How to Play Lairs: Dungeon Building, Exploration & Scoring

How to play Lairs: the complete base-game overview

Lairs is a two-player hidden-dungeon and deduction game from Kids Table Board Gaming (KTBG), designed by Christopher Westmaas with Josh Cappel. Each player has two jobs: build a legal dungeon for the opponent behind a screen, and explore the dungeon the opponent built for them. You spend energy to move and investigate, draw an accurate paper map, tackle monsters and traps, collect treasures, and escape before your rival if you can.

Although the game looks like a race to an exit, the winner is the player with the most victory points. Treasure cards, defeated monsters and escaping all matter. Exiting first earns a four-point bonus but does not automatically win if your rival has a much better treasure collection. If you leave before collecting enough treasure, a slower opponent can potentially outscore you during their last turn.

This is a base-game guide based on KTBG’s official Lairs base-game rulebook. It explains the legal dungeon-build requirements, exact action costs, how exploration and mapping work, the difference between a Monster and a Trap, the three exit qualification routes and final scoring. The Lairs game hub covers buying and expansion context, while our Box Zero guide explains the separate mini-expansion and sealed content without giving away its surprises.

Edition note: newer base-game packages may include Box Zero. Do not mix Box Zero or Adventurer’s Pack features into your first base-only teach without first learning the standard two-player rules. Extra symbols on some components can refer to expansion content and are not required for the base game.

Lairs quick rules reference

The information above follows the publisher’s original base-game rules. Keep the player’s reference screen visible during play; it contains the action reminders and lair-building legality tests.

1. Components and who controls what

Each player uses a hidden recessed Lair board behind a screen, a visible paper Map sheet, a player mat for energy and achievements, a pencil and two markers serving different purposes. The Builder uses the opponent’s Explorer pawn to show where that visitor is in the hidden maze. The Explorer puts their Tracker on the paper map that represents what they have learned.

The base-game box has 40 wall pieces, six Hungry Blob monsters, six Greased Pit traps, six Chests, two Start tiles and two Exit tiles. Each player builds with 20 walls, three Monsters, three Traps, three Chests, a Start and an Exit. The box also includes a deck of 22 treasure cards, a face-up display of three treasures, three custom dice and energy cubes.

Each explorer has six energy cubes: four white basic cubes, one yellow Quickness cube and one green Perception cube. These do not begin active. All six start in the Spent basket, and the first turn refresh moves them to Fresh. A cube in a Conserved slot may be used in the special two-step way described later.

Note that the three dice are not standard six-sided dice; the printed faces are 1, 2, 2, 3, 3 and 4. That changes how you should think about a five- or six-point check. It also means a typical six-sided die probability calculation would give you the wrong expectation.

2. Setup: prepare both secret dungeons and the shared table

1. Seat the two players opposite one another and stand the screens with their rules reminders facing inward.
2. Put one recessed Lair board behind each screen. The opponent must not see your placement of walls or features.
3. For each Builder, gather twenty walls, three Traps, three Chests, three Monsters, Start and Exit tiles and the opponent’s Explorer pawn.
4. Place your paper Map sheet in public view next to the screen, with a pencil and your own Tracker nearby.
5. Put your player mat above the map and start your four basic, one Quickness and one Perception cubes in the Spent basket.
6. Shuffle the treasure deck and reveal three Treasures in the shared market. Place the special dice and the base Hungry Blob and Greased Pit cards within sight of both players.
7. Both players secretly build their dungeons at the same time, checking the legality requirements before beginning exploration.

The player who completes a valid dungeon first chooses who will take the first Explorer turn. There is no single shared dungeon: you are mapping your rival’s hidden board while they are mapping yours.

For the exact tabletop positioning and the player-screen orientation, consult the official rulebook’s setup diagram. Correct placement prevents accidental information leaks, especially if one player can see behind their opponent’s screen.

3. Building your dungeon: wall placement and features

The construction grid has six rows and six columns. Walls belong on the borders between spaces, not in the middle of a space. Players cannot see or move through them, and the outside perimeter counts as walls automatically. Features belong in the spaces and each space can hold at most one.

There are three feature groups. Goals are the three Chests and the Exit. Hazards are the three Hungry Blob Monsters and three Greased Pit Traps. The Start is a neutral feature. Your opponent will need to reach the Goals while navigating uncertainty about which spaces are blocked or dangerous.

