Magic Maze Kids Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Concept & Setup
• Tutorials 1-3 (Back of Board A)
  • Tutorial 1
  • Tutorial 2
  • Tutorial 3
• Complete Game — Board A
• Tutorials 4-6 (Back of Board B)
  • Tutorial 4
  • Tutorial 5
  • Tutorial 6
• Complete Game — Board B
• Tutorials 7-10 (Back of Board C)
  • Tutorial 7
  • Tutorial 8
  • Tutorial 9
  • Tutorial 10
• Complete Game — Board C
• Tutorial 11 (Back of Board D)
• Complete Game — Board D
• Additional Challenges
  • Challenge #1 — Silence
  • Challenge #2 — No Communication
  • Challenge #3 — No Planning
  • Challenge #4 — Swap Action Tiles
  • Challenge #5 — Don't Run Out of Time
  • Challenge #6 — Limited Time
  • Challenge #7 — Less Time

Components

• 4 double-sided gameboards (A, B, C, D)
• 4 Hero pawns (Prince, Princess, Wizard, Knight)
• 6 Creature pawns (2 Griffins, 2 Unicorns, 1 Dragon, 1 Minotaur)
• 4 Action tiles (one arrow in each direction)
• 1 Cauldron (see below how to assemble the four parts)
• 52 Ingredient tokens (8 each of Spiderwebs, Phoenix Feathers, Bat Poops, Mushrooms, Orchids; 4 each of Blackstones, Snake Venom, Clovers)
• 1 sand timer
• 26 Mission cards
• 1 Time marker
• 1 King card
• 1 Summary card

Assembling the Cauldron: Fold the big part (dark side inside). Slide the three small parts (dark side inside) into the big one.

Game Concept & Setup

Magic Maze Kids is a cooperative game in which you work together in order to achieve a common goal. You all win or lose together.

In this game, you don't control a specific character; instead, any player can move any pawn at any time, but you can only move them in a direction depicted on an Action tile in front of you. That means you all need to cooperate in order to move the pawns where they need to go!

You are allowed to talk and communicate with each other as much as you like, but you cannot perform an action that is not yours.

1. Select the gameboard matching to the tutorial or game mode you want to play, and place it in the middle of the play area. For your very first game, please use the back of Board A.

2. Assemble the Cauldron and place it next to the board.

3. Place the Ingredient tokens next to the board so they are easy to reach. You can sort them by type if you wish.

4. Deal out the Action tiles:

   • If there are 4 of you, give each player 1 Action tile.
   • If there are 3 of you, give one player 2 Action tiles, and the other players 1 each.
   • If there are 2 of you, give each player 2 Action tiles.

   Notice that if you have 2 Action tiles, they always point in opposite directions.

5. Place your Action tile(s) in front of you, with North pointing in the same direction as the North on the gameboard. Make sure everyone's tiles stay visible and with North pointed in the same direction for the whole game.

6. Now follow the specific setup instructions for the tutorial or game mode you have chosen to play.

The following small tutorials will teach you the rules step by step…

Tutorials 1-3 (Back of Board A)

Tutorial 1

The Prince goes out to find a mushroom for the potion.

Setup: Place the Prince on his starting space.

Mission: The Prince must pick up a Mushroom.

New rule — Move the Heroes

The Prince can be moved by any player at any time, but only in a direction controlled by that player (on their Action tiles).

You do not take turns in this game. You just move the Prince in one of the directions on your Action tiles whenever you think it is appropriate.

Later, you will be able to move the three other Heroes (Princess, Wizard, and Knight) the same way.

New rule — Pick up an Ingredient

In order to pick up an Ingredient, work together to move the Hero to a space depicting that ingredient. When the Hero is standing on it, take a matching Ingredient token from the supply and place it on the Mission as shown.

You are now ready to play tutorial 1.

Tutorial 2

The Princess is out to pick an orchid for the potion… but sometimes, there is more than one way to get there.

Setup: Place the Princess on her starting space.

Mission: The Princess must pick up an Orchid.

Note: Before each new game, you can choose to deal out the Action tiles again. Remember that if you get 2 Action tiles, they must point in opposite directions.

Tutorial 3

The Prince and Princess have to pass each other to get to their items.

Setup: Place the Prince and the Princess on their starting spaces.

Mission:

• The Prince must pick up a Spider web.
• The Princess must pick up a Phoenix Feather.

New rule — Heroes block each other

A Hero cannot stand on the same space as another Hero. A Hero cannot move through another Hero.

When you have completed Tutorial 3, take all of the collected ingredients and put them into the cauldron.

Now you are ready to learn how to play complete games on Board A.

Complete Game — Board A

The Prince and the Princess need to gather several ingredients to make a potion to heal the King.

Setup:

• Place the Prince and the Princess on their starting spaces.
• Place the King card next to the board, "frog" side up.
• Take 3 random Mission cards with an A on the back. Shuffle them and place them face up on the King card.

New rule for complete games — Mission cards

When you play a complete game, the visible Mission card tells you what to do, just like the Missions in the tutorials.

