Age of Comics: The Golden Years Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Goal
• Base Game Components
  • Colors & Genre Icons
  • Index
• Game Setup
• Card Setup & Display
  • Cards Types
• Player Mat
• How to Get Fans
• Chart
• Round Structure
• Actions
• Print
  • A. Originals
  • B. Rip-offs
• Sales Agents
• Fulfilling an Order
• Value of Comic Books (Originals and Rip-offs)
  • Increasing Creative Value (using Increase-value tokens)
• Special Actions
• End of Round
• End Game Scoring
• Variants

Object of the Game

In each round the players, in turn, use their Editor meeples to perform different publishing tasks, such as hiring creatives, developing new comics (or creating rip-offs of those published by competitors!), printing and selling them in order to earn money and fans, rising up on the comic book chart.

Performing tasks earlier in the round provides greater benefits. As more comic books are printed, special actions and bonuses are unlocked, expanding players' strategies.

Goal

The winner is the player who scores the most victory points (VP, from now on, represented by a star icon) at the end of five rounds.

VP are awarded throughout the game through:

• Publishing original comic books
• Matching creative teams with comics of their genre expertise
• Accumulating fans
• Being at the top of the comic book chart
• Earning money
• Generating ideas for new comics
• Improving the printing quality

Base Game Components

• 24 Original Comic Book cards
• 24 Rip-off cards
• 48 Creatives cards (24 Writers & 24 Artists)
• 4 Overview cards
• 1 Board
• 6 Super-transport tickets (+2 spare tickets for the Vault Collection Expansion)
• 24 Increase-value tokens
• 24 Mini Originals & 24 Rip-off Comic Book tiles
• 4 Player mats
• 30 VP tokens
• 60 Idea tokens
• 6 Mastery tokens
• 4 Turn Order blocks
• 20 Editor meeples
• 16 Hype tokens
• 6 Calendar tiles
• 42 Sales Order tiles
• 16 Better-color tokens
• 72 Money tokens
• 12 Special Actions cubes
• 4 Sales Agent tokens
• 1 Scorepad

Colors & Genre Icons

• Green for Sci-fi / UFO
• Gray for Crime / GUN
• Red for Romance / HEART
• Purple for Horror / ZOMBIE HAND
• Blue for Superheroes / SUPERHERO
• Orange for Western / BOOT

Index

• Game Setup — p.2
• Turn Order — p.3
• Player Setup — p.3
• Card Setup Display & Types — p.4
• Player Mat — p.5
• How to Get Fans — p.5
• Chart — p.5
• Round Structure — p.6
• Actions — p.7
• Print Originals — p.8
• Print Rip-offs — p.8
• Sales Agents — p.9
• Fulfilling an Order — p.9
• Value of Comic Books — p.10
• Special Actions — p.11
• End of Round — p.12
• End Game Scoring — p.12
• Variants — p.12

Game Setup

1. Place the board in the center of the table and leave enough space on the right to place the cards.
2. Randomly place the 6 Calendar tiles face down on the round track (place two on the space marking round III).
3. Place the Turn Order blocks on the track (for turn order, p. 3).
4. Place 6 Idea tokens (1 per genre) inside the ideas action space.
5. Place one Editor meeple per player on the shaped spaces below.
6. Arrange the following resources on the left side of the board, or wherever convenient. This is the game supply: Increase-value tokens, VP tokens, Rip-off cards, Mastery tokens, Idea tokens, Better-color tokens, Hype tokens, Money tokens.
7. Stack all the Mini Original Comic Book tiles, grouped per genre, on the top row and do the same for the Mini Rip-off tiles placing them on the corresponding spaces on the bottom row.
8. Place Sales Order tiles on the map:
   • 2 players: Remove two tiles, one with value 3 and one with value 4 from each genre. Place the remaining 30 tiles face down on all white spaces and the ones marked (do not use the spaces marked & ). There cannot be three or more tiles of the same genre connected to the same circle. If this occurs, randomly swap one of them (see the 4 player example).
   • 3 players: Remove one tile with value 3 from each genre. Place the remaining 36 tiles face down on all white spaces and the ones marked (do not use the spaces marked & ). There cannot be three or more tiles of the same genre connected to the same circle. If this occurs, randomly swap one of them (see the 4 player example).
   • 4 players: Randomly place all the Sales Order tiles (42) face down on all the spaces (including the special spaces). There cannot be three or more tiles of the same genre connected to the same circle. If this occurs, randomly swap one of them.
9. Place each Sales Agent token at the center of the X in the map.
10. Place the 6 bonus Super-transport tickets on the allocated space of the map.
11. Turn order. In round 1 the player who most recently read a comic book goes first, then the second most recent and so on. Alternatively, randomly place the Turn Order blocks on their track. In the following rounds, the turn order is the reverse of the ranking order on the chart (more about the chart on p. 5). In case of a tie in the ranking order check page 12.
12. Player setup. Players are identified by the logos and color of the publishing houses: Yellow, Salmon, Teal, Brown.

