Minecraft: Portal Dash

Minecraft: Portal Dash is a board game published by Mojang Studios and Ravensburger.^[1] In the game, the player(s) attempt(s) to get to a nether portal to escape from the Nether. Players may also fight hostile mobs.

Equipment[]

A standard set of Minecraft: Portal Dash includes:

Blocks[]

• A set of sixty-four wooden blocks which comprise the following colors:
  • Sixteen red
  • Sixteen gray
  • Twelve gold
  • Twelve brown
  • Eight black

The blocks are used to form a "resource cube" (four blocks long, four blocks wide, four blocks high) which is made by putting them on a block base.

Tiles[]

A set of seventy-eight tiles; ten of them are used for the game board (including the start and portal strips), while the rest are used as items. Twenty of them are colored for players, consisting of the following items for each player:

• Leather boots
• Stone pickaxe
• Leather tunic
• Bow
• Stone sword

Tokens[]

A set of fifty-three tokens; forty-eight are used as heart tokens for the player(s), five are used as "treasure chests", and one is used as a spawner. Of the heart tokens, seven each are used by the player(s).

Dice[]

Eight dice (six black "Combat" dice, one white "Blocks" die, and one white "Mob" die).

Boards[]

Five boards; four are inventory boards for each player, while one is a piglin board.

Misc.[]

• Eight player skins
• Four player bases (one for each player; colored pink, blue, yellow, and green)
• Twenty mobs
• Twenty mob bases (one for each mob; colored red)
• Various player aid boards to assist players

Setup[]

Before the first game[]

All twenty mobs are inserted into their mob bases, while one player skin is inserted into its respective player base.

The following setup instructions are for setting up "Level 1". See this section for info on setting up levels 2-5.

Gameboard[]

First, the eight main gameboard tiles are shuffled, with two selected at random. The two tiles are then layed out facedown as a track, followed by placing the start strip on the left side, and the portal strip on the right side. Then, the gameboard tile next to the start strip is turned face up.

Resource cube[]

First, the block base is placed next to the gameboard, followed by assembling the support structure and placing it on the block base. Next, the sixty-four wooden blocks are put into the support structure in random order; it is then shaken gently until the blocks form a cube. Then, the support structure is removed and placed next to the cube, which is were used blocks will be placed. Next, the piglin board is placed next to the cube, placed faceup corresponding to the number of players (either "1-2" or "3-4").

Mobs[]

First, the wildfire end boss board is placed next to the portal strip, placed on the side showcasing one sword (easy mode). The wildfire mob is then placed on it, followed by taking a heart token and placing it on space 20 of its life tracker. Next, a magma cube is chosen at random and placed on the first mob spawner space of the face-up gameboard tile, followed by a random ghast on the second mob spawner, and a random enderman on the third. The remaining magma cubes, ghasts, and endermen are then queued in a random order next to the gameboard, with the mob spawner tile at the front of the line. If the face-up gameboard piece has more than three spawners, the mobs from the spawner line are chosen, starting with the one closest to the mob spawner tile.

Inventory[]

First, each player takes an inventory board corresponding to their player color, followed by taking five item tiles matching the color of the inventory board. Next, the forty-eight heart tokens are put into a pile, and each player takes seven hearts; six are used for the life tracker, while one is placed on the item that represents the player's leather chestplate. Then, the player piece corresponding to the color of the inventory board is placed on the start strip.

Items[]

The eight netherite items are placed face-up, followed by shuffling the remaining forty item tiles (all white) and placing them facedown in a stack. Space should be available for a discard pile.

Additional materials[]

First, the chest tokens are put in a pile next to the item stack, followed by taking one chest token and placing it on a tile with a chest icon on the face-up part of the gameboard. Finally, the player aid boards are laid out, along with the dice.

Rules[]

Official rules[]

Turns are taken in clockwise order. The player starts their turn by rolling the two white dice.

