Hidden Leaders - Print & Play

About the print & play

The print & play is optimized for lower color black/white printing. Printing in color makes the
faction icons more easy to read.

Instructions for the print & play

1. Print the “hidden_leader_print_and_play.pdf” once
2. Cut out all cards and the board
3. Add 2 markers (e.g. wooden cubes, pawns) for the power track (ideally one in red and
one in green)
4. Read the rules
5. Play the game
6. Play it again :)
7. Give us feedback & share your experience on social media - Thank you!

You can easily contact us to ask any questions or share your feedback by addressing
@boardgamegoblin on Twitter, @hidden.leaders on Instagram or email us at
info@bffgames.org
Hidden Leaders
Background Story
The island of Oshra is in turmoil. Following the death of the Emperor, the conflict between the
Hill Tribes and the Imperial Army escalated. While the Water Folk tries to maintain balance
between the old rivals, the Undead aim to cause an outright war. All hope rests on the six
children of the Emperor: Who will claim the throne?

Goal of the game

● In Hidden Leaders, each player takes on the role of 1 of 6 secret Leaders. Every Leader
is allied with 2 of the 4 factions: the Hill Tribes, the Imperial Army, the Water Folk, and
the Undead.
● During the game, the players play hero cards to influence the power of the Hill Tribes
and the Imperial Army.
● After a certain number of heroes have been played, the game ends. The position of the
2 markers results in a victory for 1 of the 4 factions.
● Each player who is aligned with the winning faction can claim the victory. However, they
must have more heroes of this faction than any other competitor.

Game components
6x leader cards 73x hero cards 8x Summary and 1x board
support cards 2x markers ( )
Setting up a game
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We recommend starting with the basic (tutorial) game. This shorter, 52-card version of the
game makes it easier to get started. It follows the same rules as the full version. Follow the
instructions under 4.a in the paragraph below, to set up the basic game.
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1. Shuffle the 6 Leader cards and deal 1 to each player in secret.

Your Leader card defines which of the 2 factions you are aligned with. You must keep
this card secret, but may look at it any time.

2. Place the 2 power markers (red and green) on the starting position of the power
track.
3. Place the Deceased Emperor hero card face-up into the Graveyard
4. Shuffle the remaining 72 Hero cards and place the pile next to the Harbor slot on the
board to form the draw pile.
a. For the basic (tutorial) game: Remove all advanced cards, indicated by a (+) in
their left corners. 52 hero cards should remain.
5. Place 1 hero card face-up on each of the 3 slots in the Tavern
6. Every player draws 5 hero cards.
7. After looking at their 5 cards each player must:
a. put 1 card face-down in front of them (into their party of heroes)
b. put 1 face-down into the Wilderness (discard pile)
c. keep 3 cards as their starting hand.

Example setup for 2 players

A Player’s Turn
Players take turns in clockwise order, starting with a randomly chosen player.

During your turn, follow steps 1-4 in order:

1. Play 1 hand card & perform its ability

OR
Discard up to 3 cards into the Wilderness

2. Draw from Tavern and/or Harbor until you have 4 hero cards in
your hand
3. Discard down to 3 cards into the Wilderness
4. Fill up empty Tavern slots

1. Play 1 Hero card from your hand and add it to your party. Then perform its ability.
Play the chosen card face-up in front of you. Move the green and/or red markers left (-)
and/or right (+) on the power track as indicated on the card. Also, any additional
instructions are performed. Note: Heroes in front of you form your party.

1.1. Instead of playing 1 hero card you may discard up to 3 cards from your hand into
the Wilderness. Then continue with step 2.
2. Draw from the Tavern and/or Harbor until you have 4 hero cards in your
hand
You may draw these cards in any order from the 3 Tavern cards or Harbor deck. Note:
Do not fill up the tavern slots after drawing a card. This is done in step 4.
3. Discard into the Wilderness until you have 3 hero cards in your hand. Discard all
cards face-down.

4. Fill up the Tavern

Fill up all empty slots in the tavern by
drawing cards from the Harbor. Place
them face-up. If the Harbor runs out
of cards, and you are supposed to
draw a card, then shuffle all cards of
the Wilderness pile and use them to
form a new Harbor pile.
Hidden (face-down, ) heroes
● During game setup, you added 1 of your 5 initial hand cards face-down to your party.
This is a Hidden Hero.
● During the game, some hero abilities allow you to add new hidden heroes to your party,
turn around Hidden Heroes, or look at them.
● When a Hidden Hero is revealed (turned face-up), their ability will not be performed
unless explicitly stated by a card.
● Hidden Heroes do not count toward the total number of heroes needed to trigger the end
of the game. However, they do count when determining the winner.
● Hidden Heroes must be grouped as an overlapping stack in your party. Other
players should be able to see in which order they were played. You may not
shuffle your hidden heroes unless stated by an ability.
● You may look at your own hidden heroes at any time. Put them back in the
same order.

= open, face-up heroes

= hidden, face-down heroes

This is how a 2-player game might look like after 5 rounds.

