Objective
Prove you’re the true master of the Nexus! Push your opponents through a Portal to claim victory. But beware, the Nexus is small… staying on your feet won’t be easy!
Game Components
When you purchase a Nexus Keeper miniature, it comes inside a Transport Cube, also known as a Nexus Cube. The miniature represents a proud (or devious) champion from one of the many worlds connected by the Nexus. This character is called a Keeper.
Inside the Nexus Cube, you’ll also find five Terrain stickers. These must be applied to the five tiles that align when the cube is opened and unfolded. One of these stickers features the Portal symbol: this one must be placed on the Starting Tile, right at the base of the portal. The other stickers can be placed wherever you like!
You’ll also need a few six-sided dice. These aren’t included with your miniature, but ask your seller where to get some if you don’t have any. Who knows, they might even have their own custom dice!
Finally, a character card is included to help you during the game. It contains all the information you need to play your Keeper!
Preparation
All players roll a die. The highest roll determines the First Player, who then unfolds his Nexus Cube onto the play area.
The other players take turns (in clockwise order) unfolding their Nexus Cubes, ensuring that at least two edges of their Terrain Tiles connect to one or more Terrain Tiles already in play. No Terrain Tile may be placed directly behind an active Portal.
Allies or Rivals?
In a game with more than two players, decide whether your Keepers will work together or compete against each other. Allied players win as a team: if at least one Keeper from the team is the last character standing at the end, the whole team claims victory.
Ready? Each player now places their Keeper on their Starting Tile, right in front of their Nexus Cube’s Portal. Let the game begin!
The Three Actions
In Nexus Keepers, your characters can take one or more actions each turn, choosing from three possible options. Before learning how to use them with your dice rolls, let’s take a closer look at each one.
This symbol represents the Move action: when your Keeper moves, they step into an adjacent space in a straight line.
This symbol represents the Jump action: when your Keeper jumps, you have two options:
- Move diagonally to an adjacent space.
- Leap over another Keeper in a straight line, landing two spaces away.
Note : You can only jump over another Keeper if there is at least one adjacent figure next to your Keeper.
This symbol represents the Push action: to push another character, your Keeper must be adjacent (in a straight line) to it. The character is then pushed one space in the opposite direction, while your Keeper stays in place.
If another character is already occupying the destination space, it will also be pushed! Note that you totally can push an allied Keeper!
Dice roll count
On their turn, each player rolls the dice.
- During their first turn, players roll 5 dice.
- On all following turns, they roll 6 dice.
Some game effects may alter the number of dice rolled.
The roll determines the actions their Keeper can take for the turn.
Each Keeper excels on one type of Terrain and struggles on another.
- If your Keeper starts a turn on its favored Terrain (marked with a +), roll 1 extra die.
- If your Keeper stands on an unfavorable Terrain (marked with a –), roll 1 fewer die.
How to roll?
When a player rolls his dice, he rolls all of them at once. He may then reroll as many dice as he wishes, up to two times in a row. However, he cannot reroll dice that show a result of 1.
Confirming Actions
The results you roll determine which actions your Keeper can take. To validate an action, you must roll at least one pair matching one of the results listed on the Keeper’s Card.
Note that rolling a 1 never corresponds to an action. Your Keeper cannot use such a low result!
Combining Actions
Your dice roll allows you to combine multiple actions. If you roll three pairs, you could move, jump, and push all in the same turn. Note that you can also choose to use different pairs to perform the same action multiple times.
You can execute actions in any order. For example, if your Keeper can move two times and push, you could move two tiles, push a Keeper, then move one more tiles.
Enhanced Actions:
Rolling more than a pair boosts the effect of your action!
- Move: Each extra die beyond a pair lets you move one additional tile. A triple moves you 2 tiles, a quadruple 3 tiles, and so on…
- Jump: Each extra die beyond a pair adds one space to your jump. A triple lets you jump two tiles diagonally or leap over two aligned Keepers. If the situation allows, you can even mix diagonal jumps with leaps over Keepers!
- Push: Each extra die beyond a pair increases the distance you can push an adjacent Keeper by one space. A triple lets you push a character two tiles away!
You are never required to use the full effect of an action. If you roll a triple for movement but prefer to stay in place, you are free to do so.
Saving a Die
Do you have a double left that you haven’t used, or don’t want to use? Great! There’s a secret fourth action…
At the end of your turn, you can place one die from an unused double into your character’s reserve.
The reserve is located on the top left
corner of the Keeper’s card.
The value of the reserved die corresponds to the double rolled (e.g., if you rolled a double 4, you reserve a 4; with a double 6, you reserve a 6). This reserved die will be automatically added to your roll on your next turn. Unlike other dice, it cannot be rolled or rerolled. The die is simple added to the final result, after all rerolls
Note that you can reserve a die showing a 1. While this is rarely advantageous, some Keepers might find a strategic use for it.
If a die is added to your reserve when one is already present, the new die always replaces the previous one.
Power Dice
Your Keeper also possesses a specific number of Power Dice, indicated by the magic orb, on the top right corner of the Keeper’s card.
Power Dice are single-use; each can be used only once per game.
You can roll a Power Die at any time, even after your two rerolls, adding its result to your current dice pool.
Power Dice are also the only type of die you can roll individually. Note that a Power Die can be used to reroll another regular die, as this constitutes rerolling two dice
Power dice are a rare and useful ressource, use them strategically during key moments!
Skills
Each Keeper possesses one or more skills, each accompanied by a description explaining its use. Some skills establish rules that are always active for your Keeper or apply under specific conditions, while others require particular dice results to activate.
To use this Keeper’s skill, you must roll a sequence of 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Yes, some Keepers have found a way to make use of rolling 1s!
Victory Condition
To win the game, you must eliminate all opponents by sending them into a Realm.
Pushing a Keeper through any portal removes him from the game.
Falling Off the Board
When a Keeper is pushed off the board without passing through a portal, place him behind his original portal to await the start of his next turn. At the beginning of this turn, the player places his Keeper back on his Starting Tile before rolling his dice.
Blocking a Portal
At the start of a Keeper’s turn, if another character occupies his starting tile when he is supposed to re-enter the game after falling off the board, the Keeper is eliminated instead of returning to play.
Advantage
When you push another Keeper off the board, whether through a portal or not, you may immediately take another turn. However, roll one less die during this bonus turn.
This rule is cumulative: if you consecutively push multiple Keepers off the board in a single turn, you roll one fewer die for each subsequent bonus turn.
Portal Closure
At the start of a player’s turn, if an eliminated player’s Nexus Cube is still in play, he must remove his Nexus Cube from the game.
If a Keeper is on a tile of the removed Cube, he falls off the Board and will return to his Starting Tile at the beginning of his next turn.
Watch out for chain reactions!
If some cubes are no longer connected to others by at least two edges, the eliminated player may reconnects the detached cubes as he wishes. To do this, hemust move the minimum number of cubes possible and cannot rearrange cubes that are already properly connected.