First, the player checks the result of the "Blocks" die that is rolled. Each turn, the player must discard the color of the block (red, gray, gold, brown, or black) that matches the die from the resource cube into the support structure. The block may only be removed if it is "exposed", meaning that the top side and two other sides are visible. Only one block corresponding to the color is chosen from the topmost layer, even if multiple blocks of the same color are visible. If the player rolls a "?", any block that is exposed is allowed to be discarded. If the player rolls a color in which no blocks matching it are exposed, they do not need to remove any blocks.

Next, the player checks the result of the "Mob" die that is rolled. Mobs can be activated only if they match the corresponding number. Once activated, all actions shown underneath the mob are executed, being done from left to right.

After both actions regarding the dice are performed, the player can perform two actions of their own. The player may either choose one of three basic actions to perform or decide to use their items. Using a basic action allows the player to execute the same action twice. Once the player's actions are performed, play proceeds to the left of the starting player.

Mobs[]

Movement[]

Regarding mob activation, mobs are only allowed to move the number of spaces indicated by a number next to a gray arrow, unless they can fly, in which case the number is next to an orange arrow. Mobs can only move horizontally or vertically, and only flying mobs are allowed to cross lava spaces.

Mobs block spaces that they occupy, and they cannot move onto spaces that are either blocked by mobs or occupied by a player piece.

Target search[]

Mobs always travel the shortest path to attack players, and always move toward the player that is closest to them. The player counts the number of spaces between the mob and the player piece to determine the closest target, and if the distance is the same to multiple player pieces, the active player may choose which player piece will be targeted by the mob. The activated mob is moved from one space to the next until either all available steps are used, or if it is in attack range of a player piece.

The mob doesn't have to travel in a straight path to reach its target, as some mobs have to move around lava spaces or spaces occupied by other mobs.

Attack range[]

Most mobs (magma cubes, endermen, hoglins, wither skeletons, and "the ancient hoglin") can only attack from the space adjacent to a player piece. However, ghasts, blazes, and the wildfire have ranged attacks, which are identified by a crosshair icon printed on the mob piece or endboss board. The number next to the crosshair indicates the distance in which the mob can attack the player(s) from. The number of spaces between the mob and the player are then counted in the same vein as if the mob was being moved, both vertically and horizontally. An attack doesn't have to follow a straight path, however, and can change direction.

If a player piece is close enough to a mob, it is within attack range, and the mob stops on the current space.

Attack[]

If at least one player piece is in attack range of a mob, the mob attacks and deals damage to the player. The following rules apply in this scenario:

1. A mob attack only deals damage to a single player piece, regardless if multiple player pieces occupy a single space.
2. If multiple player pieces are in attack range, the active player chooses which player piece is dealt damage.
3. The negative number next to the heart symbol () on the mob indicates the amount of damage it deals to the player. The player who was attacked then removes that many hearts from their player board. Hearts are removed from items with heart icons first, followed by removing hearts from the player's life tracker.

For each mob that corresponds to the rolled number, follow the steps above regarding movement, target search, attack range, and attacking until each mob is activated. This might result in the same player being attacked multiple times during the same turn.

Mob spawning[]

If the rolled number does not match a mob in play, a new mob appears on the gameboard.

The mob from the front of the line (closest to the mob spawner tile) is placed on an unoccupied spawner space on the gameboard. If there are multiple unoccupied spawner spaces, the mob is placed on the spawner space that is closest to the active player piece. If all spawner spaces are occupied, no mob is spawned. The mob that is placed on an unoccupied spawner is not activated.

Actions[]

To execute actions, the player firsts places the white dice on their inventory board on the designated spaces. The first white dice is moved from the left side to the right side before the player performs their first action, followed by moving the second white dice from the left side to the right side before the player performs their second action.

Item actions[]

Items allow the player to execute "powerful" actions. Each item can only be used once before it becomes damaged. Damaged items are moved to the bottom inventory row and cannot be activated to execute an action. In order for a damaged item to be used, it has to be repaired first (see this section for more info).