Use all feature pieces and at least 17 of your 20 walls; you are allowed to leave out up to three walls. That minimum prevents an overly open dungeon from ignoring the spatial challenge. At the same time, a legal build cannot wall off unreachable pockets of spaces. Placement is an optimization puzzle within explicit fairness constraints, not an opportunity to hide the Exit in a completely inaccessible cell.

Before play, check that Start, Exit and every Chest occupy valid separate spaces, that each internal wall is in a border slot, and that every grid space is orthogonally accessible from the Start through some path. Diagonal movement and adjacency do not count toward this reachability test.

4. The Peril Rule: your dungeon must be difficult but escapable

The Peril Rule is Lairs’ most important construction restriction. For each of the four Goals—the Exit and all three Chests—there must be at least one route from Start that does not pass through two Monsters and does not pass through two Traps. One Monster plus one Trap on a route is allowed; two Monsters or two Traps on that route are not.

This rule does not mean that every possible route to a Goal must satisfy the restriction. A dungeon may contain a dangerous shortcut that goes through multiple hazards, provided there remains at least one legal alternative route to that Goal. Nor does it require the same safe route to reach all four Goals.

Original legality example

Suppose a Chest can be reached by two different corridors. One requires crossing two Traps; the other requires crossing a Monster and one Trap. The first route violates the hazard restriction for that Goal, but the second can satisfy it, assuming the rest of the path is reachable. The Chest is therefore not automatically illegal simply because a dangerous path exists.

Use the publisher’s suggested finger-tracing check: start with the Exit and each Chest in turn, tracing a path back to the Start while counting the Monster and Trap types encountered. This is faster and safer than relying only on how complicated the finished board looks.

5. Explorer turns: refresh, map, then spend energy

Players alternate as Explorer and Builder. On your Explorer turn, you use energy cubes to take as many actions as you can afford or wish to perform. Your rival, acting as Builder, privately checks their dungeon and describes what you encounter. When you end your turn, the roles swap: they explore your dungeon while you describe theirs.

On the very first turn, the Builder reveals your Start coordinate and describes the surrounding walls. Mark that space as Known on your paper map, add the letter S, draw any walls and put your Tracker there. On every later turn, begin by confirming your current coordinate with the Builder. This small habit avoids disagreements when an earlier map annotation was unclear.

Next refresh energy: move cubes in the Spent basket to Fresh, then cubes in the Fatigued basket to Spent. Conserved cubes remain in their special slots. This sequence means a fatigued cube generally cannot immediately be used on the next turn: it first returns to Spent, then becomes Fresh after another refresh.

Finally, explore by spending cubes. Pay an action’s cost before doing it, announce grid coordinates and keep the Tracker synchronized with the opponent’s hidden Explorer pawn. Your Builder should report walls before describing any feature in a newly learned space, so you can draw an accurate map as information arrives.

6. Known spaces versus located features

There are two different ways to gain information. When you learn about a space, it becomes Known: the Builder tells you the walls surrounding it and identifies whatever feature is present. Mark the Known circle and all confirmed features on your map. When you merely locate a particular feature or wall, you learn its coordinate or location, but you do not automatically learn all surrounding walls or other contents of that space.

The distinction matters for risk. Entering an Unknown space containing a Monster or Trap triggers the hazard’s immediate strike before you resolve further decisions. Entering a Known hazard does not trigger that initial surprise strike, though you must still fight, disarm or leave according to the normal rules.

Mapping example: If the Builder reveals that B2 is Known and contains a Monster with walls to its north and east, your map shows the Known circle, Monster marker and those two walls. If an effect simply tells you that a Trap lies at D3, draw the located Trap but do not mark D3 as Known or assume its walls are understood.

Keep the map where both players can see it. Since the Builder sees the actual maze, the Builder can catch errors early without revealing information the Explorer has not legitimately earned.

7. The five base actions: Creep, Hustle, Backtrack, Peer and Conserve

Creep is the straightforward move. You cannot pass through a wall, and you must resolve what happens when you arrive. Hustle is efficient through empty corridors but stops early on a feature, including Start or Exit. You can stop voluntarily before all three steps; each move is resolved separately rather than declaring a three-space route in advance.

Backtrack is especially powerful when returning through empty passages you already understand. It is not teleportation through unknown cells, and any nonempty feature interrupts it. Peer is a risk-management tool: learn first, then choose whether to enter without paying a further movement cost. Conserve trades action tempo now for extra cube economy on the following turn.