Complete the missions on the card one by one, from top to bottom. When you collect an Ingredient, place it on the Mission card.

When all the missions on a card are completed, pour all the collected Ingredients from the card into the Cauldron and put the Mission card back into the game box.

If this reveals a new Mission card, you must complete the new missions.

If this reveals the King card, the potion is ready. Stir it and pour the ingredients out on top of the frog. Then flip the card to reveal the healthy King and win the game!

Note: If a Hero gets a mission to collect an ingredient and that Hero is already standing on the Ingredient, you are in luck! You immediately complete that mission.

You can play on Board A as many times as you want.

If you wish to learn more rules, complete the tutorials starting on the next page. They will prepare you for Board B.

Tutorials 4-6 (Back of Board B)

Tutorial 4

The Princess needs to collect some bat poop… but a griffin is standing in her way.

Setup: Place the Princess and the Griffin on their starting spaces.

Mission: The Princess must pick up some Bat Poop.

New rule — Creatures in the way

You cannot move a Hero onto the same space as a Creature. You cannot move a Hero through a Creature. So you need to move the Creatures out of the way.

You can move the Creatures just like you move the Heroes, but never out of their dedicated area (colored spaces).

Tutorial 5

The Prince needs to get snake venom for the potion, but he cannot handle a snake alone. So, he seeks help from the Wizard, who can hypnotize the snake.

Setup: Place the Prince and the Wizard on their starting spaces.

Mission: The Prince and the Wizard must meet to collect Snake Venom.

New rule — Make two Heroes meet

This is a new kind of mission: Two Heroes must meet in order to collect an Ingredient.

To make Heroes meet, you need to make them stand on two adjacent spaces, next to each other, anywhere on the board. Then, cover the ingredient of the Mission with the matching Ingredient token.

Tutorial 6

The Princess needs to get some Blackstone for the potion, but it is too heavy to carry. So, she needs help from the Knight.

Setup: Place the Princess, the Knight, the Unicorn, and the Dragon on their starting spaces.

Mission: The Princess and the Knight must meet to collect a Blackstone.

When you have completed Tutorial 6, take all of the collected ingredients and put them into the cauldron.

Now you are ready to learn how to play complete games on Board B.

Complete Game — Board B

The King is in trouble again, and there are creatures blocking the way to the required ingredients. Luckily, the Wizard and the Knight have promised to help.

Setup:

• Place the 4 Heroes on any 4 blank spaces.
• Place the Griffin, the Dragon, and the Unicorn on their starting spaces.
• Place the King card next to the board, "frog" side up.
• Randomly take 3 Mission cards with B C D on the back. Shuffle them and place them face up on the King card.

New rule — Varied Mission cards

From now on, Mission cards will contain both types of missions ("Pick up" and "Meet") for all four Heroes.

Note: The Lucky Clover

The Lucky Clover is an ingredient that can be found with a "Meet" mission. Two Heroes combine their luck to find it!

You can play on Board B as many times as you want.

If you wish to learn more rules, complete the tutorials starting on the next page. They will prepare you for Board C.

Tutorials 7-10 (Back of Board C)

Tutorial 7

The Prince can jump over creatures, thanks to his agility.

Setup: Place the Prince and the Griffin on their starting spaces.

Mission: The Prince must pick up an Orchid.

New rule — The Prince can jump over Creatures

The Prince can be moved in a straight line over any Creature, but he can only jump over 1 Creature at a time. The space directly behind the Creature must be available.

Just use the direction arrow that moves the Prince the correct direction to jump that way.

The Prince can not jump over any other Hero.

Tutorial 8

The Knight knows some shortcuts through the forest.

Setup: Place the Knight and the Dragon on their starting spaces.

Mission: The Knight must pick up a Spiderweb.

New rule — The Knight can take hidden paths

There are gray paths crossing the forest to connect two distant spaces. The Knight can use these paths, but only to move from one connected space to the other.

Just use the direction arrow that moves the Knight the correct direction through the shortcut.

Tutorial 9

The Wizard knows a secret portal through which she can quickly travel a long distance.

Setup: Place the Wizard and the Unicorn on their starting spaces.

Mission: The Wizard must pick up a Phoenix Feather.

New rule — The Wizard can use portals

There are portals at the edges of the board that connect two very distant spaces. The Wizard can move through a portal to get from one such connected space to the other.

Just use the direction arrow that moves the Wizard the correct direction to step through the portal.

Tutorial 10

There's a minotaur guarding the bridge… but the Princess is a good swimmer.

Setup: Place the Princess and the Minotaur on their starting spaces.

Mission: The Princess must pick up some Bat Poop.

New rule — The Princess can swim

The Princess can move (swim) in a straight line from one side of the river to the other.

Just use the direction arrow that moves the Princess the correct direction across the river.

When you have completed Tutorial 10, take all the collected ingredients and put them into the cauldron.

Now you are ready to learn how to play complete games on board C.

Complete Game — Board C

The King has once again turned himself into a frog. Will he ever learn? Plus, there are even more creatures blocking the way. So, the Heroes must make good use of their new abilities.