During the game, the player may find new items, whether it be from defeating a mob, mining a gold block, or opening a "treasure chest". Whenever a player finds an item:

1. The top two item tiles from the item stack are drawn and revealed. One is chosen to be kept, and the other is placed faceup into a discard pile.
2. The new item is placed in a vacant slot in the top row of the inventory. The player's inventory has space for six items.
3. If the player already has six items, they must remove one item and place it in the discard pile, followed by placing the new item in the inventory. The player may also place the new item in the discard pile if they wish to keep their old one.

The player may own multiple of the same item, and is allowed to replace any item with any other item. If the player is replacing one of the items that they started the game with (the same color as their player piece), it is recommended that the item is removed from the game completely rather than putting it in the discard pile, so that when the discard pile is shuffled for a new item stack, the starting items are not used as they are considered as "less powerful".

The actions for the items are as follows:

• Boots: The player is allowed to move the number of spaces indicated next to the gray arrow. The player may only move vertically or horizontally. The player is not allowed to move onto a lava space (marked with a red "X") or a space occupied by a mob, but is allowed to move on a space occupied by another player.
  • The player is allowed to move onto a magma space, but takes one heart off their life tracker when doing so.
  • The player is allowed to move onto a soul sand space, but only if they have two or more spaces left on their turn.
    • Netherite boots allow the player to move onto magma and soul sand spaces as if they were regular spaces (the player doesn't take damage and moves one space).
  • After moving the player piece, if the player stops on a space with a chest token, the chest is opened and removed from the gameboard. Each player them immediately recieves a new item, following the instructions for obtaining items as described above.

• Armor: Provides the player with additional life points.
  • This does not allow the player to execute an action.
  • The number next to the heart symbol indicates how many heart tokens can be placed on the piece of armor. Whenever a player recieves new armor, it is put into the top row of their inventory and the maximum number of heart tokens allowed are placed on it.
  • Whenever the player takes damage, the heart tokens are to be removed from the armor first. If multiple pieces of armor are owned, the player chooses which piece to remove heart tokens from. Once a piece of armor is "empty" (no heart tokens), it is moved to the bottom inventory and is considered as damaged.
    • When a piece of armor is repaired, it is moved back to the top row and its maximum number of heart tokens are replenished. The player can also repair a piece of armor that is partially damaged (less hearts than the maximum allowed) by filling it with heart tokens.

• Leggings: The player decides as whether to use leggings for movement or a piece of armor, indicated by the number next to the gray arrow, or the number next to the heart symbol.
  • The player can also choose as to whether to use leggings for movement or a piece of armor when they are repaired.

• Sword: Allows the player to attack a mob on a space adjacent to their player piece.
• Bow: Allows the player to attack a mob indicated by the number next to the crosshair symbol.
  • When using a sword or a bow, the player chooses the mob they wish to attack, followed by putting the weapon they use into the bottom inventory row. Then, the player rolls the amount of black combat dice equal to the number next to the "hit" symbol on their weapon.
  • To defeat a mob, the player must roll at least as many "hits" equal to the mob's life total (the number is printed on the heart symbol corresponding to the mob).
    • If the player rolls less than the life total, the mob remains on the gameboard and the weapon becomes damaged.
    • If the player rolls equal or greater than the life total, the mob is defeated, removed from the gameboard, and placed at the end of the mob spawner line. The player also gets a new item as a reward for defeating it.
  • Mobs heal after each fight, and some mobs are immune to certain attacks. Ghasts cannot be attacked with swords, and endermen cannot be attacked with bows.
  • If the player has a netherite sword, they are allowed to reroll any number of combat dice once for the desired result. First, all six combat dice are rolled, followed by choosing which dice to reroll for a better result. Only the total number of hits are counted after the second roll.

Boots, swords, and bows are able to be enchanted. When an enchantment tile is revealed, the player is allowed to keep it if matches the corresponding weapon. The enchantment tile is to be placed slightly offset of the chosen item so that the stats of the item remain visible. A damaged item can be enchanted, meaning that it is repaired and moved back to the top inventory row.

