Game Design: Skye Larsen and Tim Fowers

Art and Illustration: Ryan Goldsberry

Development: Jeff Krause and Leonardo Santoso
Box and Tray Design: Noah Adelman

Paperback Adventures also benefited greatly from

avid playtesters and attentive rules consultants.
We’d like to mention and thank several active
playtesters and consultants: Richard Hoffman,
Jenna Howard, Kelly Hurd, Lines J. Hutter,
Marceline Leiman, Humza Salim, Ian Schreiber,
Jordan Smith, and Nate Sorensen.

1
Famed novelist Paige Turner has continued a successful writing career
since the game Paperback, but even the best writers encounter the occa-
sional bout of writers’ block. In Paperback Adventures you get to play as
the protagonist in one of Paige’s wild brainstorming sessions, and that
means you can never quite know what awaits you when you turn the
page to discover your next challenge.

G amepl ay S ummary
The original Paperback game combined deckbuilding with word games,
and Paperback Adventures adds another twist to the Paperback formula:
increasing, randomized challenges to overcome throughout each game.
You’ll pick a character and attempt to complete a trilogy by dueling
against 6 enemies in succession: a Lackey and a Boss in every Book.
Beat the final Boss in Book 3 to win!
Defeat each enemy by spelling words with the cards in your hand and
by using special rewards you acquire after defeating your foes. There
are always more enemies to master and combinations to try out!

B efore Y ou S tart
Paperback Adventures uses a modular
system—every game will use the core
box, and you will need at least one
character box to play. If this is the first
time you play, read the “First Journey”
section below. Otherwise, you can skip
that section and continue to the follow-
ing section, “Experienced Adventurer”.

First Journey
Because this game is modular, you might have more than one charac-
ter box available. Although you only play with one character at a time,
some content from each character box is included in the game no mat-
ter which character you’re playing.
If you have multiple character boxes, include any cards that are not spe-
cific to that character as they’re mentioned during setup. Cards marked
with a character’s icon are not used unless you play as that character.

1
We recommend starting the game in Training Mode. You’ll make a few
changes during setup in this mode that make it easier to play.

Experienced Adventurer Look for boxes like these for

Training Mode setup changes!
Once you have played the game a few
times and would like more of a challenge, you can play Standard Mode:
you’ll start with 20 HP, a single Wild Card, and play with the Enemy
Vowel cards on the side without icons. Just ignore the Training Mode
changes in setup to play in Standard Mode.
If you master Standard Mode, you should use Plot Twists (see pg. 21) for
additional challenges.

C omponents
Core Box Character Box
• 1 Rulebook • 1 Character Tray
• 1 Enemy Tray • 4 Status Counters
• 4 Status Counters • 1 Character Card
• 12 Enemy Cards • 6 Enemy Cards
• 12 Reward Cards • 6 Reward Cards
• 7 Penalty Cards • 10 Character Starting Letter Cards
• 5 Enemy Vowel Cards • 50 Character Library Letter Cards
• 2 Wild Cards • 4 Core Cards (2 in Envelope)
• 2 Letter of Your Choice Cards • 1 Starting Item Card
• 5 Plot Twist Cards • 4 Bonus Item Cards
• 23 Item Cards • 3 Bonus McGuffin Cards
• 22 McGuffin Cards • 1 Bonus Boss McGuffin Card
• 12 Boss McGuffin Cards (4 in Envelope)
• 1 Shop Card
• 1 Archive Card

S etup
First time opening a box? You’ll need to sleeve some of your cards with
the sleeves included in that box.
Letter cards (character box) and Penalty cards (core box) should be
placed in the included sleeves that have an opaque, patterned back.
Each Letter card has 2 unique sides. The side that says “Upgraded” on
the bottom of the card should not be visible at the start of the game.

