Master Rulebook - Level 99 Games

Thanks for purchasing the Level
99 Games Minigame Library! This
six-game set contains a game for
almost any occasion and group. I
hope that these games will bring
you, your friends, and your family
many hours of fun!
D. Brad Talton Jr.
Level 99 Games, Designer
Game Designer !!
D. Brad Talton Jr.
Lead Artist !
Fábio Fontes
!
Grimoire Shuffle Room Artist !
!
!
!
Devin Night
Infinity Dungeon Assisting Writers
Matt May-Day! !
Ben May-Day
Playtesters
Chengmin Yang, Lynda Yang, Jessey
Wright, Mandy Tong, Joe Tenney, David
Talton Sr., Jayson Stevens, Josh
Richardson, Maxim Penzin, John
Parmalee, Ben May-Day, Matt May-Day,
Matthew Locklin, Nathan Lewis, Chase
LeJeune, Jake Larntz, Benjamin Klein,
John Kirk, Bo King, Akira Kimura, Katie
Larntz Johnson, Christopher James,
Renée Hill, Guillermo Hernandez, Chad
Hantak, Edward Goodhue, John
Gonzales, Matthew Fournier, Joe Dwyer,
Cecile Deveau, Erin Deveau, Patrick
DeMoss, Violet DeMoss, Travis Dejong,
Wendy Dai, Nam Chuong, John Celino,
Kevin Brusky, Brennan, Chanda Begin,
Jacob Baer
Tutorial Videos
If the rules in this rulebook leave
you feeling confused, have no fear.
Each tuckbox contains a QR-code (the
thing with the black and white squares)
that can be scanned with any
smartphone to bring up a tutorial
video.
In the tutorial, we’ll teach you how
Proof Readers
to set up and play each of the different
ZwodahS, Joseph Zebrowski, Nate
games in the collection–in fact, you
Yourchuck, Scott Yost, Thomas C.
may decide to skip the rulebook
Woodruff, Andrew Wilson, Jonathan
altogether and just watch the videos to
Wilson, Sue & John Wilson, Tyler Willis,
learn how to play!
Connor Wilkinson, Todd Warapius, ChihYou can also access any of these
Hao Tseng, Dustin Tran, Mandy Tong,
videos on your phone or computer via
Daniel H. Spain, Keith Setliff, René Schep,
the Level 99 Games website:
Stephen Saluga, Kevin Roust, Joseph
www.lvl99games.com (look for
Romero, Augusto Emerson Rodrigues,
Minigame Library on the sidebar!)
Jacob Randolph, Charles "Tweek"
Patterson, Steven Li, Joseph Le May,
Joseph Lee, Mads Ohm Larsen, Brook
Kuhn, Josh Jackson, Glenn "Mebibyte"
Hollingsworth, James Hall, Jerry "Recruit"
Gundry, Ken Grazier, Bryan Graham,
Mickaël Garcin, Kevin Crocilla, Lorenzo
Batallones
2
Page 4
Page 10
Page 17
4 or 6 Players
45~60m
Medium Weight
Cooperative, Puzzle
Light Fantasy
2-4 Players
15~30m
Light Weight
Head to Head, Deduction
Film Noir
2 Players
30~60m
Heavy Weight
Head to Head, Battlefield Tactics
Classic Video Game
Page 26
Page 30
Page 37
3-8 Players
40~60m
Light Weight
Cooperative, Storytelling
Absurd Comedy
6-11 Players
30~60m
Heavy Weight
Secret Teams, Coordination
Epic Fantasy
3-6 Players
20~40m
Light Weight
Competitive, Racing
Comic Villainy
3
Players: 4 or 6
Play Time: 45~60m
Weight: Medium
Genre: Light Fantasy
Game Type: Puzzle / Maze
It’s time for chores again for the
apprentices of the Imperial Magical
Library. Race to archive your books
first, but watch out for the spells your
opponents have up their sleeves!
Grimoire Shuffle is a team-based
relay race for 4 or 6 players divided
into two teams. Your characters are
apprentice librarians in the Imperial
Magical Library who are fetching
books from the various circulation
desks and sending them to the head
librarians.
Each book that you retrieve
contains a new spell that the head
librarian can use to provide an
advantage to you and your
teammates. Your goal is to get your
apprentice to the opposite side of the
library and collect trophy books.
Collect a set number of trophies to
win! Those who do get the day off,
while the slower team has to stay
inside and sort the index cards.
MATERIALS
A 20-card Library Deck. These
cards are double-sided to look like
rooms of the library.
24 Grimoire Cards
4 Special Room Cards (Cold
Room, Burned Room, Swamp Room,
and Overgrown Room)
6 Player Badges
2 Leader Badges (Red team &
Blue team)
6 player pawns or standups
SETTING UP
Determine who will be on which of
the two teams. Seat yourselves at the
4
table so that teammates alternate
seating. (See illustration below)
Leave the four special rooms off to
the side for now. Shuffle the remaining
library deck, then create a 3-by-5
game board by laying out cards (make
the board 4-by-5 if there are 6 players
instead of 4).
Place each player pawn at one of
the short ends of the board (the one
with fewer cards), such that each team
has its own edge. Shuffle the Grimoire
Cards to form a deck. Now you are
ready to play!
recently visited a library. Then
randomly select one of the two players
seated next to that player to have the
BADGES
Blue Leader badge. These players will
There are two kinds of ‘badges’ in be their respective teams’ leaders
the game. These are purely
during the first turn of the game.
informational cards that have reminder
Deal Grimoire cards to each team’s
text on them. Player badges show
leader. In a 4-player game, they get 3
which players own which pawns and
cards. If there are 6 players, give them
which direction they are currently
4 cards. Players should orient their
heading. Leader badges show which
player badges to show which way they
players are currently their teams’
are currently headed in the library.
leaders.
Grimoire CARDS
FIRST TURN
Give the Red Leader Badge to the
player on the red team who most
Each Grimoire Card describes a
series of steps that the player will
execute on their
turn. For example,
the Earth Grimoire
Card allows the
player to flip a
room, move up to
3 spaces, flip
another room, and
move 2 more
spaces. A player
who possesses
5
this Grimoire Card must execute all of
these steps in this order on his turn.
ROUNDS
A round takes place in two phases.
In the first phase (Distribution), the
team leader will distribute his Grimoire
Cards. After this, each player will take
one turn, going clockwise around the
table and finally ending with the
leftmost team leader.
1 - DISTRIBUTION
Each team leader picks up the
stack of Grimoire Cards that he or she
has been dealt, and then selects one
Grimoire Card to give to each of his
teammates. After this, he selects one
Grimoire Card to give to the opposing
team leader. Place these Grimoire
Cards face-down on top of the
recipients’ player badges. The
remaining Grimoire Card he places
face-down on top of his own leader
badge. There should be exactly one
Grimoire Card face-down on each
badge at the end of Distribution.
Example: Red (the Blue Team
Leader, fancy that) places the Earth
Grimoire Card on his teammate’s
player badge, and Crystal on the
opposing leader’s player badge. The
one remaining Grimoire in his hand is
placed face-down on his own leader
badge. The opposing leader places
the Fire Grimoire Card on Red’s player
badge.
2 - TURNS
The two leader badges will always
be held by adjacent-seated players.
The player to the left of the leftmost
leader takes the first turn, and turns
pass to the left (clockwise).
On a player’s turn, he reveals the
Grimoire Card he has received and
executes all of the instructions on the
card in order. Once he has completed
these steps, he puts the card facedown underneath his team’s leader
badge.
If a player ends his turn at the far
end of the board, he places his current
Grimoire Card to the side of the table
as a trophy. He then takes the top two
cards of the Grimoire Deck and
chooses one to keep and one to place
on the bottom of the deck.
The new Grimoire Card goes
beneath his team’s leader badge as
normal. He then changes the
orientation of his player card to show
that he is now heading back the other
direction.
6
2
3
1
4
6
5
Given the starting positions above, this
diagram shows how the leader badges
move around the table each round. The
right-hand leader is always the one to
pass his leader badge, and he
‘leapfrogs’ over the player to his left
when passing. Except for the very first
right-hand leader, a player will hold his
team’s leader badge for 2 rounds before
passing it.
when the room was first placed. If you
need to place a Special Room that is
Once all players have finished
already in the library, pick up that
executing the instructions on their
Special Room first (leaving
Grimoire Cards, the round ends.
apprentices in the same spaces in the
Discard the Grimoire Card placed on
room underneath) and place it as
the leader badge to the bottom of the
instructed.
deck, and draw a new Grimoire to
Move any number of spaces in a
replace it.
straight line - Move the apprentice
Grimoire ACTIONS
At this point, each leader badge
any number of spaces. All of these
should have the same number of
Move up to X spaces - Each
movements must be in the same
Grimoires on it that it did at the
movement must bring the apprentice
direction. Players must stop at a wall
beginning of the round.
to an adjacent, unoccupied space, and when moving like this.
