Dungeon Petz

Objective and scope: Players run imp pet shops and gain reputation by entering exhibitions, satisfying customers, raising pets, and managing their business. The CGE base game supports 2–4 players and lasts about 90 minutes. A 2- or 3-player game uses six rounds; a 4-player game uses five. This summary excludes the Dark Alleys expansion and bonus or promotional pets.

Setup and rounds: Each player takes imps, minions, a Burrow Board, and a Pet Display Board. The Central Board provides town actions, while the Progress Board lays out exhibitions, customers, and rounds. Select the sides appropriate for the player count and prepare starting gold and cages and set out pets available to purchase. Each round has six phases: Setup, Shopping, Need Cards, Showing Off and Care, Business, and Aging. Round 1 has no regular exhibition, and customers begin arriving in round 3; future exhibitions and customers are revealed in advance.

Setup phase: Collect income, reveal new information, and refill the market with pets, food, cages, addons, and other items. In a 2- or 3-player game, neutral imps block some town actions; use the arrows and neutral-imp rules on the correct board side to determine which locations are unavailable. Since exhibitions and customers are revealed early, players can plan purchases before the customer arrives instead of reacting only at the moment of sale.

Shopping and group order: Each player secretly forms groups of imps and assigns gold to them. After everyone reveals, group size is the total number of imps and gold; in the specified order, each group chooses an open town action or stays home. Larger groups generally choose first. Each group uses one action space to buy a pet, food, cage, addon, or artifact, or to take another listed action. If a space is occupied or blocked by a neutral imp, the group must choose a different legal location.

Assigning Need cards: First give each pet its own cage, then draw and assign Need cards during the Need Cards phase. The four colored decks provide different combinations of needs. Card icons may involve food, play, magic, or containing anger, and can also lead to disease or cage-cleaning problems. Consider each pet’s size, cage strength, stored food, and available imps when assigning cards. Once assigned, the cards are evaluated in order during Showing Off and Care; players cannot simply ignore an inconvenient need.

Showing Off and Care: Beginning in round 2, pets enter public exhibitions. On a player’s turn, evaluate the pets’ needs and conditions in the order given by the rules, using food and imps still at home to care for them. Hunger, anger, magic, disease, manure, and play needs have different consequences. Poor care can add suffering, soil a cage, cause mutation, or make a pet escape or be lost. The exhibition theme determines how display points are counted, and players receive reputation based on their final ranking.

Business and selling: Beginning in round 3, Dungeon Lord customers buy pets according to their preferences. Only a pet that has reached the required saleable size may be sold; a young pet is not eligible. In starting-player order, each player may offer a pet that matches the customer or decide to keep their animals. The degree of preference matching affects the reward in gold and reputation. Selling returns an investment and frees a cage, but removes that pet from future exhibitions and further growth.

Aging and pet loss: At the end of a round, eligible pets grow, imps return or remain assigned as directed, and the market is prepared for the next round. A pet’s size determines when it becomes saleable. If a player does not have enough cages, an unplaced pet may have to be released. Severe conditions can also remove a pet: too much suffering, anger beyond a cage’s strength, or excessive mutation can cause it to leave and may reduce reputation. Plan each animal together with its cage, addons, and available care staff.

End game and scoring: After the final round, players complete two final assessments: Business Acumen and Pet Display. The business assessment considers pets, cages, addons, food, artifacts, potions, and remaining gold according to the rules. The display assessment checks pet condition and manure, suffering, and mutation tokens in cages. Each imp still in the hospital, on the platform, or away from home can cost reputation. The player with the most reputation after both assessments wins; a tie is shared.