2
Penalty cards are the same on each side, so it doesn’t matter which
side is visible.
All other cards can be placed in the included transparent sleeves.
Character Setup
• Choose your character.
• Find the Letter cards, character card and character tray from that
character’s box.
• Each character has 60 total Letter cards, which will have a large let-
ter in the center of the card, and their icon in the bottom left corner.
• Your starting deck is composed of 10 Letter cards marked with
a pointing arrow icon in the bottom center area of the card.
• Each character card has 2 sides. One side features only art, while
the other side has rule explanations and reminders specific to that
character. You can choose which side you want to have face up.
• Place the character tray near you, and place the character card in
the center of it. Shuffle your starting deck and place it face down
below the tray. Leave space next to your deck for a discard pile. (A)
• Find your character’s 2 Core cards and starting item card in their
character box (see pg. 17 to learn about selecting alternate Core
cards). The starting item will be marked “Starter”. Place all 3 cards
face up and to the right of the character tray. (B)
Archive Setup
• Place the Archive card above your character
tray. Surround the card with 5 distinct decks,
in the locations indicated on the Archive
card. (C)
• The remaining 50 Letter cards for your
character that aren’t in your starting deck
make up the Library deck for your character.
Shuffle these and place them face down as
indicated by the Archive card. (D)
• Shuffle the 7 penalty cards and place them
in a facedown deck next to the Archive
card. (E)
• Shuffle all item cards from the core box and character box(es) and
place them in a facedown deck next to the Archive card. (F)

3
• Shuffle all Boss McGuffin cards from the core box and character box-
(es) and place them in a facedown deck next to the Archive card. (G)
• Shuffle all normal McGuffin cards from the core box and character
box(es) and place them next to the Archive card. Note that these
cards are double-sided and can have either side facing up or down
while in this deck—you will draw from the bottom of this deck. (H)
Enemy Setup
• Place the enemy tray to the right of your character tray.
• Find all the reward cards from the core box and character box(es)
for your current Book. For your first battle you will be on Book 1, so
look for all the cards marked “Book 1 Lackey” (gray-ish blue) and
“Book 1 Boss” (light green). Randomly choose 1 Lackey and 1 Boss
card and place them next to the enemy tray, either side face up. (I)
4
• Find the enemy card with the same name as the Book 1 Lackey
reward card you just drew, and place that card in the center of the
enemy tray, with the Stage 1 side face up. You can reference the
opposite side of the enemy card at any time. (J)
• Place one (purple) hex counter and one (yellow) boon counter on
the “Zero” slot of the enemy tray (unless the enemy’s Special Rules
say otherwise). Then place the enemy’s (orange) health counter on
the number of the enemy tray matching the Stage 1 HP listed on the
enemy card. (K)
• Put the (blue) enemy action indicator in the topmost slot of the
left side of the enemy tray. This counter indicates which action the
enemy will take this turn. It should be next to the first action listed on
the enemy card. (L)
5
• Find the enemy’s weak spot, which
is a vowel indicated in the enemy’s
name. (Rarely, an enemy might not
have a weak spot, as indicated in
their special rules.) Find the Enemy
Vowel card matching the current
enemy’s weak spot and place it
next to you, showing the side
without icons on the side. (M) In Training Mode, take the Inside Intel
• Leave the remaining Enemy Plot Twist (double-sided purple card)
Vowel cards in the core box. and follow its instructions for enemy
Shop Setup vowels instead.
• Designate an area for the
Shop, usually above the enemy tray. (The shop playmat can be used
if you have one.)
• Find the Shop card and put it in the center of the area. (N)
• Draw 3 cards from the item deck next to the Archive. Place them
face up and make a row along the top of the Shop. (O)
• Draw 2 cards from the bottom of the McGuffin deck next to the
Archive. Place one on the left and the right of the Shop card. (P)
• Draw 3 cards from your character’s Library deck. Place them face up
and make a row along the bottom of the shop. (Q)
Finally, set up your first turn.
• Place one (purple) hex counter, one (yellow) boon counter, and one
(blue) energy counter on the
In Training Mode, you start with 25 HP
instead. Take the Lady’s Favor McGuffin “Zero” slot of your character
and follow its changes to your Max HP. tray. Place your (orange) health
counter on the “20” slot of your
character tray—this is your max hit points (Max HP). (R)
• Draw 4 cards from the top of your starting deck to form your hand. (S)
• Take 1 Wild card and keep it near In Training Mode, take the Ani-
your hand. This card can be used in mal Companion Plot Twist and
any word but is not in your hand. (T) the Strange Egg Boss McGuffin,
• Leave space for a fatigue pile near and take an additional Wild
your hand. (U) card as Strange Egg describes.
Then shuffle the Boss McGuffins.

