Mondo
Mondo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 4 World Boards (two-sided) — Water Side (front) / Back Side
- 136 Landscape Tiles (two-sided) — Front Side depicts Water, Forest, Desert, and Plains; Back Side
- 1 Volcano Chip
- 4 Bonus Chips
- 5 Scoring Modifiers
- 1 Block with Score Sheets
- 1 Timer
- 12 Additional Tasks
Note: In order to set the timer, always turn it one complete turn, then turn it back to the desired number of minutes!
3 Game Levels
You can play Mondo on three different levels. First, we will describe the game for beginners. Then the advanced rules follow, and finally there is the sophisticated version for experts.
- Beginner Game
- Advanced Game
- Expert Game
At the end of these instructions, you will find bonus rules for Solo Play.
Beginner Game
Game Set-Up
Place all landscape tiles unsorted as a loose pile with either side up in the middle, easily reachable by all players. Sort the round bonus chips corresponding to the number of players by their value and stack them as follows on each other: 2 Players, 3 Players, 4 Players.
Place the stack so that it's easily reachable by all players.
Each player receives 1 World Board and places it with the Water Side up in front of him. In addition, each player takes 1 Score Sheet and 1 Pen (not included).
Place the Volcano Chip and the Timer aside, close at hand. You do not need the Scoring Modifiers and Additional Tasks in the beginner game. Simply place them back in the box.
Tip: 4 spaces of your World Board are slightly highlighted. This is only significant for solo play.
Game Play
A game runs for 3 turns. At the beginning of each turn, set the timer for 7 minutes. Place the timer so that all players can see the time remaining. One player counts down "3…2…1…go!" During this countdown, all players scramble the landscape tiles (hereafter just tiles). At "go!" all the players cease shuffling the tiles, and the turn begins.
Placing Tiles
Now, you all look simultaneously for the tiles you want to place on your board. The first tile can be placed on any space of your choice. Every subsequent tile must border at least one edge of one or more previously laid tiles.
The orientation of the tiles may be chosen freely. (That is, the animals may therefore be facing sideways or upside down.) You should arrange the tiles so that as much as possible the landscapes on the edges of neighboring tiles or the edge of the board match: plains to plains, water to water, etc. Nevertheless, it is allowed to place tiles so that one or more edges do not match! Every two neighboring edges which do not agree, count as 1 misconnection. Also, each edge that doesn't match the edge of the board counts as 1 misconnection.
Example: Tiles A, B, and C are placed correctly. Between B and C (1) as well as between C and Edge D (2) are misconnections, but they are permitted. Tile E may not be placed as depicted, because it does not border any edges of the previously placed A, B, or C tiles.
Further Placement Rules
- Each player may use only one hand for looking for and placing tiles.
- You may shift the tiles in the middle of the table, but may not dig in them.
- Turning around tiles is permitted, because the front and back sides are always different. You may choose freely which side to place on your board.
- You may have no more than 1 tile in your hand at any time.
- You may place the tile in your hand either on your board or back in the middle.
- You may not remove, rotate, or move a tile you have placed on your board.
- You may only place tiles on open spaces, not on top of one another.
Jumping Out
You can jump out of the current turn at any time, as long as the timer hasn't run out. It is permitted to do so even if you have empty spaces on your board. In order to jump out, simply take the topmost bonus chip and place it in front of you. Thereafter you may not intervene in the game play!
End of the Turn
A turn ends as soon as all players have jumped out or the timer runs out. If the timer has run out, you must end all actions. You may not take anything more (including a bonus chip) nor place anything more. If you have a tile in your hand when the timer runs out, place it back in the middle of the table. If you have a bonus chip in your hand, you may keep it and place it in front of you.
Now, you take score.
Scoring
See how many points each player has accumulated. Simply go down the score sheet and enter the points in the appropriate places. In the first turn, use Column A, in the subsequent turns, Columns B and C.
- Every animal always counts as 1 plus point.
- Every enclosed and mistake-free landscape counts for 2 plus points. Exception: Water landscapes score no points. (Tip: It's easiest to count all the landscapes of a given kind at the same time, e.g., all deserts, then the next kind, etc.)
- For a bonus chip, you receive plus points equal to the number appearing on it.
- Skip the scoring modifiers in the beginner game. (See Advanced Game.)
- Skip the additional tasks in the beginner game. (See Expert Game.)
- The player with the most active volcanos receives 1 minus point for each of his active volcanos. If players are tied for the most, they each receive the appropriate minus points. Inactive volcanos are not taken into account on the first turn (see Next Turn).