Each player receives:

• 1 Player mat and 3 Special Actions cubes. Place these cubes in the three available spaces on the player mat (as shown below).
• Four Editor meeples.
• $5.
• One random value 2 Writer card.
• One random value 2 Artist card.

Note: Check your cards without revealing them. If both are the same genre (color), return one and draw a replacement until you have two different genre creatives.

• In turn order:
  • One face down Original Comic Book card of their choice.
  • Two Idea tokens of their choice.
• The 2nd player gets one additional idea token of their choice.
• The 3rd gets an extra $1.
• The 4th gets one idea token of their choice and $1.

13. Shuffle the remaining Writers, Artists, and Original Comic Book cards separately, form 3 decks (Writers deck, Artists deck, Original Comic Books deck) and place them face down to the right of the board. (See next page for cards setup.)

Card Setup & Display

After setup:

• Draw three cards from each of Writers, Artists, and Original Comic Book deck in a 2- or 3-player game, or four cards from each deck for a 4-player game.
• Place the cards face up in a row beside their corresponding deck.

These rows form the Card Display.

Cards Types

1. Creatives cards

There are two types of Creative decks:

• Writers deck — 4 cards (one value 1, two value 2, and one value 3) × 6 genres for a total of 24 cards.
• Artists deck — 4 cards (one value 1, two value 2 and one value 3) × 6 genres for a total of 24 cards.

The value of the creatives is expressed by a number ranging from 1 to 3. The sum of the values of the two creatives needed to print a comic book gives both the comic book's value and its printing cost.

The BACK of the cards shows their value and type (writer or artist icon). The FRONT of the cards shows their value, genre specialization (overall color and genre icon) and bonuses. Name and surname are only needed to differentiate cards.

Fun Fact: All the people on the cards are our playtesters, and friends.

Bonuses: 1 fan is awarded when the comic book is printed only if the creative is specialized in the genre (i.e. the Creative card has the same color/genre as the comic book printed). Value 1 creatives represent young people whose perceived value is low but have a good idea so they come with a one-off Idea token (placed on the card when it is revealed) that is collected as soon as the card is chosen by the player.

2. Original Comic Book cards

There are 24 cards (4 per genre) featuring original artworks inspired by comic covers of the period. The front shows the cover, while the back shows the six genre icons and colors.

All originals have 1 fan. The symbol on the top left corner shows the one-off BONUS that can be collected as soon as the comic is printed. There are 4 types of bonuses:

• +1 Fan
• 2 Idea tokens (any)
• 1 Super-transport ticket
• +$4

The BACK of the cards shows the genre (color and icon) (Example: Blue for superheroes). The FRONT of the cards shows the cover, genre (color and icon), 1 fan and bonuses.

2. Rip-off Comic Book cards

There are 24 Rip-off cards. They are plagiarized versions of the original comic books. They cost only money (no Idea tokens nor development are needed - see more under Print at p. 8) but do not come with bonuses, nor the initial 1 fan and award no VP at the end of the game. They can contribute to win the Mastery token under certain conditions (p. 5).

In the deck, there's one rip-off for each original comic book. They are all slightly altered versions of the original comics, in the specific genre color. The colors and icons on the back help you recognize the genre quickly while searching through the deck.

Player Mat

The player mat helps the players organize their printed comic books. The top row reminds them when to collect the Mastery token or activate the special actions (p. 11) based on the number of comic books printed. The writer and artist icons on the sides indicate where to place the respective Writer and Artist cards when taking the Print action.

How to Get Fans

1. Print original comic books. Original comics immediately get 1 fan when printed.

2. Print original comic books with bonus. +1 fan bonus (available as a bonus in the top left corner of 6 cards - one per genre) (p.8).