The right-hand leader passes his
the apprentice must not pass through
Rotate a Room - Rotate the
leader badge and all cards on it to the a wall. You can always choose to
selected room 180 degrees. Any
next teammate to the left
move less than the Grimoire instructs, apprentices in the room move with the
(“leapfrogging” the opposing team
including a movement of zero spaces. room.
leader). If the game has not ended at
See the next page for some examples
Move through a wall - The
this point, a new round begins.
of movement.
movement must be through a wall–you
Place a Special Room - A Special cannot choose normal movement
GAME END
Room goes on top of any existing
The game proceeds until one team room. A Grimoire that places a Special instead.
Ignoring Walls - You can move as
possesses a number of Trophy
Room may have some effect on
though
there were no walls. Normal
Grimoires equal to the number of
apprentices already in the room.
movement is still allowed.
players (so 4 in a 4-player game and 6 Otherwise, do nothing to the
Flip a Room - Move all
in a 6-player game). Not every player apprentices already in the room–they
apprentices
off of the room, then pick
needs to collect a trophy to win–it is
will continue to stand where they did
up
and
flip
over
the room card. Rotate
possible for one player to collect
END OF ROUND
multiple trophies, as score is kept
across the entire team.
If both teams complete this goal in
the same round, a sudden elimination
begins. The next team to collect a
Grimoire Card during sudden
elimination immediately wins the
game.
7
it as you wish, then replace it into the
library. You may place all apprentices
that were on that room back into the
room in any arrangement you wish.
Teleport a player - Teleportation
ignores all walls and obstacles, but
you cannot teleport into a blocked
space (such as the Overgrown Room
or another player’s pawn).
Switch places with another
player - Pick up both apprentices and
place each one down in the space the
other previously occupied.
Rows - Spaces that do not carry
an apprentice closer to or further from
his destination are considered to be
part of the same row. (Imagine facing
your destination. Stepping sideways
left or right keeps you in the same row)
If a Grimoire Card contradicts
these rules, follow the instructions on
the Grimoire instead of the rulebook.
is connected to all spaces on that
edge. A player moving an apprentice
can move that apprentice onto or off of
an adjacent far edge, provided that
edge is not blocked by walls (unless
you can move through walls by a
Grimoire effect, in which case you
could move off any far edge of the
board).
LEADERS (Optional)
Once you’ve played the basic
game a few times, you might be ready
for an even deeper puzzle-solving
competition. Leaders add the depth of
multiple Grimoire interactions to
Grimoire Shuffle.
Your head librarians have made a
bet over which team of apprentices is
the quickest. In order to hedge that
bet, they utilize some spells of their
own in order to turn the odds in their
favor.
BOARD EDGES
As more experienced casters, the
Each far edge of the board (the
Leaders are able to cast the more
edges with fewer cards, where players powerful spells in each Grimoire that
start out) acts like one large space that will affect the entire library.
8
Each Grimoire Card has a
LEADER effect in the bottom right
corner of the card. If you are playing
with LEADER effects, these will be
activated between Distribution and
Turns.
After Distribution is complete, both
team leaders flip over the Grimoire
Cards that were placed face-down on
their Leader Badges and read the
LEADER effects out loud. Those
effects are active for the rest of the
round.
Grimoire Cards on Leader
Badges do not ever make use of the
normal Grimoire effects printed on
their Grimoire Cards (the ones
apprentices use).
OPTIONAL EFFECTS
A Grimoire or Leader effect is only
optional if it contains the word ‘may’.
When a Grimoire effect allows you
to move ‘up to’ a number of spaces,
you can choose to move zero spaces,
if you wish.
MOVEMENT
The red arrows show legal moves for Red.
A move can be used to move a
Red
cannot move up, because a bookcase
player pawn one space. Some
is blocking this move.
Grimoire Cards let you move yourself,
while others specify any player, any
ally, or any opponent. Pawns cannot
move diagonally, and they normally
cannot move through bookcases
(some Grimoire Cards break this rule).
Other player pawns cannot be
moved over or moved through! With
Red can move onto the board from
careful positioning, you can block your
any open edge.
opponents. With poor planning, you
might block your allies! Be careful
where you end your turn.
If you are off the board (such as at
the beginning of the game or after
picking up a new Grimoire) you can
enter from any open space on the
edge of the board.
Red’s path forward is blocked by purple
You can move off the far edges of
and blue, so he can’t move forward
the board (that is, into each team’s
further than the arrows show.
starting area), but not off the left and
right sides, which act like walls.
9
TIPS & TRICKS
You won’t need every rotation, flip,
or wall move that you get to reach the
other side of the library. If you have
extras left over, try to see how you can
aid your allies or hinder your
opponents with these extra actions.
Q&A
Q: Can I ask for a specific book
from my team leader?
A: No, you should not name
specific books or make suggestions to
the team leader while he selects.
Q: Can I ask my teammates for
advice on my turn or give advice on
their turns?
A: It is best to avoid discussing
specific move sequences with
teammates during the game.
Q: Can I take back a flip or
rotation?
A: No. You can’t take back a flip or
rotation once you’ve moved the cards
around.
MATERIALS
Players: 2 or 3-4
Play Time: 15~30m
Weight: Light - Medium
Genre: Film Noir
Game Type: Deduction
A sinister storm has swept into
town, bringing with it a string of
gruesome murders. Will you have the
wits to capture the villain before he
strikes again?
NOIR contains 4 separate games,
each based upon the same simple
ruleset. Players possess secret
identities and move about secretly
within a pool of 25 suspects. Three of
these games require 2 players, while
one game allows 3 or 4 players to join
the action.
BOARD SETUP
25-card Suspect Deck, each card
In all four games, board setup is
with one ‘live’ and one ‘deceased’ side. the same. Arrange the 25 card
25-card Evidence Deck, each card Suspect Deck into a 5-by-5 grid on the
with one ‘innocent side’ and a back
table. Shuffle the Evidence Deck.
that is the same on all cards.
4 reference cards explaining the
powers of the different roles.
Live / Deceased
Board arranged and ready for play.
Putting the characters in alphabetical
order is optional, but does make finding
your identity at the start much easier.
Innocent / Secret
10
Game #1
Killer vs. Inspector
Players: 2
Time: 15 minutes or less
Difficulty: Light
FIRST TURN - KILLER
On the first turn, the Killer must
make a Kill action. To do this, he
chooses one of the suspect cards on
the board adjacent (either on the sides
or the diagonals) to his secret identity,
and turns that card face-down, to its
deceased side.
PLAYER SETUP
The two players alternate turns,
each taking one action. The first turn
for each player is a little different than
the rest, but afterwards, all turns are
the same. The Killer always goes first.
The Inspector must now select one
of the 4 cards from his hand to be his
secret identity. He sets that card facedown in front of him. He loses if this
person is killed. The others he keeps
in hand as ‘evidence cards’.
LATER TURNS – KILLER
Randomly decide who will be the
Killer, and who will be the Inspector.
The Killer draws one card from the
Evidence Deck face-down. This is his
secret identity. He loses if this person
is arrested.
The Inspector draws 4 cards.
GAME STRUCTURE
FIRST TURN – INSPECTOR
On each turn, the Killer must
choose one of the following 3 actions
and perform it.
- Shift a row or column
- Kill an adjacent suspect
- Disguise himself (or attempt to)
LATER TURNS – INSPECTOR
On each turn, the Inspector must
choose one of the following 3 actions
and perform it.
- Shift a row or column
Geneva is the Killer, so she can ‘reach’ to
kill any of the 8 suspects around her.
- Arrest an adjacent suspect or
If she were the inspector, she would be able yourself
to ‘reach’ and arrest any of these same
- Exonerate a suspect from the
suspects, including herself.
deck
11
SHIFT ACTION
Both players have the ability to
shift. To do so, select any row or
column on the board You do not have
to be in it or near the chosen row or
column.
Move all cards in the column
vertically up or down, or move all
cards in the row left or right. This will
cause one card to ‘fall off’ the edge of
the board. Place the card that falls off
onto the new empty space on the
other side.
