Game rules

Clank!: Catacombs rules – how to play and how to score

Reviewed on 15 October 2026 against the publisher’s rulebook. How we check

Clank! Catacombs plays 2 to 4 players: everyone builds a deck to explore catacombs revealed one tile at a time, steal an Artifact and return to the Crypt. Here are the essential rules, setup and final scoring, based on the official rules.

Players: 2 to 4
Play time: About 90 minutes
Winner: Most points among thieves with an Artifact; on a tie, the most valuable Artifact

Clank!: Catacombs quick rules

The goal: You are thieves in the catacombs of a skeletal dragon. Everyone must find an Artifact, then return to the Crypt, the starting room. The dungeon is built during the game, and every noise, every Clank!, draws the dragon. The most points wins, and without an Artifact, you score nothing.
A turn: play your cards: Everyone starts with the same ten-card deck. On your turn, you play every card in your hand, in any order: Skill acquires cards, Swords fight, Boots move. You take as many actions as you can pay for, then discard everything and draw five cards.
Acquiring and fighting: Skill acquires cards from the Dungeon Row or the Reserve; a Device is used once. Swords defeat monsters in the Dungeon Row for their reward, and the Goblin can be defeated several times. In a Market room, each item costs 7 Gold.
Exploring the dungeon: When a tunnel leads to the edge of a tile, you discover the next tile and place it facing any way you like. The first four are safe, the rest are in the Depths. A footprint tunnel costs two Boots, a monster deals damage unless you spend a Sword per icon, and a lock is opened with a Lockpick and stays open for everyone. A portal leads to any other portal for a single Boot.
Rooms: A Lockpick opens a Chest (a Major Secret), a Library (a Secret Tome) or a Prison (two Prisoners, worth points). At a Wayshrine, marking it with a cube earns one Gold per Wayshrine you have marked so far. A room’s reward can only be gained once per turn, and a Crystal Cave stops your Boots.
Artifacts: A newly discovered tile with an Artifact room gets the top Artifact of the stack, or a more valuable one if the room shows plus icons. Taking an Artifact is an action, possible as long as you are in its room; you carry only one, unless you have a Backpack. Each Artifact taken raises the dragon’s rage.
Clank! and the dragon: Noise puts your cubes in the Clank! Area. When a new card in the Dungeon Row shows the Dragon Attack symbol, all those cubes go into the bag and you draw as many as the Rage Track shows: each cube of your color deals you damage. Haunted Tiles add Ghost cubes, which damage every player.
Health, escape and the end: On your tenth damage, you are knocked out. Returning to the Crypt with an Artifact lets you escape with a Mastery token worth 20 points. A player who escaped or was knocked out draws, on each of their turns, four cubes from the bag, or six with two players. The game ends when everyone has escaped or been knocked out.
Final scoring: Only players who have an Artifact and were not knocked out in the Depths score: Artifact, tokens, Prisoners and items, one point per Gold, card points, and 20 for the Mastery token. The most points wins; on a tie, the most valuable Artifact wins.
Beginner pitfalls: Keep Lockpicks so you don’t get stuck, don’t explore the Depths without a way back to the Crypt, watch the rage and the ghosts, and think of Prisoners: easy points.

How to score Clank!: Catacombs

Artifacts: The value of your Artifact, or of your two Artifacts with a Backpack.
Tokens and items: Prisoners, Monkey Idols 5, Chalice 7, Dragon Egg 3, Crown 10, 9 or 8, Backpack 5, Blood Amulet 7, Burglar’s Kit 2, and other point tokens.
Gold: 1 point per Gold kept, Treasure tokens included.
Cards: The points in the top right corner of your cards: deck, hand and discard pile.
Mastery token: 20 points if you returned to the Crypt with an Artifact.
Game end (optional): For the record: without an Artifact, or knocked out in the Depths, a player scores zero.

Worked example

Emma returns to the Crypt with a 15-point Artifact. She has two Monkey Idols and a 3-point Prisoner (13 points), 18 Gold and 7 points of cards, plus the Mastery token: 15 + 13 + 18 + 7 + 20 = 73 points.

Common mistakes

Scoring a player without an Artifact, or knocked out in the Depths: they score zero.
Giving Mastery to a player knocked out outside the Depths: they score their points, but without the 20 for Mastery.
Forgetting freed Prisoners: they score points, some under conditions.
Counting Gold that was spent: only Gold kept counts.

How to set up Clank!: Catacombs

Follow the four parts in order. The sneakiest player goes first, or choose randomly.

The dungeon

Place the starting tile in the center, on the side of your choice, with room all around it.The dungeon will grow tile by tile.
Shuffle the 22 Depths tiles into a face-down stack.
Shuffle the 6 safe tiles, return 2 to the box unseen, and place the other 4 on top of the stack.The first 4 tiles discovered will be safe.
Place the 3 Monkey Idols on the Monkey Shrine room, and one Mastery token per player near the Crypt.

The supply

Place the Clank! board and put the Dragon marker on the Rage Track space that shows the number of players.
Put the Gold, the Lockpicks and the 5 Ghost cubes in the supply, and the 24 black cubes in the Dragon Bag.Gold and Lockpicks are not limited.
Stack the 7 Artifacts face up, the 5-point one on top, the 20-point one at the bottom.
Shuffle the Major Secrets, the Minor Secrets and the Prisoners separately, face down.
Place the Market Board with 2 Backpacks, 2 Blood Amulets, 3 Burglar’s Kits and the 3 Crowns.

The cards

Create the Reserve: the Goblin, and the Mercenary, Explore and Secret Tome piles.
Shuffle the Dungeon Deck and deal 6 cards face up: this is the Dungeon Row.Replace and reshuffle any card showing the Dragon Attack symbol.
Carry out the Arrive text of these 6 cards before the first turn.

Each player

Each player takes the 30 cubes of their color and places their pawn in the Crypt.
Each player takes 3 Lockpicks.
Each player shuffles their 10-card starting deck and draws 5 cards.6 Burgle, 2 Stumble, 1 Sidestep, 1 Scramble.
The first player places 3 cubes in the Clank! Area, the second 2, the third 1, the fourth none.

Frequently asked questions

How do you open a lock in Clank! Catacombs?

With a Lockpick: you place it on the lock icon, and the tunnel stays open for everyone. There are no keys at the Market; everyone starts with 3 Lockpicks.

Is there a countdown track in Clank! Catacombs?

No. A player who escaped or was knocked out draws, on each of their turns, four cubes from the Dragon Bag, or six with two players.

How much is the Mastery token worth in Clank! Catacombs?

20 points, for each player who returns to the Crypt with an Artifact.

Ludingo’s Clank!: Catacombs sheet was last reviewed on 15 October 2026, based on: origames.fr, rulebook 1 (PDF), rulebook 2 (PDF), BoardGameGeek.