Contária Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Components
• 2. The Game
• 3. Setup
• 4. The Cards
  • 4.1 The Mirrors
  • 4.2 The Characters
  • 4.3 The Revealed Types
• 5. How to Play
  • 5.1 The Tales
  • 5.2 The Actions
  • 5.3 The Abilities
  • 5.4 Special Markers
• 6. Scoring
• 7. Clarification About the Characters
  • Character Notes
• Alternative Rules
  • Quick Game and "Book of Tales" (Livro de Contos) Mode
  • Two-Player Game
  • Single Winner

1. Components

• 1 Rulebook
• 25 Character cards
• 15 Mirror cards
• 5 Reference cards
• 9 Point markers
• 3 Ability markers (Dwarf, Witch and Giant)

2. The Game

Contária is a game in which, using only four character cards, each player tries to create their most memorable fairy tale.

Two types of tales are the most appreciated: those with a final sad ending and those with a final happy ending. Seeking victory, each player must make their tale have the greater score: the highest score if it is the happy tale, or the lowest score if it is the sad tale. Both the player who makes the happiest tale and the player who makes the saddest tale will have obtained the most appreciated tales, thus achieving victory.

To create the tales, players use character cards and mirror cards, which reveal these characters' true identities, forming a tale that at the end of the game gives them a score. A tie between several players grants victory to all the tied players.

In CONTÁRIA there is also a shared TALE, normally used by all players. The CONTÁRIA tale, as it is called, must be placed in the center of the table, taking part in the contest for victory at the end of the game against all players.

3. Setup

Separate the MIRROR cards and leave them face-down with the CONTÁRIA game symbol facing up. Deal 3 to each player; they should place them in front of them on the table. The remaining mirror cards are set aside, out of the game.

Shuffle the character cards keeping the backs face up. The back has the illustration inside a mirror frame and the CONTÁRIA game symbol at the bottom of the card. Characters ALWAYS must be played with this side, called the INITIAL side, facing up. The other side, called the REVEALED side, must stay hidden, unless it is the player holding that card in hand who looks at it.

The deck is cut by the player to the right of the one who shuffled, then all cards are dealt equally to all players. In the case of 3 and 4 players, one card will be left over and must be placed in the center of the table, INITIAL side up; it will be part of the CONTÁRIA tale.

The cards each player received form their hand; no other card will be drawn during the game. The INITIAL side of the cards must be exposed to the other players, while each player must be the only one to see the REVEALED side of the characters in their hand.

Finally, the last player to have broken a mirror must start the game.

4. The Cards

4.1 The Mirrors

Each player starts the game with 3 MIRROR cards in INITIAL position, the side with the CONTÁRIA game symbol facing up, indicating that it has three uses available.

When the action of using a MIRROR is activated (described under HOW TO PLAY, topic 5), the player must turn one of these cards over, revealing its other side, which indicates that that mirror can no longer be used.

4.2 The Characters

Character cards have two sides: the INITIAL and the REVEALED.

The INITIAL side (with the CONTÁRIA game symbol at the bottom) has illustrations inside a mirror frame and no text at the bottom. The REVEALED side has text at the bottom and no mirror frame in the illustration.

On CHARACTER cards the player finds five main pieces of information:

1. Name
2. Initial Type: indicates which of the five basic types this card is on its INITIAL side.
3. Score: indicates how many points this card gives the player at the end of the game.
4. Abilities: indicates which special abilities this card has.
5. Revealed Type: indicates all the types this card belongs to when revealed.

Example 1: the numbered callouts on the card illustration mark the five pieces of information listed above (callouts 1-3 on the INITIAL side, callouts 4-5 on the REVEALED side).

Example 2: the DONZELA card has on its INITIAL side the name DONZELA, the initial type DONZELA, 2 positive points and no ability. When the REVEALED side is used, the card shows other information:

1. In this example, we reveal a Princess, so its name is now PRINCESA.
2. Its INITIAL TYPE remains unchanged. It indicates that the other side of this card is a DONZELA.
3. Its basic score changes to 3 positive points.
4. Now it has an ability, which is described on the card.
5. Now it has a REVEALED TYPE: DONZELA AND NOBRE, which means it counts as a DONZELA and as a NOBRE for all effects during the game.

