How to Play Dwarf Party

A goofy dwarven mine-romp in the spirit of Mario Party. Two to six dwarves stomp around a four-quadrant grid, rolling dice, collecting gems, triggering landmarks, and brawling in fast mini-games. After ten rounds, gold and gems convert to Victory Points and three bonus awards pay out. Most VP wins.

2–6 players 45–75 minutes Online multiplayer Party · Mini-games

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Overview

Dwarf Party is a board game in the Mario Party tradition: roll a die, walk that many squares, and react to whatever tile you land on. Over ten rounds, dwarves accumulate gold and gems, restore dormant landmarks, and brawl in mini-games. At the end, gold and gems convert to Victory Points and three end-game bonus awards pay out. Most VP wins.

Designed for fast, chaotic, social play. There's no perfect strategy — the dice and mini-games make sure of that.

Setup

Choose 2–6 dwarves and a round count (default 10). Every dwarf starts at the Hub (the central crossroads) with 10 gold and no gems.

Online multiplayer is the primary mode — host a room, share the code, friends join from their own devices. Local pass-and-play on a single device is also supported for in-person sessions.

The Mine

The board is a grid divided into four quadrants, each themed around a gem type:

Diamond Vault (NW) — diamonds, vaults, the riskiest landmarks
Ruby Forge (NE) — rubies, forges, fire
Emerald Grove (SW) — emeralds, the gold quadrant
Amethyst Cavern (SE) — amethysts, mystic landmarks

The Hub sits at the center. Tunnels link distant parts of the map. Forks appear during movement — pick a path, no take-backs.

Your Turn

Roll the die. 1d6 by default; certain gem effects can modify the result.
Walk N squares using arrow keys or on-screen buttons. Stopping early is allowed only if a fork appears.
Trigger your landing tile (see Tile Types below).
Play passes to the next dwarf. After all dwarves have moved, mini-games may trigger.

Tile Types

Tile	Effect
💰 Gold	Gain a small amount of gold (typically +2 or +3).
🪙 Rich	Gain a larger gold reward.
🍺 Ale	Gain a beer token. Beer affects certain mini-games and end-game bonuses.
⛏️ Cave-In	Lose 2 gold. A 💙 Sapphire absorbs the loss.
👹 Goblin	The Mine Goblin appears — typically steals gold. Sapphire absorbs.
🎲 Wild	Draw a random Wild card. Effects range from minor blessings to chaos.
💎 Shrine	Buy a gem matching the quadrant. Gems are permanent and grant ongoing effects.
🏦 Landmark	Activate a quadrant landmark (Anvil, Forgemaster, etc.).
🌀 Tunnel	Teleport to the linked tunnel on the other side of the mine.

Gold & Gems

Gold is the in-game currency. You earn it from tiles, mini-games, landmark activations, and Wild draws. You spend it on gems and landmark services. At the end of the game, gold converts to Victory Points at a randomized rate (10–20 gold per 1 VP), fixed once at the start of the final tally.

Gems are bought at Shrines or via the Trader. Each gem has both a passive in-game effect and a fixed VP value at end-game. There are six gem types:

Gem	Cost	VP	Effect
💎 Diamond	25g	15 VP	Pure score — no in-game effect, all value is end-game VP.
💜 Amethyst	18g	5 VP	Minimum 7g per placement mini-game (your low-place finishes can't pay less than 7g).
❤️ Ruby	12g	4 VP	Finishing 1st in a mini-game steals 3g from a chosen opponent.
💚 Emerald	15g	4 VP	+1g after each move.
💛 Topaz	15g	3 VP	+1 to all your dice rolls.
💙 Sapphire	8g	3 VP	One-time: cancels the next negative tile or Wild event you hit.

Each Sapphire is one-shot (consumed when it absorbs a hit). Other gems' effects stack with multiple copies. Different gem types contribute to the Collector bonus (if it's drawn that game).

