1902 Méliès Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• How to Play
• Game Turn
• Actions
  • Prepare Set
  • Special Effects
  • Write Scene
  • Change Wardrobe
  • Move Actors
  • Filming a Scene
  • Create Sequence
  • Cut and Create Sequence
  • Color Scene
• Shares
• Production Journals
  • Pre-Production Journal — "Special Effects" and "Write Scene"
  • Filming Journal — "Film a Scene"
  • Post-Production Journal — "Create Sequence," "Cut and Create Sequence," and "Color Scene"
  • Rewards
• End of the Game
• Scoring
• Georges Méliès
• Credits

Components

• 1 studio board
• 6 actor tokens
• 28 ticket tokens (7 per player)
• 12 action pawns (3 per player)
• 12 disks (3 per player)
• 4 prestige cubes (1 per player)
• 1 set token
• 60 standard-size cards: 1 Starting Player card, 24 Special Effects cards, 21 "Star Film" Shares cards
• 48 small cards: 42 Scene cards, 18 Production Journal cards, 1 Initial Scene card, 1 Final Scene card

Setup

1. Place the studio board on the table.
2. Put the set token on the starting position (marked with a dot) in the scene area.
3. Shuffle the scene cards deck, with the colored side facing up. Draw 3 cards and form a row next to the studio board with the black and white side facing up.
4. Shuffle the special effects cards deck. Draw 3 cards and form a face-up row next to the studio board.
5. Draw another special effects card and place it face-up in its designated space on the studio board. This will be the effect already installed on the studio lot.
6. Create the 3 decks of production journals: pre-production, filming, and post-production. To do this, take 2 random cards from each deck and combine the front of one with the back of the other. Return the remaining cards to the game box as they won't be needed for this game.
7. Leave enough space next to the studio board for the editing area, where scenes will be placed as they are filmed. Place the 2 small initial and final scene cards there to set it up.
8. The player who has most recently watched a black and white film receives the starting player card (or choose randomly).
9. Each player receives 2 pawns of their color (3 in two-player games) and 7 ticket tokens of their color, placing them in their play area. Additionally, each player:
   • 9a. Receives 3 disks of their color and places one on the starting space of each production journal.
   • 9b. Receives 1 prestige cube of their color and places it on the "0" space of the prestige track on the studio board.
   • 9c. Draws 1 special effects card from the deck.
   • 9d. Draws 2 scene cards from the deck and chooses one of them to place in the editing area (black and white side up) under one of their ticket tokens. These are considered the first filmed scenes. The other card is kept in their play area (black and white side up) as a scene to be filmed.
10. Shuffle the "Star Film" shares deck and place it next to the studio board.
11. Randomly place 5 out of the 6 actor tokens in an X shape on the stage. You can toss the tokens like coins to determine which side lands face up. Give the sixth token to the last player in turn order (seated to the right of the starting player), and they place it on one of the four available spaces on the stage, choosing any side they prefer.

Now everything is ready to start filming "Le Voyage dans la Lune"!

How to Play

In a game of "1902 Méliès," players take turns in a clockwise sequence until one of them films their sixth scene of the movie (using their sixth ticket token and leaving them with only one remaining). After that, the game continues until it comes back to the starting player, and then all players get one last extra turn.

After all players complete their last turn, the player with the most prestige points will be crowned the best assistant to Georges Méliès in the film production and declared the winner of the game.

Game Turn

On your turn, you must place one of your pawns on an action space to activate at least one of the indicated actions. If the space has two actions, you can activate them in any order.

The "Cut and Create Sequence" action is the only one that requires the player to place two pawns simultaneously.

If the space is occupied by another player's pawn, return it to them before placing yours. You cannot select a space that is already occupied by one of your own pawns.

If you have no available pawns, you must retrieve all of your pawns from the board, after which your turn ends.

Actions

There are 9 actions available in the game, divided into 3 areas of the studio board:

• Pre-production area with the actions "Special Effects," "Prepare Set," and "Write Scene."
• Filming area with the actions: "Change Wardrobe," "Move Actors," and "Film Scene."
• Post-production area with the actions: "Create Sequence," "Cut and Create Sequence," and "Color Scene."