The enchantments are as follows:

Weapon	Enchantment	Notes
Sword	1 combat dice	The player rolls one additional combat dice. If a netherite sword is used, the player rerolls one dice again as their seventh dice.
	Reroll	The player is allowed to reroll any number of combat dice once for a better result, counting the hits after the reroll. If a netherite sword is used, the player is allowed to reroll twice.
Bow	1 combat dice and increased attack range	The player rolls one additional combat dice, and the attack range of the bow is increased by one space.
Boots	Move two spaces	The player is allowed to move two additional spaces.
	Orange and cyan arrows	The player is allowed to to move onto magma and soul sand spaces as if they were regular spaces (the player doesn't take damage and moves one space).

• Pickaxe: The player is allowed to mine blocks from the resource cube.
  • The number next to the block symbol indicates the maximum number of blocks that the player may mine form the resource cube. The player is allowed to mine less than the maximum allowed.
  • The block must be exposed (the top side and two other sides are visible) for it to be mined.
  • Once all blocks are mined, they are placed next to the resource cube and must be used immediately.
    • Diamond and netherite pickaxes allow the player to reuse blocks that have already been used. Instead of mining a block from the resource cube, the player closes their eyes and chooses the blocks in the support structure that is equal to the number of blocks next to the trash can symbol. The diamond pickaxe also allows the player to mine two additional blocks from the resource cube. Likewise, all mined blocks must be used immediately.

Block actions[]

The following actions only apply if the pickaxe item is used.

Block color abilities[]

Eack block color has a designated ability. After it is used, it is placed into the support structure (except for brown blocks). The abilities are as follows:

Block color	Ability	Notes
Red	Healing	The player can choose as to who will have their life tracker replinished.
Gray	Repair	The player can choose as to who will be able to repair all of their items.
Yellow	New items	The player can choose as to who will be able to recieve a new item.
Black	Netherite items	The player chooses one available netherite item faceup from the item supply, and then takes the top five items from the item stack without revealing them. The player then shuffles said items and the netherite item together and places them facedown on the item stack. The player who draws the netherite item decides as to whether to keep it or discard it. If it is discarded, it is placed in the discard pile, unless the discard pile is shuffled as a new item stack; in that case, the item is considered "unlocked", and a black block does not need to be used to access it.
Brown	Cover an obstacle	The player places a brown block directly onto any unoccupied obstacle space (lava, magma, or soul sand) on the gameboard, turning it into a regular space. If a player piece goes onto a covered space, it is placed directly on the brown block. Mobs are also allowed to move onto a covered space if it is along the shortest route toward a player.

Piglin tasks[]

The piglin board shows three tasks: A, B, and C. Task A must be completed before the first layer of blocks on the resource cube is empty, task B must be completed before the second layer of blocks on the resource cube is empty, and task C must be completed before the third layer of blocks on the resource cube is empty.

Whenever a player mines a block from the resource cube, they may put it on the piglin board instead of activating its ability. The only rule is that each column on the board must consist of blocks matching the same color (e.g. if a player mines a red block and decides to put it on the first column of task A, the rest of the blocks for that column must match that color).

The tasks are as follows:

Task	Number of blocks
	1-2 players	3-4 players
A	Six blocks, three for both columns	Three blocks
B	Seven blocks; three for the first column, and four for the second column	Six blocks, three for both columns
C	Five blocks	Four blocks

Basic actions[]

The player may execute a basic action instead of using an item, and may perform the same basic action twice on the same turn.

The player may either mine one block from the resource cube, move their player piece one space, or repair one item, following the instructions mentioned above for mining blocks, movement, or repairing items.

End of the turn[]

After the player executes their two actions, the two white dice are given to the player on their left. Before their turn begins, the player can check to see if they can reveal a new gameboard part.

Revealing gameboard parts[]

If any player piece occupies a space next to a face-down gameboard part, the players decide together as to whether to reveal it. If they decide to reveal it, the gameboard part is turned face-up, followed by placing a chest token on the chest space if necessary, and then filling every spawner space on the revealed part with mobs from the mob spawner line, starting with the front.

Portal strip[]

In order for the portal strip to be revealed, all three piglin tasks have to be completed. Once completed, the portal strip is turned face-up, followed by placing the endboss on the portal strip.

