Mada
Mada Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 60 Cactus cards, with values 1 to 13
- 10 Special cards: 4 Lemurs, 3 Double Lemurs, 3 Scorpions
Goal of the Game
Score as many points as possible via the prickly pears depicted on the cards. The player who has the most prickly pears after someone gains their 5th card, is the winner.
Setup
Shuffle all the cards and deal 3 to each player. Note: keep your hand cards hidden from the other players. Use the remaining cards to create a face-down draw pile, and place it in the middle of the table.
How to Play
Players take turns in clockwise order. The player who has most recently seen a lemur gets to start.
During your turn, you must choose 1 of these 3 actions:
A/ Play a Card
Play one of the cards from your hand face up on the table. This is your personal discard pile. Cards you play in future turns should be placed on top. Their value always has to be equal to or higher than the previous card. The numbers don't have to be consecutive. Do NOT draw new cards after you've played a card.
You're not allowed to choose this action if you don't have any cards that meet this condition.
B/ Draw a Card
Draw a card from the face-down pile. Your hand limit is 3 cards. Do NOT play a card after you draw a card.
You're not allowed to choose this action if you're already holding 3 cards.
C/ Try Your Luck
First, you have to announce out loud that you'll be trying your luck, so everyone's aware. Next, draw a card from the draw pile and place it directly onto your personal discard pile.
If you're lucky, the card will meet the condition and you're allowed to play it without consequences.
If the Cactus card shows a lower value than the one on your discard pile, you lose and the current round ends (see End of the Round).
Note: this action is a last resort if you can no longer draw or play cards. However, you may also try your luck deliberately, even if you're still able to carry out a different action.
Special Cards
Immediately carry out the effect of a special card you played from your hand or drew from the draw pile when trying your luck.
Lemur: place the Lemur on your personal discard pile. It attaches itself to the first card and drags it down. Take both cards (with the Lemur on top), and place them at the bottom of your personal discard pile.
If several cards of the same value are on top of your personal discard pile, the Lemur drags them all down.
If a Lemur is on top of your personal discard pile, you may place a Cactus card of any value on it.
Double Lemur: place the Double Lemur on the general discard pile, next to the draw pile. Swap your personal discard pile with the discard pile of another player.
Scorpion: the effect of the Scorpion activates automatically when you draw this card. Place it on the general discard pile, along with one of your hand cards. If you don't have any hand cards, only discard the Scorpion.
If the Scorpion is among the 3 cards you received during setup, you have to carry out its effect immediately.
Note: if you're holding a Scorpion in your hand during the game, it means you've made a mistake.
End of the Round
As soon as a player loses a round, do the following:
- All other players place the top card of their personal discard pile face down to the side. These players will score the amount of prickly pears depicted on it at the end of the game. If your top card is a Lemur, it doesn't score any points.
- All players place the remaining cards of their personal discard pile onto the general discard pile.
- The player who lost the round may place any number of their hand cards onto the general discard pile.
- All the other players must keep their hand cards. This means it's possible that not all players will start the next round with the same amount of hand cards.
Next Round
The person to the left of the player who lost the round starts the new round.
Is the draw pile empty?
When the draw pile is empty, the players gather all cards from their personal discard piles, except the top card. Shuffle them together with the cards from the general discard pile, and form a new draw pile.
Note: be careful not to include the face-down cards you've placed to the side.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately when someone gains their 5th Cactus card.
Count the total number of prickly pears on the Cactus cards you've placed to the side. The player with the most prickly pears wins the game. In case of a tie, the players involved share the victory.