If all 3 cards in the row display the same special effect or the same paint color, the player can discard them and replenish the row with 3 new cards before taking one.

Prepare Set

Besides designing mechanisms and contraptions, Georges Méliès' artistic ability allowed him to draw the sets with great detail before they were constructed. This movie takes place in five different settings: Astronomers' Club, Foundry and Launch, Lunar Craters, Cave with Mushrooms, and Town Square Celebration.

Move the set token one space clockwise or anticlockwise.

If you move it clockwise, take a "Star Film" share card (see page 8).

The set token is always between two different sets, indicating that both are available for shooting scenes.

Special Effects

Georges Méliès was a pioneer in blending his knowledge as an illusionist with cinematography, creating dozens of ingenious visual tricks.

Take 1 of the 3 visible special effects cards. After that, replenish the row with a new effect card from the deck.

Special effect types: Trapdoors, Explosions and Smoke, Pulleys and Cranes, Mirrors.

Write Scene

Literature and fables served as the foundation that inspired Méliès' scripts, stemming from his theatrical performances. For this movie, his inspiration came from the novels "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne and "The First Men in the Moon" by H. G. Wells.

Take 1 of the 3 visible scene cards. After that, replenish the row with the next scene card from the deck, showing its black and white side.

Change Wardrobe

The costumes of the lunar inhabitants were one of the most complex and expensive elements to create. Méliès himself sculpted prototypes of the heads and feet, which would be used to make plaster molds for crafting them from cardboard and canvas.

Flip one actor token to show the other side.

Each side of the actor token provides information about the actor on the other side.

Actor sides: Astronomers, Ladies, Gentlemen, Selenites.

Move Actors

The theatrical actors of that time didn't view the cinematograph favorably, so Méliès reserved the leading roles for himself in his films. Dancers, acrobats, and circus people became his supporting cast and extras.

Move (a) one actor token to an empty space on the stage or swap (b) the positions of two actor tokens.

Filming a Scene

Due to the multitude of effects, sets, and mechanisms, it took three months of shooting to complete the 14-minute duration of the film, making it one of the longest shoots of the era.

You can select one of your scene cards to be filmed if you meet these two requirements:

• The set token must be in a position adjacent to the set indicated on the scene card.
• The special effect requested by the scene must either be already installed on the studio board or you must have it in your play area. In the latter case, you can exchange it with the one on the board.

If you meet both requirements, place the scene in the editing area with its black and white side up, and place one of your ticket tokens on it. Score 1 prestige point for each actor whose position matches that indicated by the scene card. By filming a scene, you can earn from 0 to 6 prestige points.

Keep in mind that the orientation of the card is indicated by the camera position, and it is NOT necessary for the actors to be in the exact positions depicted on the card, but it is a significant source of prestige points.

Filming example: The orange player wants to film scene 5, so they choose the action space with "Move Actors" and "Film a Scene" (1). They move a Selenite to an empty space (2) and play the scene card 5. The set token is adjacent to the Astronomers' Club (3), but the smoke effect installed is not the one needed. They exchange it for a trapdoor from their play area (4). They leave the scene in the editing area with one of their ticket tokens and score 3 prestige points for the actors in the correct positions.

Create Sequence

A sequence is a set of scenes that are joined together with adhesive tape.

You can select a scene (or a previously joined sequence of scenes) from the editing area and attach it to the side of another scene or sequence, as long as the following conditions are met:

• The scenes being attached must follow an ascending numerical order from left to right, and there may be gaps in the numbering.
• The adhesive tape formed between the two scenes must always be consistent (either all white or all dark).
• A sequence cannot have more than 5 scenes.

The initial and final scenes can be used to create sequences.

Example of creating a sequence: By fulfilling the three requirements, the white player creates a sequence of 3 cards by combining their scene 22 with the sequence the violet player had previously created with scene 12 and the start title.

Cut and Create Sequence

The separation of sequences allowed the inclusion of other scenes in between.

To perform this action, you must place two pawns. Then, follow these two steps in order:

1. Divide a previously joined sequence into two parts.
2. Add a scene or sequence to the cut end of one of those two parts.

Additionally, besides complying with the three rules explained above, there is a new rule to consider:

• The new numbering of the sequence must improve the one that existed before separating the parts. In other words, the new scene being attached must have a number closer than the initial sequence's numbering.