6
W inning , L osing , and HP
You advance toward the final Boss by defeating enemies, and you
defeat enemies by playing words that cause enemies to lose HP. But
enemies attack back! As you take damage, you will move your health
counter down the track on your character tray.
If your health counter ever reaches zero, you lose the game. Your HP
starts at your Max HP value of 20 (unless altered by Training Mode or
a Plot Twist) and you can never heal above your max HP. Enemies can
never heal above their max HP either.
Occasionally, an enemy might have a unique win or loss condition in
their special rules. Despite any other win or loss conditions, the player
always loses the game if their HP reaches zero.

E nemy A ctions and S tages

You will know what the enemy is going to
do each turn, allowing you to plan around it.
Sometimes enemies will attack you, sometimes
they will block your attacks, and sometimes they
might do both or neither. Time your attacks to
take advantage of their actions!
When enemies take damage, move the health
counter down the enemy tray.

7
When the enemy’s health counter reaches zero in Stage 1, flip their card
over to the Stage 2 side and reset their health to the listed HP for Stage 2.
When an enemy is flipped, it is stunned until the turn is over—meaning
that it will take no action that turn. When damage or HP loss flips a
Stage 1 enemy, any surplus damage or HP loss carries over to Stage 2
and the enemy’s health counter is adjusted accordingly.
In Stage 2, enemies will usually have
different actions and HP. When ene-
mies are flipped, move the enemy
action indicator to the first enemy
action (it will take this action the turn
after it is stunned). If the enemy’s
health counter reaches zero in Stage
2, you defeat the enemy.
Pay attention to any special rules
in the yellow box at the bottom of the enemy card. Special rules can
dramatically alter combat, and the rules might change between Stage 1
and Stage 2.

P hases of a T urn
Every battle is divided into turns
in which both the player and the
enemy take actions. Turns con-
tinue until either the player’s HP
is reduced to zero or the enemy
is defeated in Stage 2. As soon
as the enemy is defeated, the
battle is over and you imme-
diately start the steps listed in
Character Development (see
pg. 17).

Some enemies can be a real monster to

deal with after they switch stages…

8
Each turn of a battle consists of these three phases:

Phase 1: Prep Phase

1. Plan the word you will play this turn and arrange it in front of you,
using the Letter cards in your hand. Choose if you will splay your
word to the left or to the right (see pg. 10).
2. Use your items, spending energy as needed. This can be done at
any time while planning your word in the Prep phase.

Phase 2: Clash Phase

3. Perform the text ability for the top card of your word.
4. Count up the total number of hits from your word and add any
hits generated from items or McGuffins this turn. Deal that much
damage to the enemy, subtracting the block value of the enemy’s
action this turn, if any. (Move the enemy’s HP counter accordingly.)
5. Count up the total number of blocks and energy as well,
and add any blocks or energy generated from items
or McGuffins this turn. Adjust the energy on your
character tray accordingly.
6. Perform the enemy’s action for this turn, as shown
by the enemy action indicator. The enemy takes no
action if they are stunned. If they attack, subtract your Indicates
block total from their damage. You lose HP equal to an enemy
any excess damage (move your HP counter). attack
Phase 3: Cleanup Phase
7. Move the top card of the word you just played to the fatigue pile.
Cards in this pile stay there, unusable, until the end of the battle.
8. Move the rest of the cards in your word and your hand to the dis-
card pile.
9. Advance the enemy action indicator to the next action, moving from
top to bottom. If there are no more actions, return the indicator to
the top action.
10. Draw 4 cards from your deck for your hand next turn. If you ever
need to draw a card when your deck is empty, shuffle your discard
pile, flip it face down, and it becomes your new deck. The cards in
your fatigue pile are not shuffled back into your deck.

