マケランディア (Macelandia)
マケランディア (Macelandia) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
"Macelandia" is a team-based strategy simulation card game. Players are divided into factions of light and darkness, taking on the role of commanders defending "castles" and "forts" positioned on the map. By choosing actions such as "attack," "reinforcements," or "standby," players aim to eliminate either the castle player or all fort players from the enemy faction to achieve victory.
Commanders are required to be strategic, and to make use of the geographical advantages on the vast Macelandia continent. They need analytical reasoning skills to read the enemy's hand based on limited information. Cooperation with allies becomes the key to victory.
The conclusion of this story rests in your hands.
Players: 4 to 8. Playing time: 20 to 30 minutes. Age: 10 and up.
Contents
- 1 Rules booklet
- 1 Macelandia map
- 8 Faction cards
- Light: 1 Castle card, 3 Fort cards
- Darkness: 1 Castle card, 3 Fort cards
- 32 Cards to use as a hand
- Light: 11 Character cards, 1 Enhancement card, 1 Instant Death card
- Light, additional cards (used only in a 7-8 player game): 2 Character cards (strength ③ and ⑥), 1 Enhancement card
- Darkness: 11 Character cards, 1 Enhancement card, 1 Instant Death card
- Darkness, additional cards (used only in a 7-8 player game): 2 Character cards (strength ③ and ⑥), 1 Enhancement card
How to Read Character Cards
- Number representing strength
- Name
- Race
- Special Abilities (not every card has special abilities)
Setup
1. Prepare Gameplay Area
Put the Macelandia map on the table. Place the side corresponding to the number of players face up.
2. Divide into 2 factions
Divide the players into factions of Light and Darkness. Prepare the faction cards as shown in Table 1. Each faction will have one player defending the castle, while the other players will defend forts.
Table 1: Number of Faction cards
| Number of Players | 4 Players | 5 Players | 6 Players | 7 Players | 8 Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light: Castle | 1 Card | 1 Card | 1 Card | 1 Card | 1 Card |
| Light: Fort | 1 Card | 1 Card | 2 Cards | 2 Cards | 3 Cards |
| Darkness: Castle | 1 Card | 1 Card | 1 Card | 1 Card | 1 Card |
| Darkness: Fort | 1 Card | 2 Cards | 2 Cards | 3 Cards | 3 Cards |
Shuffle the cards well and deal them to everyone face down. Without checking the front of the cards, each player places their card face down in the 'Vacant Territory' on the Macelandia map (see below). It is advised to place it in the nearest vacant territory from where you're sitting. Territories where faction cards were not placed will remain vacant.
Example: Arrangement for a 5-player game (map diagram not reproduced here; see the printed rulebook page 4).
Vacant territory
Reveal Faction Cards All Together!
This determines who is in the Light faction and Darkness faction. Confirm your allies and enemies. The position relationships of each player and the differences in the roles of 'castle' and 'fort' are important when strategizing.
About Long Distance and Neighboring
Each territory has a distance between them. As shown in the diagram below, territories on both sides, from your perspective, are "Neighboring", while other territories are considered "Long Distance".
Example: Distance between territories in a 7-player game (diagram not reproduced here; see the printed rulebook page 5).
Territories marked on the diagram: Long Distance, Neighboring, You.
3. Deal Cards
Deal cards to use as a hand to each player. As shown in Table 2, prepare cards based on the number of players, separated by light and darkness factions.
Table 2: Number of Cards to use as a hand for each faction
| Number of Players | 4 to 6 Players | 7 to 8 Players |
|---|---|---|
| Character Cards | 11 Cards | 13 Cards (Additional Cards Included) |
| Enhancement Card | 1 Card | 2 Cards (Additional Cards Included) |
| Instant Death Card | 1 Card | 1 Card |
Shuffle the cards to use as a hand for each faction. Deal the light cards to players in the light faction and the darkness cards to players in the darkness faction. The number of cards in each player's hand is as specified in Table 3. If playing with 4 to 6 players, return the remaining card to the box without revealing them.
