Saboteur
A classic game of treasure and trickery. Hide your identity and don’t trust anyone...
It’s Miners vs. Saboteurs in this race for the gold. As you lay your cards and build a path, your friends are lurking ready to destroy your plans.
Work with the other Miners to find all the gold nuggets and win the game. But watch out for the Saboteurs who will change your path or destroy your supplies.
Join the growing ranks of Saboteur fans!
Number of players: 2 - 12
Game duration: 30 mn
Complexity: 2 / 5
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Play Saboteur and 943 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
For tips on how to play Saboteur, see Tips_saboteur
Overview
- 3 rounds.
- The player with the most gold nuggets at the end of the game wins.
- Player roles are randomly assigned at the start of each round in secret:
- Gold-Diggers win as a team by forming a path from the 'start' card to the treasure card.
- Saboteurs win as a team if the treasure is not found.
- The treasure card is randomly assigned to one of the three goal cards at the start of each round in secret.
Roles
Saboteur 1
- 3-10 Players.
- Roles are randomly assigned in secret.
Saboteur 1: Roles # Players 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 # Saboteurs 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 # Gold-Diggers* 3 4 4 5 5 6 7 7
Saboteur 2
- 2-12 Players.
- Roles are randomly assigned in secret.
Saboteurs
- Win if gold is not found.
Blue Gold-Diggers
- Win if gold is found by:
- Any player that is not a Green Gold-Digger and at least one way there does not have a green door, or
- A Green Gold-Digger and all ways there have a blue door (and at least one of those ways does not also have a green door in series).
Green Gold-Diggers
- Win if gold is found by:
- Any player that is not a Blue Gold-Digger and at least one way there does not have a blue door, or
- A Blue Gold-Digger and all ways there have a green door (and at least one of those ways does not also have a blue door in series).
Boss
- Wins if gold is found.
- When the treasure is divided, gets one fewer Gold Piece than Gold-Diggers.
Profiteer
- Always wins.
- When the treasure is divided, gets two fewer Gold Pieces than the winning Gold-Diggers or Saboteurs (or one fewer Gold Piece than the Boss).
Geologists
- Not 'winners'.
- Receive 1 Gold Piece for each visible crystal.
- If both Geologists are in play, they split the Gold Pieces (rounded down).
Game play
Saboteur 1: Hand size # Players 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 # Cards 6 6 6 5 5 4 4 4
- Players take turns to play a card or discard.
- The cards are of two types:
Path cards
- Always played in a portrait (upright) orientation.
- May be rotated 180°:
- Hover over the card.
- Select the 'rotate' arrow that appears above the card.
- Each edge must fit with the surrounding cards.
- Must be connected to the start card.
- See Saboteur 1: Know your paths for more detail on path cards.
Action cards
- See Saboteur 1: Know your actions for more detail on action cards.
Sabotage
- Break one tool of another player:
- Select the Sabotage card.
- Select the corresponding green tool symbol in another player's panel (under the score).
- A player with a broken tool cannot play a path card!
Repair
- Repair one tool of any player:
- Select the repair card.
- Select a corresponding red tool symbol in any player's panel (under the score), or a corresponding Sabotage card in front of you.
Map
- See any goal card in secret:
- Select the map card.
- Select any goal card.
- You see the goal card in secret.
- Select the "I have seen it" button at the top.
- One card fewer than in the box set, as requested by the game author.
Rockfall
- Remove any played path card for the remainder of the round:
- Select the rockfall card.
- Select any played path card to remove it.
- Note: the start card and goal cards cannot be removed.
Round end
- A path connects the start card to the treasure goal card, or
- All cards have been played or discarded.
- If the treasure card is not found, the Saboteurs get 3 gold nuggets each (or 4 gold nuggets if they are the only winner).
- If the treasure is found, the Gold-Diggers get gold cards:
Gold cards
- 28 gold cards:
- 4 three nuggets.
- 8 two nuggets.
- 16 one nugget.
Saboteur 1: Gold # Players 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 # Gold cards 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Example
- 3 Gold-Diggers
- 2 Saboteurs
- Treasure goal card is found.
- 3 + 2 = 5 random gold cards are selected and sorted high to low: 3, 2, 2, 1, 1.
- DiggerA gets the 3 nugget.
- DiggerB gets a 2 nugget.
- DiggerC gets a 2 nugget.
- DiggerA gets a 1 nugget.
- DiggerB gets a 1 nugget.
Saboteur 2
New path cards
- See Saboteur 2: Know your paths for more detail on path cards.
Green doors
- Prevent Blue Gold Diggers from passing through.
Blue doors
- Prevent Green Gold Diggers from passing through.
Ladders
- Connect to the 'start' card.
- Allows additional paths to the gold that can be disconnected from the 'start' card.
- Cannot open goal cards.
Bridges
- Two straight paths that are not connected.
New action cards
- See Saboteur 2: Know your actions for more detail on action cards.
Theft
- Select the Theft card.
- Select the corresponding red gold symbol in your player panel (under the score).
- At the end of the round, allows the player to steal 1 Gold Piece from one other player who has >0 Gold Pieces by selecting another player's panel.
- Only takes effect if the player is not Trapped!.
Hands Off
- Remove Theft from another player:
- Select the Hands Off card.
