Magic Hill
Magic Hill Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 1 Magic mountain, including 5 paths, which encircle the mountain
- 4 villages
- 25 goblins (5 of each colour, numbered from 1-5)
- 60 cards (5 jokers and eleven sets of cards numbered from 1-5)
- 9 magic stones
- 20 action chips (4 secret passageways, 3 shocking ghosts, 3 ravens, 3 crystal balls, 3 storms, 2 flying cards, 2 traps)
- 1 tower
The Story and the Aim of the Game
Take on the role of a young wizard! Begin at the foot of the Magic Hill, to compete on behalf of rival goblins, who are gathered in packs at each of the four villages. Your aim is to reach the summit of the Magic Hill as quickly as possible. Whoever leads the first goblin to the mountain peak and into the secret tower first, wins the competition.
Preparation
Before the first game: Care must be taken when releasing the pre-punched parts from the perforated board.
Before each game: Take the Magic hill out of it's box and put it onto the middle of the table. Lay the separate paths onto the corresponding levels, as illustrated. Place a village at each corner at the foot of Magic mountain.
Take one "secret passageway" action chip out of the pack and keep it aside for the time being. Shuffle the remaining action chips without looking at them and conceal them on the first three levels on the squares marked with a magic sign. Now two action chips are left over. Shuffle these with the "secret passageway" action chip that had previously been set aside. Place these chips on the specially marked squares on the fourth level.
Put the magic stones onto the squares marked with a lithograph.
Place the tower on the mountain top.
Each player receives five goblins in one colour. He must then choose three of the four villages and share out his goblins as he wishes amongst them. The oldest player begins by placing one goblin in a village. The other players follow in a clockwise direction, until all the goblins have been shared out.
Shuffle the cards well. Each player receives three hidden cards. The rest of the cards form the face-down, pick-up pile.
Rules of the Game
The oldest player begins. The other players then follow in a clockwise order, one after the next. When a player has a turn, he may
- either play 2 or 3 cards one after another, in order to move one of his goblins,
- or exchange as many of his cards as he wishes.
Playing Cards and Moving a Goblin
Through playing his cards, the player selects which goblin, and the distance it may be moved.
- The number of the first card played determines which goblin should be moved.
- The number of the second and possibly the third card, determine the number of squares that this goblin may advance.
You can also play a joker, instead of using a number card. Several jokers may be played in one turn.
After playing the second card, a goblin may change the direction of progress. A goblin must stay on the lowest level to begin with. He can only reach the next higher level by accepting help, either from one of his own, or from someone else's goblin, or alternatively through the "secret passageway" (see below).
A goblin may climb upon another goblin, a magic stone, or an action chip, resting until his next turn. He is also allowed to step on, and to pass over, other goblins, magic stones and action chips. Overtaking a goblin, who already has a goblin on his shoulders, is forbidden.
After playing the second, or third card and having already moved a goblin, the following situations could occur. A goblin lands exactly on a:
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vacant square. Nothing further happens in this turn.
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magic stone. The player takes the magic stone and places it in front of himself. Straight away he is entitled to one extra card in his hand. Caution: A player is never allowed to have more than two magic stones in his possession. If a player, who already owns two magic stones, stops his goblin on yet another magic stone, he is obliged to take it and to return it to the box. This magic stone is discarded for the rest of the game. Players, who possess one or two magic stones, can have one or two extra cards in their hand, but they may never use more than three of them in one turn.
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Action chips. The player turns it over, carries out the action and finally puts it back again, concealed. However, if it is a crystal ball or a raven - takes it from the game. (Compare "Significance of action chips").
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Individual goblin. If, after playing the second card, a player's goblin lands on another goblin (either belonging to this player or to someone else), then he faces two choices:
either he finishes his move, therefore preventing the lower goblin from going anywhere. or he plays his third card and using this number, enables himself to move further up, onto the next higher level.
Conditions for a level change are:
- One is not allowed to change levels from the corner squares of each level.
- The neighbouring square on the next higher level may not be occupied by a goblin.