Example of cutting and creating a sequence: The orange player has a sequence formed with scenes 14 and 19. They want to extend it, but they can only do so by breaking the previous example sequence (Start+12+22) and separating the scene 22 from the white player (now it's a single scene again). Then they add their sequence next to card 12. The move is valid since the sequence improves by replacing card 22 with card 14, which is a number closer than the original one. They could have joined their sequence to card 22, but by doing it this way, they achieve a longer sequence (4 cards instead of 3), which is more beneficial at the end of the game.

Color Scene

A group of 21 women worked in a chain to hand-color each frame of the film. They used very fine brushes and aniline dyes for this tedious and delicate task.

Discard two special effects cards from your play area whose paints match those of a scene in the editing area.

• Flip the scene card to show its colored side and keep the player's ticket token on it.
• Score 3 prestige points, and if the scene belonged to another player, they take a "Star Film" share card (see below).

Example of color: The white player uses two of their special effects cards to color their scene 31. They flip it over and then score 3 prestige points.

Shares

"Star Film" is the studio created by Georges Méliès to finance his films. Your collaboration in the filming of the movie will reward you with shares of the company, which have a variable value.

You obtain these cards through the actions "Prepare Set" and "Color Scene" (when another player colors one of your scenes) and keep them hidden in your play area.

You can never have more than three shares. If you ever receive a fourth one, you must discard one to go back to having three.

The cards display three different illustrations. At the end of the game, you will reveal and tally the points obtained:

• 9 prestige points if you have 3 identical cards.
• 5 prestige points if you have 3 different cards.
• 2 prestige points if you have 2 identical cards.

Production Journals

During the game, there are 3 production journals available, each related to a different stage of movie creation.

Each time you perform an action as indicated on the left page of the journal, you can advance your disc on the right page and receive the reward. The left page of the journal shows the requirement to fulfill; the right page shows the reward to receive.

You can never advance a level in one production journal from an action granted as a reward from any production journal.

Pre-Production Journal — "Special Effects" and "Write Scene"

• Take a scene that requires a trapdoor or mirror.
• Take scene 21 or lower.
• Take a scene with an even number.
• Take an effect with yellow paint.
• Take an effect with a trapdoor.
• Take an effect with pulley or smoke.

Filming Journal — "Film a Scene"

• Film a scene that requires astronomers.
• Film a scene that requires ladies.
• Film a scene with the effect of pulley or smoke.
• Film a scene with the set Club of Astronomers or Lunar Craters.
• Film a scene obtaining 0 or 1 prestige point.
• Film a scene obtaining 3 to 6 prestige points.

Post-Production Journal — "Create Sequence," "Cut and Create Sequence," and "Color Scene"

• Create a sequence with a difference of 4 or less between scenes.
• Create a sequence with a difference of 5 or more between scenes.
• Create a sequence with white adhesive tape.
• Color a scene with blue.
• Color a scene with two identical colors.
• Color a scene with two different colors.

Rewards

The production journals offer 2 types of rewards:

• Immediate rewards: You receive them instantly.
• Persistent rewards: All of them are marked with an arrow separating two icons. Each time a player performs the action on the left, they receive the benefit on the right.

Persistent benefits remain throughout the game, even if your disc advances to other positions in the production journal.

Immediate rewards:

• Perform the indicated action (special effects, write scene, prepare set, change wardrobe, move actors, or create sequence — matching the icon shown) without using a pawn. With this free action, you CANNOT advance a level in a production journal.
• You gain 1 or 3 prestige points.
• Recover all your action pawns.

Persistent rewards:

• When performing "Change Wardrobe" action, execute its effect twice.
• When performing "Move Actors" action, execute its effect twice.
• When performing "Prepare Set" action, you can move two spaces in the same direction instead of one. If you move clockwise, you only receive one "Star Film" share card.
• After filming a scene, you can take a "Create Sequence" action.
• After filming a scene, you can take a "Color Scene" action.
• After filming, gain 1 prestige point.
• When filming, both icons can score as ladies or gentlemen.
• When filming, both icons can score as astronomers or Selenites.
• When filming a scene, you can ignore the set requirement.
• When coloring scenes, you can use the color yellow as any other color.
• When coloring scenes, you can use the color blue as any other color.
• After coloring, take a "Create Sequence" action.
• After coloring, take a "Special Effects" action.
• After coloring, gain 1 extra prestige point.
• After coloring, take a "Prepare Set" action. In this case, if you move clockwise, you don't receive a "Star Film" share card.