NOTE: You cannot use your shift to
‘undo’ the previous player’s shift. For
example, if a player shifts a row right,
the next move cannot be to shift that
same row left.
KILL ACTION
The Killer can kill a suspect just
like he did on the first turn. He just
picks a suspect who is adjacent to his
character on the board, and turns that
suspect to its deceased side. Since
the Inspector is now one of the
suspects, if the Inspector is killed, he
reveals his identity and the killer wins!
Otherwise, play continues.
ARREST ACTION
Example of shifting a column
down. The suspect who ‘falls off’
goes into the new empty slot.
The Inspector can arrest a suspect
whom he is adjacent to on the board.
He may even arrest himself to throw
off suspicion. He simply points at the
suspect and asks the killer “Are you
[name]?” If the killer is the named
suspect, the Inspector wins!
Otherwise, play continues.
12
DISGUISE ACTION
The Killer can disguise himself to
throw the Inspector off his trail. To do
this, he draws a card from the top of
the Evidence Deck, and then secretly
checks to see if that character is still
live on the board.
If it is still alive, he discards his
current identity and turns that card to
its deceased side, then places the
card he drew face-down in front of
him. It is his new secret identity.
If the suspect is deceased, he
simply discards the card face up, and
retains his old identity. His turn is over
either way.
EXONERATE ACTION
The Inspector draws one card from
the Evidence Deck into his evidence
hand. He must then discard a card
from his hand face-up beside the
board (if the discarded suspect is still
live, it is easier to place the innocent
card over top of their suspect card on
the board).
After Exonerating, the Inspector’s
turn is over, and he should have 3
cards in his evidence hand.
OTHER RULES
If the Evidence Deck is exhausted,
the Disguise and Exonerate actions
are no longer available.
If an entire row or column of
suspects are deceased, that row or
column is removed, and the board
shrinks.
If 16 characters are deceased
at any time, the game ends and
the Killer wins.
If an entire row or column is deceased,
they are removed from the board, and
the board shrinks
Game #2
Hitman vs. Sleuth
Players: 2
Time: 20 minutes or less
Difficulty: Medium
The Sleuth draws 4 cards to form
his police hand. He chooses one of
these right away to be his secret
identity, and places it down in front of
him.
GAME GOAL
The Hitman wins if all of the targets
in the hit list have been eliminated, or
BOARD SETUP
if all the Sleuths chasing him are
In all four games, board setup is
eliminated. The Sleuth wins if he
the same. Arrange the 25 card
arrests the Hitman.
Suspect Deck into a 5-by-5 grid on the
Starting with the Hitman, both
table. Shuffle the Evidence Deck.
players take alternating turns making a
single action each.
PLAYER SETUP
Randomly decide who will be the
Hitman, and who will be the Sleuth.
The Hitman puts 4 cards facedown from the Evidence Deck in a row
to form a hit list, then draws one card
from the Evidence Deck, looks at it,
and keeps it face-down to be his
secret identity. He loses if this person
is arrested. He turns up the first card in
the hit list.
13
SHIFT ACTION – BOTH
PLAYERS
Shifting works just like in the Killer
vs. Inspector game, and both players
are able to shift rows and columns.
KILL – HITMAN
The Hitman selects an adjacent
suspect and turns that suspect facedown. If it is the current face-up
suspect in the hit list, the Hitman turns
up the next face-down card in the hit
list. If that target is already deceased,
he continues revealing targets until he
reveals one that is still alive.
If the Hitman kills a suspect in the
Sleuth’s hand, the Sleuth must discard
that card face-up. It is not replaced in
his hand.
If the Hitman kills the Sleuth, the
Sleuth immediately places a card from
his hand down as a new secret
identity. If he has no cards in hand to
place down, he loses.
If all targets in the hit list are
deceased, the Hitman wins.
Otherwise, the failed identity change is
discarded face-up.
ARREST – SLEUTH
Game #3
Spy Tag
The Sleuth may name a suspect
Players: 3 or 4
adjacent to his secret identity and ask
Time: 30 minutes or less
if that player is the Hitman. If correct,
Difficulty: Medium
the Sleuth wins the game. If the Sleuth
is wrong, the Hitman returns one of the
BOARD SETUP
face-down cards in the hit list to the
In all four games, board setup is
bottom of the Evidence Deck. This
the same. Arrange the 25 card
may cause the Hitman to win.
Suspect Deck into a 5-by-5 grid on the
table. Shuffle the Evidence Deck.
CANVAS – SLEUTH
The Sleuth draws a card from the
Evidence Deck, then chooses and
EVADE – HITMAN
discards a card from his police hand.
The Hitman’s evade works much
The Hitman must answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’
like the Killer’s disguise in the Killer vs. whether he is adjacent to the card the
Inspector game. There must be at
Sleuth has discarded.
least two cards in the deck for an
Canvasing can still be done if the
evade to be attempted. The Hitman
Evidence Deck is empty, but the
attempts to disguise just like the Killer sleuth’s hand will not be replenished.
would, by eliminating his old identity
and choosing a new one. If the evade
is successful, the top card of the deck
is added face-down to the hit list.
14
PLAYER SETUP
All players are Spies. Give each a
face-down secret identity from the
Evidence Deck and randomly
determine who will go first.
GAME GOAL
The goal of the game is to collect
trophies. Each successful capture of
an opposing spy earns a trophy. In the
3-player game, 4 trophies are needed
to win. In the 4-player game, 3
trophies are needed to win.
SHIFT
Players can canvas their own identities
Shifting works just like in the Killer if they wish.
vs. Inspector game, and all players are
able to shift rows and columns.
CAPTURE
A Spy selects one of the suspects
adjacent to him. If any other player is
that suspect, turn that suspect over to
the deceased side and the capturing
spy claims his innocent card as a
trophy.
If a player has now claimed
enough trophies to win the game, he
wins! Otherwise, the player who was
captured immediately draws a new
identity card, and play continues.
Players: 2
Time: 45 minutes or less
Difficulty: Hard
BOARD SETUP
...
Yes!
Yes!
...
CANVAS
A Spy selects one of the suspects
adjacent to him. All players adjacent to
the selected target as well as any
player whose identity is the canvased
target must raise their hands or
otherwise indicate that they are
adjacent. Naturally, this will always
include the canvasing spy himself.
Game #4
Master Thief
vs. Chief of Police
Example Canvas Action:
Ryan, Ophelia, Irma, and Vladimir are
playing Spy Tag. Ryan canvases
Marion. Irma and Ryan now raise their
hands (or answer yes). Ophelia and
Vladimir do nothing.
15
In all four games, board setup is
the same. Arrange the 25 card
Suspect Deck into a 5-by-5 grid on the
table. Shuffle the Evidence Deck.
As an additional step, place a
treasure token of some kind (a penny,
glass bead, or the like) on each
suspect. Optionally, you can flip
suspects to their deceased side to
mark that they have been robbed, but
this is confusing for some players, as
robbed suspects are still considered
‘alive’ in this game.
PLAYER SETUP
Randomly decide who is the
Master Thief and who is the Chief of
Police. The Master Thief draws 2
secret identities from the Evidence
Deck into her hand and 1 secret
identity she looks at and places facedown in front of her to be her active
identity. The Chief of Police draws 1
face-down identity for himself, and 2
more face-up identities for his
uniformed officers.
GAME GOAL
The Master Thief wins if she can
steal all 25 treasures on the board.
The Chief of Police wins if he can
capture the Master Thief “red-handed.”
SHIFT – BOTH PLAYERS
Shifting works just like in the Killer
vs. Inspector game, and both players
are able to shift rows and columns.
DISGUISE – MASTER THIEF
The Master Thief can disguise by
picking up her current secret identity
and shuffling it together with her hand.
She then picks one of the identities in
her hand and places it face-down in
front of her to be her active secret
identity.
she is arrested and loses. It does not
matter if the Master Thief has one of
these identities in her hand–she is
only arrested if she is currently
using that identity!
STEAL – MASTER THIEF
DEPUTIZE – CHIEF OF POLICE
The Master Thief can steal a
treasure from from her secret identity
or any suspect adjacent to her secret
identity. Remove the treasure token
from that suspect and add it to your
stash. If she has all 25 treasure
tokens, the Master Thief wins! (That is,
every suspect on the board, including
your own secret identities, the Chief of
Police, and the uniformed officers, has
been robbed)
The Chief of Police can draw a
new card from the Evidence Deck to
add to his uniformed officers. He must
then discard one of his uniformed
officers (he can also discard the one
he just deputized, if he wishes). When
the Chief of Police takes this action,
the Master Thief immediately claims
any one treasure she wants on the
board, regardless of where she
currently stands. This does not take up
her turn.