9
P l aying W ords
During each turn of a battle, you will spell a word using the letters on
the cards in your hand. Words cannot be proper nouns. If you have a
doubt about the validity of a word, check the dictionary of your choice.
Every Letter card has icons on the left edge and right edge of the card.
Those icons show how many blocks, hits, and energy you can make with
your word.
But there’s a catch! Every word you play must be splayed so that only
one edge of each card is showing. Splaying left means that only the
left edges of your cards will be showing under the top card, and splay-
ing right means that only the right edges of your cards will be showing
under the top card.

When you splay right:

The top card of your word will be the
first letter in your word.
Only the symbols on the right edges
of each card will make hits, blocks,
and energy—including the top card.

When you splay left:

The top card of your word will be
the last letter in your word.
Only the symbols on the left edges
of each card will make hits, blocks,
and energy—including the top card.

10
 Blocks (green) you make during the turn will prevent you from
taking damage from an enemy attack that turn. Blocks only
last for the turn they are created.
Blocks only reduce damage from enemy attacks . If an
enemy action tells you to “lose HP” your blocks will not
prevent it. Similarly, enemies will sometimes have a block value listed in
their action. If they do, they will only block damage from your hits in the
Clash phase (see pg. 9) but not HP loss from your items or McGuffins
during the Prep phase.
Hits (red) made during your turn will damage the enemy in
the Clash phase. Hits only last for the turn they are created.
Energy (blue) allows you to activate most items
(see pg. 13). Unlike blocks and hits, energy persists from turn
to turn. Whenever you gain or lose energy, adjust the energy
counter on your character tray accordingly.
The top card of your word has important properties. It will be the only
card in your word that activates its ability (the text in the middle of the
card). You might want to choose certain words or splay a certain direc-
tion to make sure a specific card ends up on top.
Additionally, the top card goes to the fatigue pile during the Cleanup
phase (see pg. 9). Unlike cards in the discard pile, which will eventually
get shuffled back into your deck, cards in the fatigue pile stay there until
the end of the battle. This means that most card abilities will only be
used once per battle.

Wild Cards and Letter

of Y our C hoice C ards
Your Wild card is always
available and can act as
any letter to help you spell
a word. However, whenever
you make a word without the
Wild card, you gain 1 energy
at the end of the turn.

11
Some items will instruct you to “gain a letter of your choice.” You may
use a Letter of Your Choice card from the core box to help you plan your
word in these cases. Like Wild cards, these letters help you spell a word,
but they can’t help you gain energy at the end of the turn. After you’ve
used a Letter of Your Choice card to plan a word, return it to the core box.
Wild cards and Letter of Your Choice cards don’t have any abilities, nor
do they provide hits, blocks, or energy when used in your word. If either
is the top card of your word, instead treat the card directly under that
card as the top card, using the ability of the card underneath and fatigu-
ing the card underneath as well. (If the card underneath is also wild,
repeat until you find a valid top card.)
Wild cards and Letter of Your Choice cards never enter your deck or
discard pile and do not count as a card in your hand.