3. Specialized creatives. If the creatives (artist or writer) are specialized (same genre icon or color as the printed comic book), the comic book (original or rip-off) gets a +1 fan for each specialized creative when printed.

4. Get Mastery tokens. A Mastery token (one per genre) is awarded if you:

   • are the first to print a specific genre; or
   • have printed the majority of comic books of that genre (originals and rip-offs) and take the token from the player who previously held it (you must have printed at least one more comic book of that genre than the previous Mastery token holder to win it).

   Note: Rip-offs alone are not enough for a player to win the genre Mastery token. You must have at least one original comic book of that genre printed to earn it.

   The Mastery token awards +1 fan to every comic book, original or rip-off, of that genre that you have already printed (you can add those fans in the chart as soon as you get the token) and to the ones you will print after earning the token. If another player takes the Mastery token from you, you do not lose the fans previously earned. The Mastery token also awards 2 VP at the end of the game.

5. Fulfilling orders collected on the map. A Sales Order tile can be collected with a Sales action (p.10). Each Sales Order tile awards a specific number of fans.

6. Activating special actions (p. 11).

At the end of each round, all comics on the chart lose one fan. Slide all the Comics tiles down one square. (This represents the fact that it is extremely difficult to keep a fan base for an ongoing series and fans naturally decrease with time.) Comic books cannot fall below 1 fan.

Rip-offs can start at 0 fans (off the chart; in case they have no specialized creatives) but once they acquire at least 1 fan they cannot fall back to 0.

Chart

The chart tracks two things:

• Overall number of fans accumulated by each player's comic books throughout the game.
• The respective earnings and rankings (VP) at the end of each round.

Every time a comic book (original or rip-off) is printed, players must position their corresponding Mini Comic Book tile on their tracks in the chart according to its number of fans. Players must slide the tile up or down the track as the book gains or loses fans.

Players earn money from all their comic books on the chart. The amount earned is shown in the leftmost column.

Rankings and VP are based only on each player's best comic book at the end of the round.

At the end of each round, VP are awarded to the players as follows:

• 3 VP to the 1st
• 2 VP to the 2nd
• 1 VP to the 3rd
• 0 VP to the 4th

If players tie, they both receive the prize and the next place is skipped. Example: Two players in first place get both 3 VP and the third player gets 1 VP. Players with no comic book on the chart at the end of the round get 0 VP.

Example (Earnings): At the end of the round the yellow player would earn $2, salmon would earn $3, teal would earn $3 (2+1) and brown would earn $5 (4+1).

Example (Ranking and VP at the end of the round): Brown player wins the round as their best comic has 8 fans, followed by salmon (4 fans) and yellow (3 fans).

Over ten fans? If a comic book exceeds 10 fans, flip the tile and continue counting from 1. A flipped tile represents +10 fans and earns +$6 at the end of the round. If it later drops to 10 or fewer fans, flip the tile back.

The back of the Mini Comic Book tile shows the publishing companies logos and tracks.

Round Structure

I. Preparation

1. Flip the Calendar tile marking the round 1 and flip all the Order tiles on the map with the corresponding genre icon.
2. Refill the Idea tokens on the board putting one token for every genre in the corresponding spaces.
3. Add a Hype token (2 fans) to each Original Comic Book card on the table due to the Hype special action (p. 11).
4. Pay $ to increase creatives' values if desired (p. 10).

II. Actions (see pp. 7-11)

Players perform actions one at a time following the turn order.

III. End (p.12)

1. Establish ranking on the chart and award VP.
2. Earn $ as shown in chart.
3. Establish turn order for the next round as the reverse of the ranking.
4. Remove 1 fan from each comic book on the chart.
5. Remove Editors from the board.
6. Discard the cards and refill the table.

Players may choose among six actions: Hire, Develop, Ideas, Print, Royalties, Sales.

On their turn, each player chooses an action and places one Editor on the first available action space. Action spaces are filled from top to bottom.

The number of action spaces available equals the number of players + 1.

Example:

• With 2 players, 3 action spaces are available.
• With 3 players, 4 action spaces.
• With 4 players, all the 5 action spaces are available.

Note: The benefits associated with a specific action decrease as the action spaces are filled. Higher action spaces provide stronger benefits. Example: More $ (Royalties action), or more cards to choose from (Hire or Develop actions), or more Idea tokens to collect, etc.