Illustration: Annie plays the cards "3", "4" and "2". First she moves her "third goblin" forward four squares and reaches one of Ben's goblins, at the end of her move. Then she changes levels and moves another step in the direction of her choice. (Diagram: Level 1, Move 1; Level 2, Move 2.)
If a player's goblin lands exactly on top of another goblin after playing his third card, then his turn is complete, as he is not allowed to play more than three cards in one go. In this case, a level change is only possible in the next round.
Exception: The action chip "flying card" enables a fourth card to be played.
If a player's goblin lands on top of another goblin, who is standing on an action chip, one ignores the "action".
- Goblin, who is already sitting on top of another goblin (a goblin pair). In this case the arriving goblin pushes the upper goblin of the goblin pair one square further in the direction of play. If this goblin then lands on an action chip, or a magic stone, then this action must be carried out immediately. If the goblin lands on yet another goblin pair, then here too, the upper most goblin gets pushed onto the next square, in the direction of play, etc.
Illustration: Annie plays the cards "3" and "2" and moves her "goblin no. three", onto a goblin pair. In so doing, she shifts Ben's "goblin no.one" onto the next square. Ben lands on one of the action chips and carries out the action straight away. Annie may now play a third card.
Cards used during a turn are discarded. Players pick up cards from the face-down pack to replace the ones they have used. Players may only have three cards in their hand, plus one or two extra cards if they posses magic stone(s). Therefore, a player may never hold more than five cards. Once all of the cards have been used from the pick-up pile, the used cards should be shuffled and placed face down to be used again.
Exchanging Cards
If a player doesn't want to, or cannot use any of his cards, then he may change them. The player puts as many of his own cards, as he wishes, on top of the used-card pile and takes the same number of new cards from the face-down pile. In so doing, his turn is over and the next player continues.
Significance of the Action Chips
Normally after the action chips have been carried out, they get turned over again. Exception: The "crystal ball" and the "raven" chips get removed from the game as soon as they have been played and obeyed.
Crystal ball
The player has to turn over three concealed action chips using the crystal ball. Following this, the crystal ball is removed from the game. These three action chips remain upturned until a goblin lands on them and carries out the action, or until a "storm" is upturned. (See below) After that, they must be turned face-down again
Storm
The storm causes all the upturned action chips to be turned face-down again. Added to this, the player, whose turn it is, must rotate the Magic mountain 90°, in either a clockwise, or an anti-clockwise direction. The villages stay in position. They must not be turned.
Flying card
The player who turns over a flying card, takes a card from the pick-up pile straight away and is allowed to play an additional card in his round. This card can be the one he just lifted, or from his hand. If the player doesn't want to take advantage of playing an additional card, he simply replaces as many cards as he is allowed to hold.
Raven
The player who turns over a raven, chooses another player, who then has to give up a magic stone. This magic stone is then removed from the game. The victim has to immediately put a card of his choice onto the throw-away pile, now that he has lost his right to hold a further card. Following this, the raven is taken out of the game. If a player is singled out, but doesn't yet have any magic stones, then the raven remains lying in front of him until the player receives a magic stone. When this happens, he gives up both the raven and the magic stone, (without picking up an additional card of course).
Secret passageway
A goblin reaches the neighbouring free square on the next level higher up, through the secret passageway. If a goblin is already occupying this square, then the secret passageway is blocked. In this case, the goblin either carries on, (in this round or the next) without changing levels, or he waits until the square above becomes vacant. He then, immediately, advances onto this vacant square, on the next level higher up.
Trap
Your goblin will descend from a higher level to a lower level via the neighbouring square when you fall into a trap. If the square on the lower level is occupied, you are lucky and will avoid the drop. However if the square becomes free before you have a chance to move, your goblin will immediately fall down to the lower level. If a goblin falls through a trap while on the lowest level, then he must return immediately to a village of his choice. His turn ends here.
Shocking ghost
If one of your goblins meets a shocking ghost, he must immediately return to a village of his choice and his turn is over.
End of the Game
The first player, whose goblin reaches the summit of the mountain, wins the game and receives the tower as a symbol of his victory. You don't need to reach the mountain's summit with exactly the right number.