L'Agent Jean!: Le Jeu
L'Agent Jean!: Le Jeu Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal
Win 2 medals to be crowned the best agent. You win a medal if you have the most points at the end of a round.
Components
- 5 Power cards (cartes Pouvoir)
- 20 Machiavellian Plan cards (Plan machiavélique), valued 1 to 6
- 60 Action cards: 10 purple matter, 18 blue gadgets, 16 green allies, 16 yellow unstable objects
- 5 Character player boards (plateaux Personnage), two different sides each
- 6 Medal tokens
Setup
Each player chooses an agent and takes the Power card and the player board that go with that agent. Place your player board in front of you, on the correct side.
There is one side of the player board for a game of 2 or 3 players and one side for a game of 4 or 5 players.
Shuffle the Machiavellian Plan cards together with the Power cards of the players present. Place them in a face-up pile, in plain view of everyone.
Shuffle the Action cards and deal 12 to each player, face down. Each player takes their first 6 cards into hand and places the remaining 6 cards on their player board, in the designated place (on the left), face down.
The player who best imitates the agent they have chosen starts the game.
Player Boards
Each player board carries two end-of-round scoring abilities, printed on the board, and two card areas: the area on the left for the 6 cards kept face down (placed at the start of the round), and the area on the right for the cards you win, placed face up.
Board text as printed: "Place your won cards here, face up." and "At the start of the round, place your remaining 6 cards here, face down."
The scoring abilities printed on the boards read:
- "Lose 10 points if you have the most yellow cards at the end of the round."
- "Gain 10 points if you have the fewest green cards at the end of the round."
The point icons next to these abilities differ between boards. As read from the sheet, the Jean and Bulle boards show -8 and +8, and the Henry B. Belton board shows -10 and +10. The sheet's icons for the other boards could not be read reliably. The printed text reads 10 points on every board. This transcription follows the printed text. The icon values are recorded here because they do not match the text. This discrepancy is in the source sheet and has not been resolved.
Play
A game is divided into rounds. A round is played over 12 turns.
Each turn, the Beaver carries out a Machiavellian Plan that must be foiled. To do so, each player plays 1 Action card. The player who played the best card wins the turn. They gain the points of the plan the Beaver has carried out, and the Action cards played this turn.
Play proceeds clockwise. When it is your turn, choose any card from your hand and place it in the centre of the table. You do not have to play a card of the same colour as the first card played.
When every player has played a card, the player who played the highest card in the FIRST COLOUR played wins the turn.
ATTENTION: if anyone has played a purple matter card, the player who played the highest purple card wins the turn instead.
The winner of the turn takes all the cards played this turn AND the Machiavellian Plan card on top of the pile. Turning over the top card reveals the next Plan card, which will be won on the following turn. The winner places the cards won face up on their player board, in the designated place (on the right).
You may look at the pile of cards you have won, but not at the piles of other players.
The player who won the turn plays the first card of the next turn.
After 6 turns, you have no cards left in hand. Take the 6 cards you left on your player board, and play the next 6 turns in the same way.
Agent Powers and Accomplice Interventions
Agent powers
At the start of a turn, if an agent's Power card is visible on top of the Machiavellian Plan pile, the player playing that agent immediately carries out the power printed on the card. They then place that card on their pile of won cards.
It may happen that several agents' powers are activated in the same turn. In that case, resolve them in the order in which they were revealed.
The powers that appear on the sheet are:
- Bulle: "I add 99 to the value of the card I play this turn."
- WXT: "Before determining the winner of this turn, I subtract 99 from the value of an Action card played by another player."
- Henry B. Belton: The example of play shows this power as "decide who starts". The agent who takes this card chooses the player who begins the game. They may choose themselves.
- Martha: The example of play shows this power as: if she wins the turn, she may take a second Machiavellian Plan card. The example shows the card under Martha is a Plan card with a value of 2.
The Power card for the fifth agent is not legible on the sheet, so its power is not transcribed.
Accomplice interventions
Sometimes the Beaver receives help from an accomplice. Each time, you will see an indication or an action to carry out.
For example, the blue cards may be the ones that beat the purple cards this turn!
This "special rule" applies for one turn only.
The accomplice shown on the sheet is Farine (value 5): "For this turn, the blue cards beat all the others."
Young players
If there are young players, you may ignore the agents' powers to make the game simpler. In that case, return the Power cards to the box.
End of Round
After 12 turns, you have no cards left to play. Calculate your merit points.
First, add up the values of all the Machiavellian Plan cards you have won.
Reward for the player who used the fewest Agency resources
The player who won the fewest green cards (regardless of each card's value) receives a bonus:
- In a game of 2 or 3 players, they receive 8 points.
- In a game of 4 or 5 players, they receive 5 points.
If several players are tied for the fewest green cards, all of them receive the bonus.
Penalty for the player who used the most unstable objects
The player who won the most yellow cards (regardless of each card's value) suffers a penalty:
- In a game of 2 or 3 players, they lose 8 points.
- In a game of 4 or 5 players, they lose 5 points.
If several players are tied for the most yellow cards, all of them suffer the penalty.
Winning the round
The player with the most points wins the round and takes a medal. In the event of a tie, all the players concerned take a medal.
New Round
- Take all the Machiavellian Plan cards won during the round and shuffle them together with the Power cards that were used.
- Place them face up, underneath the Machiavellian Plan pile in the centre of the table.
- Shuffle all the Action cards in the game and deal 12 to each player, as in the first round.
Play a new round in the same way. The player who won the previous round plays first.
End of the Game
If a player wins their second medal, they win the game. They are the best agent of the Agency!
If several players obtain their second medal at the same time, they share the victory.
Example of Play
We are on turn 2.
Maëlys won the first turn and the Machiavellian Plan card, which revealed a new one.
Maëlys plays first, because she won the previous turn. She plays an 8 green.
Nathaniel decides to play a 12 yellow (he is not obliged to play a card of the same colour as the first card played).
Mathis plays an 11 green.
Mathis wins the turn. No purple card was played, so the highest card in the first colour played (green) wins: Mathis takes the 3 Action cards and the Machiavellian Plan card on top of the pile, and places them in the designated place on his player board.
On top of the Machiavellian Plan pile there is now the Power card of Henry B. Belton. Nathaniel plays this agent. He takes the card and carries out the power: deciding who starts. He chooses himself.
By taking Henry B. Belton's card, he revealed Martha's Power card. Maëlys plays this agent. She takes the card; if she wins the turn, she may take a second Machiavellian Plan card.
Under Martha's card there is a Machiavellian Plan card with a value of 2.
Nathaniel plays a 7 blue.
Mathis plays a 6 yellow.
Maëlys plays a 3 purple.
Maëlys wins the turn, because she played the highest (and in this case the only!) purple card.
Maëlys takes the 3 Action cards, the Machiavellian Plan card on top of the pile, and the Machiavellian Plan card underneath the pile (thanks to her power), and places them in the designated place on her player board.
The game can continue.