Actions

Hire* a Writer and an Artist.

Add 1 Writer card and 1 Artist card from the first two rows of Creatives cards to your hand. You can start by choosing either an artist or a writer. You may draw any of the cards on display, including the top face-down card from each deck.

Example: You first draw 1 face-down Writer card, then choose either a face-up or face-down Artist card. You cannot select two artists or two writers.

Note: Value 1 creatives come with a one-off Idea token that is collected as soon as the card is chosen.

*A player cannot have more than 6 cards in hand.

If a player takes an action that allows them to draw cards while already holding 6 cards, they may draw first and then discard down to 6 cards.

The cards on display are replenished only at the beginning of the following round. The cards that are not selected are discarded and form three piles (one per row). Players can always check the discarded cards during their turn. Whenever a deck is exhausted, shuffle the discarded cards and place them face down as the new deck.

Develop* a comic book.

Add one Original Comic Book card to your hand. You can choose among the face up cards, or draw the top card from the deck. Alternatively, you may pay $4 and select a genre of your choice from the deck (discarding cards from the top of the deck until you find the genre you want).

Gain Ideas.

Take the number of Idea tokens indicated next to your action space from those available on the board, plus 2 tokens of your choice from the supply.

Example: The yellow player took 2 tokens from the board and 2 from the supply. Then the teal player would take 1 token from the board and 2 from the supply.

The 6 Idea tokens (1 per genre) on the board are replenished only at the beginning of the following round.

Print comic books (see p.8).

• Originals
• Rip-offs

With this action you must:

1. Play a Writer, an Artist, and Comic Book card in the corresponding slots on the player mat (fill slots from left to right).
2. Pay the resources needed:
   • the sum of the creatives values
   • 2 Idea tokens of the genre(s) printed
3. Take the corresponding Mini Comic Book(s) tile(s) and place it (them) on the chart according to its number of fans.

x2: The first player to take this action may print 2 comic books in one move. Otherwise only 1 comic book may be printed per action. In this case, you may use the bonus of the first comic to print the second one, or activate a special action with the first and apply its benefit to the second print.

Earn Royalties.

Place an Editor in the action space and collect the money shown.

Sell comics and collect Sales Orders.

Move your Sales Agent on the map to collect Sales Orders and gain fans (see p.9). You can:

• Move your Sales Agent token
• Flip as many Sales Order tiles as specified on the action space
• Collect as many Sales Order tiles as specified on the action space

Print

A. Originals

To print an original comic book you must:

1. Select from your hand:

   • 1 Writer card
   • 1 Artist card
   • the Comic Book card that you want to publish.

   Place them on your player mat in the first available card slot from left to right.

   Note: The value of the comic book is given by the sum of the values of the creatives (2+1 = 3 in this case) and is crucial to fulfill sales orders (more on this on p. 9).

2. Pay the supply ($) equal to the value of the comic book (in the example, pay $3).

3. Pay 2 identical Idea tokens matching the genre you want to print to the supply (in the example, spend 2 Superheroes tokens).

4. Take the bonus illustrated in the top left corner of the card (in the example, a Super-transport ticket).

5. Take the corresponding Mini Comic Book tile from the board.

6. Place it on your track on the chart according to its number of fans.

Note: If you are the first to print a comic book of any genre or you have the majority of printed comic books of that genre, you also get the corresponding Mastery token, which gives you an extra +1 fan and 2 VP at the end of the game.

Example: The "Angel of Liberty" comic book would start with a total of 2 fans: 1 fan for being an original, and 1 fan because one of its creatives (the artist) is specialized in the superheroes genre. If "Angel of Liberty" was also the first superhero book printed in the game, it would have gained the Superheroes Mastery token, getting +1 fan for a total of 3 fans.

Note: At the end of the game each original comic book printed will give you extra victory points:

• 2 VP if none of its creatives is specialized - they are not the same color/genre of the comic book.
• 4 VP if only one is specialized - only one is the same color of the comic book.
• 6 VP if both creatives are specialized - both are same color of the comic book.

B. Rip-offs

(For the first few games, to make the game less complex, players can decide to play without rip-offs.)

You can print a rip-off of any original comic book already printed by another player. For that you do not need to spend Idea tokens or to have previously "developed" a comic book. You only need a pair of creatives and the money to pay them.

Note: Only 1 rip-off per original comic book is allowed.

