MAD
MAD Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
In this trick-taking game, winning a Trick isn't always desired because each card has a 'Science' (+) and 'Madness' (-) side that could challenge the balance of players' Score Piles.
Trick winners take an opponent's card into one of their matching Score Piles - 2 suits of which are imbalanced from the start - with the goal to reduce each suit to 0. The lowest score wins!
Components
30 Cards: 28 Lab Cards (1-7 in 4 suits) and the Lab Chart (2 Cards).
The Lab Chart shows: the Round Setup Aid, the Madness Total, the number of players indicator, and the Starting Suit Scores.
Round 1 Setup
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Piece the 2 Lab Chart cards together with the side up that matches the number of players (3 or 4) and place them in the center of the table. On each edge of the Lab Chart, there are 2 Starting Suit Scores that face each player. These are virtual cards that each player aims to balance with their Score Piles by the end of the game.
Example Starting Suit Scores for 4 players: Player A: 3 and -4 (different suits for each player; every player has one +3 suit and one -4 suit).
-
Shuffle the Lab cards together to form a deck.
- 3 Players: Discard 1 card from the deck face down to form a discard pile, then deal 9 cards to each player.
- 4 Players: Deal 7 cards to each player.
Take the cards into your hand and arrange them so the positive side of the cards is upright. Choose a player to be the Lead Scientist. They take the Game Box to show they are playing first in this Trick.
Gameplay
The Lead Scientist plays a card from their hand. In clockwise order, each other player plays one card. They must play a card matching the suit of the Lead Scientist's card. If they cannot, they play any card from their hand.
Madness/Science
4 of the 7 cards in each suit contain symbols (spirals): -3/3 (two spirals), -4/4 (three spirals), -5/5 (two spirals), -6/6 (one spiral).
Once enough spirals are showing on the played cards in the current Trick, the game immediately flips between Madness and Science:
- 3 Players: 4 or more total spirals.
- 4 Players: 6 or more total spirals.
| Cards in current Set | Triggering player says | Players rotate cards in hand and in play to |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | "Madness!" | Negative |
| Negative | "Science!" | Positive |
After each player has played a card, the LARGEST card that matches the suit played by the Lead Scientist wins and is discarded.
The winning player selects one of the cards played by an OPPONENT in this trick, and adds it to one of their Score Piles.
Score Piles: In addition to your hand, you have four Score Piles - one for each suit. When you select a card, keep it in its current positive or negative value and add it to the Score Pile for that suit.
The other cards played in the Trick are discarded face down.
The player to the left of the Trick-winning player is now the Lead Scientist, takes the Game Box and plays the first card in the next Trick. The round ends when players have no more cards in their hand.
Round 2 Setup
Retain the positive/negative status from last round!
- Leave all score piles and the Game Box in place.
- Shuffle the Lab cards in the discard pile together (not the ones in Score Piles).
- 3 Players: Discard 1 card from the deck face down to form a discard pile, then deal 6 cards to each player.
- 4 Players: Discard 1 card from the deck face down to form a discard pile, then deal 5 cards to each player.
Example Trick for 4 Players
In this Trick, Player A has the Game Box and is Lead Scientist after Player D won the previous Trick. The game is in 'Science' mode and only positive numbers are considered.
- Player A leads the Trick with Purple 5 (2 spirals).
- Player B has Purple and plays Purple 4 (3 spirals).
- Player C does not have Purple so they play a Green 6 (1 spiral).
The total spirals played is 6 so the game is now in 'Madness' mode. All players immediately rotate the cards in their hands and in play (NOT Score Piles) to the opposite side. Now only the negative numbers are considered.
Cards in this Trick are now negative: Purple -5, Purple -4, Green -6. Finally, Player D has a card in this suit, so they must play a Purple card. They play Purple -2.
Player D has the largest Purple card, so they must take one of the opponent's played cards. They select Purple -4, placing it in their Purple Score Pile. The remaining played cards are discarded.
Player A (left of Player D) keeps the Game Box and leads the next Trick because Player D won the last Trick. The game continues in Madness mode until 6 spirals are showing, which would switch play back to 'Science' positive mode.
Final Scoring
After two rounds, players calculate the total of each of their suits' Score Piles independently. Each player adds the two suit scores on the Lab Chart that correspond to their seated position. Score each suit's distance from zero, not caring if the total is positive or negative (absolute value).
The player with the lowest score is the winner.
If there is a tie, the tied player with more cards in their Score Piles wins. If it is still a tie, they share the victory.
Advanced Play
Play three games, recording scores at the end of each game. In the final game, all scores are doubled. Then, total all three game's scores and the player with the lowest score wins.
Example Scoring for 4 Players
The last Trick is played at the end of Round 2 and players total their scores.
- Player A (Starting Suit Scores 3 and -4) was unable to balance out their Green -4 starting suit and instead added a Green -6 for a total score of -10 in the Green suit! Suit totals: 2, 3, 10, 3 = 18.
- Player B (Starting Suit Scores 3 and -4) zeroed out their Blue -4 Starting Score but was forced to take a Red -6 and no other Red cards to balance it out! Suit totals: 1, 0, 0, 6 = 7.
- Player C (Starting Suit Scores -4 and 3) made their Purple suit total worse by taking the Purple -4 and ended up with a -8 in Purple! Suit totals: 8, 0, 2, 3 = 13.
- Player D (Starting Suit Scores 3 and -4) brilliantly balanced out their Starting Suit Scores with 2 cards. Suit totals: 0, 0, 0, 0 = 0.
Player D wins the game with a perfect score of '0'.