Game End
The game ends at the end of any player’s turn if at least 1 player controls a minimum of the

following number of face-up heroes (Hidden Heroes do not count):

Number of face-up ( ) heroes to trigger the game's end.

Number of Full Game Tutorial Game

Players

2 8 heroes 6 heroes

3 7 heroes 6 heroes

4 7 heroes 6 heroes

5 6 heroes 4 heroes

6 5 heroes Not recommended

Note: It is possible that a player other than the currently active player will reach the hero limit
(because of the ability of a hero). In this case, the game end is also triggered.

Example: To end, a 4-player game requires 7 open hero cards. Andreas has 5 heroes, Lisa has
6, Markus has 4, and Raphael has 5. On Raphael’s turn, he plays the “Underestimated Squire”
and turns 1 face-down hero from Lisa’s party around. At the end of Raphael’s turn. Lisa has 7
face-up heroes, so the game ends. Alternatively, Raphael could have ended the game by
playing the “Doubtful Priest,” which allows him to play another hero. Thus, he would have had 7
heroes at the end of his turn.

Determining the Winner of the Game

Only 1 of the 4 factions can be victorious. When the game ends, determine which faction won
the conflict by checking the following winning conditions in this order:
● Undead win... if the red and green power markers are both on the dark “war
spaces” on the power track. Undead victory trumps the winning conditions of the other 3
factions.
● Water Folk win... if the red and green power markers are next to each other or on
the same space.
● Imperial Army win… if the red marker is at least 2 steps in front of the green
marker.
● Hill Tribes win... if the green marker is at least 2 steps in front of the red marker.
Next, each player reveals their secret Leader card. All players whose Leader is aligned with the
color of the winning faction can claim victory. If two or more players are aligned with the winning
faction, continue with “resolving ties”.

Resolving ties:
1. If more than one player is aligned with the winning faction, then the properly aligned
player with the most heroes of the winning faction in their party wins. All heroes are

counted ( + ).
2. If (2) results in a tie, then the tied player with the lower total number of heroes in their
party wins ( + , regardless of faction).
3. If (3) still results in a tie, compare the number in the bottom-right corner of the Leader
cards. The Leader with the higher number wins.

Note: If no player is aligned with the winning faction, no player wins the game.

Some Examples for final score and determining the winner:

You are ready to play!

Glossary & FAQ
What happens when the marker reaches an end of the power track?
The marker’s movement is limited by the beginning and end of the power track.

Is there a hand card limit?

There is no general hand card limit. When you draw cards during your turn you can only draw
until you have a maximum of 4 Hero cards. Through some hero’s abilities it is possible that you
have 4 or even more cards before drawing. In this case, you may not draw additional cards.

Clarification on some terms:

● Leader: Each player has 1 Leader card. Your Leader defines the 2 factions (colors) with
which you are aligned and can win the game.
● Hero: Each hero belongs to one of the 4 factions. Every player may play a hero card on
each of their turns. All heroes have an ability.
● Ability: Performed when playing a hero card. This includes moving the red or green
marker as well as any printed text. If a hero's ability can’t be performed, you ignore this
party of the ability, but you can still put the hero in your party. e.g. “Bury an undead
hero.” You can play this card even if no undead hero is in the game that you can bury. If
an undead hero is in the game, you have to bury one.
● Party: When a hero is played, it is put in front of the player. All played heroes, both
hidden and open, form the player’s party.
● Factions: There are 4 factions, each represented by a color, symbol, different heroes,
and a unique way to become victorious.
● Power Markers: There are 2 markers (red & green ). They are moved left (-) and right
(+) on the power track on the board to determine the winning faction. The marker that is
farther to the right on the track is the leading marker, while the one that is farther to the
left is the marker behind (if both are on the same space, then neither is leading or
behind).
● Harbor: The draw pile containing Hero cards.
● Tavern: The Tavern consists of 3 slots with face-up heroes. Players can draw from these
cards.
● Graveyard: If a hero is buried, this hero is put on top of the Graveyard face-up. Only the
top card of the graveyard is visible.
● Wilderness: The face-down discard pile.
● Deceased Emperor: Is the only hero in the graveyard at the beginning of the game.
Some hero’s abilities allow you to bring him into your party or hand. Then he acts as a
multi-color joker, but has no further effects.
● “Bury“ means to put a card from a player‘s party into.
● “Exchange” means swapping 2 cards without executing their abilities, except if explicitly
stated on the card.
● “At random” means you shuffle the targeted cards and draw a random card from them.
● “Put” means placing a hero somewhere (in your party, in the tavern…) without
executing their abilities except if explicitly stated on the card.
● “Turn around” means changing a hero card from to or the other way around.
● “Discard” always refers to discarding a card to
● “Draw” always refers to taking the top card from the pile mentioned. When someone
draws from another player, they draw randomly.
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com
Print&Play of Hidden Leaders by BFF Games, Version 23, for more infos please visit hidden-leaders.com