Astromagie
Astromagie Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Purpose of the Game
The game is for 2-5 players and each player tries to collect the maximum number of points. The value of each trick is determined by the astrological relationship between the cards.
Starting
Shuffle the cards and deal 6 cards face down to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down on a pile in the middle of the table. Don't forget pencil and paper!
The 4 Types of Cards
- 12 Elements
- 24 Zodiac signs
- 24 Planet Cards
- 12 Aspects
How to Play
A player can lay out 1, 2 or 3 cards in a row in the middle of the table following the defined scheme. He then takes new cards from the pile to refill his hand to 6 cards.
The next player can also add 1, 2 or 3 cards to the row in the middle and then refills his hand as above.
A player who does not want to (or cannot) add a card has to discard one card face up and take a new card from the pile.
The row in the middle of the table always has to comply with the following scheme:
- A row is always started with a zodiac sign (Position 3). When adding cards, no gaps may be left, i.e. the cards at positions 2 and 4 must follow.
- The planets at Position 4 and 6 may not be the same.
- The aspect (Pos. 5) and the planet (Pos. 6) must always be played together as a pair.
The layout diagram is labelled, from left to right: Position 1 "Zodiac sign", Position 2 "Element", Position 3 "Zodiac sign" (marked "starting card"), Position 4 "Planet" (marked "planets must always be different"), Position 5 "Aspect" and Position 6 "Planet", the last two marked "always as a pair".
Scoring
A player scores only if the following players do not add any further cards to the row. The row is then removed (irrespective whether it holds the maximum number or only 1 card), the score is noted and the player scoring starts a new row by laying out a new sign.
Points
A single zodiac sign is always 1 point.
For positions 1, 2, 3 and 4, compare the small symbols on the cards and count the cards with the same symbols multiplied with the "planet" number at position 4.
Example with 3 cards: No symbol occurs twice, so this is 1 x 2 = 2 points.
Example with 4 cards: 2 planet symbols are the same, x 3 = 6 points.
Note:
- The value of the score is only determined by the cards 1-4.
- But the player only gets the score if the other players cannot add further cards.
A player can always add a new planet/aspect pair to a pair laid out by a previous player at positions 5 and 6, whereby:
- The value of the aspect must be the same or higher than the previous aspect.
- The number of the planet (Pos. 6) must remain the same; e.g. if the first player lays out a planet with the number 2, the next player can only add planets also having a number 2.
Example with 8 cards: The diagram is labelled "starting card" over Position 3 and "planets must always be different" over Position 4. At Positions 5 and 6 the diagram is labelled "value the same or higher" (aspect) and "number must remain the same" (planet), "always as a pair".
This is the maximum score: (3 equal planet symbols + 3 equal element symbols) x 3 = 18 points
The player who scores notes his points on a sheet of paper and starts with a new row.
End of the Game
When no further cards are available from the pile to refill the players' hands, the game finishes when no player can make a score.
You can play for example until 50 points or two hours.