Example 3: we reveal another DONZELA card, but this time we find the IRMÃ MÁ (Wicked Sister).

1. In this example, the card's name becomes IRMÃ MÁ.
2. Its INITIAL TYPE is DONZELA.
3. Its score is now 2 negative points.
4. It also has abilities.
5. Note that its REVEALED TYPE is only NOBRE, which means it does NOT count as a DONZELA when revealed, only as a NOBRE.

[Transcriber's note: in the printed book, the numbered callouts above sit beside the "Exemplo 3" illustration, which shows a DONZELA card on both sides (name "Donzela", Revealed Type "Donzela") rather than IRMÃ MÁ. The callouts match the Irmã Má card of Example 2 and the Princesa card of Example 1 in the printed layout, so the printed example numbering appears to be offset by one. Text is reproduced as printed.]

Example 4: this time we reveal a DONZELA, which is also a DONZELA on its REVEALED side. As the example above shows, none of its characteristics change.

4.3 The Revealed Types

DONZELA, CRIANÇA, FADA, CAVALHEIRO, VELHINHA, MONSTRO, NOBRE and HERÓI are the eight character types in the game. Each character on its INITIAL side has its TYPE equal to its NAME, but REVEALED cards have their TYPES described in their lower part, where the REVEALED TYPES are.

Whenever an effect on a card depends on one of these types, consider the NAME of the cards that are on their INITIAL side as their type. For REVEALED cards, however, consider their REVEALED TYPES instead of their names.

Example: the RAINHA MÁ (Evil Queen) should be considered only a NOBRE, while the VOVÓ (Grandmother) is a VELHINHA and the SEREIA (Mermaid) is a MONSTRO and a DONZELA at the same time.

5. How to Play

5.1 The Tales

Each player has a TALE, the place where their characters are kept so that they can score points at the end of the game. When a player puts a character into play, they always place it into a TALE, normally their own or the CONTÁRIA tale in the center of the table, which is shared by all players.

Each TALE has a limit of 4 cards, and this number may never be exceeded under any circumstances. When all tales have reached the card limit, the game ends immediately and the players add up their points to determine the winners. (Character cards that are not revealed up to this point must remain unrevealed.)

Just like the players' TALES, the CONTÁRIA tale in the center of the table also has four spaces for characters, which must be complete for the game to reach its end.

5.2 The Actions

On their turn, the player MUST perform ONE of two available actions:

1: Place one of the cards from their hand into their own tale OR into the CONTÁRIA tale in the center of the table. (Characters must always be played with the INITIAL side facing up.)

If both tales are complete with four cards each, the player may play a card into an incomplete tale of any other player of their choice.

OR

2: Use a MIRROR, revealing the face of any card that is in ANY TALE, whether it is the player's own, the CONTÁRIA tale in the center of the table, or an opponent's tale.

The player must turn the card over and activate its ABILITIES, making all choices, even if the character is in another player's tale, because it is always the player who revealed the card who resolves its effects.

The player is obliged to resolve the card's abilities, even if they are harmful to their strategy. If an ability cannot be obeyed, it must be ignored.

Example: an ability that tries to move a card to a tale that already has four cards is ignored.

Example: Wilhelm wants to play a CAVALHEIRO (Knight) that is in his hand, and knows that on its reverse side the card is the FERA (Beast). There is still space in his tale and in the center of the table, which prevents him from playing it into other players' tales. Wilhelm therefore resolves to play it into his own tale.

Afterwards, on the next turn, his brother Jacob resolves to use one of his MIRRORS and chooses the newly played CAVALHEIRO in Wilhelm's tale. He reveals the hidden side of this card and discovers that it is the FERA, whose ABILITY is to move a DONZELA from another tale to where the FERA is.

Jacob tries to move the IRMÃ MÁ from his tale to Wilhelm's tale, but although she is a DONZELA, the IRMÃ MÁ when revealed has only the NOBRE type, and therefore she cannot be the target of the FERA's ability.

Under this ability, Jacob is still obliged to move a DONZELA in play to Wilhelm's tale, but as there is no other DONZELA card in any other tale, the FERA's ABILITY has no valid target and is ignored. This ends Jacob's turn.

5.3 The Abilities

Characters have different ABILITIES that are activated when they are REVEALED. A character loses all of its ABILITIES if it is DEACTIVATED.