ARREST – CHIEF OF POLICE
The Chief of Police can make an
arrest attempt against any suspect
adjacent to his secret identity or the
identities of his uniformed officers. He
does not need to declare which officer
is making the arrest.
If the arrested suspect is the
current identity of the Master Thief,
16
OTHER NOTES
If you wish, this game can be
played as a set of two games, where
each player plays Master Thief once,
and then the players compare the
number of treasures stolen to
determine the winner.
A single game consists of 3 or 5
matches. A match consists of any
number of rounds, and each round is
broken down into three waves.
First, let’s take a look at the cards.
Each card has 3 different ways it can
be used:
An Order is played from your hand
as a one-time effect. Orders are
powerful, but they go away after
resolving, so saving them or using
them at the right moment is critical.
Players: 2
The order is the fourth box (purple) on
Play Time: 30~60m
a hero’s card.
Weight: Heavy
A Hero is played during combat
Genre: Classic Video Game
Hero Strength using the recruit action. Heroes have
Game Type: Battlefield Tactics
different abilities based on where they
Hero Life
The Pixel Wars have begun!
Vanguard Power stand in relation to their leader.
Choose your leader and take to the
Flank Power
Vanguard Heroes are those in
Rear Power
field of battle, deploying heroes and
front of the leader. These often have
Order Power
using careful planning and strategy to
defensive or offensive abilities. They
Leader Power are able to use their Vanguard Powers
seize victory from your opponent!
Leader Strength (the first/red power).
Pixel Tactics is a Head-to-Head
Leader Life
tactical battle for two players. Each
Flank Heroes are those on either
player will create a battle team called a
side of the leader. These usually offer
unit, which consists of a leader and up
improvements to their allies or tactical
to eight heroes, and these two units
abilities. They are able to use their
will meet on the field of battle.
Flank Powers (the second/green
power).
MATERIALS
A
Leader
is
played
at
the
Rear Heroes are those behind the
Two 25-card decks
leader. These usually give support
Some damage counters (it is good beginning of the match, and provides
its
bonuses
passively
to
the
entire
unit.
abilities or have ranged attacks. They
to have both ones and fives)
Leaders
are
always
in
the
flank
wave
are able to use their Rear Powers (the
One Current Wave Marker
of the unit.
third/blue power).
17
FLNK
HERO
FLNK
HERO
Objective
The game ends when one or both
leaders are defeated (that is, they
have taken damage equal to or greater
than their leader life totals). Your goal
is to defeat your opponent’s leader
before he can do the same to you.
Game Flow
Vang
Hero
Vang
Hero
Vang
Hero
If both players reveal the
same leader, put both of those
leaders on the bottom of their
decks and each player draws one
card. Pick new leaders and
reveal again.
rear
Hero
COPYCAT!
rear
Hero
To start a match of Pixel Tactics,
each player shuffles his or her deck
together and draws a hand of 5 cards.
He turns these upside down so that
their leader sides are visible, and
selects one to be the leader for his
unit.
Both players select their leaders
secretly, then reveal them at once. The
leader now forms the core of the unit,
standing in the center of eight slots
which may eventually hold heroes.
To the left, you can see two units
ready to do battle. The leader always
stands at the center of the unit.
REar
Hero
match SETUP
vang
HERO
vang
HERO
vang
HERO
FLNK
HERO
REar
Hero
FLNK
HERO
rear
Hero
18
Rear
HERO
The game takes place in rounds,
and each round consists of three
waves for each player.
Randomly determine which player
will take the first wave. This begins
that player’s Vanguard Wave. During
a wave, the first player takes two
actions, and then the second player
takes two actions. Place the Current
Wave Marker beside the first player’s
Vanguard row.
Once both players have completed
two actions, the game moves onto the
Flank Wave. Once both players
complete two actions during a Flank
Wave, they move on to the Rear
Wave. Move the Current Wave Marker
appropriately whenever the first player
begins a wave.
When the Rear Wave is complete,
the round ends, and first player
changes sides. Then a new round
begins with a new Vanguard Wave,
and so on, until one leader or the other
falls. Pass the Current Wave Marker to
the new first player, who sets it beside
his Vanguard row.
The game comes with a ‘current
wave’ marker that you can use to keep
tabs on which wave is currently acting.
Waves
During a wave, you typically have
two actions that you can take. These
can be chosen from among any of the
following actions:
Action: Draw a Card
You just draw a card from your
deck. If your deck is empty, this action
is no longer available. There are no
hand limits.
Action: Recruit a Hero
You may play a hero down into an
empty slot in the current wave (for
example, during the vanguard wave,
you can only recruit to empty spaces
in your vanguard).
Action: Attack with a
Hero / Leader
clear the corpse. Simply move the
corpse into your discard pile. Since
heroes can only be played into empty
spaces in the unit, you will need to
clear corpses eventually in longer
battles. You can clear corpses in any
wave, regardless of the currently
active wave.
You may use a hero in the current
wave (or the leader, if this is the flank
wave) to make an attack. Attacking is
Action: Restructure
discussed in more detail later. A hero
You may move a hero from
recruited during this wave may not
declare an attack of any kind. A single anywhere in your unit into any empty
hero or leader can only attack once unit position (regardless of current
wave). That hero cannot attack during
per wave.
this wave. Note that leaders cannot be
Action: Play an Order
moved.
You may play a card from your
Attacking
hand for its order (purple) effect. Read
When you select the attack action,
the order’s text aloud and perform all
the actions instructed on the card. The you will choose a hero in your current
wave to make the attack, as well as a
card then goes to your discard pile.
target in the opposing unit.
Action: Clear a Corpse
There are three main kinds of
When heroes fall in battle, they
attacks:
leave corpses behind in the unit.
Melee Attacks
These might be revived later on, but if
A melee attack must target the
you have no plans to revive a hero (or
if you fear your opponent may revive it foremost opposing hero or leader in
any column (see the examples on the
and use it against you) then you can
19
next page). A melee attack does
damage to the target equal to the
attacker’s power. All heroes and
leaders are capable of making melee
attacks. A melee attack cannot be
used if a friendly hero or leader is
standing in front of the attacking card.
A hero or leader is considered to be ‘in
melee’ if it is capable of making and
rear
Vang
flnk
flnk
Vang Vang
flnk
rear
Round 1 Ceasefire
No matter what, heroes and
leaders cannot use attacks of any
kind during the first round of play.
This includes attack powers and
orders that provide extra attacks.
receiving melee attacks.
Example: Shekhtur only has a melee
attack (like most leaders), so she can
attack the foremost hero in a column. In
this case she could hit Seth (the
opposing leader), his Illusionist, or his
Overlord. She would not be able to hit
the Mystic, who is protected by the
vanguard-row Knight.
Melee attacks can only be made by the
foremost card in a column. In this
example, only the cards with O’s are
capable of declaring melee attacks. The
others (who have X’s) aren’t positioned to
perform melee attacks. The O units are
considered to be ‘in melee’.
20
Ranged Attacks
Ranged attacks can target any
hero or leader, regardless of their
position in the column. Cards with
ranged attacks can fire over other
allies and enemies. Only heroes with
the ‘Ranged Attack’ ability are
capable of making ranged attacks.
Ranged attacks do damage equal to
the attacker’s power, just like melee
attacks.
Reactions
Some effects take note of ‘when a
hero attacks this unit/hero’. Attack
InterceptING RANGED
Powers are not considered to be
A few heroes have the ability
‘attacking a unit’ or ‘attacking a hero’.
‘Intercept’, which means that enemy
Some effects trigger ‘when you
ranged attacks cannot pass over them. play an order’. These effects don’t kick
This makes them especially useful for in until the order has completely
protecting your rear and flank heroes, resolved.
as well as your leader.
Passive Powers
Attack Powers
flnk
Vang Vang
Some heroes (especially rear
heroes) have special powers that
occur instead of attacking. For
example, a hero may say ‘Attack: the
opponent discards a card’. These are
optional alternate attacks that can be
used in place of a melee or ranged
attack. They still count as attacks,
so you can’t use them more than
Example: The Gunner has a ranged
once in a wave, and the same hero
attack, so he can fire over heroes and
cannot use both their attack power and
leaders. In this case, he could hit the
Witch (rear right side) by shooting over a melee/ranged attack. Attack powers
do not do damage, unless they
Seth’s Scientist, or hit the Overlord by
shooting over Seth himself. Seth’s Knight specifically say otherwise.
has the ‘Intercept’ ability, and thus even
the Gunner cannot shoot over it.
