Overview

Fort is a deck-building game where you play as a kid building the best fort, collecting pizza and toys, and growing your circle of friends. The twist: your cards (kids) have public actions other players can follow, and any cards you don’t play end up in your Yard where opponents can recruit them. If you don’t play with your friends, they’ll hang out with someone else. The player with the most victory points at game end wins.

Components

• 60 Kid cards (6 suits: Skateboard, Shovel, Glue, Squirtgun, Crown, Book, plus wild Coin suit)
• 8 Best Friend cards (2 per player)
• 11 Made-Up Rule cards
• 9 Perk cards
• 1 Macaroni Sculpture card
• 4 Player boards (with Yard, Lookout, Stuff, Pack, Fort Level track)
• 30 Pizza tokens, 30 Toy tokens
• Score markers and Fort Level markers

Setup

1. Determine starting player randomly. Give them the First Player card.
2. Set out Pizza and Toy token supplies.
3. Each player takes a player board, their 2 Best Friend cards, and matching markers. Place score marker on 0. Fort Level marker on 0.
4. Place Macaroni Sculpture card next to Victory Track.
5. Shuffle Made-Up Rule cards; deal a face-down stack equal to players + 1.
6. Shuffle Perk cards; deal a face-up row equal to players + 1.
7. Shuffle 60 Kid cards into the Park deck. Deal 3 face-up to the Park.
8. Each player draws 8 Kid cards from the Park deck.
9. Each player shuffles their 8 Kids + 2 Best Friends to form their personal deck. Draw 5 cards.

Turn Structure

Each turn has 5 phases:

Phase 1: Cleanup

Skip on your first turn. Discard all cards from your Yard to your discard pile.

Phase 2: Play

Play 1 card from your hand (the “played card”). Use one or both of its actions:

• Public Action (top box): Can be followed by other players.
• Private Action (bottom box): Only you can use this.

You may add cards from your hand matching the suit icon next to an “x” to improve the action. Cards in your Lookout with matching suits also add to the count. You must fully use at least one action.

Following the Leader: After you resolve your card, each other player (in turn order) may discard 1 card matching your played card’s suit to copy the public action. Followers must use the action in full and cannot add extra cards.

Phase 3: Recruit

You may recruit 1 Kid card from:

• The face-up Park (3 cards), OR
• Any opponent’s Yard.

Add the recruited card to your discard pile. If from the Park, replace from the deck.

Phase 4: Discard

Place all remaining hand cards (except your played card and added cards, which went to discard) into your Yard (face-up above your player board). These are vulnerable to recruitment by opponents.

Phase 5: Draw

Draw 5 cards from your personal deck. If your deck runs out, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck.

Actions

Common Card Actions

• Gather resources (pizza/toys to your Stuff, max 4 each)
• Pack resources (move from Stuff to Pack, capacity = Fort Level + 1)
• Build Fort (increase Fort Level by paying resources from Stuff/Pack per the cost shown)
• Score VP (based on conditions like Fort Level, cards in Lookout, etc.)
• Lookout (add cards from hand to Lookout, capacity = Fort Level + 1; permanent, cannot be removed)
• Trash (remove a card from your deck permanently)

Fort Level Benefits

| Level | Pack/Lookout Capacity | Cost | Bonus | |——-|———————-|——|——-| | 0 | 1 | – | – | | 1 | 2 | 1 resource | Gain a Made-Up Rule | | 2 | 3 | 2 resources | Gain a Perk | | 3 | 4 | 3 resources | – | | 4 | 5 | 4 resources (specific) | – | | 5 | 6 | 5 resources (specific) | Gain Macaroni Sculpture |

Made-Up Rules

One-time or ongoing benefits gained at Fort Level 1 and when drawn.

Perks

Persistent abilities gained at Fort Level 2 (choose from face-up row).

Macaroni Sculpture

The first player to reach Fort Level 5 takes the Macaroni Sculpture (worth 2 VP at game end).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends at the end of the round when any player reaches Fort Level 5 (all players get equal turns).

Final Scoring: | Source | Points | |——–|——–| | Fort Level | VP per level (printed on player board) | | Pack | 1 VP per resource in Pack | | Lookout | 1 VP per card in Lookout | | Made-Up Rules | VP as indicated | | Perks | VP as indicated | | Macaroni Sculpture | 2 VP (if held) | | Victory Track | VP accumulated during game |

Highest total VP wins. Tiebreaker: highest Fort Level, then most resources in Pack.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Best Friends: Your 2 Best Friends can never be recruited by opponents or leave your deck (unless you choose to trash/Lookout them).
• Yard Vulnerability: Cards left in your hand at end of turn go to your Yard where opponents can recruit them. This is the core tension of the game.
• Following Limitations: Followers cannot discard cards from their Lookout. They can only discard 1 card. They must use the full public action.
• Wild Coin Suit: Counts as any suit for following and adding purposes.
• Adding Cards: You can only add a card if at least one of its suits actually improves the action’s effect.
• Advanced Draft Setup: After first game, draft starting cards instead of random draw.
• Resource Limits: Stuff holds max 4 pizza and 4 toys. Pack and Lookout capacities = Fort Level + 1.

Player Reference

Turn Phases

1. Cleanup: Discard Yard to discard pile
2. Play: Play 1 card, use actions, opponents may follow
3. Recruit: Take 1 card from Park or opponent’s Yard
4. Discard: Unplayed hand cards go to Yard
5. Draw: Draw 5 from your deck

Six Suits

Skateboard, Shovel, Glue, Squirtgun, Crown, Book (+ wild Coin)

Game End Trigger

Any player reaches Fort Level 5 (finish the round)