All effects of a character's ABILITIES are only valid while the character remains in a tale. The main keywords used in Character Abilities are:

• DEACTIVATED: A deactivated character has its ABILITIES cancelled and is worth no points at the end of the game, but it continues to occupy a space in the tale and counts as a character with its types. Deactivated characters CANNOT be moved. A DEACTIVATED character must be turned 90 DEGREES to show that it is in this condition.

• FLIP BACK (DESVIRE): Turn a card that was REVEALED back to its INITIAL side.

• IMMUNE: Indicates that this character cannot be affected by the abilities of any type of card.

• MOVE: Moves the card from the tale it is in to another tale that has not yet reached the limit of 4 character cards.

• IN THIS TALE / THIS TALE: The tale in which the card is at that moment.

• OTHER TALE: A tale different from the one the card is in at that moment.

• POSITIVE CHARACTER: A card with positive points, shown in BLUE in its upper corner.

• NEGATIVE CHARACTER: A card with negative points, shown in RED in its upper corner.

• MAY (PODE): Indicates that the player chooses whether that ability is carried out or not when the card is revealed.

5.4 Special Markers

There are three special markers in the game, which serve to mark the target of the ability of three specific characters: the BRUXA (Witch), the ANÃO (Dwarf) and the GIGANTE (Giant).

These characters have the ability to place a marker on another card, doing something to it (a special effect), provided that the character with the marker is in the same tale as the character that placed it. If they are in different tales, because one of them was moved elsewhere, the effect must be disregarded.

Whenever a character that placed a marker is REVEALED, MOVED or REACTIVATED, the marker referring to that character must be moved to a card in the tale where it is. If the marker was on another character, it must be removed and then placed on a card chosen by the player who caused the effect, as if the ability to place the marker were being activated for the first time. (It is allowed to place the same marker back on the character that was previously marked, as long as that character is a valid target for that ability.)

6. Scoring

At the end of the game, which happens when all tales are complete (4 cards), the points of each tale must be added up and compared. Whoever has the tale with the most points makes the happiest ending, and whoever has the tale with the fewest points makes the saddest ending.

Normally there are two winners in the game, the one with the highest score and the one with the lowest score, but this number may vary according to ties and the score of the CONTÁRIA tale in the center of the table. In the case of a tie between players, all those involved receive victory.

The CONTÁRIA tale also takes part in the contest, as if it were a player, so it can take victory from the happiest or saddest tale, preventing other players from winning. In the case of a tie, CONTÁRIA always has the advantage.

Example: Jacob has 4 WHITE points and 2 RED points, for a total of 2 points (4+(-2)=2). Wilhelm has 2 WHITE points and 4 RED points, for a total of -2 points (2+(-4)=-2). The CONTÁRIA tale has 6 WHITE points and 2 RED points, for a total of 4 points (6+(-2)=4). In this example, Wilhelm wins with the saddest tale and CONTÁRIA takes the happiest tale, so this game has only one winner, Wilhelm. If the central tale had only 1 positive point, Jacob would also come out victorious, having the highest positive score.

The ABILITIES of cards can give BONUSES, POSITIVE or NEGATIVE, to the final score, based on the combinations made in your tale. It is important to note that all extra points in the ABILITIES of REVEALED cards must be ADDED to their basic points in the upper corner of the card. Extra points DO NOT replace the normal points of the cards; they are added to them.

7. Clarification About the Characters

• EFFECTS ON REVEAL (EFEITOS AO REVELAR): Effects marked with this symbol happen when the character is revealed. If for some reason the character returns to its INITIAL side, its effect must be carried out again when it is revealed again.
• CONTINUOUS EFFECTS (EFEITOS CONTÍNUOS): Several character abilities are continuous effects, that is, effects that are automatically activated while the card is REVEALED. They affect any new character that enters or is revealed in the tale, and stop affecting any character that leaves the tale. They also stop affecting the characters of a tale if the character causing the effect is deactivated or moved. An effect that does not have the "On reveal" symbol is generally a continuous effect.

Character Notes

DWARF (ANÃO):

• If the Dwarf is deactivated, the marker must be removed from the game. If it becomes active again, the player who caused its reactivation must choose a card to receive the marker.
• As deactivated cards cannot be moved, the Dwarf can never be moved, whether it is active or not. Even if there is no card with the Dwarf's marker, its ability continues to work on itself, preventing it from being moved.

