Golden Cup Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Common Components
• Personal Components
• Game Setup
  • Special Rules for 3 or 5 Players - The Automa
• Game Objective
• Round Structure
  • 1. Round Setup
  • 2. Purchase Campaign
  • 3. Matches
    • Get Ready for the Match
    • How to Play the Match
    • Shooting Effects
    • End of the Match
• End of the Championship and Final Match
  • The Final Match
  • Penalty Shots
• The Champions
• Solo Mode
  • Game Play
  • End of Championship
• Appendix
  • Icons
  • Particular Champion Cards

Common Components

• 102 Champion cards, divided into 3 decks: 36 Bronze cards, 34 Silver cards, 32 Gold cards
• 16 Supporter cards
• 3 Field boards
• 1 Championship board
• 10 Match tiles
• 3 bags
• 51 Fame tokens
• 10 Sponsor tokens
• 1 Round token
• 12 Break tokens
• 11 Automa tokens
• 4 dice

Personal Components

• 1 Team board
• 27 Action tokens for each color, divided into 14 Attack tokens (value 1 to 4) and 13 Defense tokens (value -1 to -4)
• 1 Finance cube
• 1 Scout tile (Bronze side, Silver side)
• 1 Stadium tile (Bronze side, Silver side)
• 1 Summary card (final scoring recap on one side, purchase campaign recap on the other)

Game Setup

A. Each player chooses a color and receives all related player components:

• A.1 1 Team board to be placed in front of them.
• A.2 1 Scout tile and 1 Stadium tile. Place the Scout and Stadium tiles on the designated spaces on the Team board with the Bronze side visible.
• A.3 All Attack and Defense tokens of the chosen color. Place a -1 Defense token, a 2 Attack token, and a 4 Attack token in the designated space on the Team board. The rest of the tokens go into a personal supply. They are not part of your team yet. Be careful to keep the tokens in the personal reserve and those on the board separate.
• A.4 1 Finance cube to be placed on space 4 of the finance track on the team board.
• A.5 1 summary card to be placed next to the team board.

Put all the unused player components back into the box.

B. Select the Match tiles according to the number of players in the game. The 1-6 tile is always in play, the 1-2 tile only in 2-player games and solo games, the 3-4 tiles in 3- or 4-player games, the 5-6 tiles in 5- or 6-player games. Give each player 1 random tile to be placed in the designated space on their board, and put the unused tiles back in the box.

C. In 1-2 player games, place the purple Field board in the center of the table. In 3-4 player games use the purple and the orange Field boards. In 5-6 players, use all Field boards.

D. Place 1 bag and 4 Break tokens next to each Field board. Put the unused Field boards, bags, and Break tokens back in the box.

E. Place the Championship board next to the Field boards. Place the Round token on space 1 of the Championship board.

F. Shuffle the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Champion cards separately to create 3 decks. Place them next to the Championship board. Each player draws 3 Bronze cards.

G. Shuffle the Supporter cards. Each player draws 2 cards and chooses 1 to keep secret. Put the unused Supporter cards back into the box.

H. Create a supply of Fame and Sponsor tokens. Give each player 5 Fame tokens.

I. Place the 4 dice within reach.

Special Rules for 3 or 5 Players - The Automa

The parts of this rulebook marked with a red line are used for the Automa. Apply them only in 3- or 5-player games, or in the solo mode.

In a 3- or 5-player game, add the Automa to the game. Give the Automa a random Match tile, but not a Team board. Take the Automa tokens and set aside a -1 Defense and a 4 Attack starting token. Shuffle the other tokens inside a bag. Randomly draw 1 token and add it to the other two starting tokens: they form the Automa team. Draw 5 additional tokens and place them on the spaces from 2 to 5 of the Championship board. Put the unused Automa tokens back into the box.

Game Objective

The game is played over 6 rounds and a final match. During each round, players will first try to improve their team and then compete in 1-on-1 matches simultaneously on different fields. Based on the results of each match, and thanks to different end-game effects of the Champion cards they have played, players gain Fame points.