Thus, to print a rip-off you must:

1. Search the Rip-offs deck for the comic you want to print.
2. Place the 2 Creatives cards and the Rip-off Comic Book card on your player mat.
3. Pay ($) the creatives: pay money to the supply equal to the value of the comic book.
4. Get the corresponding Mini Rip-off tile and position it on the chart according to the number of fans.

If after printing the rip-off you achieve the majority of printed comic books of that genre in the game, get the corresponding Mastery token. (Recall that to get the Mastery token of a genre you must have printed at least 1 original of that genre. Rip-offs alone cannot get you the Mastery token.)

Note: Rip-offs do not come with 1 fan (or any bonuses) and at the end of the game they do not award extra VP. However, they can still get fans and make money by helping you get the Mastery token of a genre, fulfilling orders on the map (p.9), or through marketing (p.11).

Sales Agents

When you take the Sales action, use your Sales Agent token on the map to visit newsstands and, in any order:

• Move by walking one block, taking cab rides, using a Super-transport ticket, or any combination of these.
• Flip up to the number of Sales Order tiles shown on the action space where you placed your Editor.
• Collect up to the number of Sales Order tiles shown on the action space where you placed your Editor.

Note: You may combine and repeat these steps in any order, up to the limit shown on the action space.

Move by

• Walking: You move your Sales Agent token one block to one adjacent circle in any direction. Each time you take the Sales action, you may take one free walk and combine it with cab rides and/or a Super-transport ticket.
• Taking a cab: To move beyond an adjacent circle, you may take a cab, paying $2 per additional movement (each circle-to-circle ride costs $2 and counts as 1 block). There is no limit to the number of blocks you may travel, as long as you can afford it. Example: The yellow player has already used the free walk and may pay $4 to move the Agent 2 blocks by cab.
• Using a Super-transport ticket: This one-off ticket is gained as a bonus when printing and allows you to move your Agent anywhere on the map for free. In the same action, you may combine it with your free walk and cab rides. Once used, discard the ticket.

Note: When ending your movement on an occupied circle, you may place your Sales Agent token there by paying that player $2. You may then flip and/or collect any available tiles. Passing through occupied circles does not require payment.

Note: The first time you use the map, your Sales Agent token must start from the X at the center and move to an adjacent circle. After this first movement, the X may be crossed without stopping.

Flip & Collect

You may FLIP (turn a tile face up) up to the number shown and COLLECT (place it next to your player mat) up to the number shown on the action space where you placed your Editor.

To flip or collect a Sales Order tile, it must be connected to the circle where your Agent is placed. You may also choose to leave tiles on the map. Tiles flipped and collected may be different, and you may also collect face down tiles. Collected Sales Order tiles are placed next to your player mat and are automatically fulfilled as soon as you have a comic book that meets the requirements.

Example: The yellow player may flip and/or collect up to 3 orders. They may flip three tiles and collect all of them, or collect only some (for example, the Horror and Romance tiles), then move and collect another connected tile (the Crime tile), as long as they do not exceed the limit.

Fulfilling an Order

The Sales Order tile represents a market order that you can fulfill with a comic book (original or rip-off) to gain immediate fans.

The BACK of a Sales Order tile shows the genre requested by that location.

The FRONT of a Sales Order tile shows:

• The genre (icon and color) of the comic book needed to fulfill the order.
• The minimum value of the comic book needed to fulfill the order.
• The number of fans that the comic book will gain.

Example: A minimum value indication shows that this order can be fulfilled by superheroes comic books valued 3 or above. The comic book shown could have a value of 3.

To fulfill an order you need to:

1. Collect the Sales Order tile or have collected it previously.
2. Have printed or print a comic book that satisfies the order requirements (genre and value).

Fans are added to the comic book on the chart:

• Immediately if the comic book is already printed, or
• As soon as the comic book is printed, or
• As soon as the comic book's value increases to meet the order requirements through creatives learning, training (p.10), or re-assignment (p.11).

Note: If you have multiple comics in the same genre that meet the value requirements of a Sales Order tile you have to choose which one gets boosted with the extra fans.

Once fulfilled, flip the Sales Order tile to show it is satisfied. It can no longer be used. One single comic book can fulfill multiple sales orders.

At the end of the game, any unfulfilled Sales Order tiles become negative VP: subtract the number of fans shown on each tile from your total VP. Example: If the Superheroes Sales Order tile above remained unfulfilled, you would lose 1 VP.