- Select the corresponding green gold symbol in another player's panel (under the score).
Swap Your Hand
- Exchange the cards in your hand with another player:
- Select the Swap Your Hand card.
- Select another player's panel.
Inspection
- See the role card of another player:
- Select the Inspection card.
- Select another player's panel.
- You see that player's role card in secret.
- Close the dialogue.
Swap Your Hats
- Exchange the role card of any player with a random role card leftover at the beginning of the round:
- Select the Swap Your Hats card.
- Select any player's panel or your own role card.
- Note: the new role card might be the same role type!
- e.g. a Saboteur role card is discarded and another Saboteur role card is drawn.
Trapped!
- Prevent a player from playing path cards:
- Select the Trapped! card.
- Select the corresponding green jail symbol in another player's panel (under the score).
- At the end of the round, a player who is Trapped! gets 0 Gold Pieces.
Free at last!
- Remove Trapped! from a player:
- Select the Free at last! card.
- Select the corresponding red jail symbol in any player's panel (under the score).
Saboteur 1: Variants
- The game author, Frederic Moyersoen, told us about some game variants, and we implemented all of them!
- Tell us which one is your favourite in the BGA forum.
Gold sharing
Old mine
- The old mine was not as packed with gold... sometimes all you got for your digging was worthless stones!
- 6 one nugget gold cards removed.
- 6 worthless stone cards added.
New mine
- More even gold distribution.
- Each Gold-Digger gets one gold card.
Game play
Competitive
- Any Gold-Diggers with a Sabotage card (broken pickaxe, lamp or trolley) at the end of a round do not get any gold cards.
- i.e. the gold cards are distributed between the gold diggers who have no broken tool.
- Saboteurs are not affected by this rule.
- Sabotage your Gold-Digger team for greater reward... but not too often, or your team might lose!
Selfish Dwarf
- One Gold-Digger role card is removed.
- One Selfish Dwarf role card is added.
- If the Selfish Dwarf wins, they get 4 gold nuggets and all other players get 0 gold nuggets.
- If the Gold-Diggers win, the Selfish Dwarf loses with the Saboteurs.
- # Gold cards = # Players − 1 (the Selfish Dwarf is excluded).
Saboteur 1: Selfish Dwarf variant # Players 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 # Saboteurs 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 # Gold-Diggers* 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 # Selfish Dwarves 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 # Gold cards 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Tournament
- 5-9 players.
- Fixed number of role cards.
- 1 Selfish Dwarf.
- If the Gold-Diggers win, the first Gold-Digger gets 3 gold nuggets and the others get 2 gold nuggets.
- If the Selfish Dwarf wins, they get 4 gold nuggets and all other players get 0 gold nuggets.
Saboteur 1: Tournament roles # Players 5 6 7 8 9 # Saboteurs 1 2 2 2 3 # Gold-Diggers 3 3 4 5 5 # Selfish Dwarves 1 1 1 1 1
Saboteur 2: Splitting the treasure
Saboteur 2: Gold # Winners* 1 2 3 4 5+ # Gold Pieces 5 4 3 2 1
Example 1
- 1 Blue Gold-Digger
- 2 Green Gold-Diggers
- 1 Boss
- 1 Profiteer
- 2 Saboteurs
Gold-Digger win
- The Boss completes the path to the goal card with the treasure.
- The path is blocked by a blue door.
- The Blue Gold-Diggers have won (including the Boss and the Profiteer).
- 3 winners.
- The Blue Gold-Digger gets 3 Gold Pieces.
- The Boss gets 3 − 1 = 2 Gold Pieces.
- The Profiteer gets 3 − 2 = 1 Gold Piece.
- Note: If a Green Gold-Digger had connected the treasure to the start card, the Blue team would have won anyway, as the path to the treasure is closed to the Green team by a blue door.
- The Saboteur who is not trapped takes 1 Gold Piece from any one of the other players (who have > 0 Gold Pieces).
Saboteur win
- The treasure is not found.
- The Saboteurs have won (including the Profiteer).
- 2 winners.
- The Saboteur who is not trapped gets 4 Gold Pieces.
- The Profiteer gets 4 − 2 = 2 Gold Pieces.
- The Saboteur who is not trapped takes 1 Gold Piece from any one of the other players (who have > 0 Gold Pieces).
Example 2
- Player1 digs a new path.
- Player1 finds gold!
- A green digger found the treasure: the green team wins this round!
- There are 4 winners this round, including 0 boss and 1 profiteer.
- There is also 1 geologist(s) who will get gold for gems.
- Player1 is a green gold digger and earns 2 gold nuggets.
- Player2 is a blue gold digger and earns 0 gold nuggets.
- Player3 is the profiteer and earns 0 gold nuggets.
- Player4 is a green gold digger and earns 2 gold nuggets.
- Player5 is a green gold digger and earns 2 gold nuggets.
- Player6 is a Geologist and earns 3 gold nuggets.
- Player7 is a Saboteur and earns 0 gold nuggets.
- Player7 steals 1 gold nugget from Player6.
- Note: Even though there were no doors in the path to the treasure, the blue gold digger gets 0 gold nuggets because a green digger found the treasure.
- Note: Despite winning, the profiteer gets 2 − 2 = 0 gold nuggets!