Magic Maze Tower Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Main Differences from Magic Maze
• Components
• Apprenticeship
  • Setup (Apprenticeship)
  • General Rules
  • Tutorial 1 — Armory Spaces, Exit Spaces, Doors & Key Spaces
  • Tutorial 2 — Ladder Spaces
  • Tutorial 3 — Air Current & Character Abilities
  • Tutorial 4 — Barbarian Ability
  • Tutorial 5 — Mage Ability
  • Tutorial 6 — Little Sister Ability
• Adventures
  • Setup (Adventures)
  • Gameplay Overview
  • Trials Phase
  • Epic Phase
  • Completing an Adventure
  • Communication
  • Can't Complete a Quest?
• Playing Magic Maze with the Little Sister
• Credits

Main Differences from Magic Maze

If you have already played Magic Maze, be aware that Magic Maze Tower is a clearly different game, because...

• it is not a stressful game:
  • Take your time: There is no sand timer.
  • There is no Do Something pawn.
• Each level is entirely revealed at the beginning.
• It's about puzzle solving, whether alone or with others.

Components

• 3 Tutorial cards with a green background
• 44 Quest cards with a blue front and purple back background
• 2 Help tiles
• 32 Quest cards with a blue front and red back background
• 5 Hero pawns
• 4 Orientation tiles
• And 2 promo tiles for the game Magic Maze (see "Playing Magic Maze with the Little Sister" below)!

Apprenticeship

Learn Magic Maze Tower step-by-step by playing it! Play through the six tutorials before taking on the full adventures.

Setup (Apprenticeship)

If you are playing solo, leave the Orientation and Help tiles in the box (you will move the Hero pawns as you wish). Otherwise, distribute all the Orientation tiles randomly among the players as follows:

• 2-players: 2 tiles each.
• 3-players: 1 tile each. Place the remaining tile near the play area for everyone to use.
• 4-players: 1 tile each.

The Orientation tiles must all have their North oriented the same way. The white arrows then indicate the four different directions.

Take the 3 Tutorial cards (green background; the others are not useful just yet).

Place Tutorial card 1 (its number is in a corner) in the middle of the table. Then play through the tutorials in numerical order.

The icons depicted on the cards (bow, vial, sword, axe, spiral) indicate starting locations for the Hero pawns on the Quest card.

Example: Setup for 3 players. Only the dwarf and mage Hero pawns start on this Quest card.

General Rules

In Magic Maze Tower, you don't take turns: You move a Hero pawn whenever you consider it useful. This can be done simultaneously by several players.

You can:

• move any Hero pawn, at any moment, and as many times as you wish, but always respecting the movement(s) that the Orientation tile(s) allow you to perform.

Example: If a single player had both of these Orientation tiles available (2- or 3-player game), that player could move a pawn from position A to position B in one go.

• move pawns on Corridor spaces, on spaces bearing an icon, and on the Exit space of the pawn's color. Each space can only accommodate one Hero pawn at a time.

You cannot:

• interrupt a player while they are moving a Hero pawn; that player chooses when they stop.
• move through a wall or a closed door. Doors are closed by default, and must be opened to move through them (see Doors & Key Spaces, below).
• move a Hero pawn onto or over a fully illustrated area.
• jump a Hero pawn over another Hero pawn.

Note: There are exceptions to these rules. They are explained in the following tutorials.

Because you are just learning the game, you are allowed to talk as much as you wish.

Tutorial 1 — Armory Spaces, Exit Spaces, Doors & Key Spaces

Armory Spaces

When a Quest card has Armory spaces, each hero must go to the one of their color, and they must all be on theirs simultaneously. Once that's done, it's time to exit...

Exit Spaces

Each hero has their own Exit space. To complete a quest, you must move each Hero pawn onto its Exit space.

When a Hero pawn is placed on its Exit space, immediately remove it from the Quest card and return it to the box. You cannot place a Hero pawn on another Hero's Exit space.

Certain quests will require all the Heroes to escape via one shared Exit space.

Doors & Key Spaces

A door stands between two spaces and is locked by default, thus preventing pawns from passing through it.

A single quest may have several different types of doors. Each type of door has one or more Key spaces matching it.

To open a door to allow passage through it, a Hero pawn must be standing on a Key space matching the door. The door remains open as long as a Hero pawn is standing on a matching Key space. Any other Hero pawns can then pass through the door.

A door locks immediately when there are no more pawns standing on any Key space of its type.

There are 5 types of doors.

Tutorial 2 — Ladder Spaces

You can move a Hero pawn from one Ladder space to another, as long as they are aligned orthogonally. The distance and obstacles between them do not matter.

You can only move Hero pawns from one Ladder space to another in the direction(s) of the Orientation tile(s) you can use.