Setup:

• Place the 4 Heroes on any 4 blank spaces.
• Place the Griffin, the Dragon, the 2 Unicorns, and the Minotaur on their starting spaces.
• Place the King card next to the board, "frog" side up.
• Randomly take 3 Mission cards with B C D on the back. Shuffle them and place them face up on the King card.

Note: More challenge

You can increase the difficulty and the game length by playing with more than three Mission cards.

New rule — Use the Heroes' special abilities

You can use the four Heroes' special abilities you learned in previous tutorials as often as you wish.

New rule — Complete missions in any order

From now on, you can choose to complete the missions of the visible Mission card in any order. Remember to place the ingredients on the mission card (not directly into the cauldron) so you can keep track of which missions you have completed.

New rule — Move the Minotaur

The player with the correct Action tile can move the Minotaur directly from one bridge to the other. Just use the direction arrow that moves the Minotaur the correct direction along the river to the other bridge.

New rule — Move the Unicorns

Like all other pawns, the two unicorns can neither be moved into the same space nor through each other.

You can play on board C as many times as you want.

If you wish to learn more rules, complete the tutorial on the next page. They will prepare you for Board D.

Tutorial 11 (Back of Board D)

Time is running out. If the sand runs out, the King will stay a frog forever!

Setup:

• Place the Princess, the Griffin, the Dragon and the 2 Unicorns on their starting spaces.
• Place the sand timer next to the board, and the Time marker on the Time space with a flag, in the lower-right corner of the board.
• Wait for all the sand to get to the bottom.
• Now, when everyone is ready to start the game, flip the sand timer over and begin!

New rule — Flip the sand timer

In order to flip the sand timer, work together to move a Hero to the space with the Time marker.

Then flip the sand timer and move the Time marker clockwise onto the next Time space. Do this before the sand timer runs out!

Mission

There are no missions to collect ingredients this time. In this tutorial, you need to flip the sand timer 3 times in order to bring the Time marker to the double-flagged Time space.

Start the sand timer at the beginning of the game and make sure it never runs out. If it runs out, restart this tutorial and try again.

When you have completed Tutorial 11, you know all the rules, and are ready to learn how to play complete games on Board D!

Complete Game — Board D

You need to make the potion as quickly as possible to turn the King back into his original form.

Setup:

• Place the 4 Heroes on any 4 blank spaces.
• Place the 2 Griffins, the Dragon, the 2 Unicorns, and the Minotaur on their starting spaces.
• Place the Time marker on the Time space with a flag (in the lower-right corner of the board).
• Place the King card next to the board, "frog" side up.
• Randomly take 3 Mission cards with B C D on the back. Shuffle them and place them face up on the King card.
• Start the sand timer as soon as the Mission cards are set up.

New rule — Manage the time

While you try to complete the missions as usual, keep an eye on the sand timer and make sure it never runs out. If it does, all is not lost, but you will get a penalty!

In order to flip it, you can work together to move any Hero to the space with the Time marker. Then, move the Time marker clockwise onto the next Time space, just like in the tutorial.

If the sand timer runs out, remove all Ingredient tokens from the visible Mission card and add a new Mission card (from the game box) on top of it. Then, move the Time marker clockwise, flip the sand timer, and continue the game.

Note: You don't have to flip the sand timer 3 times like you did in the tutorial. You only need to flip it to prevent it from running out.

Board D is the final board of the game, but if you wish to add more challenge, continue to the next page.

Additional Challenges

You can add these optional rules when you wish to increase the difficulty. They can be combined however you like.

Challenge #1 — Silence

During the game, you are not allowed to speak.

At the beginning of the game, and every time you reveal a new Mission card or flip the sand timer, you can speak for as long as you like (while the timer is running). But as soon as any player moves any pawn, you have to be silent again.

If you notice that a player breaks a rule, you are allowed to point it out verbally.

Challenge #2 — No Communication

During the game, you are not allowed to communicate at all: you cannot speak, you cannot point, you cannot make gestures. The only form of communication allowed is to stare at another player to let them know that you want them to do something.

At the beginning of the game, and every time you reveal a new Mission card or flip the sand timer, you can speak for as long as you like (while the timer is running). But as soon as any player moves any pawn, you have to be silent again.

If you notice that a player breaks a rule, you are allowed to point it out verbally.

Challenge #3 — No Planning

You cannot speak or make gestures at all during the entire game, except to point out when a rule is broken.

Challenge #4 — Swap Action Tiles

Every time you complete a Mission card, all players pass all their Action tiles to the player on their left.

Challenge #5 — Don't Run Out of Time

If the sand timer ever runs out, you lose the game (instead of merely getting a penalty).

Challenge #6 — Limited Time

If the Time marker ever gets back to its starting position, you lose the game. This means that you can only flip the sand timer 3 times in all, giving you a maximum of 20 minutes.

Challenge #7 — Less Time

If the Time marker ever gets back to its starting position, you lose the game.

Start the Time marker on a space other than the first. This gives you 15, 10, or 5 minutes to win the game, instead of 20.