Objective of the Game

In Caverna – The Cave Farmers, players take on the role of dwarven leaders who expand their caves, mine resources, and manage agriculture. The goal is to gather the most victory points through strategic planning and resource management. Points are scored by expanding one's cave, harvesting vegetables, breeding animals, and collecting rubies.

Game Setup

1. Prepare the Play Area: Set up the player boards, cave tiles, farmland tiles, animal figurines, and all other components. Each player gets their own board.
2. Resource Setup: Sort and place all resources (wood, stone, ore, vegetables, grain, rubies, food) in the general supply.
3. Starting Materials: Each player receives starting tiles (basic setups of rooms and fields).
4. Place Dwarves: Each player starts with a certain number of dwarf figures.

Gameplay

Each round in Caverna consists of several phases:

1. Round Start: Reveal the next round tile, unveiling new action possibilities.
2. Resource Replenishment: Some fields receive resources back; these are replenished now.
3. Action Phase: Players take turns placing a dwarf on a free action space and executing the chosen action:
4. Gather Resources: Take the indicated amount of a specific resource.
5. Building: Construct rooms in your cave or fields outside.
6. Farming: Plant grain or vegetables and later harvest them.
7. Animal Husbandry: Breed animals by placing them in stables.
8. Adventures: Send dwarves on adventures for resources and rewards.
9. Harvest Time: In specific rounds: first, harvest from fields, then feed the dwarves.

Special Rules and Nuances

• Feeding: Each dwarf consumes 2 food per harvest phase. Strategically, different resources can be used as food.
• Rubies: Versatile for trading or as wildcards for specific actions.
• Furnishing Rooms: Improved rooms offer everlasting benefits or alternative scoring methods.

Winning the Game

At the end after all rounds, points are tallied considering: - Number & Types of animals - Full separate fields - Rubies, coins, and specific items - Negative points for empty cave spaces

The player with the highest score wins, having the most impressively developed dwarf cave.