WITCH (BRUXA):

• If the Witch is moved, the player who moved her must also move the marker to a new positive card in the tale where she goes. If there is no positive card, the marker leaves the game.
• If the Witch is deactivated, the marker must be removed from the game. If she becomes active again, the player who caused the reactivation must choose a positive card in the Witch's tale to receive the marker.
• The Witch is immune to the Bad Wolf's (Lobo Mau) ability to deactivate Grandmothers (Velhinhas), as well as to his ability to swap places with a Grandmother when revealed.

HUNTER (CAÇADOR):

• When revealed, it can be moved to a tale that has at least one Monster.
• The effect of deactivating Monsters is automatic and continuous. Whenever a Monster is in the same tale as the Hunter, it is automatically deactivated.
• The Hunter's bonus occurs if there is at least one Monster, and it is not multiplied if there is more than one.
• Monster cards are: Dwarf, Beast (Fera), Mermaid (Sereia) and Bad Wolf (Lobo Mau).

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (CHAPEUZINHO VERMELHO):

• When revealed, she must be moved to another tale that has at least one Grandmother (Velhinha).

FAIRY GODMOTHER (FADA MADRINHA):

• The Fairy Godmother's ability occurs only when she is revealed.
• The player must choose one of the two options, but if only one of them can happen, the player must choose it.
• The effect of revealing another character by the Fairy Godmother must be resolved as if the player who revealed the Fairy Godmother were using a MIRROR card on that character, but no extra MIRROR is spent for that.
• If Pinocchio (Pinóquio) is in this tale, the player has the option of turning him back to his INITIAL side.

WICKED FAIRY (FADA MALIGNA):

• A negative character is moved only when the Wicked Fairy is revealed.
• The Wicked Fairy can be chosen as the negative card to be moved by her own ability.
• Any negative card, in any tale, whether it is the player's own, the center of the table's, or an opponent's, can be moved, regardless of which tale the Wicked Fairy is in. It can be moved to any tale chosen by the player who revealed her.

BEAST (FERA):

• When revealed, she moves a DONZELA from another tale to the tale where the Beast (Fera) is.
• The player who revealed her may look at the other side of that DONZELA card.

GIANT (GIGANTE):

• When revealed, he may be moved to a tale that has at least one positive character.
• If the Giant is moved, the player who moved him must also move the marker to a new positive card in the tale where he goes, deactivating it. If there is no positive card, the marker leaves the game.
• If the Giant is deactivated, the marker must be removed from the game. If he becomes active again, the marker returns to the game and the player who caused the reactivation must choose a positive card in the Giant's tale to receive the marker, which thereby becomes deactivated.

EVIL SISTER (IRMÃ MÁ):

• When revealed, she may be moved to another tale that has at least one Donzela or one Cavaleiro (Knight).
• The effect of deactivating Donzelas is automatic and continuous. Whenever a Donzela is in the same tale as the Evil Sister, she is automatically deactivated.
• The Evil Sister's bonus occurs if there is at least one Donzela, and it is not multiplied if there is more than one.

JOÃO:

• When revealed, he can be moved to another tale of the choice of the player who revealed him.
• João is immune to the Giant's effect of deactivating characters, and he cannot receive the Giant's marker. If a Child has the Giant's marker and, when revealed, she is João, the marker must be removed from the game immediately.
• The Giant in this tale is deactivated. This effect is automatic and continuous. Whenever the Giant is in the same tale as João, he is automatically deactivated.

BAD WOLF (LOBO MAU):

• When revealed, he swaps places with a Grandmother (Velhinha) in another tale.
• The effect of deactivating Children and Grandmothers is automatic and continuous. Whenever a Child or a Grandmother is in the same tale as the Bad Wolf, she is automatically deactivated.
• The Bad Wolf's bonus occurs if there is at least one Child, except Pinocchio. If he is the only Child in the Bad Wolf's tale, the bonus is not activated. However, if there is some other Child besides Pinocchio, the bonus is triggered. The same applies to the Bad Wolf's bonus concerning Grandmothers: it does not activate with the Witch alone, but it occurs if another Grandmother is in the tale besides her.

