Setup Instructions
Setting up Alice: Cards of Wonder is a simple and straightforward process. Follow these steps to prepare for your journey into Wonderland:
This tutorial is based on playing Alice: Cards of Wonder with the base set plus the expansion set. It follows the Story Mode game flow and uses the full set gem refinement, where each player needs to refine three gems to win. Specific variations and scenarios will be indicated throughout the tutorial.
Step 1: Prepare the Deck
Shuffle the playing cards thoroughly to ensure a random distribution of Creatures, Artifacts, Actions.
Step 2: Arrange Environment Cards
Arrange the Environment Cards based on the sequence number indicated on the middle right of the card.
In Free Mode, there is no need to arrange the Environment Cards. Instead, shuffle them thoroughly to ensure a random distribution.
Face down the Environment Cards, and face up the first one and put that on top of the environment deck.
Step 3: Distribute Cards
Deal a starting hand of six cards to each player. Place the remaining deck(s) face down within easy reach of all players. This will serve as the draw pile.
The distribution of cards does not include the Environment Cards.
Step 4: Distributing and Setting Up Game Tokens
Each player should have their own set of Gem tokens (Red, Green, and Purple), with 3 Gem tokens for each player. Place these with each player.
The Element tokens (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Herbs) are shared between players. Place these in a central location within reach of all players. These tokens will be used throughout the game for various actions and objectives.
For a quick match, players can decide to target refining 1 or 2 gems as the winning criteria. However, if players decide not to refine 3 gems, then 6 elements will be required to refine the gem instead of 5.
Step 5: Prepare Identity Cards
Each player will have 5 character cards. Face down the character cards and only face up the one that they declare for that turn. Each player takes the Identity card corresponding to their chosen starting character and places it in front of them. These cards help track which Creature is currently active for each player.
For the Base set, there will only be 4 character cards available: Alice, the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, and the Cheshire Cat.
Step 6: Select Starting Characters
Each player chooses one Creature card from their hand to start with and places it in front of them. This will be their active character for the first turn. The chosen card should be one of the five characters: Alice, the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, or the Queen of Hearts, which is introduced in the expansion set.
If a player does not have any Creature cards in their initial hand, they must show their hand to the other players for verification. After doing so, they shuffle these cards back into the deck, then draw a new hand of six cards. This ensures that each player starts with at least one Creature card.
Step 7: Set Up Optional Playmat
If you have the optional playmat, lay it out in the center of the play area. Place the deck, tokens, Environment Cards, and Identity Cards as indicated on the playmat.
Step 8: Determine First Player
Decide who will take the first turn. This can be done randomly, by choosing the youngest player, flip the coin, or through any other method players agree upon.
Once the setup is complete, you are ready to begin your adventure in Wonderland. Players will take turns drawing cards, playing cards, and engaging in the strategic elements of Alice: Cards of Wonder.