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So basically set out the game in the normal manner, 20 tiles around the start tile and distribute 3 bat and 3 gold tokens to every player.

First player (youngest !) picks up and places 3 new tiles to existing 20 (and places gold if necessary). Then they roll both dice, and can move up to the highest number rolled. They can also perform 2 actions on their go. The movement and actions can take place in any order they choose.

For example, player rolls a 5 and 3 – player can therefore move a total of 5 spaces, i.e. player moves 2 spaces, then picks up gold, moves a further 2 spaces and picks up another gold, and finally moves one more space (not all movements nor actions need to be taken though !).

The play then proceeds to the next player, who again, picks up and places 3 tiles, rolls 2 dice to determine movement, and can also carry out 2 actions.

Gold tokens can be used for a cost of one action point, on any tile that has a lit lantern, that the player is currently on. The extra light that the lantern provides allows the miner to excavate for gold ! The player places their token on this tile to show that a search has been carried out (and to stop somebody else from searching the same tile twice).

The player can now choose an opponent to roll the other dice for this ‘excavation’ challenge. Same rules as per normal challenge, i.e. best of 3 rolls, with tie in favour of challenger.

If excavator is successful, place a gold nugget on lantern tile, which can then be picked up for a further action point (or can be left for next turn if no actions remain). If challenger is unsuccessful, no gold was excavated (no bonus to defender and token remains on tile).

A bat token can be played by any opposition, after the active player has rolled both dice to determine their movement. The challenge is as above, ‘best of 3’, in favour of challenger (i.e. person who played token).

If successful, the bat token forces the player to take the lowest value on either dice for their movement, rather then the highest. So, it is beneficial to use this if for example, a player rolls a 6 and a 1 !

If the bat challenge is unsuccessful, the active player takes highest dice for movement as per normal.

In both instances, the bat token is set aside after it has been played by the movement challenger.

We have played with the above rules for a few games and it plays very well. It allows you to move around the mine a lot more, and with the lantern tiles, provides more scope for picking up gold, rather than relying on the gold tiles to turn up !

The movement challenge works quite well and provides a bit of excitement to the end game when a miner is trying to escape with their quota of gold.

Have also played with a pool of 5 tiles, of which each player plays 3 of these (next player then adds 2 to make up 5 again).

When I play with my 6 and 5 year old children I let them have two tiles at a time in their hand, so that they are able to select the most appropriate one on their turn.

I have also held back on teaching them the ‘farm’ rule until they grasp the game fully !

We play with a house rule that allows you to actually knock the monster back instead of hitting it for one point of damage.

The advantage being that your partner may have the cards to kill the monster on their next go (even after swapping one card).

This is also advantageous for any monsters in the ‘swordsman’ ring, buying you more time !