8. Energy and fatigue: why cube location matters

A cube in Fresh can be spent for its normal action cost by moving it into Spent. White cubes are basic, while the yellow Quickness and green Perception cube can discount particular actions. When you Conserve, you move up to three Fresh cubes into the special Conserved slots and immediately end your turn.

On a later turn, a conserved cube can be spent into the Fresh basket and then spent again from Fresh to Spent. In practical terms, you sacrifice an action opportunity now to get an extra use from that cube on a later turn. The exact benefit depends on whether your next turn presents worthwhile actions you can fund with the conserved types.

Hazards can inflict fatigue. A fatigued cube goes to the Fatigued basket and returns through Spent in a later refresh; it does not automatically jump into Fresh the next time you begin a turn. Some penalties specify a particular attribute cube or Fresh cubes; observe that distinction. Conserved cubes count as Fresh for penalty resolution, so stored energy is not invulnerable.

When you cannot fully pay a penalty, the rules instruct you to fulfill as much as possible and then fatigue an additional chosen cube for each unmet unit. This can create a lasting slowdown rather than a harmless failure to pay.

The practical lesson is to save colored cubes when their discounts are likely to matter. For example, spending Perception on a Peer costs one cube instead of two, preserving energy for further mapping. Spending Quickness on a simple Creep may be wasteful if you later need a discounted Hustle or fast Backtrack.

9. Checks: how dice work when fighting a Monster or disarming a Trap

A check is a dice roll against a target number. First choose and spend energy cubes to buy dice; each die costs one cube. The sum of your dice must equal or exceed the current target for success. The custom dice show 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, so the possible total depends on how many cubes you spend.

In the base game, the Hungry Blob begins at target 6 and the Greased Pit trap at target 5. A failed Monster check is not identical to a failed Trap check. Fighting a Monster: on failure the Monster strikes, but the dice total reduces its remaining target. You mark the new target on your map, making a later attempt easier. On success, you defeat it, claim the Monster token and clear its map symbol.

When disarming a Trap, success grants the Trap token as an achievement. If you fail, the Trap strikes you and is removed. Either way, its space is then cleared and is treated as empty. This means an unsuccessful Trap attempt does not simply leave the same trap waiting for another try, whereas a failed Monster attack may leave a weakened Monster behind.

When you enter an Unknown hazard and suffer its strike, you must then either fight or disarm it, or use a legal action that takes you out of that space. Unless the hazard’s own card changes the rule, the obstacle does not prevent you from leaving. Choosing whether to keep fighting after taking a strike is a meaningful energy decision.

10. Chests and Treasures: collect two cards, then choose four for full scoring

When you move into a space containing a Chest, you may open it. Put the Chest token in the next available Chest achievement slot. You receive two Treasures in a fixed order: first draw one card from the face-down deck and look at it privately, then select one card from the shared face-up display. After the selection, refill the display from the deck.

There is no limit to how many Treasure cards you can collect, but only up to four can remain face up for full scoring at game end. Every additional Treasure is turned face down and scores only one point, with its identifying keywords and types ignored.

This creates a set-collection puzzle. Some Treasures have bonuses tied to specific card types, keywords or other accomplishments. One extra chest can provide options for a stronger four-card final combination even if you already own four good Treasures. Yet an unwanted fifth or sixth card may contribute only one point if you cannot integrate it into a better group.

Do not assume the bonus of a face-down card still supports another Treasure’s scoring requirements. The rules state that the face-down card’s identity, type and keywords are ignored. Choose which four stay face up as a group, not one by one in isolation, especially when a bonus requires a matching type or complementary item.

11. The Exit: three eligibility routes and the final-turn trigger

Finding the Exit is not enough. You may leave only after achieving one of three alternative qualification combinations:

1. Open all three Chests; or
2. Defeat three Monsters; or
3. Open two Chests and defeat two Monsters.

You may choose not to exit when you have qualified. That can make sense when another Treasure or Monster looks reachable and could outweigh the risk of letting your rival leave first. But remember the race bonus: the first Explorer to exit receives four points, and the second, if they successfully leave, receives two.

When the first player exits, their turn ends immediately. Their opponent gets one final full Explorer turn, after which the game ends. This is not an unlimited continuation until both explorers leave. If the second player cannot qualify or reach the exit on their last turn, the game still ends and the second player does not get the exit points.

