Kabuki Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Sequence of a Round
  • Mistakes and Interruptions
  • End of the Round
  • Example
• End of the Game
• Developer Note

Goal of the Game

Get the most Victory Point tokens after three rounds.

Components

This box contains:

• 1 rulebook
• 50 Mask cards
• 4 Actor cards
• 24 Victory Point (VP) tokens

Setup

At the beginning of each round:

1. Each player gains VP tokens based on the number of players.
   • 2-4 players: 5 VP tokens
   • 5-6 players: 4 VP tokens
   • Put unused tokens back in the box.
2. Shuffle the Mask cards and place the deck on the table face-down.
3. Place the four Actor cards around the deck (see below). These form the bases of four stacks of cards.

Note: the setup diagram in the printed rulebook (page 3) shows the four Actor cards numbered 1 to 4 placed around the deck. It is an illustration and is not reproduced here.

How to Play

The game occurs over three rounds.

Sequence of a Round

Randomly choose the first player. Play continues clockwise.

1. On your turn, draw the top card of the deck and show it to all other players.
2. Choose one of the stacks and place the card face-up on top of it. This covers up the card below (Actor or Mask).

Then it's the next player's turn.

Mistakes and Interruptions

During the game, you might give an Actor the same Mask twice. If someone thinks this has happened, any player may interrupt play by saying "Stop!"

1. The first player to say "Stop!" checks the stack where the last Mask card was placed. All players must be able to see the cards that are being checked.
2. If one or more cards in the stack match the Mask that was just placed, the player who stopped play takes one of your VP tokens for each Mask that matches the top one (for instance, if two Masks match the top card, you lose 2 VP tokens).
3. If no cards match the Mask that has just been placed, the player who stopped play returns one of her VP tokens to the box.
4. After resolving the interruption, put the Masks back in the stack in the same order.
5. The game then resumes play as usual.

Note: If you discover Masks in the stack that match each other, but not the top Mask, no one gains or loses VP tokens for those. In other words, past mistakes are ignored.

End of the Round

The round ends if:

• A player loses his last VP token.
• The deck is out of Mask cards.

Then, count each player's VP tokens, and begin a new round. Follow the instructions under Setup again: Shuffle all the Masks to form a new deck, make sure the Actor cards are visible, and give 4 or 5 VP tokens to each player. The first player of the new round is the player who ended the last round.

Example

Tom places a blue Mask on stack #4.

Lisa yells "Stop!" and interrupts the game. She takes stack #4 and checks its contents.

After checking the cards in stack #4, she finds a matching blue Mask in the stack. Because Lisa interrupted play and found a mistake, she takes one of Tom's VP tokens. She also finds two green Masks in the stack, but since the top Mask was blue when Lisa said "Stop!", Tom doesn't lose additional VP tokens. After resolving the interruption, Lisa replaces the Masks on stack #4 without changing the order.

End of the Game

The game ends after 3 rounds.

Add up each player's Victory Point tokens. The player with the most points wins the game. In case of tie, the players share the victory.

Developer Note

Kabuki is a type of traditional Japanese theater that does not use masks. Actors simply used makeup, while masks are traditionally used in Noh theater. The mask drawings in this game are inspired by Kabuki theater makeup.