At the end of the sixth round, the two players with the most Fame points play the final match.

The winner of the final wins the GOLDEN CUP!

Round Structure

Each round consists of the following phases, which must always be resolved in this order. Most phases can be resolved simultaneously by players.

1. Round Setup
2. Purchase Campaign
3. Matches

1. Round Setup

This phase is NOT resolved in the first round.

Follow these steps in order:

• Each player may discard any number of Champion cards from their hand.
• Each player draws cards from the Champion deck corresponding to their Scout level (Bronze, Silver, or Gold) until they have 3 cards in hand.
• Move the Round token on the Championship board forward by one space.

Automa: If you are playing with the Automa, add the token of the current round to the Automa team.

2. Purchase Campaign

At the beginning of this phase, each player must calculate their available coins. To do this, look at the number on your Stadium tile, add any potential effect of the Champions you have played and add or subtract the value of the Sponsor tokens you have. Place your Finance cube on that space of your finance track. Then discard all Sponsor tokens you had.

Coins can be spent to perform various actions, each with its own cost. You can perform and repeat any action until you have coins to spend.

Sponsor Tokens: Various effects of your Champions will allow you to obtain Sponsor tokens. These tokens do not provide coins when obtained but will increase or decrease your coins at the start of the Purchase Campaign phase of the next round. They only have an effect for that round and must be discarded once their effect is used.

Coins: Every player obtains their coins at the beginning of the Purchase Campaign phase. They spend their coins to perform different purchases. Every time you spend coins, move your Finance cube back on your Finance track. When you reach the space "0" you can no longer spend coins this round. You can't save coins for the next round, so you should spend all the coins you have, otherwise you will lose them!

1. SCOUT NEW CHAMPIONS: Cost 1 coin - You can discard any number of Champion cards and redraw from the deck corresponding to your Scout level (Bronze, Silver or Gold) until you have 3 cards in hand.
2. PLAY A CHAMPION: Cost 3 coins - You can play a Champion card from your hand. Once a Champion is played, any immediate effects on the card are applied. From that moment, the Champions you have played are part of your team. Place the champion on your board; its position does not matter as you can move it freely before the match.
3. DEVELOP YOUR SCOUT: Cost 3 coins. The Scout level indicates from which deck you will draw your champions. If you develop it, you can draw from the Silver or Gold deck, which contains much stronger Champions!
4. DEVELOP YOUR STADIUM: Costs 3 coins in rounds 1 and 2, 2 coins in rounds 3 and 4, and 1 coin in rounds 5 and 6, as illustrated also on the Championship board. Developing the Stadium increases your available coins for the next rounds.

Scout and Stadium have 3 levels: Bronze and Silver are printed on the respective tile, and Gold is printed on the Team board. When you develop your Scout or Stadium for the first time, flip the corresponding tile to show the Silver side. When you develop them a second time, remove the corresponding tile and reveal the Gold level printed on the board.

5. TRAIN YOUR TEAM: Alternatively, the player can spend 1 coin to improve the value of an Attack token by 1 or improve the value of a Defense token by 2.
6. LEARN NEW TACTICS: You can also spend 2 coins to add a 1-value Attack token or a 2-value Defense token to your team.

When you have used all the coins at your disposal, your phase ends. If all players have finished the Purchase Campaign phase, proceed to the Match phase.

Adding and Improving Your Team's Tokens: Every time an action or a champion's effect tells you to improve a token, you can exchange a token from your team with one of a better value from your supply. For example, if you get a +2 improvement, you can swap a -1 Defense token with a -3 Defense token. If you don't have in your supply the token needed to apply the improvement, you lose that effect. Some effects improve Attack tokens, while others improve Defense tokens. Tokens of value 4/-4 cannot be improved. Some effects allow you to add a specific value token to your team. Take it from your supply and add it to your team. If you don't have in your supply the indicated token, you can take a token of the same type with a lower value. Rarely, you may need to discard a token from the team; in this case, return it to your supply.

