ANLUDIM Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Material
• Goal of the Game
• Set Up
• Game Round
  • A. Main Action
  • B. Optional Action
  • C. End of a Player's Turn
• End of Round
  • Award
  • Coats of Arms
• New Round
• Endgame
• Expert Variant
• The Combinations

Material

• 5 game board sections.
• 65 apprentice cards, numbered from 1 to 13 in 5 colors. Each apprentice card has two values, each associated with a color. Each card can be used in both directions.
• 5 teacher's pieces, with 1 cardboard foot each.
• 5 coven coats of arms, recto silver / verso gold.
• 3 scrolls, each worth 1 point.
• 30 magic items, divided into 5 disciplines:
  • 7 Vials: 4 x 1 point, 2 x 2 points, 1 x 3 points.
  • 7 Stars: 3 x 1 point, 3 x 2 points, 1 x 3 points.
  • 6 Voodoo dolls: 2 x 1 point, 2 x 2 points, 1 x 3 points, 1 x 4 points.
  • 5 Talismans: 1 x 2 points, 2 x 3 points, 1 x 4 points.
  • 5 Crystal Chests: 1 x 1 point, 1 x 2 points, 2 x 3 points, 1 x 5 points.

Goal of the Game

The goal of the game is to be the first player to win 2 rounds. A round is won by the player who has accumulated the highest value of magic items or who has won the 5 different magic items.

Set Up

1. Each player chooses a coven coat of arms and places it in front of her* on the silver side.
2. Assemble the game board in the center of the table in the right order (1 to 5).
   • Expert variant: The golden dots are used to put the combinations in an order of priority in the expert variant (see p.7).
3. Stack each type of magic item from the highest value (bottom) to the lowest value (top) on each location on the board.
   • 2 magic items to remove for 3 players: 1 Vial and 1 Star, both of value 1.
   • 7 magic items to remove for 2 players: 2 Vials, 2 Stars, 1 Voodoo doll, 1 Talisman and 1 Crystal Chest, all of value 1.
4. Place 2 scrolls next to the game board.
5. Place the 5 teacher's pieces on their respective section.
6. Shuffle all the cards and deal 8 cards face down to each player.
7. Form a deck with the remaining cards and turn the first 3 cards face up.

The first player is the one who most recently saw a magic movie. The last player in turn order (clockwise) receives a scroll.

*From now on, for simplicity and gallantry, we will use female pronouns when talking about each player, while it should be clearly understood that in each instance, we mean to include our male players, as well.

Game Round

Players play their turns, clockwise, to form combinations (see p.8 for the details of combinations) with the cards in their hand.

During her turn a player must perform 1 main action (A) and can also perform 1 optional action (B) before or after her main action. At the end of the turn, the player eventually wins magic items (C).

If the round is not finished (end of round conditions see p.6) the next player completes her turn.

A. Main Action

In her turn, a player must perform 1 of the following 2 actions:

Place 1 combination (Calling a teacher)

• Play 1 combination which must be the strongest in play in the discipline of one of the teachers.
• The targeted teacher pawn is then placed on this combination.
• Only 1 teacher's pawn can be retrieved per turn.
• Each combination of apprentice cards can only be associated with one teacher's pawn.

Example: Dimitri puts three "7" cards in front of him. This is the strongest three of a kind in play right now. He takes the Professor Pawn "The Fortune teller" and the corresponding magic items from the top of the pile: "Talisman 1".

At the beginning of her turn, the player may, if she wishes, take over all the cards of one or more combinations that she had laid down in the previous turns. If teachers were assigned to these combinations, they are placed back on the central board.

Combinations detail: see p.8.

Or: Draw (Recruiting apprentices)

Two possibilities:

1. Draw 2 hidden cards from the top of the deck.
2. Draw only 1 face-up card from the available cards. This card is immediately replaced by a new card from the deck.

B. Optional Action

Discard 1 magic item of any kind or 1 scroll to draw a hidden apprentice card from the deck. (Once per turn, before or after the main action.)

C. End of a Player's Turn

Collect the magic item from the top of the stack for each teacher present in front of the player at the end of her turn.

Example of Anne's turn:

Anne has in front of her, played during previous turns:

• A three of a kind of 4,
• The teacher corresponding to the triplet: the fortune teller,
• A "talisman 1" magic item.

Anne decides to play a new combination:

1. She places a 3-card flush combination from her hand. It is much better than the one played by Ludo.
2. She takes the Professor Arcanist pawn in front of her.
3. At the end of her turn, she wins one magic item per teacher pawn in front of her:
   • 1 talisman of value 2.
   • 1 star of value 1.

Reminder of the different combinations: Alchemist (straight), Arcanist (flush), Necromancer (pair(s)), Fortune teller (three of a kind), Elementalist (gathering). See p.8.

End of Round

A round stops immediately if 1 of these 2 conditions is met:

• 3 stacks of magic items are empty, or
• 1 player has won all 5 magic items from the different teachers.