21
Other than Attack Powers (those
that say ‘Attack: ...’), all hero powers
are constantly active, and work as
soon as they become relevant.
Casualties
When a hero or leader is hit with
an attack, place damage counters on it
to show how much damage it has
taken.
At the end of each wave,
casualties are checked. Any hero with
damage equal to or exceeding its life
is considered defeated.
A hero with lethal damage
(damage equal to or beyond its life
total) can continue to fight, act, and be
healed throughout a wave. Only at the
end of a wave are casualties
determined.
When a hero is defeated, all
damage is removed from it, and it is
flipped face-down, becoming a
corpse. Corpses cannot attack, they
do not block melee attacks, and new
heroes cannot be played on top of
them. Only by clearing a corpse can
you play a new hero into its position.
Some effects can revive corpses,
and one leader can even use them to
attack, so it’s not always necessary to
clear every hero that falls. Sometimes
it’s advantageous to keep them
around.
Rout
cards to the side in a face-down stack
to create a trophy. They will not be
reshuffled back into the deck during
future matches of this game.
Ties
If both leaders fall during the
same wave, the army with the most
remaining heroes is declared
victorious. In the event of a tie here,
the match is a tie.
A tie counts as a win for both
players, and each player claims his
own leader as a trophy.
A tie cannot be used to win the
game. For example, if a player
already possesses two trophies in a
best-of-5 game, his third trophy
cannot be claimed in a tie, even if his
opponent can still claim a trophy from
the tie.
If a leader has damage exceeding
its life total at the end of a wave, the
entire unit is in rout (a disorderly
retreat), and the match ends. The
player who still has a standing leader
The Next match
is considered the winner of the match.
A typical game plays best of three
The player whose leader remains
or five trophies–whichever number the
standing claims the defeated leader
players have agreed upon. The first
and his own leader and sets these two player to claim two trophies in a best
22
of three game, or to claim three
trophies in a best of five game, is
declared the winner of the game.
If no player has won the game after
claiming trophies, proceed to the next
match. From here on out, both
players’ decks will be one card smaller.
In addition, for each trophy your
opponent possesses, you draw one
additional card at the start of the
game, before selecting leaders. This
slight card advantage will give you
more control over your leader
selection, and give you a head start on
army building.
The player who won the previous
match is always the first player at the
start of the next match.
Tips and Tricks
While it’s usually a good idea to set
up interceptors to protect your leader,
you don’t always need to roll out an
entire army on the first round. If you
take time to draw a few times instead,
you can form a much more cohesive
and structured unit with the synergy to
crush a band of hastily cobbledtogether shock troops.
Each card has a particular theme
to it. The Summoner is very good at
finding cards in your deck, while the
Trapper can disrupt your opponent,
and the Healer will revive allies. You
can supercharge these powers by
appointing the card as a leader, but
keep in mind that win or lose, the
leader’s card will be gone for the rest
of the game. Don’t waste someone in
match one that you’ll miss for the
remaining matches!
It’s almost always better to go
second during a round, since you can
respond to your opponent’s attacks
and plays. Save up healing orders for
those rounds when you can use them
most effectively and keep alive heroes
which might otherwise die.
If you’re going first during a round,
you can utilize instant-kill orders and
attack powers like the Assassin or
Dragon Mage to make sure your
opponent doesn’t retaliate against you.
These orders and attack powers don’t
wait for the end of a wave to cause
casualties.
High power leaders can be lethal in
melee, but opening them up to make
melee attacks is often as much of a
liability as a boon. Gauge your
opponent’s unit strength and see what
you have to gain before letting your
leader join as a dedicated fighter.
Other Terms
Forerunner - The hero directly in
front of this hero.
Supporter - The hero directly
behind this hero.
Attack Power - A special effect
that is triggered with an ‘Attack’ Action
Attack Strength - The damage
dealt by the hero’s attack.
Questions & Answers
Can a hero or leader have more
damage than its life rating?
Yes. The extra damage stays on
the hero or leader until it is converted
to a corpse. Adding a large amount of
extra damage can help to prevent
23
heroes from being healed and
surviving an onslaught.
Can revived heroes attack
immediately?
No. A hero must be alive at the
start of the wave in order to make
attacks. This includes heroes who
were revived by orders or effects.
Can heroes recruited by special
effects (like the Summoner or
Overlord) attack immediately?
No. They cannot receive attack
actions during this wave.
Some powers force a hero to
make a ranged attack (such as the
Mascot). What if these heroes don’t
have Ranged Attack?
When an effect instructs a hero to
make a ranged attack, they can do so
even if they don’t have the Ranged
Attack ability.
Can I use an Attack Power
instead of a Ranged Attack or Melee
Attack when an effect instructs me
to make a Ranged or Melee attack?
No. You must make the kind of
attack specified by the effect.
interfere with the one attack action per
Are all effects mandatory?
wave limit. Similarly, using a free
Yes. For example, if you choose to
attack
does
not
prevent
the
hero
from
play
an order that says revive a corpse
Can a hero recruited or revived
and you have no corpses, you have to
this wave make use of free attacks receiving an attack action later in the
wave.
pick one of your opponent’s corpses.
(like the Berserker Order)?
The only time you should not perform
Yes. These heroes cannot receive
My leader grants me free
an effect is when it is impossible to do
attack actions, but they are still able to actions. Can I still use free actions
perform an attack if a secondary
after my normal actions are spent? so. In this case, ignore the effect and
continue play as normal.
source (such as an order or the
Yes, you can use free actions at
Mascots’s attack power) instructs them any time you wish. Your wave is not
to.
over until you declare it is over.
If a hero in my unit has already
performed an attack action, can he
still make an action via an order
effect (such as Berserker)?
Yes. Attacks granted by orders,
special effects, and leaders do not
Can I use the Illusionist’s Rear
power to activate an Attack Power?
Yes, this is perfectly fine.
I have a hero that can transfer
damage to itself (Vampire, Knight),
when can I use this ability? Can I
transfer more damage than the
hero’s current life?
You can transfer the damage any
time you like, and you can transfer as
much damage as you want, even
beyond the life total of the hero
receiving the damage.
24
An effect says ‘any hero’. Does
this count opponents’ heroes too?
Yes. Any hero means any hero in
either unit. All heroes means all heroes
in both units.
Can I use an effect that targets
Heroes to target a Leader?
No. Leaders are not heroes.
Effects that specify heroes only work
What happens if my leader is
Borneo/Juto and I use my Illusionist
Order to steal my opponent’s
What is ‘Lethal Damage’?
Mascot Order to activate my
Lethal damage is damage equal to
Borneo/Juto Order, which says to
or beyond the hero/leader's life total. If
activate itself?
a hero has 5 life, and takes 6 damage,
A portal to the Minus World opens
the first 4 damage are nonlethal, and
and swallows the game up. Also, your
the last two damage are lethal. Any
leader’s order will have no effect in this
source that deals damage is capable
case.
of causing lethal damage.
on heroes, and effects that specify
leaders only work on leaders.
If two heroes/leaders have
effects that would activate at the
same time, which one takes
precedence?
If both of the cards are controlled
by the same player, that player may
choose what order to activate them in.
If the cards are owned by two different
players, the First Player activates all
his effects in whatever order he
wishes, then the Second Player
activates all his effects in whatever
order he wishes.
Pixel Tactics is part of the World
of Indines–a collection of games
featuring recurring characters in a
vibrant fantasy world. Many of the
characters in Pixel Tactics appear in
BattleCON: War of Indines, and will
appear again in future games within
this series. Visit www.lvl99games.com
for more information on the World of
Indines and its characters.
25
Promotional Cards
If you acquire promotional cards for
Pixel Tactics, you should perform an
extra step before each game. Shuffle
all of the Promotional Cards together,
and create a deck outside of the
game.
Each of you should draw one of
these as part of your starting hand.
As a Draw
action, you can
discard 1 card
from your hand
to draw from
the Promotional
Card deck instead
of your own deck.
Introductions
Players: 3-8
Play Time: 30~60m
Weight: Lightweight
Genre: Absurd Comedy
Game Type: Storytelling
Infinity Dungeon seems to attract
the strangest and most hapless
adventurers in the world to its depths.
Will you have the uncanny wit to
overcome its many dangers?
Infinity Dungeon is a storytelling
card game for 3 to 8 players. The
players are individuals who have
wound up trapped in the famous
Infinity Dungeon, either by
happenstance, audacity, stupidity, or
any combination thereof.