If you reach the end of a progress bar, you receive 1 prestige point each time you fulfill the requirement of that production journal.

End of the Game

If, after a filming action, a player uses their sixth ticket token, the end of the game is triggered.

From that point, the game continues until it reaches the initial player, and then all players will get one last extra turn.

Players have a seventh ticket token in case they film one last scene during this additional turn.

Scoring

To all the points obtained during the game, players must add:

• Each sequence in the editing area awards each player as many points as the number of their own scenes multiplied by the total number of scenes in the sequence.
• Each player reveals their "Star Film" share cards and adds the score (see Shares).

Example of sequence scoring: The first sequence composed of 3 scenes (Start+12+14) awards 6 points (2x3) to the orange player. The orange player scores only 1 point (1x1) because scene 8 has been left separated from any other sequence. The white player scores 4 points (2x2) for the sequence of 2 scenes (21+27). Finally, the sequence with the maximum allowed of 5 scenes (26+31+32+38+End) grants 15 points (3x5) to the violet player and 5 points (1x5) to the white player.

"I build my dreams to prevent waking up." — Georges Méliès

Georges Méliès

Georges Méliès was a pioneering filmmaker, illusionist, and magician, born on December 8, 1861, in Paris, France.

In 1895, Méliès attended a demonstration of the Lumière brothers' cinematograph, which opened his eyes to the possibilities of cinema. Intrigued by this new medium, Méliès acquired his own camera and began experimenting with cinematic techniques, introducing several groundbreaking innovations such as multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, and hand-painted color. He also revolutionized storytelling in films, captivating audiences with complex narratives inspired by literature and legends.

One of Méliès's most famous films is "Le voyage dans la Lune" ("A Trip to the Moon"), released in 1902, which showcased his creative vision and technical prowess. The film featured elaborate sets, intricate costumes, and impressive special effects using stage machinery, pyrotechnics, and stop-motion animation, making it an instant hit. Its iconic image of a rocket crashing into the moon's eye remains an enduring symbol of early cinema.

With its 14-minute duration, "Le Voyage dans la Lune" ("A Trip to the Moon") was one of the longest and also one of the most expensive films of its time. An investment of 10,000 francs was made for the creation of numerous mobile elements, the costumes of the Selenites, and the construction of the sets.

It was a tremendous success in France and also in the United States. However, in the US, some distributors projected illegal copies, depriving Méliès of the royalties. Consequently, he decided to open a branch of "Star Film" in the US. He entrusted this task to his brother Gaston, who relocated to New York and started producing documentary films. Due to their limited success, the offices were later moved to a ranch in San Antonio and eventually to California.

However, everything changed during World War I. The film industry underwent a major transformation, and Méliès faced an economic crisis that led to the closure of his production company, Star Film, the studios he had built in Montreuil-sous-Bois, and the destruction of much of his film stock to extract silver from the negatives or repurpose the celluloid for shoe heels.

Subsequently, he ran a toy and candy store at Montparnasse station until he was rediscovered in 1929 by Léon Druhot, editor-in-chief of Ciné-Journal, who rescued him from obscurity and secured his appointment as an honorary knight for his merits and the importance of his career. Since then, efforts have been made to recover and restore his filmography from the copies that have been found to this day. Of the more than 500 films he made, over half have been successfully rescued.

Georges Méliès passed away on January 21, 1938, leaving behind a lasting legacy in the history of cinema. He is remembered as a visionary filmmaker who pushed the boundaries of storytelling and special effects. His artistic vision and technical innovations continue to inspire modern filmmakers, and these game creators.

Thank you, Maestro!

Credits

• Game design: Eloi Pujadas & Ferran Renalias
• Illustration and Graphic Design: Pedro Soto
• Development & rules: Perepau Llistosella & Pedro Soto
• Translation: Pako Cantarero
• Published by: Looping Games S.L. (www.loopinggames.com)