Value of Comic Books (Originals and Rip-offs)

The value of a comic book (both originals and rip-offs) is the sum of the values of its two creatives. In the example, the total value is 3. (This is also the cost to print it.)

Increasing Creative Value (using Increase-value tokens)

At the beginning of each round, the creatives of printed comic books (i.e. those on the player mat) can:

1. Learn

If both creatives in the team are specialized (same genre/color of the comic book printed) but have different values, the one with the lower value can increase it through learning from their creative partner. To do so you must pay $1 for each increment and place an Increase-value token with the new value on the card.

Example: The creative value 1 can become value 2 at the beginning of the next round (if you pay $1) since the teammate is value 3. At the beginning of the following round they can become value 3 (if you pay another $1).

The creative can only increase value progressively, i.e. 1 increment per round, and the maximum value they can reach is that of their teammate.

Increase-value tokens have the creatives icons plus a value 2 on one side and a value 3 on the other side.

2. Train

If only one creative is specialized or both specialized creatives have the same value, the specialized creative(s) can still increase their values through training. To do so you must pay the following incremental value and place an Increase-value token that shows the new value.

Example: The specialized creative value 1 can become value 2 at the beginning of the next round if you pay $2. Then, at the beginning of the following round, it can become value 3 if you pay $3.

If both creatives are specialized but have the same value (for example, 1), you may train both to reach value 2 by paying $4 total ($2 each). At the beginning of the following round, you may train them again by paying $6 to reach value 3.

The creatives can only increase value progressively, i.e. 1 increment per round.

Note: A creative that is not specialized is never able to increase its value.

Note: In case your creatives are both at value 1 or 2 you can mix the options above, but if at the beginning of a round you train a creative you must wait until the beginning of the next round to increase the value of the other one by learning. Example: If both specialized creatives start at value 1, you may train one of them to value 2 by paying $2. In the following round, the other creative may learn from them and increase to value 2 by paying $1. If you wish, you may also train the first creative again in that same round by paying $3 to reach value 3.

This icon on the board, next to the calendar, reminds you that you can increase the values of your hired creatives at the beginning of each round.

Special Actions

When you print the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th comic book (either originals or rip-offs) you unlock different special actions. These are located below the main actions spaces. To choose a special action you move the first available cube from your player mat to the corresponding space under the main action. From then on, every time you play the main action, in the same turn you can also play the associated special action immediately after.

Note: The Special Action cube stays in the same space for the rest of the game. However, after printing your 5th comic book, you can choose to reallocate one of your 3 previously placed cubes.

These icons tell you how many comics you must have printed to be able to choose this special action. In this example this specific special action can be chosen once you print 2 comic books.

Example: The teal player has printed 2 comic books, therefore can move the teal cube from the player mat to the teal space in the chosen special action. The player chose the special action "Re-assign" which from then on can be played immediately after the main action "Hire".

Special actions that can be chosen once you print your 2nd comic book:

1. After Hire: Re-assign (swap) the creatives

After you hire, you may also swap one artist and one writer already on the player mat with:

1. The newly hired (just drawn) creatives, or
2. Other creatives previously hired (still in your hand), or
3. Other creatives already on the player mat, or
4. A combination of the above.

Note: When you swap creatives you must pay or receive any difference in their value. Example: you would pay $1 to swap the value 2 writer on the player mat with a newly/previously hired value 3 writer. You also gain and lose fans according to the specialization but no comics can go lower than one fan.

2. After Develop: Get some Hype

After you develop, you may also hype one comic book (either the card just drawn or one previously developed but not yet printed). To do this, place that comic book next to your player mat. Place a Hype token (2 fans) on it at the beginning of the following round.

As long as the comic book is gaining hype (that is, its printing is delayed), it gains one Hype token at the beginning of each round. When the comic book is printed, convert all its Hype tokens into fans.

Note: You may hype only one comic book per action. To hype more than one comic per round, you must repeat the Develop action. Hyped comic books still count toward your 6 card hand limit.

3. After Ideas: Convert Ideas into fans

After you collect ideas, you may also convert up to 3 Idea tokens into fans, 1 per comic book already printed. 1 Idea token = +1 fan. You may convert the Idea tokens just collected or any you already own. Once converted into fans, they are discarded. The tokens do not need to match the comic's genre.