In a tied final score, the player who exited first wins the tie. Thus speed matters even when direct VP totals match, but it does not override a higher total from Treasures and Monsters.

12. Final scoring: treasure collection, Monsters and the Exit

Score the base game in three effective categories. The official scoring chart also has an area for other scoring effects, which is used by expansions but not by the base game.

Illustrative arithmetic: Suppose your four chosen face-up Treasures score 14 points together, two additional face-down Treasures score 2, you defeated three Monsters for 6, and you exited first for 4. Your final score is 14 + 2 + 6 + 4 = 26 points. These are invented collection totals applying the rulebook’s formulas, not an actual documented game result.

Notably, disarmed Traps are important for safety and achievements but do not provide separate base-game final points in the same way defeated Monsters do. Avoid scoring them as Monsters simply because both are hazard pieces.

13. A map that stays accurate: practical table communication

The hardest part of Lairs for some groups is not the rules but keeping the paper map accurate over many turns. Establish a consistent pattern before the first move. The Explorer always announces direction and destination coordinate. The Builder checks the hidden board and reports walls first, then features. The Explorer immediately marks any space that becomes Known and updates their Tracker.

Use the printed map’s row letters and column numbers rather than vague directions such as “the square over there.” Draw a Known circle for a fully learned space, annotate a Monster, Trap, Chest or Exit only when revealed, and shade the marker when a Monster or Trap has been removed or a Chest opened. A previously occupied space can become effectively empty for later movement.

When a feature is only located, keep its unknown status distinct. Do not draw a full set of walls around a located Trap when the rule only gave you its coordinate. This distinction can influence whether you choose Peer or Creep into the area later.

Because the Builder can see the public map as it is drawn, they should quickly flag a recording error without disclosing unrelated dungeon information. A game can be derailed by one misplaced wall that shifts the apparent route to the Exit. Consistent coordinates prevent most such disputes.

14. Original example: a short exploration sequence

Assume you are in a Known corridor with a green Perception cube, a yellow Quickness cube and several basic Fresh cubes. Your map shows an adjacent unknown space and a route of empty Known spaces behind you. You can choose to Peer into the unknown space for one Perception cube or Creep straight into it with any cube.

You Peer. The Builder reports walls to the north and east and a Greased Pit Trap. Because you learned the space before entering, you can mark it Known and choose not to move there. You have spent information-gathering energy but avoided entering an Unknown hazard and suffering its immediate strike.

You next spend Quickness to Backtrack across your previously mapped empty corridor. This is efficient because a Backtrack can cover any number of Known empty spaces until it enters a Known space that contains a feature. If the route includes an unknown space, you cannot simply backtrack through it as though already mapped.

Later you encounter a Hungry Blob Monster. You pay cubes for a check against its current target. On failure, its target is reduced by your roll total and it strikes; on success you claim the Monster achievement. Deciding whether to fight immediately or retreat to recover energy is part of the game’s tension.

This is an original teaching scenario, not a reproduced map or a guaranteed sequence of cards. The official builder screen and dice still govern specific actions and penalties.

15. Three useful choices for first-time adventurers

Read the map before making expensive guesses

Peer can cost only one Perception cube instead of two ordinary cubes, and it reveals hazards before you decide whether to move. When the next Unknown cell could contain a strike, the information itself has value. But Creep for one basic cube may be better in a low-risk, well-understood situation.

Keep the exit qualification visible

Track how many Chests you have opened and Monsters you have defeated. The combined two-plus-two route is easy to overlook. You might qualify without opening all Chests or killing all Monsters, which can dramatically change whether you should explore farther or race toward the Exit.

Choose Treasures as a combination

Since only four Treasures fully score, a new card is not just another point value. Look for a bonus that interacts with your current likely final four. If several collected cards share one useful keyword or type, calculate their combined score after the face-down rule rather than adding every card’s printed text indiscriminately.

These choices are inferences from the rules, not claims of a statistically strongest path. The best option depends on the rival’s hidden dungeon, your available cubes, their progress toward exiting and the Treasures revealed during play.

