Gamehelptrinkettrove

Overview

Trinket Trove is a bidding and set-collection game for 2–6 players. Players are collectors — cute critters — who trade and collect sets of trinket cards to decorate their burrows. Each round, new trinkets are revealed in the center of the table, and players bid cards from their own hand to determine who gets first pick. Everything bid becomes available for other players to claim, so every bid is also an offer. After the final round, players arrange their hands into sets and score them; the collector with the most trinket points wins.

Components

• 112 Trinket cards
• 8 Character tiles (Wander, Penfold, Bernard, Brisby, Templeton, Gouda, Patches, and Nimbus — Nimbus is used only in the 2-player game)

Each character tile has two sides: a standard side showing the character's art, and a 0-side showing the character with a "0". Each player uses one tile throughout the game.

Trinket Cards

Each trinket card shows:

• Trinket Name — the type of trinket (e.g., Marble, Feather, Bell)
• Trinket Value — a number that is both the card's bidding value and the size of a full set of that trinket type
• Suit Icon — a visual identifier shared by all cards of the same trinket type
• Trinket Points — a scoring ladder printed on the card; the top entry is the score for a set of 1, and the bottom entry is the score for a full set

Trinket Types, Values, and Scoring Ladders

The columns below show the points scored for a set containing that many matching cards — read from the top of the card's ladder (set of 1) down to the bottom (full set). A trinket's full set size equals its Value.

Trinket	Value	Set of 1	Set of 2	Set of 3	Set of 4	Set of 5	Set of 6	Set of 7
Mirror	8	WILD	—	—	—	—	—	—
Lure	7	5	10	15	20	25	80	175
Feather	7	5	10	25	50	80	110	145
Gem	6	10	25	25	60	60	125	—
Crayon	6	20	10	0	80	100	120	—
Bottlecap	5	5	5	5	50	90	—	—
Marble	5	5	10	20	40	80	—	—
Key	4	10	30	30	70	—	—	—
Shell	4	10	20	40	60	—	—	—
Gear	3	5	20	55	—	—	—	—
Button	3	10	25	45	—	—	—	—
Thimble	2	5	35	—	—	—	—	—
Bell	2	10	30	—	—	—	—	—

The deck contains 2 full sets of each trinket, except Mirrors — there are only 4 Mirror cards total.

Mirror (Wild Card)

• Mirrors are wild — at the end of the game, each Mirror may be assigned to any set of trinkets, counting as a card of that type. Multiple Mirrors may be assigned to the same set. A set (including its Mirrors) can never exceed the full set size for that trinket.
• Mirrors have a Value of 8, the highest in the game, which makes them powerful bid cards.
• Mirrors cannot be in starting hands — a Mirror dealt during setup is swapped back into the deck.

Setup

1. Deal starting hands: Shuffle the deck and deal 4 cards to each player. If a player receives a Mirror, it is swapped for a non-Mirror card and the deck is reshuffled.
2. Create the Timer Deck: Set aside a face-down timer deck: 6 cards with 2–4 players, or 10 cards with 5–6 players. The timer deck controls the length of the game — when it runs out, the game ends.
3. Lay out the play area: The center play area contains the Turn Order Row, where character tiles track turn order from First (left) to Last (right), and the Bid Row above it.
4. Set the initial turn order: Each player's character tile is placed randomly, 0-side down, in the Turn Order Row. This is the turn order for the first round.

Game Structure

The game is played over 6 rounds with 2–4 players, or 5 rounds with 5–6 players.

Each round has three phases:

1. Round Setup
2. Bidding
3. Drafting

Phase 1: Round Setup

1. Reveal lots: Draw 1 card per player from the main deck and place them face-up in a row in the center. Each card (or pile of cards) is called a lot.
2. Add timer deck card(s): With 2–4 players, flip 1 card from the timer deck onto the first lot, making it a 2-card lot. With 5–6 players, flip 1 card from the timer deck onto each of the first 2 lots.

Phase 2: Bidding

Players bid one at a time, in order from First to Last as shown in the Turn Order Row.

On Your Turn to Bid

Option A — Bid cards from your hand: Choose any number of cards from your hand and place them face-up in the Bid Row, with your character tile 0-side down on top.

Option B — Bid 0 cards: Flip the top card of the draw deck face-up — this becomes your bid — and place your character tile 0-side up on top of it.

Remember: your bid cards become a lot that other players can claim during the Drafting phase, so a big bid gives you an early pick but hands your cards to someone else.