Mini-Games

Periodically between rounds, the mine triggers a mini-game. Most reward gold or beer to the winner. The current build contains 14 live mini-games and 6 placeholders that aren't picked yet. Three live games are local-only (excluded from online matches) — those are marked below.

Live Mini-Games

Mini-Game	Type	Premise
🃏 Dwarven Run	Card	A compressed Run Out poker round — flop, pick 2 cards, turn + river, best 5-card hand wins.
🪢 Beard Tug	Team Wager	Teams of 2 or 3 form. Each player wagers 3–12g. Bigger team pool = bigger win odds; the pot splits equally among winners.
⛏ Gem Grab	Reflex · Local only	Dig 9 rock piles in 7 seconds — each cracked spot reveals 0–4 gems. Most gems wins.
🚌 Irish Poker	Card · Pure-luck	"Ride the bus." Guess four properties of your hidden cards in sequence — get one wrong and chug.
🍺 Ale Auction	Bidding	Bid on a barrel of unknown gold value. Highest bidder pays their bid and takes the barrel.
🤠 Quickdraw Cavern	Bidding · Duel	Round-robin duels. Bid 1–100 to trade aim accuracy for draw speed.
🕳️ Mine Hideout	Hidden Role · 1-v-many · Local only	Hiders each pick one of 9 nooks. The seeker searches 4. Survive to win.
🍺 Chug-a-Mug	Reflex · Drinking · Local only	Mash to chug. Most drinks earns the most beer tokens (and feeds the Drunkard bonus).
🤝 Tunnel Trust	Game Theory · Pairs	Prisoner's Dilemma in pairs. Dig (cooperate) or Drink (defect) — payouts depend on what your partner picked.
♠️ Mine Cart Blackjack	Card · Risk	Wager 1–10g. Hit or stand to get closest to 21 without busting. Closest takes the pot.
💰 Treasure Split	Game Theory · Ultimatum	One player proposes a split of 10g. The responder accepts (both keep their share) or rejects (both get nothing).
🪙 Mining Feast	Game Theory · Commons	Take 0, 2, 5, or 10g from a 20g shared pot. If everyone's combined take exceeds 20g, the feast collapses and no one gets anything.
⛏ Outpost Claim	Strategy · Allocation	Split your crew across 3 shafts. Compete to control the most shafts.
🛢️ Barrel Stash	Hidden Role · 1-v-many	Hiders stash 5–10g across 9 barrels. The seeker checks 4 barrels and pockets whatever's inside; unfound gold doubles and goes back to the hiders.

Coming Soon

These mini-games appear in the design but aren't yet drawn at the table — the engine treats them as stubs and won't pick them. They'll move into the live list as they're built:

Cart Smash (Reflex) — outrun runaway mine carts
Ore Sort (Puzzle) — sort the conveyor belt against the clock
Mine Maze (Puzzle) — find the exit fastest
King of the Mine (Strategy) — pick a shaft; loners get a multiplier
Snoring Giant (Timing) — tip-toe across without waking him
Mine Investment (Game Theory · Public Goods) — contribute 0–3g; pot ×1.5 splits equally

End-Game Bonuses

At the end of the final round, three bonus awards are paid out. Drunkard is always one of them; the other two are drawn randomly from the remaining six bonuses below. Each award gives the winner 5 VP. Ties split the VP (each tied player gets max(1, round(5 / N))). If no one qualifies (e.g. no one stole any gold for the Reaver bonus), that award is skipped.

Bonus	Awarded for	Always?
🍺 Drunkard	Most beer consumed	Always awarded
🏆 Mini-Game Master	Most 1st-place finishes across all mini-games	Random pool
💰 Coin Hoarder	Highest peak gold reached during the game	Random pool
🚶 Wanderer	Most squares moved	Random pool
🎲 Lucky Beard	Most Wild tile landings	Random pool
⚔ Reaver	Most gold stolen from rivals	Random pool
💍 Collector	Most distinct gem types owned	Random pool

Winning

The winner is the dwarf with the highest Victory Point total, summed from three sources:

Gold → VP. Gold converts at a rate set at the start of the final tally — somewhere between 10g = 1 VP and 20g = 1 VP, picked randomly each game. You don't know the rate while you're playing, so banking too tightly is a real risk.
Gems → VP. Each gem has a fixed VP value (Diamond 15, Amethyst 5, Ruby 4, Emerald 4, Topaz 3, Sapphire 3). Multiple copies of a gem stack.
Bonus awards → VP. Three end-game bonuses pay 5 VP each (Drunkard + 2 random others, see above).

