In the heart of a secluded grove, the Ælderwood stands as the sacred nexus of existence. To secure the tree’s favors, you will engage in bargains with five elemental fairies. But be warned, dealings with fairies are inherently one-sided…
(Pronounced ALE-dur-wud)
Ælderwood is a fast paced card game for 2-5 players
Additional players may be added by combining sets
The Ælderwood is guarded by five fairies, each a custodian of the elements of creation. To secure the tree’s favors, you will engage in bargains with the guardians. But be warned, dealings with fairies are inherently one-sided and you must try to make the best deals possible for yourself while leaving less desirable options for everyone else.
Rules Errata: The rules mention a token for the first player but there was not one included in the box. You can use any token you’d like for this task, but as long as you remember who the next dealer is, you really don’t need it. (Thanks to Codie for spotting it.)
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2-5 players, Age 14+, 30-45 minute playtime
65 Poker Sized Cards
60 Favor Tokens
Rulebook
Bonus Solitaire Rules
Setup: Shuffle the deck and turn one card face up to the left side of your play area. Then deal five more face down. On the first face down card, turn another face up on top of it and deal one each face down to the other piles and repeat until you’ve turned one face up card on each of the piles. When complete, you will have one card in the leftmost pile and 6 in the rightmost pile with one card turned up on top of each pile. This is the Bargain Area.
Play: From the remaining cards, take the first three and turn them over. This is your Play Area. Only the top card can be used. Match the exact value of that card to any combination of the face up cards in the Bargain Area. (For instance, if you have a 10, you could match it with a 10 from the Bargain Area or 3 3s and a 1.) After matching, remove the played card and the cards from the Bargain Area that match it. Turn over any face down cards in the Bargain Area. You can then match with the next card showing in the Play Area. If there is no match to be made, turn over the next three. You can only go through the deck once. If you clear the entire Bargain Area, you win. For a less challenging game, deal only 5 total piles to the Bargain Area. For a more challenging game, deal 7 piles to the Bargain Area.