M
M Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 90 cards, 18 of each color
- 36 wooden tokens
- 1 diamond marker
- 1 pillar marker
Setup
Each player receives 6 tokens.
The number of cards used depends on the number of players. If there are fewer than six players, a number of cards must therefore be removed from the game at random, without looking at them.
- With 2 players, keep 50 cards
- With 3 players, keep 60 cards
- With 4 players, keep 70 cards
- With 5 players, keep 80 cards
- With 6 players, use all the cards
Unused cards and tokens are put back in the game box.
The cards are stacked face down to form the draw pile.
The first five cards are placed face up, in an M shape (see diagram). Cards placed this way at the start of the game therefore do not have to follow the matching rules described later, which only apply to cards placed by the players during the game.
Each player is dealt four cards, which make up their hand. A player's hand must always stay secret.
Goal of the Game
Each player's goal is to take as many tokens as possible from the player on their right, while gathering cards for the highest possible value, knowing that only two colors will count positively, and all the others will count negatively.
The Cards
Each card has three characteristics:
- A numeric value (0, 10, 20, 30, or 40)
- A color (there are five)
- A central symbol (five symbols, plus "no symbol")
The notches on the edge of the card repeat the color and symbol information: the notches roughly take the shape of the symbol, and their number equals one tenth of the card's value.
For example: a blue card with a cube symbol has a value of 40; a brown card with a triangle symbol has a value of 30; a red card with no symbol has a value of 0.
Placing Cards and Matching Rules
Each player takes their turn in clockwise order.
On their turn, a player chooses one of their cards and places it on the table so that it has at least one side adjacent to another card. The placed card must strictly follow the matching rules.
The placed card must share at least one characteristic with each of the adjacent cards — but not necessarily the same characteristic with each of them.
At the end of their turn, the player draws the top card of the draw pile, and the turn passes to the player on their left.
Examples:
- The values (30) of the two cards are identical, so the card can be placed.
- The green 20 triangle can be placed next to the green 40 to the right and the red 30 triangle above it.
- This move is illegal, because the red 20 Moebius matches the cards above and to the right, but not the green 0 below it.
Passing
A player who is unable to place any of their cards forfeits their turn and gives a token to the player on their right. They may also discard one of their cards under the draw pile and take the top card of the draw pile.
Board Dimensions
The size of the playing area is limited to a 6x6 square. No card may be placed outside the shaded zone, as it would cross the boundaries of the square. Note that no card may be played in the bottom-right corner either, since it would not be adjacent to any card already placed.
Taking Tokens
Whenever a player places a card adjacent to several cards already in place, they receive a reward. For each adjacent card beyond the first, the player receives a token from the player on their right (or from that player's right-hand neighbor, if the first neighbor has no tokens left).
- 1 adjacent card: 0 tokens
- 2 adjacent cards: 1 token
- 3 adjacent cards: 2 tokens
- 4 adjacent cards: 3 tokens
Scoring
A scoring phase occurs when the following two conditions are met at the same time:
- The placed card is the fifth or sixth card of a row or column. It is from this row or column that cards will be taken by the players, and points scored.
- The placed card shares at least two characteristics with one of the adjacent cards in that row or column.
Example: This move is legal. The red 20 cube shares one characteristic (red) with the card to its left, and two characteristics (cube and 20) with the card to its right.
The player who places this card takes a token from the player on their right, since it has two adjacent cards. Furthermore, because this card shares two characteristics with the card to its right, and is the fifth card of a row, a scoring phase is triggered.
The diamond marker is then placed at the end of the row or column in question.
The player who triggered the scoring by placing the fifth or sixth card of the row or column takes the pillar marker. They MUST then take one of the five or six cards of the row or column indicated by the diamond, and place it face up in front of them. The player to their left must then do the same, taking one of the remaining cards of the row or column, and so on. It is forbidden to take the last card connecting, orthogonally or diagonally, other cards or groups of cards to each other. Cards marked X cannot be taken, because doing so would isolate certain cards or groups of already-placed cards.
Play continues in this way until only a single card remains in the row or column, or until no more cards can be taken because doing so would split the cards into several separate groups. It is therefore possible, in a game with 4 players or fewer, for a player to end up taking several cards.
Once scoring is finished, the player who triggered it — the one holding the pillar marker — draws the top card of the draw pile, and the turn passes normally to the player on their left.
End of Game
When the draw pile is exhausted, the end of the game approaches. Play nevertheless continues until one last scoring phase occurs.
Each player's final score is calculated as follows:
- 10 points per token
- plus the value of the cards collected during scoring phases, but only in two colors of the player's choice
- minus the value of cards of other colors collected during scoring phases
The highest total wins the game.
Credits
A game by Martin Schlegel. Produced by Grünspan Spiele. Published by Abacus Spiele.