Maharani
Maharani Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 playing board
- 1 rotating two-part rondel
- 4 player boards
- 16 action markers - 4 different ones for each player
- 60 mosaic tiles - 10 each in 6 colors
- 40 workers - 10 of each player color
- 4 scoring markers - 1 of each player color
- 4 position markers - 1 of each player color
- 1 linen bag
- 1 rules booklet
Object of the Game
The players try to place mosaic tiles in each quarter of the palace in order to earn as much gold as possible. They earn gold for each mosaic tile and each worker they place.
After a quarter of the palace is complete, all workers in that quarter receive a final payment. The player with the most gold after the fourth (and last) evaluation wins.
Setup
- Unfold the game board in the center of the playing area. You will see the 4 quarters of the Palace of the Maharani.
- Place the rondel in the center of the game board, as shown in the illustration.
- Mix the 60 mosaic tiles well and place them in the linen bag.
- Draw four mosaic tiles, one after another, and place them on the rondel spaces 1, 2, 3, and 4, in that order. The arrows on the tiles must point in the same direction as the arrow on the rondel.
Note: For an easier overview of what's possible each turn, place the player boards next to the game board.
Each player selects a color and receives in that color:
- 1 player board & 4 action markers — place the action markers on the spaces of the player board, with the markers placed to match the symbols on the rondel.
- 1 scoring marker — place all scoring markers on space "0" of the scoring track.
- Workers — 4 players: 8 workers; 3 players: 10 workers; 2 players: 2 x 7 workers. In a 2-player game, each player receives 7 workers of two colors of his choice.
- 1 position marker — each player places his marker on its designated space on his side of the game board.
Sequence of Play
The players take their turns one after another in clockwise direction. Determine a start player randomly.
At the start of a player's turn, he rotates the rondel so that its arrow points towards his position marker.
Example: Red is the active player and rotates the rondel until the arrow points towards his red position marker.
Then the player must take one of two possible actions:
- Place mosaic tiles and workers a) The player must place one tile b) The player may place a second tile
- Refresh action marker(s)
These actions are now explained in detail.
1. Place Mosaic Tiles and Workers
a) The player must place one tile
The player chooses one of the tiles lying on the rondel and places it …
- Without using an action marker: … on any free space in the same quarter in which the tile is lying.
Note: If you place a tile inside its own quarter, do not turn an action marker face down.
- Or, with the use of an action marker: … on any free space in any one of the other 3 quarters. When choosing this option, the player must turn face down the face-up action marker affiliated with the quarter in which the tile is lying on the rondel.
Note: If a quarter's action marker is already face-down, you can place the tile only inside that quarter.
Placement Rules
- The orientation of a tile is determined by the columns. When placing a tile, you are not allowed to create half columns.
- When placing a tile, the arrow on that tile can point in any direction.
Receiving Gold for the New Tile
A player earns at least one gold for each tile placed.
- If the newly placed tile does not touch any other tile of its own color horizontally or vertically, the player receives 1 gold and advances his scoring marker by 1 space.
- If the newly placed tile creates a contiguous area of several tiles of the same color or expands such an area, the player receives 1 gold for each tile of this area and advances his scoring marker accordingly.
Note: Only tiles touching one another horizontally or vertically can form an area.
Example: Green places the blue tile on the top right space and receives 1 gold. She then places another blue tile on the top left space, creating an area that consists of 3 blue tiles. She receives 3 gold.
Place or Relocate a Worker
If the arrow on the newly placed tile points towards the player's own position marker, he must either place a worker from his supply on this tile or move an existing worker to this tile, as explained below.
If the player has no workers on a tile of the same color in this quarter, then the player must place a new worker from his personal supply on this tile.
Note: If a player's worker supply is exhausted, he can still place the tile but will not place a new worker.
If the player has a worker on another tile of the same color in this quarter, the player removes that worker from its former tile and places it on the new tile.
Example: Green places her first orange tile inside this quarter and thus places a worker from her supply on top of it. Green places another blue tile inside this quarter and moves her worker from the other blue tile to this new one.
Receiving Gold for the New or Relocated Worker
Each worker earns at least one gold for that player.