You can mix together any number
of Infinity Dungeon sets to build your
character and room decks. We
Starting with anyone and moving
recommend using at least two different left, each player introduces his
sets (and two different sets are
character. This may be as simple as
included in the minigame library).
reading the text on the character card,
or may be a fully improvised
introduction they invent themselves.
20 character cards (10 per set)
80 room cards per set (40 per set)
1 voting card per player (4 in a set)
1 Active Player card
1 Active GM card
Materials
Setup
Deal each player 2 character
cards. Each player chooses one of
these cards and places it in front of
him, then puts the rest back onto the
bottom of the character deck.
Randomly determine which player
will be the first Active GM, and then
give the Active Player card to the
player on his right. Give the other
players 1 voting card each.
26
Once everyone is introduced, it’s
time to head into the dungeon.
Dungeon
Rooms
The game takes place in a series
of rooms. Players decide how many
rooms their dungeon will consist of–
usually one room per player (or two
per player for groups or 5 or less)
makes a respectable dungeon.
Deal 5 cards from the top of the
deck, and arrange them so that the
items on the bottoms of the cards are
visible, and the top card is fully visible.
The Active GM reads aloud the
dungeon room card and the items that
are below it. If the players have any
questions (What’s on the map? What
kind of stone is the statue made of? Is
there a roof overhead?) then the GM
can answer these questions. Only
questions about observable
phenomena are allowed. For example:
“Can I get the attention of the
gnomes?”, “If I jump down will I
survive?”, and “What happens if we
just wait?” are not allowed, because
they can’t be discovered by simply
looking around. If you want to know
the answers to these questions, you
have to try them.
The Plan
Now it is up to the Active Player to
come up with a plan that will get
himself and his allies (including the
Active GM) out of the current room
and into the next room.
He takes a few seconds to discuss
the plan with everyone at the table,
and then makes his final
proposal. Once the
proposal is made, each
player (starting to the
Active Player’s left and
moving left) may
either vote to agree
with the plan or
challenge the plan.
Agreeing
27
If you agree with the plan, turn your
voting card to the agree side. This
provides a number of points to the
overall plan’s strength.
Challenging
If you think the plan is simply not
awesome enough, you can challenge.
When you challenge, you must then
announce a condition that will get you
to accept the plan. “I want to see you
jump over a shark.”, “I want to know
how you’re going to involve George
Washington in this.” or “I think this
would be a great plan if something
exploded at some point.”
would all be valid
challenges. The only
restriction is that a
challenge must have
a clearly defined
condition. Outside of
that, it may be as
ridiculous as you
wish.
The Active Player
has about 30 seconds
to think about the challenge and
decide whether he wants to accept it.
If he does, he must add the challenge
into the original plan somehow. The
element requested as part of the
challenge must be made integral to the
revised plan, not simply tacked on at
the end.
If the Active Player presents a
revised plan, the Challenging player
turns his voting card to the challenge
cleared edge and counts as extra
points for the strength of the plan.
If the Active Player declines to
accept the challenge or cannot come
up with a suitable plan, the challenger
leaves his challenge card turned 90
degrees on its side, to show that the
Challenge was not cleared.
Attempting
the Plan
each accepted challenge. Once you
know the plan’s strength, draw a card
from the top of the Dungeon Deck and
reveal it to all players.
Look at the treasure-box number in
the bottom right of the card. If this
number is equal to or lower than the
plan’s strength, the plan is a success!
If it is above the plan’s strength, the
plan is a failure.
Success
The Active GM narrates how the
plan succeeds (often, this is as simple
as just saying “and it works perfectly
like you said”). The Active GM passes
his role to the right, and the Active
Player passes his role card to the left
(skipping the Active GM if necessary).
A new room is revealed, and play
continues.
After all players have voted
(including the Active GM, but not the
Active Player himself), then it’s time to
resolve the plan and see what
happens.
Using the chart on the Active GM
Card, determine what the plan’s
In the case of failure, the Active
strength is by adding the base number, GM narrates how the plan went
plus the agreement value for each
wrong–perhaps something unexpected
agreement and the challenge value for happened, or some critical detail was
Failure
28
overlooked. Regardless, the failed
plan ends with the grisly and/or
comical demise of the Active Player.
The Active Player badge passes to the
left, while the Active GM badge
remains in place.
The player whose plan failed
discards his character card, then
draws 2 more characters. He chooses
one to be his new character, then
enters the room and joins the party as
a new persona.
Game End
You can play as many rooms as
you wish, but we recommend 2 per
player in a 3-5 player game, and 1 per
player in a 6-8 player game. After the
requisite number of rooms are cleared,
the party emerges from Infinity
Dungeon victorious. Everyone wins,
but the player who had the most fun
wins more than everyone else does.
normal reality. Keep these in mind as
you explore:
The only way to bypass a lock is
with the relevant key. Locks cannot
be picked, destroyed, or otherwise
bypassed except with the matching
key or a duplicate of that key.
Leaving a room and re-entering
‘resets’ the room. If another party
member’s actions cause the room to
become unsolvable or destroy some of
the objects in the room, you can exit
and re-enter to return everything to its
previous state.
Starred Items in rooms are
decided by the GM. For example, if a
card says ‘A Celebrity*’, then it is up to
the GM to decide which celebrity is in
the room.
Starred Items on Character
Cards are minions under the control
Infinity Dungeon uses a few special of that Character. These minions can
be used by the Character when
conventions that are different from
Other Info
29
making plans, but also need to be
escorted safely from room to room.
The Active Player may involve another
player’s minions in his plan, with
permission.
Players: 6-11
Play Time: 30~60m
Weight: Heavy
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Game Type: Secret Teams
Crests and Seals look the same on the front.
Seal Cards have Seal Break backs, while
Crest cards have a Reference.
Overview
There are two kinds of players,
Masters and Wielders. Masters are
The ancient Blades of Legend
batteries who supply Wielders with
seek a new Master, but only one can
power, while Wielders fight one
claim them! Lead your allies and
another and hopefully do the bidding
become the true Master of the Blades! of the Masters that empower them.
The Master is surrounded by Seals,
Materials
two of which are vulnerable, and the
26 Blades Cards
rest of which belong to his Wielders. A
13 Crest Cards (with a Wielder
team wants to protect its Master’s
reference on the back)
Seals, and destroy its Wielders’ Seals.
12 Seal Cards (with a Seal Break
Wielders accumulate power, which
on the back)
they place onto Seals during the
2 Master / Duel Reference Cards
game. If a Seal has 7 power on it, it
1 Collector / Setup Reference Card
shatters. What happensnext depends
Power Tokens (it is ideal to have
on whether a Master or a Wielder
both ones and fives)
owns the Crest linked to that Seal.
30
Blades have a Normal (Blue-colored) and
Liberated (Peach-colored) side. They begin
with their normal side up.
When a Master’s Seal is
destroyed, the Master becomes
endangered. When both of the
Master’s Seals are destroyed, that
Master’s team loses.
When a Wielder’s Seal is
destroyed, the Wielder tied to that Seal
becomes liberated. Liberated
Wielders are much more capable than
normal, and receive a huge surge of
power when their Seals are destroyed.
If all of a team’s Wielders become
Liberated, that team wins the game.
There are two ways to win:
destroy the Seals of all Wielders on
your own team, or destroy the two
Seals of the Master on the opposing
team.
Wielder Setup:
Normal Weapon
(unreadied), face-down
crest, 3 power tokens.
Master Setup:
2 face-down crests (one
from each array), 1 power
token per player (half this
much for second Master).
Supply of
Power
Weapon
Stack
(Unlimited)
Master Seal Array
Play starts with
the Wielder to the
left of the Master
with more power.
Initial Game Setup (8-player game shown)
31
Setup
1. Choose two players to act as the
Masters.
2. The rest of the players sit so that
there are an equal number of
players between each Master (if
your game has an odd number of
players, see the Collector rules).
3. Choose a number of Seals equal
to the number of players plus 2,
and grab all of the corresponding
Crest cards. Extra Seal and Crest
cards will not be used.
4. Deal an equal number of Seals
face-up to each Master. Arrange
these in front of the Master so all
are clearly visible.
5. Divide the Crests into piles,
matching the face-up arrays, then
shuffle each pile separately.
6. Give each Master one of the
Crests from his opponent’s pile,
face-down, and one of the Crests
from his own pile, face-down.
These Crests that the Masters hold
mark vulnerable Seals. The Seal
from his own array that a Master
holds is one of his own vulnerable
Crests, and the Seal he holds from
his opponent’s array is one of that
opponent’s vulnerable Crests.
