Merchants of Muziris Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Key Concepts
• Rounds & Turns
• End of Round
• End of Game
• Example of Play

Components

• 3 standard character cards
• 5 character cards
• 4 market condition cards
• 84 produce cards
• 4 action selection markers
• 1 first player action selection marker
• 1 first player reminder token
• 25 1-value coins
• 16 5-value coins
• 10 10-value coins

Setup

1. Place the 3 standard character cards (Advisor, Customer, and Merchant) faceup in the middle of the play area. Place the coins near the play area forming the supply.
2. Shuffle the special characters and randomly place a number of special characters equal to the player count minus one (e.g., in a 3-player game, 2 special characters will be used). Return all unused special characters to the box.
3. Shuffle all of the produce cards and deal 2 to each player to form their starting hand.
4. Place the remaining produce cards facedown in the play area to create the deck. Deal 4 cards faceup to create the Market.
5. Shuffle the market condition cards and randomly select 1 to use for this game, return the remaining market condition cards to the box.
6. Assign each player 1 action selection marker in a player color.
7. Assign the player who last ate a mango to be the first player for the first round. Give the first player the white first player action selection marker with the 1 on it and the first player reminder token.
8. All other players gain 1 coin.

Key Concepts

Produce cards: Represent a type of produce with which you can fulfill orders using 1-3 copies of the same card. The set score at the top of each produce card indicates the number of coins you receive when fulfilling an order with that type of produce card. The number to the right of the icon indicates the total number produce cards of that type in the produce deck. Each produce card also features an ability at the bottom of the card.

NOTE: You must discard down to 10 produce cards in hand at the end of your turn.

Market: The available faceup produce cards in the middle of the play area that you can interact with through the abilities on character cards and produce cards. The Market is refilled to a total of 4 produce cards at the end of each round.

Order: 1-3 copies of a produce card granting coins equal to the value shown on the top of that produce card for an order of that size. After fulfilling an order, place 1 produce card from your order faceup in your play area and the remainder in the discard pile.

Action selection markers: Tokens placed on character cards to resolve the ability of the character card and indicate that it is unavailable to other players this round.

Character cards: Represent characters whose actions you can use to acquire and use the abilities on produce cards. To use a character, place an action selection marker on its card, claim any coins on the character, and resolve its action. There are 3 standard characters (Advisor, Customer, and Merchant) and several special characters with a variety of unique actions.

NOTE: After selecting a character, the player resolves as much of that character's action as they are able.

Market condition card: The top portion of the card determines the condition that will trigger the end of the game. The bottom portion of the card describes the manner by which players can earn additional coins during the end of the game.

Coins: The reward for fulfilling orders, using specific character and produce cards, and the end game criteria on market condition cards. The player with the most coins at the end of the game wins.

Rounds & Turns

Merchants of Muziris is played over a series of rounds until the end game criteria on the market condition card has been met. Each round players will take turns selecting and using the abilities of characters.

Gameplay is resolved in rounds consisting of individual player turns. On a player's turn, they select and resolve characters equal to their action selection markers. Only characters without an action selection marker can be used on a player's turn. Each time you use a character, place 1 action selection marker on it, take any coins on the character, and resolve its action. The first player begins each round by placing and resolving their 2 action selection markers, one at a time. Once the first player's turn is over, play proceeds in clockwise order, with each remaining player using an available character. The round ends when the last player resolves the character ability they chose.

NOTE: If during a turn the produce card deck is exhausted, shuffle all cards in the discard pile together to form a new deck.

NOTE: As each player completes their turn, check to see if the end of game condition on the market condition card has been met. If so, the player whose turn just ended takes the market condition card to indicate this round is the final round of the game. Then all players with unused action selection markers continue to play in turn order with one rule change: once the end of the game is triggered, players may choose characters that already have action selection markers on them.

End of Round

Check to see if the end game condition on the market condition card has been met. If so, immediately proceed to the end of the game. If not, follow the steps below to begin a new round:

• Add 1 coin to each character without an action selection marker on it.
• The player to the left of the first player takes their action selection marker, the first player action selection marker, and the first player reminder token. All other players take back their action selection marker so that none remain on the characters.
• Add produce cards from the top of the deck faceup to the Market until it contains 4 produce cards (if the Market already contains 4 produce cards, none are added).

NOTE: Produce cards are only added to the Market during the end of round unless specifically directed by an ability.

End of Game

Each player gains coins based on the market condition card. The player with the most coins wins the game. In the event of a tie, the tied player that earned the most coins from the market condition card wins. Any remaining players tied share the victory.

Example of Play

Blue is the first player this round. For their first action, Blue selects the Merchant then takes the Banana card from the Market and adds it to their hand. For their second action, Blue selects the Customer and then fulfills an order using two Banana cards in their hand. Blue then takes 2 coins from the Supply for the order consisting of 2 Banana cards. They place 1 Banana card from the order faceup as a reminder that they have fulfilled an order. Play passes to the Red player, who selects the Advisor and then discards the Cinnamon card from the Market to use its ability. Red adds 2 Cucumber cards from the Market to their hand.

The round is now over. The end of game condition has not been met, so the game will continue. A coin is placed on the Beggar and the players take back their action selection markers. The Market is refilled and the first player reminder token and first player action selection marker is passed to the Red player.