- If the newly placed or relocated worker is not standing next to another worker of its own color horizontally or vertically, the player receives 1 gold and advances his scoring marker by 1 space.
- If the newly placed or relocated worker creates a contiguous group of several workers of the same color or extends such a group, the player receives 1 gold for each worker in this group and advances his scoring marker accordingly.
Note: Only workers standing on horizontally or vertically adjacent tiles form a group.
Example: Green places a new worker. She receives 1 gold. Green places another worker and thus creates a group consisting of 2 workers. She receives 2 gold.
Special Case
Areas of mosaic tiles of the same color and groups of a player's workers are not restricted by quarter boundaries.
Example: Green places the blue tile on the top left space and places one of her workers on it. She expands the area of blue tiles, which now overlaps two quarters, and extends her group of green workers. She receives 8 gold in total.
Important: If players should discover at any time during the game that 2 workers belonging to the same player stand on tiles of the same color in the same quarter, the other players decide which of these 2 workers to remove. They place this worker next to that quarter, outside of the game board. The player returns this worker to her personal supply only after this quarter has been evaluated.
b) The player may place a second tile
The player now has the option of placing a second tile. He follows the same rules as for placing the first tile, including placing or relocating a worker, if applicable, and receiving the appropriate amount of gold.
This second tile placement costs the player 2 gold.
At the end of his turn, he moves his scoring marker backwards on the scoring track by 2 spaces.
Example: Red places his second tile and advances his scoring marker by 4 spaces. However, at the end of his turn he must move his marker back by 2 spaces.
2. Refresh Action Marker(s)
The player turns all of his action markers face up. He can use these markers again from his next turn onwards.
At the end of his turn, the player draws a new tile from the bag for each empty space on the rondel and refills the empty space(s).
If more than one space is empty, he refills them in ascending order (1 – 4).
Note: Place these tiles so that their arrows point in the same direction as the rondel's arrow.
Special Case
- There are 12 center column tiles. If all 8 designated spaces for these tiles are occupied, the remaining 4 tiles are removed from the game as follows: Immediately remove any center column tiles still on the rondel. Remove from the game any center column tile drawn from the bag during replenishing. Always replenish the rondel completely.
- When the rondel cannot be replenished completely because the bag is empty, the players continue playing the game until the last tile has been placed.
Note: In the rare case that one or more tiles at the end of the game are left which cannot be placed without breaking the rules, the game ends. Evaluate uncompleted quarters as usual (see below).
Now, the next player takes his turn.
Evaluation of a Quarter
After a player places a mosaic tile on the last free space of a quarter, this quarter is evaluated after the player's turn.
Each player with at least one worker standing in this quarter receives gold as shown in the chart below and advances his scoring marker accordingly:
| Workers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 4 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 18 | 24 |
Example of a quarter's evaluation: 5 x green = 18 gold; 3 x red = 9 gold; 1 x blue = 4 gold; 0 x yellow = 0 gold.
After the evaluation is complete, all players remove their workers from this quarter and return them to their personal supply. These workers can now be placed again. The mosaic tiles remain in place in this quarter.
Note: The tiles of an evaluated quarter can still be part of an area of tiles of the same color and thus earn gold.
End of the Game
The game ends after the last quarter has been evaluated.
The player with the most gold wins.
In case of a tie for the most gold, the tied players share the victory.
Rules for a 2-Player Game
In a 2-player game, each player receives 7 workers in two player colors. This results in the following special rules:
Place or Relocate a Worker
If a player has no worker on another tile of the same color in this quarter, the player must place one new worker in the color of his choice on this tile.
If this player has a worker on another tile of the same color in this quarter, the player can choose to relocate that worker to the new tile or place a new worker – if one is available – of his second player color.
Note: If a player cannot place a new worker in this situation, he must relocate a worker.
If workers of both of that player's colors are on two tiles of the same color in this quarter, the player chooses which of these workers to relocate to the new tile of this color.
Gold for Workers
Workers of a player's two different colors do not form a group.
Evaluation of a Quarter
The workers of a player's two different colors are evaluated separately. Each player uses one scoring marker only for the gold earned by all of his workers.