The dwarf with the highest total wins the mine.

Strategy Tips

Diamond is pure VP. At 25g for 15 VP, Diamond is the most efficient gold-to-VP conversion in the game (better than the gold conversion rate even at the best 10:1 ratio). If you have a gold surplus and the goldRate will be unfavorable, swap to Diamond.

Bank a Sapphire early. The first few rounds tend to seed bad-luck tiles (Cave-In, Goblin) faster than you can avoid them. An 8g Sapphire on round 1 pays for itself by round 4 if you hit two negative events.

The goldRate is hidden. Gold converts at 10–20g per VP, and you don't know the rate until the tally. Sitting on a huge gold pile late-game is a gamble — convert excess gold into gems if you can.

Drunkard is always awarded. Beer tokens come from Ale tiles, Chug-a-Mug, and Ale Hall landmarks. Since this bonus reliably exists, beer is more valuable than other "specialty" stats whose bonuses might not be drawn.

Game-theory minis are social. In Tunnel Trust, Treasure Split, and Mining Feast, the optimal play depends on who you're playing with, not the math. Read your rivals.

Mini-Game Master compounds. Every win you stack helps you toward this bonus if it's drawn. Worth slightly over-investing in mini-game bids/wagers early — the bonus alone is 5 VP.

Glossary

Victory Points (VP): The end-game scoring currency. Comes from gold conversion, gem values, and bonus awards. Highest VP wins.
Gold rate / goldRate: The gold-to-VP conversion ratio, fixed at the start of the final tally. Randomized between 10g and 20g per 1 VP each game.
Hub: The central crossroads where all dwarves start. Returning to the Hub mid-game has no effect.
Quadrant: One of four themed sections of the mine (Diamond Vault, Ruby Forge, Emerald Grove, Amethyst Cavern). Each has its own gem and landmarks.
Dormant landmark: A landmark that has been used or shut down by a Wild effect. The Forgemaster can reactivate it.
Wild tile: A tile that triggers a random card from the Wild deck. Effects range from blessings to disasters.
Beer token: A countable resource gained from Ale tiles and Chug-a-Mug. Affects certain mini-game outcomes and the Drunkard bonus.
Peak gold: The highest gold total you held at any point during the game (tracked for the Coin Hoarder bonus, if it gets drawn).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is online multiplayer available?

Yes — online is the primary mode. The host creates a room, shares the 6-character code, and friends join from their own devices. Local pass-and-play on a single device is also available if you'd rather play in person.

How long does a game take?

About 45–75 minutes for 4 players at 10 rounds. More dwarves and more rounds means longer.

Can I play with just 2 dwarves?

Yes. Mini-games scale down — team games become 1v1, public-goods games still work. Two-dwarf duels are faster and more cutthroat.

What happens if I run out of gold?

You can hit zero — you just can't go negative. Some effects will simply do nothing if you can't pay. Cave-Ins clamp to zero, not negative.

How do I get a gem?

Land on a 💎 Shrine tile in the matching quadrant. Each gem has its own cost (typically 6–10 gold).

Will more mini-games be added?

Yes. Six are designed but not yet implemented (Cart Smash, Ore Sort, Mine Maze, King of the Mine, Snoring Giant, Mine Investment). They’ll move into the live pool as they’re built, and entirely new minis may be added too.

Ready to grab a pickaxe?

Round up 1–5 friends, fire up the mine, and let the dice decide.

Play Dwarf Party