- For each empty space you receive 1 minus point. For every misconnection you receive 1 minus point. Empty spaces do not cause misconnections, and therefore count for no more than 1 minus point.
Example: Marianne has 6 animals and therefore receives 6 plus points. Her board has 4 completely enclosed, mistake-free landscapes: 2 deserts (A), 1 forest (B), and 1 plains (C), for which she receives 8 additional plus points. The two (D) landscapes are enclosed, but not mistake-free (E). Also, the (F) landscapes contain mistakes. The plains (G) is not enclosed. Water landscapes (H) bring no points as a rule. For the bonus chip (I), Marianne receives 2 plus points.
Volcano scoring: Marianne has 4 active volcanos. (She may ignore the two inactive volcanos in the first turn.) Her fellow player Ginger has 5 active volcanos on her board (not shown). Ginger receives 5 minus points, Marianne none.
Marianne receives 1 minus point for the empty space (J) as well as 4 more minus points for the 4 misconnections (K).
Next Turn
The player who received the most points in the turn that was just scored gets the volcano chip. If there is a tie for most points, the volcano chip counts for all of them. In the next turn, this player (or players) have their inactive volcanos scored as if they were active volcanos!
In the previous example, if Marianne had the volcano chip, she would have had 6 volcanos counted, 4 active and 2 inactive. Then she would have had more volcanos than Ginger and would have received 6 minus points.
Place all the tiles and bonus chips back in the middle as at the beginning of the game. Set the timer back to 7 minutes, and start the next turn as before.
Ending the Game
After 3 turns, add up the points in Columns A, B, and C. The player with the most points wins the game. In the case of a tie, there are multiple winners.
Advanced Game
The rules of the beginner game apply with the following additions:
Game Set-Up
Shuffle the 5 scoring modifiers and place them face down as a deck off to the side. Turn over the topmost scoring modifier and place it face up.
Game Play
Set the timer to 6 minutes at the beginning of every turn.
Scoring
The scoring modifier applies to all players: If one player is the best at fulfilling the scoring modifier, he receives 4 plus points. If more than one player is the best, they each receive 4 plus points. If one player is the worst compared to the rest, he receives 4 minus points. If multiple players are the worst, each of them receive 4 minus points. If all the players have an identical score relative to the modifier, no points are awarded.
Next Turn
Place the current scoring modifier back in the box and turn over a new one.
Explanation of the Scoring Modifiers
- Most Landscapes — The player with the most landscapes receives 4 plus points. The player with the fewest landscapes receives 4 minus points. Only enclosed and mistake-free landscapes count towards this total. Water landscapes do not count.
- Most Lakes — The player with the most lakes receives 4 plus points. The player with the fewest lakes receives 4 minus points. A lake is an enclosed and mistake-free water landscape completely surrounded by land.
- Most Aquatic Animals — The player with the most aquatic animals receives 4 plus points. The player with the fewest aquatic animals receives 4 minus points.
- Largest Lake — All players calculate the size of their largest enclosed and mistake-free lake (water landscape) that is completely surrounded by land. It is not calculated by the size of the surface but rather the number of tiles of which the lake is composed. The player with the greatest number of tiles receives 4 plus points, the player with the smallest number (including 0) receives 4 minus points.
- Largest Forest — All players calculate the size of their largest enclosed and mistake-free forest. It is not calculated by the size of the surface but rather the number of tiles of which the forest is composed. The player with the greatest number of tiles receives 4 plus points, the player with the smallest number (including 0) receives 4 minus points.
Expert Game
The rules of the beginner game and the advanced game apply with the following additions:
Game Set-Up
Shuffle the 12 additional tasks and place them face down off to the side. Turn over twice as many additional tasks as there are players, and place them face up within easy reach of all players. Example: In a three-player game, turn over 6 additional tasks.
Game Play
At the beginning of each turn, set the timer to 5 minutes.
During the turn, you may take up to 2 additional tasks and place them in front of you. You keep these until the end of the turn; you may not give them up, and no one may take them away from you.
You may take additional tasks even if you have not yet fulfilled them. But you may only first take an additional task if you have at least 3 tiles placed on your board. It is not mandatory to take additional tasks. You may refrain from doing so. As soon as you have jumped out, you may no longer take any additional tasks.
Scoring
An additional task counts only for the player who has taken it and placed it in front of himself. If the player has fulfilled the task, he receives as many plus points as are given on it. If he has not fulfilled the task, he receives the corresponding amount of minus points.
Next Turn
Shuffle all 12 additional tasks anew and turn over twice as many tasks as there are players.
Explanation of the Additional Tasks
- Buffalos — At least 3 buffalos in the same plains landscape (enclosed and mistake-free).