Example: Jade is playing the fourth round. She has already developed her Stadium to the Silver level, so she gets 5 coins. She also has a Sponsor token (from Little Orc, played the previous round) and an additional coin (from Vampirello). In this round, she gets a total of 7 coins, places the Finance cube on space 7 of the Finance track, and discards the Sponsor token. She doesn't like the cards she has, so she decides not to play them immediately. Her first purchase is to pay 3 coins to develop her Scout level to Silver. Since she still has 4 coins, she pays 1 to discard all three cards and draw another 3 from the Silver deck as she just developed the Scout. Her last action is to pay the remaining 3 coins to play one of the Champions in her hand.

3. Matches

Get Ready for the Match

The Match tiles indicate to the players which Field they will play on and consequently which opponent to face. Place all your team's tokens (from your board, not from your supply) into the bag of the respective Field; your opponent does the same.

Automa: If you are matched with the Automa, take the Automa tokens and add them to the bag.

Add 4 Break tokens into the bag.

Each player arranges their team's Champion cards in the slots on their board at their discretion. If a player has played more than four Champions, they place the extras in a section next to the board (the "bench").

Apply any potential effects of the Champions you have played on the board. The effects of the Champions on the bench are not applied during the match.

How to Play the Match

A player starts drawing one token at a time from the bag and places it in the space marked with the play arrow on the Field board.

• If a Break token is drawn, nothing happens. Continue drawing.
• If a Defense token is drawn, nothing happens at this moment. Continue drawing.
• If an Attack token is drawn, determine the Attack value by subtracting the value of all (already drawn) opponent's Defense tokens from the Attack token value.

If the total value is zero or less, the Attack is blocked.

If the total value is more than zero, the Attacking player must identify the shooting Champion. If the total is 1, it means the Champion in slot 1 shoots; if the total is 2, the Champion in slot 2 shoots, and so on. In the rare case you have a total value of 5, consider the champion in the slot 4+.

Apply any potential shooting effect of that Champion.

The player executing the Attack rolls the die. If the value matches one of the faces printed under the slot of the shooting Champion, the Champion scores! Flip the Attack token to indicate a score. If the die shows a result not printed in the shooting Champion slot, the shot fails! The Attack token is not flipped.

In both cases of Attack blocked or scored, flip all the opponent's Defense tokens involved in the Attack (those previously drawn). They won't have effect for the rest of the match.

Continue drawing.

Example: Jade and Mark have arranged their Champions and put their tokens inside the bag: the match begins! The first token drawn from the bag is a Break token: nothing happens. The second token is a Mark's Defense token, value -2. They continue drawing, another Mark's Defense token, value -1, comes out of the bag. The next token is a Jade's Attack, value 2. The Attack total value is negative (2 -2 -1), so Jade's Attack is blocked! They flip Mark's Defense tokens and continue drawing. A Mark's Attack token, value 4, comes out of the bag. Jade has no Defense tokens to reduce Mark's Attack's value, so Mark attacks with a value of 4. Mark's Champion in slot 4 shoots. It's still one of the Champions printed on the board, so Mark loses 1 Fame point. He rolls the die with a result of 3, which is one of the values printed in slot 4: the Champion scores! Mark flips the Attack tokens to mark the score, then they continue drawing.

Automa: When you resolve an Attack of the Automa, calculate the Attack's value as usual and identify the corresponding slot on your board. Roll a die and check the result with the printed dice of that slot. The Automa doesn't apply any shooting effect. It simply scores if the result matches with one of the printed values of the identified slot.

Shooting Effects

Some Champions have shooting effects that are activated when the Champion takes a shot. Many of these effects add dice. Roll all dice simultaneously; if even one result matches a value printed on the corresponding slot, the Champion scores! However, even if multiple results match, you will only score once.

