Above and Below: Groves

About this expansion

Above and Below: Groves is a 10-card expansion for 2–4 players, with a play time of about 120 minutes. It adds a deck of grove cards that give adventurers a new way to explore the ancient pines scattered near your village.

To begin, shuffle the grove cards and place them face down near the play area, then reveal the top card. When a player explores, they may choose the top grove card instead of a cave card. Unlike a cave exploration, no story is read, and the possible rewards are visible before the attempt.

After successfully claiming a grove card, the player uses their characters to explore and rolls for lanterns. Once the dice have been rolled, they choose one reward they can afford with their lanterns. The claimed grove is then placed adjacent to one of the player’s building cards in their village.

• Explore the visible top grove card instead of a cave card.
• Roll for lanterns after successfully claiming the grove.
• Choose one available reward based on the lanterns rolled.
• Gain bonus village points by matching the grove’s arrow icon with an adjacent building symbol.

Grove cards contribute to your village beyond their immediate reward. At the end of the game, a grove provides bonus village points when it is adjacent to a building card with a symbol matching the icon on the arrow shown on the grove card.

Adding Groves also introduces a lasting placement rule: once a building or grove has been placed adjacent to another building or grove, those cards cannot be moved or rearranged on a later turn. In Above and Below: Groves, visible rewards and permanent village arrangements make each exploration and placement decision matter.