- Elephants — At least 3 elephants in the same plains landscape (enclosed and mistake-free).
- Pandas — At least 3 pandas in the same forest landscape (enclosed and mistake-free).
- Parrots — At least 3 parrots in the same forest landscape (enclosed and mistake-free).
- Snakes — At least 3 snakes in the same desert landscape (enclosed and mistake-free).
- Scorpions — At least 3 scorpions in the same desert landscape (enclosed and mistake-free).
- Plains Animals — All 4 different plains animals at least once in the same landscape (enclosed and mistake-free).
- Forest Animals — All 4 different forest animals at least once in the same landscape (enclosed and mistake-free).
- Desert Animals — All 4 different desert animals at least once in the same landscape (enclosed and mistake-free).
- Perfection — A completely mistake-free board within the time allotted, no empty spaces, and all edges match.
- On-Time — Completely covered board within the time allotted, no empty spaces, misconnections are allowed.
- First — First one to jump out (taking the 4-point bonus chip).
Solo Play
Do you want to play Mondo, but there's no one to play with at the moment? Then just play alone! The rules of the beginner game apply with the following changes:
Game Set-Up
The bonus chips and the score sheet are not needed; put them in the box. The volcano chip counts in solo play; place it next to your board.
Now take 4 tiles at random and place them at random on the 4 spaces of the board that are colored slightly differently from the other spaces. Use the side of the tiles that shows at least two different landscape types. In case you draw a tile with volcanos (active or inactive), replace them with other tiles until you have 4 tiles without volcanos on your board.
Scramble the remaining tiles well; they should not be pre-sorted. Then pick a degree of difficulty and set the timer correspondingly:
- Easy — 10 Minutes
- Moderate — 6 Minutes
- Hard — 5 Minutes
Place Tiles
All placement rules apply in the solo game! You can choose freely next to which of the four starting tiles you place your first tile, and also for every successive tile, you may decide anew next to which tile you place them.
Scoring
In the solo game, it is not about collecting plus points, but as few minus points as possible. You receive no plus points, neither for animals nor for landscapes. But all minus points count as usual for empty spaces, misconnections, or volcanos, in which every volcano automatically counts as 1 minus point, active or inactive. You win the game when you do not exceed the following numbers of minus points:
- Easy — 3 Minus Points
- Moderate — 2 Minus Points
- Hard — 1 Minus Points
The solo game only lasts one turn. (But you can of course play as many games as you like.)
Variants
Handicap
If particularly experienced players are at the table, you can ask them to take on this handicap to equalize play. You play without the volcano chip; instead, every handicapped player receives 1 minus point for every active volcano. The players without a handicap receive no minus points for volcanos. Inactive volcanos bring no minus points. You can increase the handicap further by making the inactive volcanos also carry 1 minus point each.
Back Side of the World Board
The back side of the world board offers you a further opportunity for variation. You can play any level of difficulty, including the solo game, with it. Landscapes which include the edge of the board count as enclosed on that edge. (As usual, water landscapes do not count. They also do not count as a lake if they include the water edge.)
Hidden Time
Place the timer so that no one can see the time remaining.
Shorter Time
If you've got some practice, simply shorten the time to, e.g., 4 minutes.
Children
If children younger than the recommended age are playing, use the beginner game with a longer time and simplify the scoring.
You can find further variants on the Internet at www.pegasus.de/mondo or on the author's website, www.michaelschacht.net.
Tips
- Before the game, look over the different tiles at your leisure. They depict 1, 2, or 3 landscapes in different combinations, but they do not contain all possible combinations! There is no tile with 4 landscapes.
- For each landscape type there are 4 different animals, which appear 4 times each.
- If you get stuck, try advancing from another direction. The tile you're looking for may have been used by another player.
- Sometimes it makes sense to place tiles with misconnections, when the points gained outweigh the penalty.
- When the timer is running out, it's sometimes better to leave one or the other space empty and get a higher bonus chip.
- In the advanced or expert game, don't concentrate too much on the scoring modifiers and additional tasks, otherwise you may lose focus on the bigger picture.
Credits
Game Designer: Michael Schacht (www.michaelschacht.net) Illustrator: Oliver Freudenreich (www.freudenreich-grafik.de) Graphic Design: Oliver Freudenreich, Hans-Georg Schneider Realization: Thygra Board Game Agency (www.thygra.com)
Published by Z-Man Games, Inc. 64 Prince Road, Mahopac, NY 10541 under license of Pegasus Spiele GmbH. Copyright (c) 2011 Pegasus Spiele GmbH. All rights reserved.
For any comments, questions, suggestions, please contact [email protected]