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Saboteur
A path-building game of hidden roles. Gold-diggers tunnel from the start card toward the gold, while saboteurs try to block them. Roles are dealt in secret and kept hidden all game, so suspecting each other is the heart of the fun.
Rules
Gold-diggers tunnel from the start card toward the gold; saboteurs try to block them without being caught. A secret-role path-building game played over three rounds of gold nuggets.
At a glance
Everyone plays a dwarf. Your secret role card makes you either a gold-digger or a saboteur. Gold-diggers try to connect a path to the treasure; saboteurs try to stop them. Teammates should help each other, but often you can only guess who is who.
- 3–10 players, ages 8 and up, about 30 minutes. You play three rounds.
- If the gold-diggers reach the treasure, they split gold nugget cards; if they fail, the saboteurs take the gold.
- Roles are revealed only when the round ends. After three rounds, whoever has the most nuggets wins (ties for first are possible).
Components
| Component | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Path cards | 44 | 1 start card + 3 finish cards (1 treasure, 2 plain stone) + 40 path cards to play (40 is 44 minus 4, computed) |
| Action cards | 27 | Broken tools, repairs, rock-fall and map. Per-type counts: ⚠️ unverified |
| Gold nugget cards | 28 | Rewards handed out at round end. Nugget values per card: ⚠️ unverified |
| Gold-digger cards | 7 | Role cards (gold-digger) |
| Saboteur cards | 4 | Role cards (saboteur) |
Source of counts
These counts match both the AMIGO English rulebook contents list and the Korean edition checked in person by the owner.
Setup — role cards and hand size
- 1Separate the cards into path, action, nugget and dwarf (role) cards.
- 2Shuffle only the gold-digger and saboteur cards needed for your player count and deal one face-down to each player. Look at yours secretly and keep it face-down. One card is left over; set it aside face-down until the end of the round.
- 3Shuffle the three finish cards and place them face-down; place the start card face-up. Leave a gap of seven card widths between the start and the finish cards.
- 4Shuffle the remaining path cards and all action cards together, deal the hand size for your player count, and leave the rest as a stock.
- 5Shuffle the gold nugget cards and place them face-down next to the leftover role card.
- 6The youngest player starts, then play passes clockwise.
| Players | Saboteurs | Gold-diggers | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 cards |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 cards |
| 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 cards |
| 6 | 2 | 5 | 5 cards |
| 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 cards |
| 8 | 3 | 6 | 4 cards |
| 9 | 3 | 7 | 4 cards |
| 10 | 4 | 7 | 4 cards |
One more role card than players
For 3–9 players you shuffle the saboteurs and gold-diggers in the table, deal one to each player, and one is left over. If the leftover is a saboteur, a 3- or 4-player game may have no saboteur at all. With 10 players, all 11 role cards are used.
Your turn
On your turn you must first play one card. Choose one of three things.
- Add a path card to the maze.
- Play an action card face-up in front of yourself or another player.
- Pass — put one card from your hand face-down on the discard pile.
Then you take the top card of the stock, which ends your turn and passes play to your left. Once the stock runs out, nobody draws, and a player with no cards left simply passes.
Playing a path card
- A path card must be placed next to a path card already on the table.
- The paths on every side of the card must fit the cards beside it.
- A path card may never be played crosswise (keep its picture upright).
- Gold-diggers want an unbroken path from the start card to a finish card; saboteurs try to prevent exactly that.
Only finish cards are an exception
A flipped finish card may not match the cards around it. Only in that case may it be placed without matching every path.
Saboteur tip
The rulebook says not to block too obviously, or you will be unmasked very quickly.
Action cards
| Card | What it does |
|---|---|
| Broken tool (pick, mine wagon, lantern) | Play it on a player. While it is in front of them they cannot play a path card. At most three per player, one of each type |
| Repair | Removes a broken-tool card, on yourself or another player. The repair and broken card are both discarded. It must show the matching tool |
| Two-tool repair | Repairs one of the two tools shown, not both |
| Rock-fall | Play it in front of yourself, then remove any path card except start and finish cards. Discard both. Gaps can be refilled later with fitting path cards |
| Map | Secretly look at one of the three finish cards and put it back. Discard the map |
A repair needs a broken tool
You can only play a repair card when a matching broken tool is in front of some player. A player with a broken tool can still play any card except a path card.
Rock-fall helps diggers too
A saboteur can cut a path; a gold-digger can remove a dead end to open a new route.
End of a round
When a path card is played so that it forms an unbroken path from the start card to a finish card, turn that finish card over.