Determining Turn Order (Bid Ranking)

Bids are ranked from strongest to weakest, and arranged left to right in the Bid Row — the strongest bid is leftmost and drafts first. Ranking priority:

1. More cards = higher bid (a 2-card bid beats any 1-card bid)
2. Higher total trinket value breaks ties (sum of all Values in the bid)
3. The later bid wins remaining ties (the player who bid later is placed further left)

A "0 bid" counts as 0 cards, so it ranks below every bid of real cards. The card flipped from the deck still carries its value, and that value ranks 0 bids against each other by steps 2 and 3 above — a 0 bid flipping a 5 is placed left of a later 0 bid flipping a 3, and a second 0 bid flipping a 5 goes left of the earlier 5.

After all players have bid, the character tiles move down into the Turn Order Row beneath their bids — this is the new turn order for the Drafting phase.

Bidding Example

Wander bids 1 Key (value 4). Brisby bids 2 cards (Shell + Thimble) — placed to Wander's left, since 2 cards beat 1. Templeton bids 0, flipping a card from the deck — placed far right. Gouda bids 1 Gear (value 3) — placed between Wander and Templeton, since both bid 1 card but Gouda's value (3) is lower than Wander's (4).

Final order (left = 1st): Brisby → Wander → Gouda → Templeton

Phase 3: Drafting

Players take turns in the new turn order, from First to Last.

On Your Turn to Draft

Claim exactly 2 lots and add all of their cards to your hand. You may take any combination of:

• The face-up lots revealed during Round Setup
• The bids of other players (each player's bid is one lot)

You may not claim your own bid — unless you are the last player to draft, in which case you take all remaining cards, which may include your own bid.

End of Round

Once every player has claimed 2 lots, the round ends. Players keep their full hand of trinket cards — there is no hand limit. The turn order established this round carries into the Bidding phase of the next round. If cards remain in the timer deck, a new round begins.

Game End

The game ends after the final round, when the timer deck is depleted.

Final Scoring

1. Arrange your hand into sets of cards sharing the same trinket name.
2. Assign each Mirror (wild) to any set of your choice — multiple Mirrors may join the same set.
3. If you have more cards of a type than one full set, the overflow forms a second set of that type, and both sets score independently. You must complete the full set first — you may not split your cards into two partial sets (e.g., 8 Crayons must be scored as 6 + 2, never 4 + 4).
4. Score each set using the scoring ladder printed on the card — the entry corresponding to the number of cards in that set.
5. Sum all of your set scores for your final score.

Winner: The player with the most trinket points wins. In case of a tie, the tied player closest to First in the final turn order wins.

Scoring Example

Brisby has: 4 Feathers, 3 Thimbles, 3 Crayons, 1 Mirror.

• 4 Feathers → 50 points
• 2 Thimbles (full set) → 35 points
• 1 Thimble (starts a second set) → 5 points
• Mirror assigned to Crayons → 4 Crayons → 80 points (instead of 0 for 3 Crayons alone)

Total: 50 + 35 + 5 + 80 = 170 points

Two-Player Game (Nimbus Bot)

With 2 players, a bot character called Nimbus joins the table to simulate a 3-player game. This is applied automatically on Board Game Arena when the table has 2 players.

• Setup: The game is set up as a standard 3-player game, with Nimbus's character tile in the Turn Order Row.
• Bidding: On its turn, Nimbus always bids 2 cards face-up from the draw deck.
• Drafting: Nimbus claims the 2 lots with the highest bid strength (most cards, then highest total value). If there is a tie, the human player closest to First in the current turn order decides which tied lot Nimbus claims. Nimbus cannot claim its own bid unless it is last in turn order (the same rule as human players).
• Scoring: Nimbus does not score points — the cards it claims are simply removed from the game.

Key Concepts Summary

Term	Definition
Lot	A single card or pile of cards that can be claimed as one unit during drafting
Bid Row	The area above the Turn Order Row where bids are placed during bidding
Turn Order Row	The row where character tiles track turn order, from First (left) to Last (right)
Timer Deck	A small separate deck that adds cards to lots each round; when it is depleted, the game ends
Trinket Value	The number on a card, used for bid ranking and indicating the full set size
Full Set	A number of cards of the same trinket equal to its Trinket Value
Wild (Mirror)	Mirror cards may count as any trinket type at end-of-game scoring
0-Bid	Bidding 0 hand cards — the top card of the draw deck is revealed as the bid instead, and the character tile's 0-side is shown