Description
Sanctum is a competitive strategy game inspired by hack-and-slash RPG video games.
Each player controls one of four unique characters as they journey into the heart of the fallen city of Sanctum, building up their skills and arsenals along the way to prepare for the final fight against the Demon Lord.
Multiple players may survive the fight, but only one may claim the glory of purifying Sanctum.
Gameplay is brisk, with the possibility for overlapping turns. The four characters all have unique skill sets, and you’ll level up fast, giving you frequent opportunities to choose new skills. Every decision counts.
Though the game is competitive, the goal is to destroy the Demon Lord, not each other.
So player interaction is a race rather than a fight: Who’s furthest along the board? Who will get to choose first when an equipment draft gets triggered?
Who will gain the benefit of reaching the Demon Lord first? Who will get to that group of blue demons everyone wants? Who will unlock that achievement and claim the bonus?
On your turn, you choose one action:
1) Move: Advance along the path toward the Demon Lord, and engage some demon minions to fight later.
2) Fight: Fight all the demon minions you’ve engaged. If you kill any demons, upgrade Skills and acquire Items.
3) Rest: Equip some of the loot you’ve won, recharge the resources you use to fight, and buy potions with extra Items you don’t need.
The choices you’ll be balancing and weighing against each other as you go include:
– What demons should you fight?
Demons come in three colors: Blue, red, and green. The color of the demon determines which of your character’s Skills you’ll be able to choose to upgrade if you win the fight. Plus, each Demon drops a specific piece of gear when you beat it.
What kind of gear do you need — a chest plate? Footgear? A weapon?
Finally, since killing demons requires you to roll dice to match the die face showing on the demon’s card, which demons can you kill based on your current gear and skill setup?
– Which Skills should you unlock? Each character has 9 skills. Which ones you choose to gain in a given game drastically changes how the character functions.
– What gear should you equip? Some gear helps you block damage. Some helps you modify dice rolls. The better the gear, the harder it is to equip.
– When should you Move, Fight, and Rest? You’ll want to Move and Fight as many times as possible between Rests, but wait too long to Rest and you may take more damage than you can afford. Rest too often, though, and you’ll fall behind the other players and miss out on some kills.
– Should you do what is most optimal for your character at any given moment, or should you sometimes put that aside in order to claim competitive achievements before other players can?
The final battle with the Demon Lord is tough. Even surviving can feel rewarding.
But only the player with the most health at the end of the boss fight can truly claim the glory of his defeat!
Solo Rules
There are several ways you can play in solo mode.
The official solo rules can also be downloaded >> Here <<
There are also several fan variants. One of the more popular variants is described below.
Other versions are included in the Files section below.
1. Setup the game as in two player mode, except that you place a hit token on every second spot of the Act I and Act III boards. These spots aren’t used in the game.
2. (optional) Draw a starting bonus card
3. Since both treasure chest spots are blocked, you find a treasure chest on the last open spots of Act I and Act III
4. Each time you either fight or take a regular rest, draw a Demon Lord card and place it face down on the Demon Lord pile. Don’t draw a card on your free rest at the end of Act V. The Demon Lord’s Answer cards and the Demon Lord Roar cards are taken from this pile in the end of the game
5. Either take a blessing each time you take a regular rest (simple version) or put one blessing token on each column and each but the leftmost row of the achievement board for a total of three during setup and gain blessings as usual
6. At the end of Act V, use the first two cards of the demon lord pile as the Demon Lord’s Answer. Split the remaining cards as follows:
5 cards: 2-2-1
6 cards: 3-2-1
7 cards: 3-2-1-1
8 cards: 3-2-2-1
9 cards: 3-3-2-1
10 cards: 4-3-2-1
11 cards: 4-3-2-1-1
a.s.o.
These are your Demon Lord Roar cards for Act VI.
7. If you want to adjust the difficulty, either draw more starting bonus cards or take more blessings to make it easier or start with some cards already in the Demon Lord pile.
Sanctum: Solo Review
Sanctum Review (multiplayer)
Files
A selection of files from BoardGameGeek. Links will open in a new window or tab.
Sanctum rulebook
This is an official rulebook.
>> Click to download PDF <<
Sanctum Solo Rules – No Background
Solo rules with background removed for printing.
>> Click to download PDF <<
Automa Rules
Rules to play Sanctum solo against an Automa.
>> Click to download PDF <<
[2021 Solomode] Super Simple Sanctum Solo
Solo Variant for Sanctum
Features:
– Playing time is around 35 minutes
– Doesn’t require extra components
– Low rules overhead
– Plays like the multiplayer gameEdit
>> Click to download PDF <<
Sanctum Singleplayer rules [EN]
Author: Filip Murmak
Year: 2020
Players: 1+
Age: 12+
Time: 30 – 60
Mechanics: single-player variant of the Sanctum board game
Base Game: Sanctum
Download: rules EN https://czechgames.com/files/rules/sanctum-solo-rules-en.pdf
You may already be familiar with racing against other heroes with the goal to banish the evil that plagues Sanctum. With fighting your way through hordes of enemies while gearing up to face the blight that is Demon Lord, all to restore the realm to its former glory.
Now, you find yourself on the green meadows by the dock alone, the only one called to exterminate the evil in the city of Sanctum and the whole adjacent region. You alone must cleave your way through the demons and save the land. It is a lofty mission, but you are the only one who can do it.
Everything needed for the solo variant can already be found in Sanctum’s box. The attached rules provide how to setup the game, and all gameplay changes.
>> Click to download PDF <<
Singleplayer Rules [PRINTER-FRIENDLY B&W VERSION]
A printer-friendly black & white version of the singleplayer rules, to be printed on a single double-sided sheet.
>> Click to download PDF <<