7. Shuffle the rest of the Crests
together and deal one face-down
to each Wielder. The Crests are
kept secret. If a Wielder’s Seal is in
front of a particular Master, it
means that he is allied with that
Master. Destroying this seal will
liberate him and give him
additional power. A Wielder will
know from his Crest which team he
is a part of, but no one else,
including his own Master, will know
this information.
8. Shuffle the Blades together and
deal one to each Wielder face-up
(the blue/normal side showing).
Set the rest aside in a Weapon
Stack in the center of the table.
The top card of the Weapon Stack
is visible to all players.
9. One Master takes 1 power token
for each player in the game, and
the other Master takes half this
many tokens. Give each Wielder 3
power. Play begins to the left of the
Master with more power, and
moves clockwise.
10. Starting with this player and
moving left, each Wielder reads his
Unready
Ready
Blade’s power aloud, so it is known
what capabilities he has. All blades Master Turns
Master turns are simple. A Master
begin unreadied (turned 90
must get rid of all power tokens he
degrees on their side).
holds by giving them away to
Turns
Wielders, dividing them up however he
Turns move clockwise around the wishes. Once he no longer has any
table until one team or the other wins power, the Master gains 1 power for
the game.
each player in the game.
Between this distribution of power
Ready / Unready
and influencing duels, Masters have
Weapon powers and Strikes can
no direct capability, and must rely on
only be used when your weapon is
their Wielders to do their bidding.
Readied. Weapons begin the game
Don’t be afraid to tell your Wielders
unreadied, but can be readied by
what you expect them to do in
various actions (Channel, Draw, and
exchange for the power you offer!
Duel). Turn a weapon 90 degrees on
its side to show that it is unready, or
Wielder Turns
straight up to show that it is ready.
On a Wielder’s turn, that Wielder
must first gain 1 power from the
supply, placing it into his pool, then
take 1 power from the supply, and
32
place it onto any Seal other than his
own.
After doing this, he chooses one of
five actions to commit:
Channel - Place 1 power from your
reserves onto any Seal that you wish.
You can repeat this as many times as
you like, choosing a different Seal
each time. You cannot channel onto
your own Seal! After channeling,
ready your weapon.
Draw - Take 1 power from up to
three different Seals. After drawing,
ready your weapon.
Duel - Choose another player and
initiate a duel with that player
(explained in more detail next).
Wield - If your weapon is ready,
Use your weapon’s ability by paying its
power cost (the number in the top left
circle) to the supply, then unready it.
Strike - If your weapon is ready
and you have 3 or more power, pick
any Seal other than your own, and
declare that you are initiating a strike
on that Seal. Pay 3 power to the
supply. Starting with you and moving
clockwise, every player may choose to
place 1 power from his pool onto the
Seal you chose, or to pass (this
includes Masters as well). After the
Strike, unready your weapon.
?
Duels
Wielders can issue duels to other
Wielders. When a duel is issued, the
attacker, the defender, and both
Masters secretly bid any amount of
power from their pools. These players
put the amount of power they wish to
bid in closed fists. Then the Master
who is next in the turn order declares
which side he is supporting. The
opposite Master automatically
supports the other side. All power is
pooled together, and the winning side
is the one with the largest pool.
All power bid by the losing side is
lost and returned to the supply. The
Ties
In a tie, the duel ends in a draw.
Everyone reclaims their bid power, and
both wielders ready their weapons.
33
?
?
?
The two Wielders in the duel, as well as
the two Masters, each make a secret bid
of power. The Master whose turn is
coming up next will decide who he
supports, and the other Master
automatically supports the other side.
x3
x0 x3
x5
power of the winning side is combined
and then divided in half (if the amount
is odd, put 1 power back into the
supply to make an even split). Give
half of the power to the losing Master,
and half to the losing Wielder. The
losing Wielder unreadies his weapon.
The winning Wielder readies his
weapon. The winning Master must
now choose a spoil to give to the
winning Wielder from those below:
without paying its cost. He unreadies
takes all power from the Seal card into
his weapon after doing this, as normal. his own pool, and then flips the Seal
face-down to show that it is broken.
Liberate
When his turn begins, he now gains
When a Wielder’s Seal has 7
additional power equal to half the
power on it, it is destroyed. He must
players in the game, rounded up (so in
reveal his Crest to all players.
a 10 player game, for example, he
He takes all the power from the
would gain 15 power instead of the
destroyed Seal into his own pool, then normal 10).
flips the destroyed Seal face-down, to
show that it is broken. He also flips his Etiquette
weapon card over to its liberated side.
You can say anything–feel free to
Spoils
The new Liberated power replaces his announce your crest, or to lie. It is fine
After a duel, the winning Master
normal power, and he is unable to flip to claim anything you wish, but you
grants one of these bonuses to the
it back.
are not allowed to show a crest to
winning wielder.
A liberated Wielder’s weapon
another player except by a game
Spy - The winning Wielder may
immediately readies when his Seal
effect. This means that you can freely
look at the losing Wielder’s Crest.
breaks. Also, his weapon readies at
announce ‘I am Yellow’, but it is
Strike - The winning Wielder must the end of each turn, regardless of
forbidden to actually show off the
choose a Crest other than his own and which action he takes (so he can
Yellow Crest Card.
initiate a strike. He does not have to
Strike or Wield every turn, unless he
Whispering to other players or
pay the 3 power normally required to
loses a duel).
passing notes is forbidden. Anything
begin the strike. He unreadies his
you say or any information you
Endanger
weapon after doing this, as normal.
exchange must be done publicly.
When a Master’s Seal has 7 power
Wield - The winning Wielder may
on it, then that Seal is destroyed and
immediately use his weapon’s power
the Master becomes endangered. He
34
Other Notes
The supply of power is considered
to be an infinite supply. If you run out,
bring in more tokens to represent the
additional power in larger amounts.
Whenever blades are destroyed or
removed from play for any reason,
they go onto the bottom of the Weapon
Stack, with their normal side face-up.
Collector Variant for
Odd-sized Groups
In a game with an odd number of
players, one player will be the
Collector. Playing as the Collector is
complex, but adds a fun new dynamic
to the game. It is recommended you
do not introduce the Collector unless
every player is familiar with the basic
game.
their turns, round down, as though
there were no Collector.
Reveal the Collector Crest
The Collector can reveal his Crest
at any time. When he does, his
weapon immediately becomes
liberated, and he gains 7 power from
the supply.
The Collector is a unified MasterWielder team all in one individual.
Each turn, the Collector gains a new
Changes when playing
weapon. The Collector’s weapons act
with the Collector
like Wielders under his control–they
Shuffle the Collector Crest into the can each follow a strike, they can
Crests after you deal each Master his participate in duels individually, and
two Crests (step 7 in setup). The
they each receive a turn. Left
Wielder who receives this Crest is
unchecked, the Collector can become
secretly the Collector. Until he chooses unstoppable.
to reveal the Collector Crest, he acts
The Collector and all of his
as a Wielder, taking normal Wielder
weapons share a single power pool.
turns, and receiving power from
The Collector’s power cannot be
Masters.
stolen or discarded by weapons like
When counting the number of
Arcturus and Nephilim.
players for the purpose of determining
how much power Masters receive on
35
Collector Victory
The Collector wins when more
than half of the other Wielders in the
game are liberated. If liberating a
Wielder would cause both the
Collector and a Master-Wielder team
to win, the Collector wins instead. (For
the Collector to win a [7, 9, 11] player
game, then [3, 4, 5] Wielders other
than the Collector must be liberated).
It is possible for the Collector to win
without revealing his Crest. Revealing
early means you will be able to
accumulate more weapons.
3. The Collector gains power equal to
the number of players, then ends
his turn. Unlike a Master, the
Collector does not need to
distribute power, and can hoard as
much as he wishes.
Collector Loses a Duel
When the Collector loses a duel, all
power from the winning side is given to
him (he does not divide it with the
Master who supported him) the
weapon he owned that participated in
the duel is destroyed and placed on
Dueling the Collector
the bottom of the Weapon Stack. If the
When dueling the Collector after
last of the Collector’s weapons is
his Crest is revealed, things work a
destroyed, the Master who won that
little differently than normal.
Each of the Collector’s weapons is duel immediately wins the game, along
considered a different Wielder, so you with the rest of his team.
must choose an individual weapon that
you wish to duel with when declaring
the duel. The Collector contributes his
Collector Turn
own power in a duel as a Wielder, and
On the Collector’s Turn, he takes
both Masters and the opposing
the following steps:
Wielder bid as normal.