Enemy Vowels
Almost every enemy has a weak spot, which will make a certain vowel
card available for you to add to your word each turn. The enemy’s weak
spot is indicated by the yellow letter in the enemy’s name.
Enemy Vowel cards are double-sided: one side is used with the “Inside
Intel’’ plot twist for Training Mode. The Training Mode side has icons on
both edges of the card, while the Standard Mode side has no icons.
All Enemy Vowel cards have the same ability as the top card, which
moves the enemy action indicator to the enemy’s next action—a potent
tool! But it will fatigue the
Enemy Vowel card, mak-
ing it unavailable for the
rest of the battle.
After the battle, return the
Enemy Vowel card to the
rest of the Enemy Vowels
in the core box. You will
get a new card in the next
battle.
Enemy Vowel cards never enter your deck or discard pile and do not
count as a card in your hand.
12
H exes and B oons
Every character and every enemy play a little differently, and hexes and
boons are a big reason why. The hex (purple) counters and the boon
(yellow) counters on each tray keep track of how many boons or hexes
are on your character and on the enemy.
Hexes negatively affect the character or enemy who
possesses them. Some card abilities, items, and McGuffins
will tell you to give hexes to the enemy. And some enemy
actions or special rules will give hexes to you. Hexes stay
on characters and enemies from turn to turn during a bat-
tle, but are removed after a battle is over.
Boons positively affect the character or enemy who pos-
sesses them. Some card abilities, items and McGuffins will
tell you to gain boons. Occasionally, enemy actions or spe-
cial rules will result in enemies gaining boons too. Boons
stay on characters and enemies from turn to turn during a
battle, and for characters, they also stay from battle to battle.
In addition to aiding you during a battle, boons are also used to buy
improvements at the Shop (see pg. 19) during Character Development.
So think about saving boons in a battle for some extra spending power
at the Shop.

I tems and M c G uffins

While you start with a few items and/or McGuffins, you will find and
purchase more during your adventure. These potent tools increase your
overall power and the options available to you. You can have any num-
ber of items and McGuffins.

Items
Each item can only be used once per turn, and
must be used in the Prep phase (see pg. 9).
You can tilt a card slightly to one side to help
you remember it’s been used for the turn—just
remember to tilt it back when you end the turn.

13
In order to use an item, you must first spend the energy cost indicated in
the top-right corner of the item card (or none if the cost is 0). Move the
energy counter down on your character tray when you spend energy.
You can not use energy from icons in your current word, but those icons
will produce energy during the Clash phase for use in future turns.
Some items ask you to rotate them. If instructed to rotate the card,
rotate it 180°. Rotated cards will have an ongoing effect after they’re
rotated that lasts until the end of that battle.
Other items will be labeled as “Single Use” underneath the card’s name.
These items can only be used once per battle. The card text will tell you
to flip the card face down after you use it to remind you that it’s no lon-
ger available. At the end of the battle, flip any face down item face up
again, and rotate any cards back to their original orientation.

McGuffins
Unlike items, McGuffins do not require you to spend energy. Instead, a
McGuffin’s effect will often trigger when a specific condition is met or
even as soon as you gain the McGuffin.
Standard McGuffins are double-sided
cards. When you get one, you can
choose which side you want face up.
This choice is permanent—you can not
flip a McGuffin to its other side later.
Boss McGuffins (purple bar on top) are powerful rewards, and you will
only get a couple of them during any game. Boss McGuffins work just
like normal McGuffins, but they are not double-sided.

Core Cards
Core cards define what your char-
acter can do with the boons they
gain and the hexes they give to the
enemy. You start the game with 2
Core cards. Core cards can be items
or McGuffins and function the same
way as their respective type.
The next 2 pages will show you an example turn.
14
E xample T urn

15
 E xample T urn
Playing as Ex Machina, you are on the second turn of a battle against
the Sludge Alien. You have 20 HP, 3 energy, and 2 hexes that the Sludge
Alien gave you last turn.
The Sludge Alien currently has 9 HP. You see that its current action is to
block 2 and do 1 damage for each hex on you (meaning 2 damage in
this case).
Prep Phase
You have the letters L-E-W-T in hand. Looking at the cards, you choose to
make sure your W is the top card, because that will activate its ability to
give you 2 extra cards for your next hand at the cost of 1 HP.
To make W the top card, it needs to be the first letter if you splay right:
an offensive play with more hits. Or W could be the last letter if you
splay left: a defensive play with more blocks.
You have 3 energy generated from your previous turn. That’s enough
to use your Rocket Punch item! You decide to activate the well-rounded
item, losing all 3 energy but giving you 2 hits and 2 blocks for the turn.
Since the Sludge Alien isn’t attacking for a high amount, you decide to
spell the word “WELT” and splay to the right.