MAGE (MAGO):

• The positive character is moved only when the Mage is revealed.
• The Mage can be chosen as the positive card to be moved by its own ability.
• Any positive card, in any tale, whether it is the player's own, the center of the table's, or an opponent's, can be moved, regardless of which tale the Mage is in. It can be moved to any tale chosen by the player who revealed the Mage.

MARIA:

• The effect of deactivating Grandmothers is automatic and continuous. Whenever a Grandmother is in the same tale as Maria, she is automatically deactivated.
• Maria's bonus occurs if there is at least one Grandmother, and it is not multiplied if there is more than one. If the Witch is the only Grandmother in Maria's tale, the bonus is not activated.
• Both of Maria's bonuses can be active if her tale has two Grandmothers and one of them is the Witch.

PINOCCHIO (PINÓQUIO):

• When revealed, the player must choose either to move Pinocchio to a tale that has a Child, or to move a Fairy (Fada) to Pinocchio's tale. The player is obliged to choose a valid option if only one of them can happen.
• The effect of making the base points of Children negative is automatic and continuous. Whenever a Child is in the tale where Pinocchio is, its points are automatically made negative.
• He is immune to the Bad Wolf's effect of deactivating Children.

PRINCESS (PRINCESA):

• The effect of deactivating the Evil Sister is automatic and continuous. Whenever the Evil Sister is in the same tale as the Princess, she is automatically deactivated.
• The Princess is immune to the Evil Sister's ability of deactivating Donzelas in the tale.

PRINCE (PRÍNCIPE):

• When revealed, he must be moved to another tale that has at least one Donzela.
• The player who revealed him must also reveal a Donzela in the tale where the Prince is. This effect happens as if that player were using a MIRROR card on the Donzela, but without having to spend another MIRROR.

EVIL QUEEN (RAINHA MÁ):

• If all of the player's MIRROR cards are in the INITIAL position, the ABILITY is not activated.

MERMAID (SEREIA):

• When revealed, she moves a Cavaleiro (Knight) from another tale to her own tale.
• The effect of making Knights unable to be revealed and of making their base points negative is automatic and continuous. Whenever a Knight is in the tale where the Mermaid is, its points are automatically made negative and it cannot be revealed.

SERVANT (SERVA):

• When revealed, if there is no Noble (Nobre) in her tale, she must be moved to another tale that has at least one Noble.
• If the Princess is in the same tale as the Servant, her base points and all the extra points of her abilities become negative.
• If the Prince is in the same tale as the Servant, and there is no other Noble card in the tale, the Servant's points bonus is activated.
• The Noble cards are: Prince, Princess, Evil Sister and Evil Queen.

GRANDMOTHER (VOVÓ):

• The Child is moved from its tale only when the Grandmother is revealed.
• The Grandmother's bonus occurs if there is at least one Child, and it is not multiplied if there is more than one.

Alternative Rules

[Transcriber's note: the printed book numbers this section "6", which duplicates the Scoring section number above; the heading is given here without a number and the printed numbering is otherwise unchanged.]

Quick Game and "Book of Tales" (Livro de Contos) Mode

The previous rules describe the game in quick mode. To play the BOOK OF TALES, in which multiple games are played, each player receives a VICTORY MARKER when they win a game.

The Grand Winner is whoever accumulates 3 victory markers first. If more than one player gets the third marker at the same time, they are the winners. It can also be decided to keep playing until one player has more victory markers than all the others.

Two-Player Game

CONTÁRIA is a game for 3 to 5 players, but it is possible to play with only 2 players. To do this, remove from the deck and from the game, at random, one card each of DONZELA, CRIANÇA, FADA and CAVALHEIRO.

Deal 10 character cards to each player and 4 mirror cards. The game proceeds normally.

At the end of the game, if the CONTÁRIA tale scores 0 or more points, the player who has made more points wins. If CONTÁRIA scores -1 points or less, the player with fewer points wins. If CONTÁRIA gets the highest or lowest score, the game ends in a tie.

Single Winner

In the single-winner mode, the winner is the player with the higher number, disregarding whether it is positive or negative (scoring in "absolute value," pontuação em módulo). In other words, a player with 4 positive points, for example, would lose to a player with 5 negative points.