1. The Collector takes the top card
After all bids are made, the
from the Weapon Stack and adds
Collector
decides which Master
it to his Collection. It is liberated as
supports
which
side.
it comes into play.
2. Each of his weapons takes a
Collector Wins a Duel
Wielder turn, following all the
When the Collector wins a duel, he
normal steps for a Wielder turn.
decides his own spoils.
The Collector’s weapons cannot
duel with one another.
36
Materials
6 Player starting cards
1 Trophy card
47 Space cards
6 Villain pawns or standups
dangerous traps that will put you in
significant peril.
Overview
Players: 3-6
Play Time: 20~40m
Weight: Light
Genre: Comic Villainy
Game Type: Memory / Race
Master Plan is a real-space game.
This means that you can play cards in
any orientation or position on the table
that you wish, but the position and
orientation of these cards will matter.
Players are able to move between
“Fabulous Traps! Deadly Prizes!
cards if their distances are within one
Ladies and Gentlemen, Supervillains
short card edge of each other. To
from across the globe have gathered
measure a short card edge, take any
here tonight to compete for the Billion card and hold its shorter edge
Dollar Prize! Let’s see which of our
between the two spaces you wish to
lucky contestants has the ultimate
cross. If the spaces are closer than the
Master Plan!”
short length of the card, then a move
is legal. Otherwise, it cannot be made.
Master Plan is an obstacle course
Spaces are placed onto the board
gameshow starring supervillains, each face-down. When a space is moved
competing for a fully furnished secret onto, it flips face-up and its effects
underground lair and one million
occur. Some spaces contain prizes
dollars one billion dollars!
that will help you get a jump on the
competition. Other spaces contain
37
Cards flip over when contestants move onto
them. Will you win one of Master Plan’s
deadly prizes, or will it be a fabulous trap?
Objective
Each player’s goal is to be the first
one to reach the trophy, wherever it is
placed. The first player to move onto
the trophy is immediately declared the
winner.
Setup
Pick an edge of the table to be the
contestant starting area, and arrange
all of the contestant starting spaces in
a random order along this edge of the
table, so that there is one long card
Starting space cards
have a character’s
picture and power on
them (or Pro Tips, if
you’re playing without
powers). They can’t
be destroyed.
We recommend not using villain
powers for your first game of Master
Plan. After you’ve learned the basic
rules, you may decide to distribute
villains randomly for fairness, or let
each player choose, starting with the
youngest player.
Taking Turns (M.A.D.)
length between each. Place the trophy
about 2 feet away from the contestant
starting area (place each about 2 card
widths apart from the others).
Shuffle the Space cards and deal 4
of them to each player in the game.
Put each player pawn on the
corresponding starting space.
Villain Powers
What are super villains without
super powers? Villain Powers are an
optional rule that you can play with.
Each villain has one side featuring a
power, and one side without. If you
want to play with powers, flip each
villain so that the side with the powers
is showing.
OK!
You can jump between two cards if
any point on one card is within reach
of any point on another card. Use one
of the cards in your hand to measure
the distance.
Starting with the player whose
starting card is rightmost and moving
left, players take turns.
Each turn sequence follows three
card you want to move to. Return the
steps: Move, Add, and Draw. You must card to your hand after measuring
perform the steps in order, but you can distance with it.
choose to skip any step you want.
If the destination card is facedown,
flip it over, then move your
Move
villain
pawn
onto it. Then read aloud
Note: During the first complete
the effect of the card you just flipped
round of the game, players do not
over.
receive moves. Only on a player’s
If the destination card is already
second turn and after can he make
face-up,
you may make one
moves.
additional free move. You only get
To move, simply place the card in
your hand (there will always be at least one free move per turn, and you
one) face-down so that its short edge cannot use a free move to reach the
Trophy. Face-up cards have no
bridges the gap between the card
effect when you move onto them.
where your villain is standing and the
38
Add
Falling
Take a card from your hand and
place it face-down anywhere on the
table. When placing a card, there are 3
rules to keep in mind:
#1. Cards cannot overlap any other
cards.
#2. If you are planning for one card
to be reachable from another card,
place the cards within 1 inch of each
other. This is just good etiquette.
#3. You can never measure
distances while placing cards. If you
misjudge a distance and place your
card too far to jump to, tough luck. See
rule #2.
You can continue adding cards
from your hand as many times as you
like, until you decide to stop or until
you run out of cards.
Sometimes spaces will get
destroyed. If your villain pawn is on a
space when this happens, he will fall
into the abyss below. A destroyed
space is discarded into the discard
pile.
When a player falls, he discards
his hand and draws 4 new cards, then
moves immediately to his starting
space.
A player who falls on his own turn
ends his turn immediately–he cannot
add cards or draw again.
Sudden Death
Shuffle the discard pile to form a
new deck whenever a player needs to
draw and cannot.
As soon as the Space Deck runs
out for the first time, Sudden Death
Draw
begins. A player who falls when
Draw one card to signal the end of Sudden Death is instituted does not
your turn and the beginning of the next return to the board, does not draw
player’s turn. There is no limit to the more cards, and is eliminated. If all
number of cards you can hold at a
other players in the game are
time.
eliminated, the last remaining player
39
wins (if all remaining
players are
eliminated at
once, there is
no winner).
Reshuffles
after the first do
not have any
additional effect.
If Sudden Death
triggers because a
player falls and is
drawing cards, he is still
in the game–Sudden Death does not
apply until the next turn begins.
If all cards are on the table, players
can draw face-up spaces on the table.
Etiquette
Master Plan is a casual game of
approximations. The game is designed
to be fun and lightly competitive. As
with all real-space games, things get
bumped about and jostled, so there
are some guidelines to help you get
the most enjoyment out of the game.
• Do not place cards as far as
possible from one another. When
placing spaces, try to place them
within a half-inch to an inch of each
other if you are planning to jump to
them. Games of Master Plan are not
won by stretching your jumps as far
as possible, but by conniving,
bluffing, and daring.
• When picking up and replacing a
card (during a flip or during a Switch
effect), make sure you maintain all
jumps that were possible before
flipping. As long as the same
connections remain in place, it’s
alright if the card moves slightly in
the flipping.
• Absolutely no pre-measuring
when setting down a card.
could normally move to on his own
turn. When the space flips over, he
controls all aspects of its effect (this
includes the effect of the Teleporter).
His minion cannot ever claim the
trophy.
That card’s effect activates just as if
she had flipped it over. This replaces
her entire move. She is especially
dangerous with a Laser Gun (or a
Bomb, if she’s feeling particularly
vengeful), so watch out!
Dr. Badmahn
Plutonian Poacher
Dr. Badmahn is able to draw a free
card if he places at least 3 cards on
his turn. He can place the new card
immediately if he wishes. He can only
gain 1 extra card per turn from this
power (so playing his 6th card won’t
give him another extra).
When he would draw cards, the
Poacher can draw face-up,
unoccupied spaces from the table.
This lets him re-use powerful cards
and cut off certain routes, but also lets
others see what he is drawing.
Mysterious M
Monster Nash
When he is standing on a face-up
space, Nash can move onto a facedown space without flipping it over
(this is optional). If he is already on a
face-down space, he cannot move to
The Villains
another face-down space without
Here is a short introduction of the
flipping his destination. Face-down
villains and their villain powers, with
spaces can still be destroyed. Nash’s
some clarifications.
space cannot be affected by the
Ms. Fyre
Z-Mask
Control Panel or the Switch. If Nash is
Instead of moving on her turns, Ms. standing on a face-down Trapdoor or
Z-Mask’s power allows him to send
out a minion to flip over any space he Fyre can play a card from her hand.
Bomb and another player triggers the
At the end of each of his turns,
Mysterious M is able to look at any 1
face-down card on the table. He
replaces it back onto the table where it
came from. He may say what the card
is (or lie), but he cannot show it to any
other player.
40
Thank you for being a part of the
Minigames Library, and I hope you
enjoy all the games that we’ve packed
into it for you! It’s been a lot of fun and
a lot of work to bring this collection to
life, and it’s always great to hear how
people are enjoying it. If you want to
send me feedback or ask any
questions, please use this email. I love
to hear how you like the games:
[email protected]
If you want to see what’s new with
Level 99 Games and our future
projects, please check out our home
page at www.lvl99games.com.
We at Level 99 Games look
forward to bringing you more exciting
tabletop and mobile games in the
future!
Happy Gaming!
D. Brad Talton Jr.
Designer, Level 99 Games President
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