Clash Phase
First, you activate the W card. It makes you lose 1 HP, putting you at 19.
But you will draw 2 extra cards next turn, giving you a 6-card hand!
Then you add up the icons on the right sides of all the letter cards in
your word—this adds up to 3 hits and 2 energy. You’ll move your energy
counter back up to 2.
As for the 3 hits, you add those to the 2 hits from your Rocket Punch in
the Prep phase, for 5 total hits. Since the Sludge Alien blocked 2, you
subtract 2 from 5 for a total of 3 damage. So the enemy loses 3 HP.
Next, the Sludge Alien takes its action, attacking for 2 because of your
2 hexes. Luckily, you have 2 blocks from the Rocket Punch item, which
means you take no damage.
After that you proceed to the Cleanup phase and then the next turn.
16
Alternate Core Cards
As you defeat final Bosses with a character, you can unlock 2 alternate
Core cards (see pg. 20) to change that character’s playstyle. When you
start a new game you can choose any combination of 2 Core cards for
that character, following one important rule: one of the Core cards must
use boons, and the other must use hexes.

P enalt y C ards
Some enemies and Reward cards might add Penalty cards to your deck.
When you’re told to do so, draw a card from the top of the Penalty deck
(by the Archive) and add it to your deck or
discard pile as indicated.
In general, Penalty cards have a negative
effect if you don’t use them in your word. If a
Penalty card remains in your hand at the end
of the turn, then the negative effect triggers
and that card is still moved to the discard pile
like any other Letter card.
Most Penalty cards tell you to return that card
to the penalty deck after you play the card.
This happens during the Cleanup phase and
happens regardless of whether the penalty card is the top card or not.
When you return a Penalty card to the Penalty deck, place it on the
bottom of the deck.
One Penalty card (“S”) stays in your deck permanently.
Penalty cards do not provide hits, blocks, or energy. Similar to a Wild
card, Penalty cards do not have an ability. If a Penalty card is the top
card of your word, treat the card directly under the Penalty card as the
top card, using the ability of the card underneath and fatiguing the card
underneath as well.

C haracter D evelopment
After you defeat an enemy, it’s time for some Character Development!
After defeating any Boss or Lackey, always do the following:
• Reset the hex counter and energy counter on your character tray
back to zero.
17
• The health counter and boon counter on your character tray stay
where they were upon defeating the enemy.
• Remove the enemy card from play and reset all counters on the
enemy tray to zero.
• Return the Enemy Vowel card back to the core box with the other
Enemy Vowels.
• If any “Single Use” items were flipped, flip them back over. Return
any rotated items to their original state.
• If a penalty card was in your last word, return it to the penalty deck.
• Shuffle all your Letter cards (deck, hand, word, discard pile, fatigue
pile, or on top of an enemy) back into a single deck.
• In the rare case a penalty card ends up in your fatigue pile, return it
to your own deck with the other Letter cards in the fatigue pile.

Next, you’ll need your reward. After defeating a Lackey in any Book:
• Look at the reward card for that
Lackey, which you drew and set
aside earlier.
• Each reward card shows a list of
effects on each side.
• Choose one side and perform all of
the effects listed on that side of the
card, in order from top to bottom.
• Note that Lackeys will always have
you replace cards in your deck
instead of simply adding a card.
• Whenever you replace a card in your
deck, return the replaced card to the
character box—it is unavailable for
the rest of the game.
• Look at the other reward card you
pulled out for this Book: a Boss
reward card. Then find the match-
ing enemy card for that Boss and
proceed with steps “J” through “M”
in setup (see pg. 5).