16. Ten Lairs rules mistakes worth avoiding

1. Making an unreachable pocket: every board space must have an orthogonal route from Start.
2. Breaking the Peril Rule: each Chest and the Exit needs at least one path without two hazards of the same type.
3. Using too few walls: build with at least 17 of the 20 assigned walls.
4. Giving away hidden information: locating a feature does not make its entire space Known.
5. Refreshing Fatigued cubes straight to Fresh: they first enter Spent while older Spent cubes refresh.
6. Hustling through a feature: a nonempty space ends Hustle immediately.
7. Using Backtrack through unknown spaces: the traversed corridor must consist of Known empty spaces.
8. Treating failed hazard checks identically: failed Monster damage reduces its target, but a failed Trap check removes the Trap.
9. Exiting as soon as the Exit appears: you still need one of the three qualification combinations.
10. Scoring every Treasure fully: only four stay face up; extras give one point each and lose their scoring identities.

For any uncertain icon, start with the KTBG base-game rulebook. If playing with Box Zero or a larger expansion, add that product’s rule sheet only after the base procedure is understood.

Lairs board game rules FAQ

How many players can play the Lairs base game?

Exactly two. Each builds a hidden dungeon for the other player. A separate Deeper Dungeons expansion adds a larger multiplayer mode and has its own prerequisites.

How long does Lairs take?

The publisher presents it as a roughly 40-minute game. The first dungeon build or learning game may run longer while players learn the maps and screen references.

How many walls do I place?

Each Builder receives 20 walls and must use at least 17. Up to three may be omitted.

Can I wall off the Exit?

No. Every space must remain reachable from Start, and the Exit must have a legal path satisfying the Peril Rule.

Does the Peril Rule ban any route with two Traps?

No. There may be dangerous illegal routes to a Goal, as long as at least one path to that same Goal avoids two Monsters and avoids two Traps.

What energy cubes do I start with?

Four white basic cubes, one yellow Quickness and one green Perception, all initially in Spent.

Can I move diagonally?

No. Movement and maze reachability are orthogonal.

What is the difference between Creep and Peer?

Creep moves into an adjacent space and learns it if Unknown. Peer learns an adjacent Unknown space first and then allows an optional free move into it.

Does Hustle always move three spaces?

No. It moves up to three times and stops early if it enters a nonempty space. You can also voluntarily stop earlier.

What happens when a cube is fatigued?

It goes to Fatigued. At the next refresh it moves into Spent, rather than directly to Fresh.

How many dice can I roll?

Spend one cube per die bought. You may buy more dice than the three physical dice by rolling in batches and adding the totals.

What if I fail against a Monster?

It strikes, but its target is reduced by the total of your failed check, making a later attempt easier.

What if I fail to disarm a Trap?

The Trap strikes and is removed. It does not remain waiting for repeated attempts.

How many Treasures come from a Chest?

Two: one blind draw from the deck and one choice from the visible display, taken in that order.

Do all collected Treasures score?

Yes, but at most four score face up with their printed bonuses. Additional face-down Treasures score only one point each.

What do I need to exit?

Three Chests; or three defeated Monsters; or two Chests plus two defeated Monsters.

Does exiting first immediately win?

No. It grants four VP, ends your turn and gives the rival one last full turn. Highest total score wins.

How many points do defeated Monsters give?

The second defeated Monster gives two points and the third adds four more. Three defeated Monsters score six altogether.

How are ties broken?

The player who exited first wins the tie.

Is Box Zero required to learn Lairs?

No. The base game works on its own. Current copies may include Box Zero, which adds separate content and rules. See our Box Zero contents guide for the edition distinction.

Official Lairs rulebook, publisher sources and editorial scope

Primary rules: Kids Table Board Gaming — Lairs Base Game Rulebook (PDF), which specifies the three construction restrictions, base action costs, mapping, hazard checks, treasure scoring and exit requirements. The publisher’s game page confirms the base two-player build-and-explore design and current expansion family.

Edition and contents: KTBG’s Base Game + Box 0 product page confirms the 2026 bundle and says the base game does not require an expansion. BoardGameGeek’s Lairs game entry provides game credits, player count and independent game catalogue information. The publisher’s Deeper Dungeons expansion rules specify that the larger expansion requires the base game and Adventurer’s Pack.

Editorial scope: Prepared 2 November 2026. This is an independently written explanation of the published base-game rules, not a copy of the rulebook, a personal playtest report or an unverified review. Teaching examples are invented and labelled. The article contains no copied rulebook art, spoiler details from sealed Box Zero envelopes or embedded third-party ad scripts. For product comparisons and other guides see the main game hub, Box Zero reference and editorial policy.