Overview
Fabulantica is a fairy-tale memory and movement game. A botched spell has scattered the inhabitants of Fabulantica across the land, and they are hiding under towers. Players travel between locations using travel cards, peek under towers to find inhabitants, and complete task cards by reuniting separated friends. The first player to earn 3 gold coins wins.
Components
- 1 Game board
- 5 Player figures
- 12 Inhabitants with bases
- 12 Towers (to hide inhabitants)
- 1 Magic carpet tile
- 54 Travel cards (horse, donkey, camel, ship, magic carpet)
- 24 Task cards (showing an inhabitant in need of help and their missing friend)
Setup
- Place the game board in the center of the table.
- Each player chooses a figure and places it on the castle in the center. Remove unused figures.
- Place the magic carpet tile on the castle.
- Put all 12 inhabitants on their bases; cover each with 1 tower.
- Shuffle the towers and place 1 tower on each of the 12 yellow location spaces (castle and 5 other locations remain uncovered). No player should know which inhabitant is where.
- Shuffle task cards; place face-down as a draw pile. Reveal 3 face-up cards as the common display. The 3 displayed cards must show 3 different inhabitants in need of help (replace duplicates).
- Shuffle travel cards; deal 5 to each player. Remaining cards form the draw pile.
Turn Structure
On your turn, perform these actions in order:
1. Travel to a Different Location
Play travel cards to move your figure along paths:
| Terrain |
Required Card |
| Green forest |
Horse |
| Grey mountains |
Donkey |
| Yellow desert |
Camel |
| Blue waterways |
Ship |
- Discard 1 matching travel card per path section traversed.
- You may travel multiple sections in one turn if you have the cards.
- You may choose to stay put (skip to step 3).
Magic Carpet: If you are at the magic carpet’s location and have a magic carpet card, discard it to fly to any location on the board. The carpet remains at the new location.
2. Check the Tower
If your figure ends at a location with a tower, you may peek at (or skip peeking at) the inhabitant underneath. All players must be able to see the revealed inhabitant.
- Inhabitant in need of help (matches a display card): Take that task card from the common display. You may hold at most 2 task cards at once (with different inhabitants in need of help). Move the tower (with its inhabitant) to any other free location. Reveal a new task card to the display (maintaining 3 cards with 3 different inhabitants in need of help).
- Missing friend (matches one of your task cards): You have completed the task. Flip the task card to its gold coin side. Move the tower (with inhabitant) to any free location.
- Neither: Replace the tower on its inhabitant. It stays at this location.
3. Pick Up New Travel Cards
Draw 2 new travel cards, OR swap up to 2 of your travel cards for new ones from the draw pile. Maximum hand size: 10 travel cards.
Actions
All actions are covered in the Turn Structure above. Key decisions each turn:
- Which location to travel to (based on available cards)
- Whether to peek under a tower
- Which task card to claim (max 2 at a time)
- Where to relocate a tower after revealing it
Scoring / Victory Conditions
- Each completed task earns 1 gold coin (flip the task card).
- The first player to collect 3 gold coins wins immediately.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
- Hand limit: Maximum 10 travel cards at any time.
- Task card limit: Maximum 2 active task cards, and they must show different inhabitants in need of help.
- Display maintenance: The common display always shows exactly 3 cards with 3 different inhabitants in need of help. If a duplicate appears, replace it from the draw pile.
- Tower relocation: Whenever a tower is revealed (whether a task is completed or a new task is claimed), move it (with its inhabitant inside) to any free location.
- Memory tip: Invent short stories linking inhabitants to their locations to aid memory.
Player Reference
| Item |
Details |
| Players |
2-5 |
| Age |
6+ |
| Goal |
First to 3 gold coins |
| Hand limit |
10 travel cards |
| Active tasks |
Max 2 at a time |
| Terrains |
Forest (horse), Mountains (donkey), Desert (camel), Water (ship) |
| Magic carpet |
Fly to any location; carpet stays at new spot |