If the round ends because 3 stacks of magic items are empty, the player with the highest cumulative value of her magic items (and scrolls) wins the round. In the event of a tie, the player closest to the player who triggered the end of the round wins, in order of turn.

If the round ends because 1 player has won all 5 magic items from the different teachers, she immediately wins the round regardless of the cumulative value of the magic items.

Notes:

• The teacher token can replace a magic item (if the stack of corresponding magic items is empty) to fulfill the condition of 5 different magic items.
• A scroll does not replace a magic item.

Award

• Winner of the round: The winner of the round returns her coven coat of arms on the gold side. If her coat of arms is already on the gold side, she wins the game. If no one has won the game, a new round is played. The scrolls are put together and are given to the 2nd and 3rd players (see below).
• 2nd: Among the other players, the player with the highest cumulative value of magic items wins 2 scrolls for the next round. In the event of a tie, the player closest to the player who triggered the end of the round, in order of turn, receives the scroll(s).
• 3rd: The next player with the highest cumulative value of magic items receives 1 scroll for the next round.

In a 2-player game, no scrolls are distributed.

Coats of Arms

• Silver-side coat of arms (white horse, 8-card start): keep up to 3 cards from your hand from one round to the next, discard the rest. Starting hand limited to 8 cards at the beginning of the round.
• Gold-side coat of arms (gold horse, 7-card start): keep up to 2 cards from your hand from one round to the other, discard the others. Starting hand limited to 7 cards at the beginning of the round.

New Round

The magic items and the teacher's pieces are put back on the game board.

The new first player is the player who follows (in the direction of the turn) the one who triggered the end of the round. The new first player deals the cards to complete each player's hand up to the limit indicated by her coat of arms (7 or 8 cards).

Endgame

A player who has already won one round (i.e. a player with a GOLD coat of arms), who wins a second round, wins the game.

Expert Variant

The 3 changes from the basic rule:

1. There is a hierarchy of combinations. From lowest to highest: Alchemist (straight) < Arcanist (flush) < Necromancer (pair(s)) < Fortune teller (three of a kind) < Elementalist (gathering).
2. The played apprentice cards can never be taken back into hand.
3. The played apprentice cards can be assigned all or in part to another combination (new or already present) but only if the target combination is higher in the combination hierarchy. The remaining unassigned cards are discarded immediately.

Assemble the game board in order of increasing gold dots.

Example of Anne's turn (expert variant): Anne wishes to play a three of a kind of 9 by combining cards from her hand with those from a combination already played.

1. She discards the 11/8 card as she cannot assign it to the new combination.
2. She places the Professor Necromancer pawn back on the central board.
3. She plays a 9-value three of a kind combination using two cards from her hand and the 9/11 card from the pair combination already placed on the board. The three of a kind combination is hierarchically superior to the pair combination.
4. Then, she retrieves the Professor Fortune teller assigned to the three of a kind played by Dimitri.
5. At the end of her turn, she wins the associated magic item from the top of the pile (the 2-value talisman).

Important: During her turn, Anne must not use the cards 9/11 and 11/8 to form a straight 8-9-10-11, because the straight combination is lower than the pair in the hierarchy of combinations.

The Combinations

Straight (The Alchemist) At least 2 cards that follow each other, regardless of color. The best "Straight" is the one with the most cards. If there is a tie, the Straight with the highest value card is winning. Examples (values shown): 6-5 < 9-8; 9-8 < 3-2-1.

Flush (The Arcanist) At least 2 cards of the same color, regardless of value. The best "Flush" is the one with the most cards. If there is a tie, the Flush with the highest card value is winning (if the highest card value is the same, the next highest card is considered, and so on). Examples (values shown): 12-1 < 12-2 < 13-1; 13-1 < 7-6-3.

Pair(s) (The Necromancer) One or more combinations of 2 cards of the same value but different colors. The best "Pair" combination is the one with the most Pair(s) (of different values). If there is a tie, the Pair with the highest card is winning (if the highest card is the same, the next highest card is considered, and so on). Examples (values shown): 5-5 < 7-7; 7-7 < 6-6 4-4; 6-6 4-4 < 6-6 5-5.

Three of a kind (The Fortune teller) One or more combinations of 3 cards of the same value but different colors. The best combination of "Three of a kind" is the one with the most Three of a kind(s) (of different values). If there is a tie, the Three of a kind with the highest value card is winning (if the highest value card is the same, the next highest value card is considered, and so on). Examples (values shown): 1-1-1 < 4-4-4; 4-4-4 < 3-3-3 1-1-1.

Gathering (The Elementalist) At least 4 cards of the same value, regardless of the colors. The best "Gathering" is the one with the most cards. If there is a tie, the Gathering with the highest value card is winning. Examples (values shown): 3-3-3-3 < 6-6-6-6; 6-6-6-6 < 1-1-1-1-1.