Mahola
Mahola Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
The goal of the game is to create the highest-scoring dance (the one that earns the most points) each round. The first player to win three rounds wins the game.
Components
- 4 Character cards
- 44 Dance cards
- 9 Favor tokens
- 2 Rules cards
Setup
Shuffle the four Character cards and deal one to each player, face down. Players may look at their own card, taking care not to reveal it to the other players.
Shuffle the Dance card deck and deal five cards to each player. This forms each player's starting hand.
Place the remaining cards in the centre of the play area. This is the draw pile for the game.
Playing a Round
Each player chooses one card from their hand to play onto their play area (tableau). First, they place it face down in front of them. All players then reveal their cards at the same time.
Dance cards may be played at the ends of the tableau, but not between two cards that have already been placed.
- A – may play a card here.
- B – may NOT play a card here.
After the cards are revealed, each player passes one card to the player on their left and one card to the player on their right. Players must pass their cards before taking the cards they received into their hands. Players then draw one card to finish their turn.
At the end of the fifth turn, players reveal their Character cards and adjust their dance tableau according to the ability described on their Character card.
The player with the highest score wins the round and receives a Favor token.
Scoring
Compare the colour of the value in the top-left corner of the Dance card with the colour of the player's Character. If they match, add the points to the player's score. If the colours do not match, subtract that many points from the player's score. If the colours do not match but the spirit animal matches, score nothing.
Then add the value of any matching secondary dances to the score, and add the points for adjacent dances.
The parts of a Dance card are:
- Dance value and colour
- Spirit animal
- Secondary dance icons
- Flavour text
- Dance name
- Dance image
- Adjacent dance bonus
Resolving Ties
If players are tied, the player with the most Special Dance cards is the winner. If there is still a tie, the player with the most matching secondary dances wins.
Winning the Game
The first player to win three Favor tokens wins the game.
Icons
The printed rulebook shows each icon as a picture next to its name. The icons are listed here by name, in the order given in the rulebook:
- Bear
- Wolf
- War Dance
- Spirit Dance
- Fire Dance
- Rain Dance
- Snake
- Raven
- Gourd Dance
- Hoop Dance
- Grass Dance
- Sun Dance
Character Cards
Note: the rulebook describes the Character cards in its "Les cartes" section. The Character colours are shown on the cards themselves; the text does not name them.
Chief. The Chief chooses one type of dance (Fire, Grass, Rain or Sun). The Chief scores 1 point each time that dance appears on the tableau.
Hunter. The Hunter may draw one card, then exchange one card in hand for a Dance card in their own tableau.
Maiden. The Maiden may change the position of one Dance card in their own tableau.
Shaman. The Shaman may change the colour of one Dance card in their own tableau.
Dance Cards
The rulebook gives each Dance card's name and, where printed, its rule line. The flavour text for each dance has been omitted.
- Buffalo Dance. No rule line is printed for this dance.
- Chicken Dance. No rule line is printed for this dance.
- Eagle Dance. No rule line is printed for this dance.
- Horse Dance. No rule line is printed for this dance.
- Fire Dance. +1 point for each adjacent …
- Grass Dance. +1 point for each adjacent …
- Rain Dance. +1 point for each adjacent …
- Sun Dance. +1 point for each adjacent …
Note: in the French source, the symbol after "adjacent" in these four rule lines is printed as an ellipsis ("…"), so the symbol is not named in the text. It is kept as printed rather than guessed. The example Fire Dance card on the English card sheet shows a symbol at this position, but the sheet does not name it.