Hamlet!
Hamlet! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
You, the players, are the voices in Shakespeare's head. You each have a specific way you want the play to end, so you are manipulating the events in the play to get to your ending.
Setup
This game should contain:
- These rules
- 14 Regular Ending Cards
- 14 Difficult Ending Cards
- 8 Dramatis Personae Cards (You will need to cut Ophelia/Polonius, Laertes/R&G, and Claudius/Gertrude apart. Look for the faint dotted line.)
- Four Spying/Dying Counters
- Stickers for said Counters (Spying on one side, Dying on the other.)
- 2 Pencils
- A small bag of clear tokens
Deal each person a random ending card. You can look at your own card. It is suggested you start with the regular ending cards until you know the game well and want a challenge.
Don't show anyone else your ending card. Place the remaining ending cards face down away from the game.
Place each Dramatis Personage face up in the center of the playing space. Some characters have a sliding scale or a choice of locations. Place a clear token on the spaces marked with an "s".
Randomly choose a First Player. Keep track of who the First Player is.
Each Act
The game has five Acts. Each Act is divided into scenes. Each scene is a player's turn. So, if the game has four players, each Act will have four Scenes.
Starting with the First Player and moving clockwise, each player takes their turn. Each turn is called a Scene. Each player gets one Scene every Act. The player whose turn it is, is called the Current Player.
When all players have had their Scenes, the Act ends. First, resolve all actions that happen at the end of an Act (such as a Dramatis Personage dying). Then, check your ending cards. If any player's entire ending card matches the current setup of the Dramatis Personae, then that player wins. If two or more players match, they all win.
Note that you only care about the Dramatis Personae on your ending card. If your card does not mention Claudius, for example, you win regardless of his state. Also note that your ending may specify a DP in a certain state other than dead (for example, Ophelia: Married to Hamlet). This assumes that the DP is alive. If Ophelia was Married to Hamlet but then died before the end of the act, the ending cannot be met. Ophelia is Dead, not Married to Hamlet. However, if Ophelia is Married to Hamlet and Hamlet dies, she remains Married to Hamlet.
If no players match, then the title of First Player moves one person clockwise, and the next Act begins. If Act Five ends with no winners, then the game ends in a draw.
There is one special ending common to all players. It is the "Everyone Wins, Everyone Loses," ending. If these conditions are met at the end of an Act, all players win. This is the only way to win once your ending card cannot possibly be achieved (because, for example, one of the DP you need alive is dead).
The Default Everyone Wins Everyone Loses Ending:
- Hamlet: Dead
- Ophelia: Dead
- Polonius: Dead
- Laertes: Dead
- Claudius: Dead
- Gertrude: Dead
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern: Dead
Each Scene
During a Scene, the Current Player takes a number of actions. You must take all of your actions, even if you don't want to. You may not perform the same action more than once in a turn, unless there are no other possible actions to perform.
The number of actions the player takes per scene depends on the number of players and the Act.
| Act | 2-3 Players | 4+ Players |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 Actions | 1 Action |
| 2 | 3 Actions | 2 Actions |
| 3 | 3 Actions | 2 Actions |
| 4 | 3 Actions | 2 Actions |
| 5 | 4 Actions | 3 Actions |
If a player absolutely cannot take an action, then the game ends immediately. Helpful players should point out possible actions if the current player cannot see any.
After the player has taken all his or her actions, the scene ends. All things that happen at the end of a scene take place now. The title of Current Player then moves one player clockwise.
At the end of every Scene, make the following calculations. These are like free actions that happen at the end of every turn.
| Requirements | Results |
|---|---|
| Ophelia: NOT Insane; Ophelia: At Nunnery | Ophelia gains 1 Sanity, not above 6. |
| Hamlet: In England | Hamlet gains 1 Swordplay, not above 6. |
| Laertes: In France; Laertes: NOT Chastised by Polonius | Roll a die. If it is greater than Laertes' Swordplay, Laertes gains 1 Swordplay. |
| Laertes: In France; Laertes: Chastised by Polonius | Laertes gains 1 Swordplay, not above 6. |
Each Action
Each Dramatis Personae has a number of actions on their cards. Together, they are all the possible actions that can happen in the game.
An action list has four columns:
- The leftmost column has a place for check marks. There may be one or more check boxes in the column. If the action tells you to "Check this Action," place a check mark in one of the boxes. Once all of the check boxes for an action are checked, this action may no longer be performed. Some actions do not have check marks and may be done as many times as you wish (although still not more than once per Scene).
- The second column is the title and description of the action.
- The third column is the requirements. All of the requirements in that column must be met in order for a player to be allowed to take the action.
- The final column is the results. This will often be a change in status for a Dramatis Personage. It may ask you to check the action.
Note that when a DP is dead, the card is turned face down. No actions from that card can be performed.
Each DP has a number of status checkboxes, located just above their Action list. They start out unchecked, but eventually may become checked as a result of actions. Once checked, status checkboxes never become unchecked.
Some DPs have statuses that may change frequently within the game. Those use tokens to show the current state of that status. If the status is a sliding bar (such as Ophelia's Sanity), with the counter moving left and right, the counter cannot move off the bar. Once it reaches an end, if an action moves it in that direction, it just doesn't move. The action can still be taken.
If a DP dies, turn its card face down. Ignore any action results that affect a dead DP. No actions on a dead DP's card may be performed.
There are also a number of Spying/Dying counters. These are placed Spying side up on DPs when they are Spying on Hamlet and Dying side up when the DP will die at the end of the act. They can be removed if the DP stops spying on Hamlet or stops dying due to an action.
Q&A
Q: Why didn't you use Fortinbras or Osric or [insert name of really minor character here]? A: There are eight characters to keep track of. If you really care whether Norway invades Denmark, look at the Ending. If it's bad then Norway invades Denmark. If it's good, they invade somewhere else.
Q: What is eisel, anyway? A: The whole point of mentioning eisel (on Ophelia's DP card) was to get you to look it up in a dictionary. Suffice it to say that drinking it won't kill you, but you won't be happy either.