Example: Anthony moves the Dwarf pawn east (right); Marie, south (down); Sophie, west (left); and finally, Kasper, north (up).

Tutorial 3 — Air Current & Character Abilities

Air Current

Due to violent air currents, certain spaces can only be crossed one way, following the arrow printed between the spaces.

Important: You can never move a pawn against an air current.

Character Abilities

Dwarf Ability — Due to his small size, the dwarf is the only one who can squeeze through the narrow passages depicted by an orange wall with a little hole in it.

Elf Ability — The elf is agile; he is the only one who can jump over another Hero pawn. To do this, the pawn being jumped over must have the Elf pawn on one side, and an empty space on the other, with all three spaces forming a straight line.

The pawn being jumped over must not move while the elf jumps.

You can only jump the Elf pawn in the direction(s) of the Orientation tile(s) you can use.

Note: Air currents still apply: You can't jump against them.

Tutorial 4 — Barbarian Ability

The barbarian is able to toss any other Hero pawn over a single Trap space (but not over other obstacles). However, he himself cannot cross a Trap space.

The tossed hero must have the Barbarian pawn on one side, and the Trap space on the other, and then an empty space on the other side of the Trap space to land in, with all four spaces forming a straight line.

You can only toss the Hero pawn in the direction(s) of the Orientation tile(s) you can use.

Note: Air currents still apply: You can't toss heroes against them.

Remember: Regardless of air currents, don't forget that the barbarian cannot toss a pawn over more than one Trap space at a time.

Tutorial 5 — Mage Ability

The mage can use an Invocation space to swap places with another Hero pawn.

When the Mage pawn moves onto an Invocation space A, the player who moved it may immediately swap the mage with another Hero pawn in play B, no matter where they are.

If the Mage pawn is not immediately swapped when moving onto an Invocation space, it can stay there. However, to activate the Invocation space on a future turn, you must move the pawn off and back onto the space.

Any other Hero pawn can move onto an Invocation space, but they cannot activate its effect.

Tutorial 6 — Little Sister Ability

This is your first encounter with the mage's little sister in the Magic Maze family of games. Because her big sister and friends have been imprisoned, she has decided to help them out with her incredible ability to teleport. However, like a typical little sister, she always wants to cling to one of the "big kids!"

The little sister moves exclusively by her special teleportation ability: She teleports orthogonally and must end her teleportation on an empty space adjacent to at least one other Hero pawn. For her clinginess only, spaces are considered adjacent even if they are separated by a door (locked or unlocked) or a single wall.

Note: Two spaces separated by two walls are not considered adjacent.

Exceptions: The little sister can be tossed by the barbarian and swapped with the mage. In both of these cases, the little sister's destination space does not need to be adjacent to another pawn.

No obstacles prevent the little sister from teleporting with her ability — not even air currents — because she dematerializes from her initial position to rematerialize at her destination. You can only teleport the Little Sister pawn in the direction(s) of the Orientation tile(s) you can use.

Example: You wish to teleport the little sister from space A to space B. To do this, at least one Hero pawn must be on one of the four spaces adjacent to space B. Additionally, only the player with the EAST (RIGHT) direction can teleport the little sister to B.

Adventures

Setup (Adventures)

If you are playing solo, leave the Orientation and Help tiles in the box, and move the Hero pawns however you like. Otherwise, distribute all the Orientation tiles randomly among the players as follows:

• 2-players: 2 tiles each.
• 3-players: 1 tile each. Place the remaining tile near the play area for everyone to use.
• 4-players: 1 tile each.

The Orientation tiles must all have their North oriented the same way. The white arrows then indicate the four different directions.

Gather all the Quest cards from a single adventure. For example, the four Quest cards numbered 1. Stack them (their order doesn't matter), blue side up, and place the stack in the middle of the table.

There are fifteen adventures total, each with four or eight Quest cards. Their difficulty is as follows:

• Adventures 1 – 3 ............. one star
• Adventures 4 – 7 ............. two stars
• Adventures 8 – 11 ............ three stars
• Adventures 12 – 15 ........... four stars

You will find a wall panel on each blue Quest card with its adventure number, difficulty level, and card count.

The icons depicted on the cards indicate starting locations for the Hero pawns on the Quest card.

Example: Setup for 3 players. Only the dwarf, mage, barbarian, and elf Hero pawns start on this Quest card.

Gameplay Overview

A game of Magic Maze Tower consists of completing one full adventure without communicating (see Communication, below). A complete adventure has two phases:

• Trials phase: 4 or 8 little quests (blue side of the cards).
• Epic phase: 1 big quest (purple or red side of the cards).

Start with Adventure 1.