Table 3: Number of cards per player in a hand
| Number of Players | 4 Players | 5 Players | 6 Players | 7 Players | 8 Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light | 6 Cards | 6 Cards | 4 Cards | Castle Player: 6 Cards; Fort Players: 5 Cards | 4 Cards |
| Darkness | 6 Cards | 4 Cards | 4 Cards | 4 Cards | 4 Cards |
Be careful not to let other players see your hand. Do not share information about your hand with allies.
The setup is finished.
Game Start!
Starting with the Dark Castle player, take turns clockwise, with each player taking their turn. When it's a player's turn, they can choose one of the following actions: (a) Attack, (b) Reinforcements, or (c) Standby.
(a) Attack
Challenge the enemy player to battle. The battle proceeds with the following steps.
- Choose a card from your hand and place it face down in front of any enemy player of your choice. The player who is attacked then chooses a card to counter with from their hand and plays it face down in front of themselves.
- Simultaneously reveal the cards, then proceed with the 'Victory Judgment' (as described later).
- After the victory judgment, the cards used in battle will be handled as follows:
- Character cards that won the battle return to the player's hand. However, the character card used to attack a player at long distance will be in the 'Expedition' state, and it cannot be returned to the hand until the next turn. (Refer to 'About Expeditions' for more information.)
- Character cards that lost the battle will be discarded. Place these cards face down in the discard pile.
- Enhancement cards and Instant Death cards are discarded after use since they can only be used once, whether you win or lose.
How to play a card from your hand
You can play all cards individually. However, you are allowed to combine multiple cards and play them together only in the following three ways.
- Any character card + one enhancement card.
- A pair of character cards with a special ability that says 'Can be played as a pair with ____'s character card.'
- A pair of character cards that can be played as a pair + one enhancement card.
Note: Combinations that are not allowed
- Combining three or more character cards
- Combining two enhancement cards
Victory Judgment
Character cards: The card with a higher number representing strength wins. If there is a tie, both cards are discarded. When combining two character cards, victory is determined by the total strength value. If a character card has a special ability, it takes precedence over the strength comparison.
Enhancement cards: Increase the strength of the character cards that were played together. It's also possible to play an enhancement card on its own, but it has no effect and is discarded.
Instant Death cards: Force the enemy player to discard the character card they played.
(b) Reinforcements
Choose one card from your hand and pass it face down to any allied player of your choice.
If reinforcements are sent to a neighboring player, the card will immediately be added to the hand of the player who received the reinforcements.
If reinforcements are sent to a long distance player, the card will be in the 'Expedition' state, so it cannot be added to the hand of the player who received reinforcements until their turn. (Refer to 'About Expeditions' for more information.)
Reinforcements can reinforce the strength of allies or confuse enemies by making the location of cards unknown.
(c) Standby
Skip your turn without taking any action. This is done when you have few cards in hand or when you want to assess the situation.
About Expeditions
The card used for attacking a long distance player or the card sent as reinforcements to a long distance player will be in the 'Expedition' state. The card in the 'Expedition' state is placed face down in front of the faction card of the player who owns it (in the case of reinforcements, in front of the player who received the card). When the player's next turn comes, the expedition state is lifted, and they can add the card to their hand. Cards in the 'Expedition' state cannot be used in battles.
(Diagram "In Expedition State" not reproduced here; see the printed rulebook page 8.)
Player Elimination
A player with zero cards in hand is eliminated from the game. The eliminated player must flip their faction cards face down, say "Macelandia!" and surrender.
Examples of situations leading to elimination
The following cases also result in elimination.
- If a player has zero cards in hand while leaving cards in the 'Expedition' state, the cards in the 'Expedition' state will be discarded.
- If a player attacks a long distance player with their last card in hand, even if the player wins the battle, they are eliminated because the cards that were used do not immediately returned to the hand. The card goes to the discard pile after the battle.
- If a player sends their last card in hand as reinforcements, the player can also sacrifice themselves by sending reinforcements for the sake of their faction's victory.
End of The Game
The faction that fulfills one of the following conditions will win:
- Eliminate one castle player from the enemy faction.
- Eliminate all fort players from the enemy faction.
If both factions are defeated simultaneously, the result will be a tie.