The Four Champions Printed on Your Board: The four Champions printed on your board are very clumsy, so when they shoot, the crowd boos! Every time one of the base Champions shoots, you lose a Fame point. Try to replace them quickly with worthy Champions!

End of the Match

The Match ends when a token is placed on the space with the same number of the current round, or before that if there are no more tokens inside the bag.

At the end of the match, players score Fame points based on the match result.

DRAW: Each player gains 2 Fame points.

VICTORY FOR A PLAYER: The player gains 3, 4, or 5 Fame points depending on their Scout level (Bronze 3, Silver 4, Gold 5), plus points equal to the match score difference.

Example: A player has a Silver Scout and wins the match 3 to 1. They gain 4 Fame points (Silver Scout) + 2 Fame points (match score difference) for a total of 6 Fame points!

At the end of the match, each bag is emptied. Each player takes their Action tokens and returns them to their team board, while Break tokens remain on the Field.

Automa: In 3- or 5-player games, the Automa doesn't gain Fame points. At the end of the match, put the Automa tokens aside.

Fame Points: Fame points are represented by tokens that indicate your team's appreciation. You gain them mainly by winning or drawing matches, but also through your Champions' effects. You can also lose them. Each time you gain Fame points, take the corresponding number of tokens from the supply; if you lose them, return the equivalent number of tokens. If you don't have Fame tokens, you can't lose any! End game effects are applied only at the end of the championship.

End of the Championship and Final Match

The championship ends after the sixth round. Each player calculates their Fame points:

1. Fame points from Fame tokens in their possession;
2. Fame points from end game effects on all the Champion cards in their team;
3. Calculate coins as at the beginning of the Purchase Campaign phase, then obtain the Fame points indicated on the space where your Finance cube is.
4. Fame points according to the condition of your Supporter card.

The two players who have the most Fame points go to the final match. In 2-player games, if a player has 6 or more Fame points more than the opponents, that player wins the game without playing the final match.

In case of a tie between two or more players, the tied player who has played more Champion cards goes to the final match. In case of further tie, the tied player who has played more Gold Champions (and then Silver Champions) goes to the final match. If there is still a tie, those players roll a die and who gets the higher result goes to the final.

The above doesn't apply, naturally, if only two players have more Fame points than all the others. Those two players will go to the final match.

The Final Match

Two players play the final match following the standard match rules. They don't perform an additional Purchase Campaign before the match. Play the final match on a Field of your choosing and draw tokens until the space 6 on the Field board.

The player who wins the final match wins the game and the Golden Cup!

In case of a draw at the end of the match, proceed with the Penalty Shots.

Penalty Shots

First, both players choose which Champions to arrange in the slots on their Team board. Starting from the youngest player, every player makes a shot with the Champion in slot 4+. If both Champions score or fail, proceed with a shot with Champions in slot 3, and so on. In the rare event that all Champions in four slots have shot, repeat the procedure starting again from slot 4+.

As soon as a player scores and the opponent fails, the final match ends with the victory of the game and of the Golden Cup by the player who scored the last penalty shot!

The Champions

During the game, players purchase and play Champion cards. Champions can have one or more abilities (5 different icons) and some effects.

Types of effects:

• Immediate: Apply this effect once as soon as you play the Champion card.
• Shooting: Apply this effect when the Champion shoots during a match.
• Permanent: Apply this effect throughout the game. During a match this effect is applied only if the Champion is arranged in a slot (not if it's in the bench). Some permanent effects are applied when a certain condition happens.
• End Game: Apply this effect to gain Fame points at the end of the championship.

IMPORTANT! When ability icons appear on an immediate or permanent effect of a card, always count also the ability icons on the card itself.

Example: If you play Bush as the first Champion card played, apply the Immediate effect (get a -1 Defense token) and also apply the Permanent effect (get an improvement on an Attack token as you have an eye icon). For any other eye icon you play, you will apply the Permanent effect of Bush.

Solo Mode

If you want to play a solo game, prepare as you would for a two-player game, with you and the Automa, with the following modifications.