18
If you just defeated a Boss instead, do the following:
• Look at the reward card for that Boss, which you drew and set aside
earlier.
• If this was a Book 1 or Book 2 Boss, do the following:
• Once again, choose one side of the reward card and perform all
of the effects listed.
• As opposed to Lackey rewards, Boss rewards will allow you to
add cards to your deck instead of replacing them.
• Boss rewards will give you access to powerful Boss McGuffin cards.
• Return this Book’s Lackey and Boss reward cards to the core box.
• Draw a random Lackey and Boss reward card from the next
Book, and then proceed with steps “J” through “M” of setup for
the Lackey (see pg. 5).
• If this was a Book 3 Boss, you’ve won the game. Skip the bullet
points above and proceed to the “End of Game” section (see pg.
20) instead.

Upgrading a Card
Sometimes you will be prompted to upgrade a Letter card. All Letter
cards for your character are double-sided, with one side that is a bit
stronger. You can see a preview of what the upgrade will be along the
bottom of the card, but you are always allowed to check the upgraded
side of a Letter card if you wish. To upgrade, pull a card out of its
sleeve, flip it over, and put it back in the sleeve. Once upgraded, cards
stay that way for the rest of that game.

Using the Shop

After you defeat an enemy and complete the steps on the reward card,
you can also choose to use the Shop before you start your next battle.
The Shop card in the center of the Shop describes the cost of any card
or action in the shop, which is always paid in boons. Adjust the boon
counter in your character tray accordingly.
If you purchase a Letter card, it replaces another card in your deck (see
pg. 18). Immediately refill the empty slot in the Shop with a card from the
top of your Library deck.
If you purchase an item or McGuffin, place it to the right of your charac-
ter tray with the rest of your items and McGuffins. Immediately refill the
19
empty slot in the Shop with a card from the top (if an item) or bottom (if
a McGuffin) of the respective deck in the Archive.
You can freely examine the opposite side of any McGuffin in the Shop
before you make a purchase. Once purchased, you must pick the side
that will be face up (you can’t flip it later).
Once after any battle, while you are using the
Shop, you can discard the Shop’s offerings in
any single row or column and replace them
with new cards. Place the discarded cards
at the bottom of their respective decks in the
Archive—if it’s a McGuffin, place it on top of
the deck instead. Don’t remove the Shop card.
Cards in the shop aren’t available to use until
they’re bought during Character Development.

E nd of G ame
If you defeat the Final Boss in Book 3, you win the game—congrats! If
your HP reaches zero before that moment, or if you encounter a special
alternate loss condition, you lose.
Win or lose, make sure that any upgraded cards are flipped back over
so that their non-upgraded sides are visible, and split your character’s
Letter cards into separate starting and Library decks once again. Return
your character’s Core cards and starting item back to the character
box. Any other items or McGuffins gained in the game go back to their
respective decks in the core box.
It’s quite the achievement to make it through all 3 Books of the game—
don’t be dismayed if it takes a while to pull it off. But there are addi-
tional goals and achievements to chase in Paperback Adventures too!
One goal to chase is to unlock the content inside the envelopes found
in the core box and every character box.
Each character box comes with 2 alternate Core cards in an envelope—if
you beat the Book 3 Boss from that character box, open that envelope
and pull out both of those cards. Alternate Core cards (see pg. 17) give
you more ways to play a character.

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The core box comes with 4 Boss McGuffin cards in an envelope—if you
beat any of the Book 3 Bosses from the core box, open that envelope
and randomly pull out one of those cards.
Make sure you add any Boss McGuffins from this envelope to the Boss
McGuffin deck in the core box, so that they can be added to your avail-
able options in future games.

P lot T wists
In the core box, there are 5 double-sided Plot Twist cards. These cards
give you options to customize your game experience and make the
game easier or more difficult. Each card has 4 Plot Twists in total (2 on
each side) that have a brand new rule to modify your game.
Each individual Twist has its own difficulty score attached to it, which
indicates how much it modifies the difficulty
of your game. A positive number means the
game will be more difficult, and a negative
number means the game will be
easier.
You can mix and match Plot Twists
as you like to either find a play-
style that suits you, or if you want
to take on more and more chal-
lenges as you play.
For example, Training Mode consists of using 2 Plot Twists: “Inside Intel”
with a score of -2, and “Animal Companion” with a score of -1. Using
both of those Plot Twists means your game has a difficulty score of -3.
Standard Mode, with no Plot Twists, would be a difficulty score of zero.
If you want to keep increasing the difficulty, try to beat the game with
higher difficulty scores!

