Freak Shop
Freak Shop Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the game
The player with the Mansion worth the most points when the Shop closes wins. To achieve this, you will need to make the best trades between your Mansion and the Shop, while focusing on the 3 Objectives set for the game.
Matériel
1 Score pad, 65 Merchandise cards, 1 Closed Shop card, 12 Objective tiles.
A Merchandise card shows the value of the card (from 1 to 10) in the top corners, whether the card is a Marked down Merchandise (see the blue objectives), and the category of the card in the bottom corners, used for some objectives: Items, Pets, or Employees.
An Objective tile shows the color of the Objective (purple, green, or blue), the content of the Objective, and whether it is a Starting Objective.
The Closed Shop card is placed face down in the draw pile to signal the end of the game.
Cards distribution
The Merchandise cards include two 10, three 9, four 8 […] and eleven 1. One third of the cards of each value are Marked down copies.
Game setup
One of the players is designated as the Shop Keeper. He* takes the Merchandise cards and the Closed Shop card (aside). Starting with himself and continuing clockwise, he gives each player 4 cards, with the following values (without symbol):
- 1st player: 1 – 2 – 3 – 5
- 2nd player: 1 – 2 – 3 – 6
- 3rd player: 1 – 2 – 3 – 7
- 4th player: 1 – 2 – 3 – 8
- 5th player: 1 – 2 – 3 – 9
Each player places his cards face up in front of him, sorted by value. This represents his Mansion.
The Shop Keeper shuffles the remaining Merchandise cards face down into a draw pile. He draws 6 cards without looking at them, adds the Closed Shop card, and shuffles these 7 cards. He places these cards face down at the bottom of the draw pile.
He now reveals the 5 first cards from the top of the draw pile in the center of the table. This represents the Shop.
Shuffle the Objective tiles into 3 stacks according to their color, and reveal one tile from each. Place them close-by, visible to all players. For your first game, use the 3 Starting Objectives, identified by a hand symbol.
You are ready to start!
* We always used "he" to refer to a player for grammatical and clarity purposes. In no way did we intend to exclude any of our players based on gender.
Game flow
The Shop Keeper starts the game. Play then proceeds clockwise around the table, with each player trading cards from his Mansion, with cards from the Shop. When the Closed Shop card is revealed, players add up their points according to the Objectives. Whoever has the highest total is the winner!
Game turn
On his turn, a player must make one trade between cards that he has in his Mansion and cards that are available in the Shop. He may choose one of the two following options: Get a good deal or Sell at the fair price.
Get a good deal
The player exchanges any amount (even one) of cards of the same value from his Mansion with the same amount of cards of one different value from the Shop.
Example: Ben exchanges two cards of value 1 from his Mansion, with two cards of value 8 from the Shop. Whether they are Marked down or not makes no difference at all.
Example: Johann exchanges one of the cards of value 4 that he has, with the card of value 10.
Sell at the fair price
The player exchanges one or more card(s) of any value(s) from his Mansion with one or more card(s) from the Shop, for the same total value.
Example: Maël trades his card of value 10, with four cards of values 1, 2, 2 and 5.
Example: Fred exchanges two cards 2 and 9, with five cards of values 1, 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Note: There is no limit on the number of cards that a player can have in his Mansion.
Restocking the Shop
At the end of each player's turn the Shop Keeper must restock the Shop. He adds:
- 2 cards in a 2 or 3 player game,
- 1 card in a 4 or 5 player game.
If there are still fewer than 5 cards in the Shop after restocking, the Shop Keeper adds as many cards as needed to bring the Shop back up to 5 cards.
End of the game
The game ends as soon as the Shop Keeper reveals the Closed Shop card. Players immediately count their points.
Using a score sheet, the Shop Keeper calculates how many points each player's Mansion is worth, according to each of the 3 Objectives set at the start of the game. Each card cannot be used more than once per Objective (e.g. for only one run or pair), but can be used for each of the 3 Objectives.
The player with the highest points total wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the highest-valued card in his Mansion wins. If there is still a tie, compare the next highest-valued card and so on.
Example: With this Mansion and these Objectives, Marie ends the game with a total of 47 points:
- 18 points for the Objective Obsessed by arrangement (longest run of 6 cards × 3),
- 21 points for Three is better than two (3 Three-of-a-kind, 1 of Pets, 1 of Employees),
- 8 points for Too snob (Values 2, 3, 5 and 6 possessed without any Marked down Merchandise).
Objectives
A Tidy Mansion
Score points for each run of 3 cards (of ascending values) that you have: 3 for a run of Items, 5 for a run of Pets, and 7 for a run of Employees.
If a run is made of two different categories, calculate your points based on the most represented category. Each card can only be used for a single run.
Example: A card of 3, one of 4 and one of 5, form a run, worth 5 points.
Obsessed by arrangement
Score 3 points for each card in the longest run (with sequential values) of cards that you have.
Example: With cards of values 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, Seb scores a longest run of 5 cards (3-4-5-6-7), worth 5 × 3 = 15 points.
Neighbors' Festival
Successively check each existing card's value (from 1 to 10). For each, the player with the most copies scores 5 points. In case of a tie on a value, all tied players score 5 points.
Gem of my collection
Score 3 times the value of the card that you have the most copies of. In case of a tie between two values, use the lowest one.
Example: The values that Marie has the most copies of are 3 and 5, tied with four copies of each. She scores 3 × 3 = 9 points.
Collector
Score 3 points for each different card value that you have in your Mansion.
Seeing double
Score points for each pair (2 cards of the same value): 2 for each pair of Items, 4 for Pets, and 5 for Employees.
Three is better than two
Score points for each three-of-a-kind (3 cards of the same value): 3 for Items, 5 for Pets, and 7 for Employees.
The sum of all fears
Add the values of all of your cards. Score 3 points per completed multiple of 10 points in this total.
Example: By adding all of her cards, Lia gets a total of 78 points of value. She scores 7 × 3.
Too snob
Score 2 points for each card value that you possess without any Marked down card.
The art of bargaining
Score 2 points for each card value that you possess with at least one Marked down card.
Not the same values
Score points based on the number of Marked down cards that you have. The player with the least scores 10, the second scores 6, and the third scores 3. In case of a tie, all players sharing a same rank score the corresponding points.
Example: Gwendoline has the least Marked down cards with 1. She scores 10. Fred and Johann are tied on 2nd place, with 3. Both score 6. Maël and Hugo are both on 3rd place with 4, and score 3.
Fashion at lowest price
Score points based on the number of Marked down cards that you have. The player with the most scores 10, the second scores 6, and the third scores 3. In case of a tie, all players sharing the same rank score the indicated points.
Example: Martin and Denis have both the most Marked down cards, with 6. Each of them scores 10. Marie is 2nd with 4 and scores 6. Seb comes 3rd with 1 and scores 3.