Endboss[]

Once the endboss is placed on the portal strip, it must be defeated. The endboss does not need to be defeated in a single action, however the endboss will attack the player on every turn, as well as mobs that correspond to the number rolled, but no new mobs will be spawned.

Mob glossary[]

Regular mobs[]

Mob	Health	Actions when activated
Magma Cube		Move up to two spaces and attack an adjacent player for two damage.
Ghast		Move one space (including lava spaces) and attack a player for two damage within two spaces of it. They cannot be attacked with swords.
Enderman		Move up to five spaces and attack an adjacent player for two damage. They cannot be attacked with bows.
Hoglin		Move up to three spaces and attack an adjacent player for two damage. The adjacent player is also "pushed" back one space. If the space is a magma space, the player is then dealt one damage. If the player is surrounded by mobs or lava spaces, they remain where they are.
Blaze		Do not move, but attack all players for two damage within two spaces of it.
Wither Skeleton		Move up to two spaces and attack an adjacent player for two damage. The adjacent player also moves one item of their choice to the bottom row, making the item damaged. Nothing happens to the items if they are all damaged.

Endbosses[]

Image	Mob	Health	Actions when activated
			Easy mode	Hard mode
	The Wildfire	x20 (Easy mode) x25 (Hard mode)	* If one is rolled, the wildfire moves up to two spaces, including lava spaces, and deals one damage to a player within three spaces of it. * If two is rolled, the wildfire moves up to two spaces, including lava spaces, and deals two damage to a player within three spaces of it. * If three is rolled, the wildfire moves up to two spaces, including lava spaces, and deals three damage to a player within three spaces of it.	* If one is rolled, the wildfire moves up to two spaces, including lava spaces, and deals one damage to all players within three spaces of it. * If two is rolled, the wildfire moves up to two spaces, including lava spaces, and deals two damage to a player within three spaces of it. The player also moves one item of their choice to the bottom row, making the item damaged. Nothing happens to the items if they are all damaged. * If three is rolled, the wildfire moves up to two spaces, including lava spaces, and deals three damage to a player within three spaces of it. The player also removes one block from the resource cube, using the same rules as if they rolled a "?" with the blocks dice.
	The Ancient Hoglin		* If one is rolled, the ancient hoglin moves up to three spaces and deals two damage to an adjacent player. * If two is rolled, the ancient hoglin moves up to three spaces and deals three damage to an adjacent player. * If three is rolled, the ancient hoglin moves up to three spaces and deals four damage to an adjacent player.	* If one is rolled, the ancient hoglin moves up to three spaces and deals two damage to an adjacent player. The attack cannot be blocked by armor, so the adjacent player must remove heart tokens from their life tracker even if they have heart tokens on their armor. * If two is rolled, the ancient hoglin moves up to three spaces and deals three damage to an adjacent player. The adjacent player is also "pushed" back one space. If the space is a magma space, the player is then dealt one damage. If the player is surrounded by mobs or lava spaces, they remain where they are. * If three is rolled, the ancient hoglin moves up to three spaces and deals four damage to an adjacent player. The player also removes one block from the resource cube, using the same rules as if they rolled a "?" with the blocks dice.

Setup for higher levels[]

Difficulty	Notes
Level 2	Two hoglins are added at random to the mobs in the mob spawner line, the ancient hoglin is the endboss, and the game is played in easy mode.
Level 3	Three hoglins and two blazes are added at random to the mobs in the mob spawner line, the endboss is chosen by the player, and the game is played in easy mode.
Level 4	A third gameboard is added to the track, the wildfire is the endboss, and the game is played in hard mode.
Level 5	All remaining mobs are added at random to the mobs in the mob spawner line, the ancient hoglin is the endboss, and the game is played in hard mode.

End of the game[]

The player(s) win(s) the game if they successfully cross all game boards, complete all three piglin tasks, and defeat the endboss. However, the player(s) can lose if any of the following occur:

• A layer of the resource cube is depleted before a piglin task is completed (Task A for the top layer, Task B for layer 2, and Task C for layer 3)
• All sixty-four blocks of the resource cube are depleted
• Any player removes their final heart token from their life tracker

References[]