Trials Phase

During the Trials phase (first phase), you must complete each and every blue side of the Quest cards in the adventure, one by one. The order you complete them in doesn't matter. Each uses some or all of the rules you learned during your apprenticeship.

Epic Phase

Adventures with 4 Quest Cards

To begin, flip over the stack of Quest cards you just completed so they are purple side up. Assemble all these cards into one big, epic quest. To do this, complete the 4-piece "puzzle" in the middle. For your convenience, a wall panel indicates the Hero pawns to use.

The rules are identical to the quests of the Trials phase. However, a new mechanism makes an appearance: Rotating Quest cards.

Rotating Quest Cards

When a Hero pawn is on a Rotation space, any player can rotate the card featuring this Rotation space however they like (90°, 180°, or 270°). When you do this, the corridors will align from one card to the next, and thus generate new passages.

The Hero pawns on the rotated Quest card remain on their same spaces during the rotation.

Example: Someone rotates card A. The corridor ends circled in red will be connected, and will thus permit the Hero pawns to pass.

Note: Use the icons printed on the card edges to predict the connections.

Adventures with 8 Quest Cards

To begin, flip over the stack of Quest cards you just completed so they are red side up. Assemble all these cards into one big, epic quest. To do this, arrange them as a hollow square, carefully connecting the icons in the corners. For your convenience, a wall panel indicates the Hero pawns to use.

The rules are identical to the quests of the Trials phase; however, a new mechanism makes an appearance: Sliding the Quest cards.

Sliding Quest Cards

When a Hero pawn is on a Sliding space of a Quest card, any player can slide this card to the adjacent empty space (without rotating it), within the initial 3×3 square of cards (as in a sliding puzzle). When you do this, the corridors will align from one card to the next, and thus generate new passages.

The Hero pawns on the slid Quest card remain on their same spaces during the slide.

Example: Someone slides card A toward card B. The corridor ends circled in green will be connected, and will permit the Hero pawns to pass.

Completing an Adventure

You complete a quest by overcoming all obstacles so that all Hero pawns can reach their Exit space(s).

You complete an adventure by completing its 5 or 9 quests (the last of which is a big, epic quest). Now it is time to embark on the next adventure. Beware: It only gets tougher from here!

Communication

Choose how you want to play! There are three modes of communication to choose from; they directly impact the game's complexity level.

• In BEGINNER mode, you communicate freely.

• In ENLIGHTENED mode, do your best to communicate as little as possible.

• In EXPERT mode, the only allowed types of communication are:

  • staring at a player.
  • pointing your finger at a Help tile, specifically at the icon that depicts the action you think a player should perform (moving a Hero pawn, using an ability, using a ladder, going to armories, unlocking a door, exiting, etc.).

  All other forms of communication are forbidden (pointing at a pawn or a player, making noise, etc.).

Now you are ready to embark on your first adventure. Good luck!

Can't Complete a Quest?

Have you fried your brains several times trying to complete a quest, to no avail? Do you want to skip to the next one? No problem; the decision is yours.

If, however, you wish to see the solution, simply scan the QR code for the adventure, on either its purple or red side. This will take you directly to videos of all the solutions!

Playing Magic Maze with the Little Sister

This Magic Maze Tower box contains two tiles which serve no other purpose than to permit you to use the Little Sister pawn in your Magic Maze games.

One tile contains her Item space, and the other tile contains her Exit space.

Note that her Item space is connected to a play space, rather than a shop: The little sister always prefers playing while the adults commit their thefts!

During setup, place the Little Sister pawn on the Sand Timer space on starting tile #1 (without activating the sand timer).

During the game, the little sister teleports exactly as explained in this rulebook.

When the Little Sister pawn is on an Exploration space that leads to an unexplored area, the player with the Explore action can reveal a new tile, regardless of the color of the Exploration space.

Credits

• Kasper Lapp — Designer
• Gyom & Anthony Moulins — Illustrators
• Michaël Derobertmasure — Development Manager
• Anthony Moulins — Graphic Designer
• Marie Ooms — Artistic Director
• Sophie Troye — Promotion Manager
• Cassandre Delmée — Animator of Online Solutions
• Didier Delhez — Project Manager
• Nathan Morse — English Translator
• Blue quests No. 13 were created by Florient Mrozek

Kasper: "Thank you to all the playtesters for your feedback and suggestions. You are too numerous to mention, but you know who you are."

A game by Sit Down! published by Megalopole. ©Megalopole (2024). All rights reserved. This material can only be used for private entertainment. ATTENTION: Not suitable for children under three years of age. This game contains small pieces that could be ingested or inhaled. Retain this information. Visuals are non-contractual. The shapes and colors may change. Any reproduction of this game, in full or in part, in any medium, physical or electronic, is strictly forbidden without written permission from Megalopole.

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