Machi Koro: Fussball Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Course of the Game
  • Course of a Turn
  • Income
  • Order of Income Claims
  • Building New Projects and Major Projects
  • The Major Projects
  • End of the Game
• Notes on the Major Projects
• Variant "Come What May"

Object of the Game

The winner is the first player to have built their four Major Projects.

Components

• 112 playing cards, of which:
  • 12 Starting cards
  • 16 Major Projects
  • 84 Project cards (15 different kinds)
• 72 coins: 50 x 1, 12 x 5, 10 x 10
• 2 dice

Anatomy of a Project card: dice number, name, card symbol, player symbol, income effect, cost.

Anatomy of a Major Project: name, card symbol, benefit, cost.

Setup

• Before the first game, carefully punch all coins out of the punchboards.

• Each player receives:

  • 3 Starting cards (Ticket Booth and Snack Stand with cost 0, and Training Ground; yellow backs)
  • 4 different Major Projects (Youth Academy, Stadium, TV Studio, Football Museum)
  • 3 coins (each worth 1)

  Note: With fewer than 4 players, the remaining Starting cards and Major Projects are returned to the box.

• Each player lays their three Starting cards face up in front of them. Above them they lay their 4 Major Projects with the gray side up. They are only turned over when they are built. These 7 cards form each player's starting display.

• All remaining cards are sorted by the 15 kinds of project and laid out in separate piles as the general display in the middle of the table.

• The remaining coins are placed beside it as the "bank".

• The youngest player begins. After them play continues clockwise.

Course of the Game

Course of a Turn

1. The player whose turn it is rolls 1 die. Important: if a player has later built their Major Project "Youth Academy", they may always choose to roll with 1 or 2 dice.
2. The number rolled (the sum, when rolling 2 dice) shows which Project cards produce income.
3. Then follows the player's build phase: they may build 1 Project card from the display or 1 of their Major Projects. If they now have no coins, they receive 1 coin from the bank for their "Training Ground".

Income

Players receive income in the form of coins for a Project card laid out in front of them if the dice number of that Project card was rolled. Important: if 2 dice were rolled, only the sum of both dice counts, not the individual dice numbers. If a player has a Project card multiple times, they also receive the income multiple times.

The player symbols on the cards show when you receive the income:

• Only if you yourself rolled the number, OR
• In every turn, i.e. also when another player rolled the number on their turn.

Each card says whether you receive the income from the bank or from the other players. Each player lays out their coins so that all players can see how many coins they own.

Note: when coins are mentioned, coins worth 1 are always meant. Coins can be exchanged with the bank at any time.

There are 4 kinds of Project cards:

• Blue: income on every roll. These Project cards bring income regardless of which player rolled the dice number. That can be the player who built the project or another player.
• Green: income only on your own roll. These Project cards only bring income if the player rolls the dice number on their own turn.
• Red: income only on an opponent's roll. These Project cards only bring income if another player rolls the dice number on their turn.
• Purple: special Project cards. These Project cards only bring income (or, for the New Sponsor, a benefit) if the player rolls the dice number on their own turn.

Order of Income Claims

If a player receives income and must pay coins to other players, first all payments are made (where possible). Only afterwards does the player receive their income.

If the player does not have the entire required amount, they only have to pay as many coins as they own. The rest is forfeited.

Example: Player A rolls a "3". Player B owns 1 Fan Shop and demands 1 coin from Player A. Since Player A has no coins, Player B gets nothing. Then Player A receives 2 coins from the bank for the two Snack Stands he owns.

If several claims result from a dice roll, they are resolved counterclockwise.

Example: Player A rolls a "3". Player B owns 3 Fan Shops and Player C 2 Fan Shops. Player A would therefore have to pay 5 coins. Since he only has 3 coins, payment is made counterclockwise. First Player A pays Player C 2 coins. Then he pays 1 coin to Player B. The missing 2 coins to Player B are forfeited.

Building New Projects and Major Projects

At the end of their turn, a player can build 1 Project card from the general display or 1 of their Major Projects. To do so they must pay the bank as many coins as the building cost (the number at the bottom left of the card) indicates. They lay the built Project card face up in front of them.

If a player has several cards of the same kind of project, it is best to lay them overlapping, slightly offset downward, so that it is visible how many cards of this kind of project they own.

Important: A player may have any number of cards of most Project cards. Only of the "special Project cards" (purple) may they have each card only once. So they may have 1 card each of New Sponsor, New Player and New Coach, but not, for example, 2 x New Sponsor.

Tip for the first games: to get to know the game, you can agree that you may own at most 2 cards of each kind of project. This prevents a player from getting too many identical Project cards and thereby becoming too strong. When all players later know the game and the different card combinations well, this restriction is lifted so that different strategies become possible. For the "special Project cards", it remains that you may have at most 1 card of each.

The Major Projects

When a player builds a Major Project, they turn the card to its coloured front. From their next turn, the benefit written on the card applies to this player. The player decides for themselves in which order they build their Major Projects.

End of the Game

As soon as a player has built their 4th (and thus last) Major Project at the end of their turn, the game is over immediately. This player has won.

Notes on the Major Projects

• Youth Academy: In every turn the player may decide anew whether to use 1 or 2 dice.
• Stadium: Whenever the player receives income for a Project card of the two card symbols shown on the Stadium card (a shirt symbol and a second symbol), they receive 1 coin more for each of these rolled Project cards. If he has, for example, 2 Snack Stand cards, he receives 4 instead of 2 coins. If he has, for example, 1 Clubhouse, he receives 3 instead of 2 coins.
• TV Studio: Only if the player has built their Youth Academy may they also roll with 2 dice. They can thereby get 2 equal numbers (doubles). In this case the player has a complete second turn. They can again choose whether to use 1 or 2 dice, possibly receive income and may build 1 Project card or 1 Major Project. If they roll doubles again in this second turn, however, that does not count again.
• Football Museum: If the player rolls again, they must use the same number of dice as in their first roll. Only the result of this second roll then counts.

Variant "Come What May"

Anyone who has already played the game a few times should try this variant, in which not all Project cards are in the display.

• Since each player may have only one card of each "special Project card" (purple), in a three-player game 1 card of each "special Project card" is returned to the box, and in a two-player game 2 cards.
• Then all Project cards are thoroughly shuffled and laid out as a face-down draw pile.
• Then cards are turned face up one at a time from this pile to form the open display.
• If a Project card is revealed that is already in the display, it is placed on the card already laid out.
• Cards are drawn until 10 different Project cards are laid out.
• If during the game a card from the general display is built and afterwards only 9 different Project cards are laid out, cards are drawn from the draw pile and laid out until there are 10 different Project cards again.
• If the draw pile is used up, the general display is no longer replenished.