Decide the difficulty level of the Automa and give it a Team board.

1. AMATEUR. Prepare the Automa tokens as in the base game. Give the Automa a Scout tile on the Bronze side.
2. PRO. Prepare the Automa tokens as in the base game, then draw 1 additional Automa token and place it on space 5 of the Championship board (there will be 2 tokens on space 5). Give the Automa a Scout tile on the Silver side.
3. LEGEND. Prepare the Automa tokens as in the base game, then draw two additional Automa tokens and place them on spaces 3 and 5 of the Championship board (there will be 2 tokens on spaces 3 and 5). Don't place any Scout tile on the Automa board: its Scout level will be Gold!

Game Play

The Automa doesn't use coins, Champion cards or Supporter cards. It only uses Automa tokens during the match.

At the beginning of each round, add the token(s) of the current round to the Automa tokens on its board.

If the Automa wins a match, it gains Fame points as a player, based on its level of Scout plus the match score difference. If a match ends with a draw, also the Automa gains 2 Fame points.

End of Championship

If you or the Automa have 6 or more Fame points more than the opponent, who has more Fame points wins the game. Otherwise, go and play the final match!

Appendix

A summary of the icons used in the game and the explanation of the most particular Champion cards.

Icons

• Red helmet with a cross: Discard another Champion you have already played (you can't play a Champion with this effect as the first card).
• Die: Roll an additional die.
• Green and red Sponsor tokens (+1 / -1): Take a Sponsor token of the indicated type.
• Attack and Defense token showing X: Attack and Defense token with a generic value.
• Green arrow with an Attack or Defense token: Change one of your Action tokens of the indicated type with another of the same type of +1 value.
• Fame token times an ability icon: Gain the indicated Fame Points for each icon of the indicated type that your Champions have.
• Attack or Defense token showing a value (for example 2 or -1): Take the indicated token from your personal supply and add it to your Team board.
• Attack and Defense tokens crossed out: Choose and discard from your board a token of the indicated type and put it back into your personal supply.
• Green arrow with an Attack token times an ability icon: Get the effect on the left for every icon of the indicated type that your Champions have.
• Ability icon followed by a colon and an empty space: Every time you play a Champion that has the icon indicated on the left, you receive the effect on the right.
• Ball with a check mark followed by a colon and an empty space: Every time you score during a Match you receive the effect on the right.
• Die times an ability icon: Roll 1 additional die for every icon of the indicated type that your Champions have.
• "At least" sign with ability icons followed by a colon and an empty space: If your Champions have the indicated number of icons, you receive the effect on the right.
• Fame token times a Champion card icon: Gain 1 Fame point for each Champion of the indicated type that you have played.
• Finance bags (+1 / +2): At the beginning of the Purchase Campaign phase, move your Finance cube of the indicated number of spaces.

Particular Champion Cards

3 - GIM THE WISE (permanent): When you develop your Stadium, take a -1 Sponsor token.

44 - STONE GOLEM (permanent): Calculate the +1 when the Defense has effect during the match.

47 - BLOB (permanent): Calculate the -1 when the opponent attacks during a match.

54 - AUTOBOT (end game): 1 Fame point for each different ability that your Champions have (max 5).

62 - BLACK KNIGHT (end game): 1 Fame point for each different type of effects that your Champions have (max 4).

64 - TEAM LEADER (permanent): When you develop your Scout or your Stadium, improve an Attack token by 1 and take a +1 Sponsor token.

90 - GOLDEN GOLEM (immediate): Get all the bonuses on the left for every icon indicated on the right that your Champions have.

97 - SPHYNX (end game): 1 Fame point for every Champion with at least one permanent effect.

99 - LORD OF THE FOREST (shooting): If your Champions have all 5 ability icons, this Champion scores without rolling the die.

101 - HIPPOGRYPH (permanent): During the Purchase Campaign phase, increase your Finance by 1 for every 2 icons indicated that your Champions have.