A lternate G ame M odes

Find updated info and FAQ on game modes online at this link:

fowers.games/adventures

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Two-headed Giant Mode
This cooperative mode has you share a deck with another player while
you alternate taking turns. You’ll only need 1 character box.
Setup: Follow all steps of a solo game, except: each player designates
an area for their own items and McGuffins, and distribute the starting
item and Core cards between the players as you wish.
Battles: Choose a first player, and players alternate taking turns until
the enemy is defeated. Players draw at start of turn instead of end of
turn. You each draw your hand from the same deck and share the same
discard and fatigue pile. You also share the same energy, boons, hexes,
and health.
However, you can only use the items and McGuffins in your designated
area on your turn. McGuffins will trigger only when a condition is met
and only on its owner’s turn. If a McGuffin’s condition is met on the
other player’s turn, it instead resolves at the start of its owner’s turn.
Rewards/Shop: Whenever a reward card says to gain a McGuffin or
item, both players complete that step separately, and those cards go
to the designated area for that player. Other rewards work as normal.
Items and McGuffins purchased in the Shop only go to one player.

2v2 Mode
Another cooperative mode that will pit you and another player against
2 enemies at the same time. You’ll need 3 character boxes.
Setup: Follow all steps of a solo game, except for these changes:
• Each player chooses a different character and completes character setup.
• Add another Library deck for the second character in the Archive.
• Add another row of letters in the Shop underneath the first row—one row of
letters for each character.
• Whenever you set up an enemy, set up 2 instead. Use the remaining unused
character tray for the other enemy. Both enemies are the same Book and Type.
Battles: Each player chooses one enemy to battle, and only battles
against that enemy. Players play simultaneously, but both players must
finish the current phase before starting the next phase or turn.
Once per turn, a single player may “buy” a Letter card from the other
player’s hand by giving the other player a boon. They can use that letter

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in any way they would use a card in their hand. Whenever that card
leaves their hand, or at the end of the turn if used in a word, return it to
the owner’s discard or fatigue pile, depending on how it was used.
Once a player defeats their enemy, they no longer take any actions on
their turn except drawing their hand each turn. The player that is still
battling can still buy a letter from the player that finished first. If any
player dies, both players immediately lose.
Rewards/Shop: Both players choose their rewards separately from their
enemy’s Reward card, and both players can visit the Shop, which still
refills after each purchase.

E rrata / U nique C ard I nteractions

Below you’ll find some unique and uncommon rules. Keep in mind that
if any rule written on any type of card directly contradicts a rule in the
rulebook, follow the rule on the card instead.
• Whenever a reward card tells you to choose (a number) to keep,
whatever cards you don’t keep are returned to the bottom of the
deck they came from (or top if it was a McGuffin).
• If a card says to retain it or another card, the retained card stays in
your hand till next round. You still draw the normal amount of cards.
• Sometimes an enemy’s special rules might change when it flips
to Stage 2: those rule changes take place immediately when the
enemy is flipped, before you take or continue any other actions, like
applying damage.
• While you generally only use the ability text of most cards during the
Clash phase, specific cards might have an effect during the Prep
phase. For example, the Damsel’s cards with the Plot keyword.
• You can not choose a Penalty card as your replaced card.
• If any effect would have you fatigue a Wild card or Letter of Your
Choice card, ignore that effect instead. If an effect has you choose
a card to fatigue, you can not choose a Wild card or Letter of Your
Choice card.
• If there are no more Penalty cards in the Penalty deck when an
effects tells you to add a Penalty card, just ignore that effect.

Find updated errata at this link: fowers.games/adventures

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