- If it shows the treasure, the round ends.
- If it shows a stone, the round continues. Place the face-up card next to the path card just played so the paths fit.
- The round also ends if the stock is used up and every player in turn passes because no card is playable (the treasure was not reached).
When the round ends, everyone reveals their role card.
Handing out the gold and scoring
If the gold-diggers won: draw as many gold nugget cards as there are players (five cards for five players) and hold them face-down. The player who reached the treasure takes them, picks one, and passes the rest counter-clockwise to the next gold-digger (not a saboteur), who also picks one. This continues until all cards are gone, so some gold-diggers may get more cards than others.
Ten players: only nine cards
With ten players, if the gold-diggers win, only nine gold nugget cards are handed out, not ten.
If the saboteurs won (the treasure was not reached): they take the gold. How much each gets depends on how many saboteurs there were.
| Saboteurs | Gold per saboteur |
|---|---|
| 1 | gold nugget cards worth 4 nuggets |
| 2 or 3 | 3 nuggets' worth each |
| 4 | 2 nuggets' worth each |
A game with no saboteur
In a 3- or 4-player game with no saboteur, if the treasure is not reached no gold nugget cards are handed out.
Keep your gold nugget cards secret until the game ends. You can total them with this site's score calculator (/en/score/saboteur) by entering the nuggets earned each round.
Next round and game end
- 1Set out the start card and finish cards as before.
- 2Shuffle the same role cards as last round (including the one set aside) and deal them again.
- 3Shuffle path and action cards, deal hands, and leave the rest as a stock.
- 4Keep the gold nugget cards you have already earned; put the remaining nugget cards aside again.
- 5The left neighbor of the player who played the last card of the previous round starts.
After the third round, count the gold nuggets on all your gold nugget cards. The player with the most wins. If several players tie, they share first place.
Strategy — tips that follow from the rules
- A gold-digger with a map knows which finish card hides the treasure and can steer the path there. Say it out loud, though, and the saboteurs know too.
- A lone saboteur (3–4 players) earns the biggest payoff if the treasure is missed (4 nuggets' worth). With two or more saboteurs the reward is smaller each.
- Whom you repair and whom you break are clues to your role (this is interpretation, not a rule).
- If you have nothing useful to play, passing lets you cycle your hand.
Other editions
According to English Wikipedia, related titles include Saboteur 2 (2011), the two-player Saboteur: The Duel (2014) and The Lost Mines (2018). This guide covers only the base game. Korean-release details (deluxe, anniversary editions) are ⚠️ unverified and not written here.
The Duel plays differently
The two-player Duel uses six goal cards and other changes, so do not mix its rules with the base-game scoring.
Common questions
Q. If a tool is broken in front of me, can I do nothing?
You just cannot play a path card. You can still play action cards or pass. You may only add a path card when no broken tool is in front of you.
Q. Can a gold-digger repair a saboteur?
A repair can be played on yourself or another player as long as the matching tool is broken. Who you help becomes a clue.
Q. Can a rock-fall remove the start or finish cards?
No. Start and finish cards cannot be removed.
Q. Does reaching a stone finish card end the round?
No. Flip it, place it beside the path and keep playing. The round ends only when the treasure is turned over.
Q. We are 3 or 4 and think there is no saboteur.
There is one more role card than players, so the leftover can be the saboteur. If the treasure is not reached, no gold nugget cards are handed out.
History
Designed by Frederic Moyersoen and published by AMIGO in 2004 (cross-checked with English Wikipedia and the © line in the AMIGO rulebook). Many publishers worldwide have released it since. The Korean Korea Boardgames copy the owner checked was made in January 2024; its publication history is ⚠️ unverified.
Sources
Official AMIGO English rulebook for Saboteur (2 pages, Version 1.0 — copy hosted by a retailer)Owner's physical Korean rulebook check (docs/owned-games.md — Korea Boardgames / AMIGO Korean edition, both sides)BoardGameGeek — players, time and weightWiki cross-reference — Wikipedia: Saboteur (card game)Wiki cross-reference — Namuwiki: Saboteur (Korean)Rule summaries are reference content written by us, not quotations from the official rulebook. Always check the official rulebook for exact rules. Diagrams are original schematics, not rulebook illustrations.
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Last updated 2026-10-10
💡 Master tip
To hide your role, play ambiguous paths or pretend to be stuck, and do not block too obviously. As a gold-digger, save your map to learn where the treasure really is, then quietly build the shortest path there.
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