Note: You may boost up to 3 comics by 1 fan each, but not a single comic book by 3 fans.

Special actions that can be chosen when you print your 3rd comic book:

1. Any of the previous 3 special actions, or
2. After Print, get Better Colors: After you print a comic book you get a Better-color token from the supply and put it on the freshly printed comic book. This token will award you 2 VP at the end of the game.

Note: If you print the 3rd and 4th comic book together in one action (x2) the 4th gets the Better-color token.

Special actions that can be chosen when you print your 4th comic book:

1. Any of the previous 4 special actions, or
2. After Royalties, invest in Marketing: After you collect royalties, you may also convert money into fans as follows: $2 = 1 fan, $5 = 2 fans, $9 = 4 fans. You assign these fans immediately to your comic books on the chart (you can distribute them across your comic books or place them all in a single book as you wish). Note: Max $9 per action.
3. After Sales, get an Extra Editor: After you do the sales action, you get an extra Editor this round only. Note: At the end of the round, reposition the Editor on the board in the space just below the Sales action.

When you print your 5th comic book: You may move one of your Special Actions cubes and choose a different special action. In addition, at the end of the game you gain +1 VP for each original comic book printed.

When you print your 6th comic book or more: At the end of the game, you earn +2 VP for each comic book (original or rip-off) you printed from the 6th onward (6th included). Note: If you print more than 6 comic books, place the extras next to your player mat.

End of Round

1. Establish the ranking based on each player's top performing comic book on the chart and award VP tokens. In case of a tie, the same VP award is given to both players. Players with 0 comics get 0 VP.

   Example: The salmon player would be 1st with 3 VP (3 stars VP token), yellow would be 2nd with 2 VP (2 stars VP token), teal would be 3rd with 1 VP (1 star VP token) and brown would be 4th with 0 VP.

2. Pay out the earnings from all the comics on the chart.

   Example: Yellow player earns $2, salmon $5, teal $2 and brown $1.

3. Establish turn order as the reverse of the ranking on the chart.

   Example: In the following round the brown player would start 1st, teal 2nd, yellow 3rd and salmon 4th.

   Note: In case of a tie, swap the players' turn order with respect to the previous round. In a 3 player game, if all three players are in a tie swap 1st with 3rd. In a 4 player game, if all four are in a tie swap 1st with 4th and 2nd with 3rd.

4. Subtract 1 fan from each Mini Comic Book tile on the chart except in the last round (round V).

5. Remove the Editor meeples from the board and put them next to your player mat (ready for the next round).

6. Discard the remaining face up cards and refill the table. The discarded cards are put back into the game as soon as a deck is depleted.

End Game Scoring

The game ends at the end of round 5. Points are then calculated for each player as follows:

1. Fans at the end of round 5: count all the fans accumulated on the chart, subtract the fans of the unfulfilled orders (if you have any) and convert the result to VP, 1 fan = 1 VP. Recall: at the end of round 5 comic books do not lose fans.
2. VP accumulated: sum all the VP accumulated throughout the game: VP tokens (from rankings), Mastery tokens (2 VP each), Better-color tiles (2 VP each), and all the extra VP given by printing 5 comic books or more (see bottom of p. 11).
3. Money ($) is converted into VP at a 4 to 1 ratio (think of it as taxes), $4 = 1 VP.
4. Idea tokens are converted into VP at a 4 to 1 ratio, 4 Idea tokens = 1 VP.
5. Originals: each original comic book gives 6 VP if both creatives are specialized (same color/genre of the comic book), 4 VP if only one is specialized and 2 VP if none are specialized.

In case of a tie, whoever has the most printed comics wins. If the tie persists, whoever has the highest total value of the comics printed wins. In the event of a further tie, the victory is divided.

Please note in the rare event:

1. The Creatives cards decks are depleted and you have none in hand, you can still print a comic book by repaying an already hired team and applying the standard rules (2 Idea tokens, fans, and bonuses) to the newly printed comic book placing it on top of the printed one. The value of this newly printed book will still be given by the sum of the creatives' values.
2. The Original Comic Book cards deck is depleted you can still print rip-offs.

Variants

• Players at their first game can decide not to use the Rip-offs cards to simplify the strategies.
• Players who want a tighter game can reduce the number of cards on display.
• Players who prefer a more competitive and aggressive game can subtract 1 fan from any original comic book if it gets ripped-off.