deck to “explore”
more of it. First, choose a value based on up to two available options:
b
a. The top card’s active value. Note: If the top card has a Rotate
symbol ( ), it can be rotated so its other value becomes the active
one.
b. The next card’s active value. This option is only available when the
next card is face-up and has a value in its top-left corner.

Reminder: The top or next card in the deck with a wildcard value (*) can a
be designated as any value between 1- 6. Tip: It’s a valid strategy to rotate
the top card of the deck, but then choose the next card’s value.

After you’ve chosen a value, count exactly that many cards from the top of the deck (including the top
card itself) and move them to the bottom of the deck, maintaining their current orientation and order
with one exception; you may change the position of the top card of the deck anywhere within the stack
of cards being moved. Abilities with the X Moving to Bottom of Deck event trigger during this part
of this phase even if those corresponding cards are not the top card of the deck.

Tip: It’s helpful to first count off the total number of cards to move with your thumb, then transfer the
whole stack of cards to the bottom of the deck.

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END OF GAME O
The game ends immediately once any of the following conditions are met:

LOSE
If you ever have no available moving options or you’ve encountered the same Figment of Feragot on
top of the deck for a 3rd time (triggering its rotated ability), you lose the game!

WIN
Once you encounter the already rotated Galdor’s Grip card on top of the deck, you win the game!
Check for Knowledge symbols and completed scoring objectives on the cards to get your final score:

• Add up all of the active Knowledge values on the cards.

• Check for completed scoring objectives of cards with the Laurel Wreath ( ) attribute in their top-
right corner.

SCORING CHART 0-12 Knowbody

Compare your score to the chart on the
right to see how much Knowledge you 13-24 Knowtable
gained while inside Galdor’s mind. 25-32 Knowetic
Note: This scoring chart applies to the Core 33+ Knowtorious
Set only, removing/adding certain cards will
alter the deck’s scoring potential.

F.A.Q. O
Does Frenzied Flame’s ability skip the Explore phase? What’s the point of its Wildcard if I can’t
ever Explore when it’s the top card of the deck?
Yes. Its wildcard value (*) can be one of the other cards’ moving options during the Explore phase
when it’s the next card in the deck and can be used toward some scoring objectives.

If a wildcard value (*) is between two Outer Binding Stones at the end of the game, can I
designate it as two different values to fulfill both Outer Binding Stones’ scoring objective?
Yes, you can designate its value for each separate scoring objective. This means it could also be yet
another different value as part of a sequence for The Veiled Star.

What counts as a sequence for The Veiled Star’s ability?

A sequence of two or more adjacent values in ascending or descending order. For example, a 2,3,4,5 or
2,1 are both valid sequences. The first example would reward 4 Knowledge and the second example
would reward 2 Knowledge.

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CREDITS O
Basic Game Rules Version 4.3 (January 2023)

Game Design: Gregg Jewell

Graphic Design: Gregg Jewell (Art by Midjourney AI)
Playtesters: Rich Dodgin, Edwin Zea, Igor Zuber, David Gregg, Noah McSpadden, Rubens Caruso Jr,
Eric Miller, Raymond Usher